This past holiday season, I was given the unfortunate task of taking care of my friend's cat. This was not just any cat but an angry, psychotic cat that would hiss if you got within ten feet of it. When feeling especially nasty, it would let out a bloodcurdling scream and leap and me or chase me around the house emitting an ungodly sound. It also had a habit of sitting across the room and staring at me with pure hate in its unblinking eyes. I was on alert at all times knowing that if I dozed off, I may find myself awakening to the heathen munching on my eyeballs. It was one of the most unsettling experiences that I can remember so when I finally got around to seeing Lucio Fulci's very loose take on Edgar Allan Poe's story, I was certainly able to relate to why people would be apprehensive of the title beast. Even in this context, however, I found this story to be quite dull and convoluted and lacking the gory set pieces that Fulci is known for.

Patrick Magee (Tales from the Crypt) stars as Robert Miles, a professor who likes to place recording devices inside of graves. He also owns the evil title cat who slinks around the village where they live and causes a number of deaths including a man being impaled on steel rods and a young couple suffocating to death in a boathouse. Meanwhile, a foreign photographer (Mimsy Farmer - Four Flies on Grey Velvet) shows up and doesn't have a lot to do other than take photos of things like the inside of a crypt and is employed by the police to photograph crime scenes. Soon, a Scotland Yard detective (David Warbeck - The Beyond) arrives in town to try to find the missing boathouse couple as the young girl's mother is worried about her daughter. Eventually, Magee tries to murder the homicidal feline but it inexplicably survives a hanging to wreak vengeance on those who have wronged it (even though the cat was the instigator of the ill will in the first place).

I have to admit that I had a hard time getting through this one. There is nothing to latch onto as the characters flow in and out of scenes without having any purpose and even the cat doesn't have any motivation for its actions. Making things more difficult is Fulci's obsession with extreme close-ups on eyes (the cat and Magee in particular) and other unconventional compositions particularly in dialogue scenes that look kind of cool but are very distracting when trying to follow the already challenging narrative. Pino Donaggio's score does not help as it is overwhelming bringing to mind Bernard Herrmann after too much coffee and unaware as to when to hold back. Donaggio is usually quite reliable but this score feels relentless and grating making the experience even more frustrating. Although this picture is rich in gothic atmosphere, I was just not engaged enough to get much out of it.

Many Fulci fans generally do not hold this film in high regard compared to his other work and I certainly understand why. Although there are a few moments worth checking out such as the cat attack on Warbeck, the death of the young couple in the boathouse, a bat attack on Farmer, and watching Magee play executioner, this is pretty weak when you know what Fulci is capable of. Most of the actors are wasted with Dagmar Lassander (Hatchet for a Honeymoon) and Al Cliver (Zombie) in particular given nothing to do. The one good thing I can say is that there is some nice cinematography when Sergio Salvati was not doing eye close-ups. The cat point-of-view shots are fun even though the cat sounds are not very convincing. Overall, you can safely give this a pass unless you are a Fulci completist. You are better off seeing Poe's story adapted in Sergio Martino's Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key or Roger Corman's Tales of Terror. (Josh Pasnak, 3/5/16)

Directed By: Lucio Fulci.
Written By: Lucio Fulci, Biagio Proietti.

Starring: Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, David Warbeck, Al Cliver.