In a small, English village a series of mysterious and deadly accidents occur and somehow a black cat is involved. The cat belongs to the reclusive and strange Mr. Miles (Patrick Magee). He is a medium who communicates with the dead. His nightly visits to the local cemetery don’t go unnoticed and the villagers think he’s a “queer one and a bit mad”.
A photographer visiting the village, Jill (Mimsy Farmer), finds a microphone in an old tomb. She tracks it back to Mr. Miles. They talk about his supernatural powers and then he tries to hypnotise her, but fails when the black cat suddenly attacks and badly scratches him.
Jill enters the tomb...
Unrevealing close-ups...
Scotland Yard-detective Gorley (David Warbeck) arrives to help the local police with the missing of a young couple. The missing girl’s mother, Lillian Grayson (Dagmar Lassander), calls in the help of her ex-lover and psychic Mr. Miles. Following up on his visions, Lillian and the police find the decaying corpses of the couple in a boathouse, which was mysteriously locked from the inside.
Noticing scratches on the hands of yet another victim, Jill is convinced that Mr. Miles is behind all these deaths and confronts him. But he claims it is the cat that is the evil one. After Lillian Grayson is burned alive in a fire started by the feline, Mr Miles drugs the cat and hangs him in his garden. But this unleashes supernatural forces that haunt him, and the cat simply returns. When detective Gorley is also attacked and hit by a car, Jill sneaks into Mr. Miles house to investigate...
Detective Gorley and Sergeant Wilson (Al Cliver)
Visions of death...
And another close-up.
In recent years this film has made sort of a comeback, thanks to a great dvd release and some good reviews. Made after City of the living dead and before The beyond, this movie lacks the extreme gore of Fulci’s other films of the period, but has some eye-catching visuals, lots of atmosphere and a good performance by Magee.
The relation between Mr. Miles and the cat is a complex one. Mr. Miles claims they need each other, but why is never made clear. In fact, the cat seems to be very able to take care of itself and obviously has the upper hand, attacking and hindering the man to great extend. Another thing is that the cat always seems to protect Jill at the expense of Mr. Miles. But no clues are given to explain all this.
Lillian Grayson
The day after she found the decomposed body of her daughter, Lillian is burnt alive.
And there lies the biggest problem with this film. The lack of any explanation or even a hint at the goals of either Mr. Miles or the cat makes their actions completely arbitrary and the movie sort of dull. I realise that Italian horror films were never too big on story and logic, but still... In City of the living dead we knew that the opening of the Gates of Hell could be prevented and in The beyond there were enough clues from the past to sort understand the present and it’s looming dangers...
Big plusses though are the beautiful, slick cinematography by Sergio Salvati, who makes the most of the English village, Mr. Miles-house and the gothicy sets, and the score by Pino Donaggio, his only one for Fulci.
Talking through the fence.
And check out that eye... (Thank you, Hugo!)
Patrick Magee turns Mr. Miles, with his sad, piercing eyes, wild eyebrows and slow diction, to the centre of the film and deservingly so. Mimsy Farmer is her usual boring self and David Warbeck is ok, but with his this-is-all-a-big-joke-body language, he always seems a bit out of place.
Not a bad picture, but not really good either, it feels like a missed chance.
3 comments:
Nice review,Niels.
For me it's one of Fulci's better films.Perhaps even above City of the Living Dead.Could well be the lack of Gore.And Mimsy's presence.She's sexy.
The Pino Donaggio score really fits the movie very well.
Only small problem would be Al Cliver's "Mockney" accent.Never really convincing.
The "Mimsy Eye",did you get that one from me?I vaguely remember you emailing me about it
( http://www.horrordvds.com/vb3forum/showpost.php?p=256438&postcount=1 )
You talk about things not being explained in this film but I always ask myself why did the priest in City of the Living Dead want to open the gate to Hell in the first place?
It's a Fulci film and you have to regard it as art.Art has to be interpreted,not explained.
Hugo
I only remebered your Mimsy Eye after I took the screenshot. I didn't see it when I was watching the film.
The thing is, I don't need a lot of explanation, just a minimum actually. Explanation was the wrong word to use, I should have said clues or hints. Just enough to "build" an idea or theory on that doesn't collapse when thinking too long about it.
I think Kubrick's The shining is a good example. It provides only a few hints, no explanation, but enough for me personaly to (sort of) understand and accept what's going on. (Not that there's one possible truth ofcourse...)
And with City of the living dead: I don't have or need to have answers to evertything. Just knowing that one party wants to open those Gates, and the other party want to prevent them from opening is enough for me to accept and understand.
I thought it was fairly obvious that Miles controls the cat initially and uses it to commit his crimes. When he looses control, the cat continues killing (probably being some sort of malevolent spirit), but also tries to get back at Miles, which is why it continues to aid Mimsy Farmer.
Not much of an explanation, but certainly no worse than what we're given in the beyond or city of the living dead.
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