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Topic: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

I recently bought The Cat O'Nine Tails and watched it last night. The film is Dario Argento's second film and is part of the animal named trilogy which The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was the first one and the last one was Four Flies on Grey Velvet(which I have never seen).

Cat O'Nine Tails wasn't too bad a film. I thought his first film had better characters and plot but this film had more and better kills in it. It's not gory like his later films in the 70's and 80's would be but I still enjoyed it.

Karl Malden stars in it along with James Franciscus. The film is about a medical institute that has a secret formula called XYY theory about the chromosomes of certain people that end up being hard time criminals and such and if they got into the wrong hands then whoever has it coulod make millions. Well someone is after the secret and is killing people to get it.

I thought Karl Malden did a good job in it as the blind puzzle solver. I loved the train kill scene in it.

Any thoughts on this Argento film?

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

It's been several years since I've seen it but I remember not thinking much of it.  Argento hadn't yet his his stride and his personal style was still developing.  But I guess it's as good a transitional flick as any by an up-and-coming filmmaker.

I do remember Karl Malden's nose turned in quite a performance and was a runner up at the Oscars.

Get it?  Nose?  Runner?  See what I did there?  A double entendre.  Nose...runner.  Nose.  Run.  It's...you know...like...a joke.  Kinda.

Nose run.

Eh.

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

LoudLon wrote:

It's been several years since I've seen it but I remember not thinking much of it.  Argento hadn't yet his his stride and his personal style was still developing.  But I guess it's as good a transitional flick as any by an up-and-coming filmmaker.

I do remember Karl Malden's nose turned in quite a performance and was a runner up at the Oscars.

Get it?  Nose?  Runner?  See what I did there?  A double entendre.  Nose...runner.  Nose.  Run.  It's...you know...like...a joke.  Kinda.

Nose run.

Eh.

You must have a big nose then Lonnie like say Gonzo from the Mupper Show or his twin brother from MASH tv show.:lol:

RIP's Website

Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

Is there a trailer for The Cat O'Nine Tails? I requested a trailer for it in the TerrorFeed folder weeks ago.

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

WaveCrest wrote:

Is there a trailer for The Cat O'Nine Tails? I requested a trailer for it in the TerrorFeed folder weeks ago.

There's a trailer for it on the dvd so there's gotta be a trailer for it on the net somewhere.;)

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

It is more old scghool Giallo than his later, very much, Argento entries into the genre.
And it's not anything like as good as "Bird".
But it's a lot better than "Four Flies"!

Has some groovy set-pieces though (like the train station and the finale) and some well done brutality (if not gore).

Strange to think that the cute little niece in thsi grew up to get her panties nibbled on by John Saxon!

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

You mean that hot looking babe in this film dated John Saxon?

I was gonna buy Four Flies next on dvd  of his films cause I have never seen it before either.

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

RIP wrote:

You mean that hot looking babe in this film dated John Saxon?

He wishes.:D

No the little girl who plays Karl Malden's niece, grew up to be the horny neighbour who gets her crotch bitten by John Saxon in "Cannibal Apocalypse".

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

42nd Street Freak wrote:
RIP wrote:

You mean that hot looking babe in this film dated John Saxon?

He wishes.:D

No the little girl who plays Karl Malden's niece, grew up to be the horny neighbour who gets her crotch bitten by John Saxon in "Cannibal Apocalypse".

Oh ok lol. Never seen that film before.:P

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

RIP wrote:

You mean that hot looking babe in this film dated John Saxon?

I was gonna buy Four Flies next on dvd  of his films cause I have never seen it before either.

Four Flies is no were avaliable to buy anywhere. Have not been formatted into dvd. It currently is the only film of his that is unavailable on VHS or DVD, either domestically or internationally with the exception of the long out of print obscure French VHS. Digital bootlegs show up on P2P sites with poor quality in image and sound. The rights to this film (at least in America) are owned by Paramount, which has chosen not to release it. However, there are rumors of an American release by Blue Underground and a German release by Dragon.

I've collected all the Argento's movies on dvd except 5 Days in Milan( an non horror he did, i believe it was a comedy) It's sad that there's no Four flies on a grey velvet on dvd, or even anywhere. Look like i can't complete my Argento's Animal Trilogy. I looked everywhere to try to find this movie( Amazon, Ebay. dvd sites... etc) everywhere. At least he's completed The Mothers Trilogy just now.

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

I thought The Cat O' Nine Tails was a half decent Giallo. Not Argento's best for sure, but I like it.
I also have Four Flies on Grey Velvet, I just watched it again last night. It's not bad quality, it's the best I've seen so far. I had one copy of it that was so dark you couldn't even make out what was happening, but this latest one I have is great compared to that shitty copy.

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

I think Cat o' Nine Tails is my fave Argento film.  The style, the vibe,  the finale,  it's smooth stuff with a cool international flavor.  I like quite a few of Argento's efforts but this and Bird seem to be two of his most tightly plotted, if significantly less bloody films

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Re: The Cat O'Nine Tails(1971)

It's probably the weakest of the Animal Trilogy, as it has a sterile feel to it, but it's better than most of Dario's output since Opera.

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