THE CAT O’ NINE TAILS
Director: Dario Argento Run Time: 112 min. Release Year: 1971 Language: Italian
Starring: Catherine Spaak, Horst Frank, James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Pier Paolo Capponi
This second entry in Dario Argento’s “Animal Trilogy” (following THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) finds the young talent further refining his distinctive style and cementing his reputation as master of the giallo. Featuring another nerve-jangling score by the great Ennio Morricone, THE CAT O’ NINE TAILS remains one of Argento’s most suspenseful and underrated films. When a break-in occurs at a secretive genetics institute, a blind puzzle-maker overhears an attempt to blackmail an institute scientist shortly before the robbery, and teams up with intrepid reporter to crack the case. Soon the bodies pile up, and the two amateur sleuths find their own lives at risk in their search for the truth.