THE CAT O' NINE TAILS (1971) (Arrow Video 4K UHD Review)

THE CAT O' NINE TAILS (1971)

Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 112 Minutes
Audio: English and Italian DTS-HD MA Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Dario Argento
Cast: James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Catherine Spaak, Pier Paolo Capponi, Horst Frank, Rada Rassimov, Cinzia De Carolis

Synopsis: When a break-in occurs at a secretive genetics institute, blind puzzle-maker Franco Arnò, who overheard an attempt to blackmail one of the institute’s scientists shortly before the robbery, teams up with intrepid reporter Carlo Giordani to crack the case. But before long the bodies begin to pile up and the two amateur sleuths find their own lives imperiled in their search for the truth. And worse still, Lori, Franco’s young niece, may also be in the killer’s sights…

Cat O' Nine Tails (1971) was Dario Argento's sophomore film following the seminal giallo entry The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970). It's the middle entry in what has become known unofficially as Argento's "Animal Trilogy", a trio of films with names of animals in the title which ended with Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) The films share little in common aside from being stylish Italian whodunits and Argento's artful eye for the macabre, not dissimilar to John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy".

The film has quite a pedigree, starring American actor Karl Malden (How The West Was Won), featuring a cool, low-key score from Ennio Morricone (The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly) and it was co-written by Italian screenwriting legend Dardana Sacchetti (A Bay of Blood). The story revolves around a blind man named Arno (Malden) who cares for his young adopted daughter Lori (Cinzia De Carolis, Cannibal Apocalypse) and bides his time assembling the daily newspaper's crossword puzzle. One evening while walking down the street with his daughter he overhears two men discussing a blackmail plot while parked in a car outside of a genetics lab, which is conveniently located right next to Arno's apartment. Pretending to bend over and tie his shoe he asks Lori to observe the men in the car, but she's only able to describe one of the men to Arno. Later that night while working on a new puzzle Arno overhears a scuffle outside his window which turns out to be a crime in-process.

The next day Arno is out on the street when he's accidentally knocked over by a reporter named Carlo (James Franciscus, The Valley of Gwangi) near the genetics lab. Carlo stops to apologize and Arno asks him what has happened, the reporter tells him that the previous evening the night watchmen at the lab was knocked unconscious and that someone broke into the Terzi Institute, perhaps to perform some act of industrial espionage. Whatever it is Prof. Terzi (Tino Carraro, Orgasmo) doesn't seem too keen on assisting the police with their investigation. Soon after the break-in one of the lab's lead scientist Dr. Calabresi (Carl Alighiero, Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh) is thrown in front of a speeding train pulling into the station during the high profile arrival of a movie starlet, and his death is caught on camera which makes the front page news. 

The next day Arno's daughter notices the picture of the victim at the train station and recognizes him as none other than one of the men from the car outside the genetics lab the night before. The two seek out the reporter Carlo and the trio set about sleuthing the mystery in classic whodunit fashion as the killer sets out to eliminate those who may be able to finger them as the culprit. Per usual the red-herrings abound in this atmospheric, slow-burn, including the sexy, spoiled daughter of Prof. Terzi, Anna, played by the vivacious French actress/singer Catherine Spaak (Story of a Cloistered Nun). The set-up is your classic Italian whodunit but it soon becomes entangled in an improbable array of twists and turns stemming from the strangest chromosomal motivation this side of well, nearly most everything. It's very odd and not one of Argento's better twists in my opinion, it's a head-scratcher.

The cinematography from Erico Menczer lacks the stunning scope and framing of Argento collaborators Storaro (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) or Tovoli (Tenebre), but it's an early Argento so there's some great Euro 70's style and set decoration courtesy of set designer Carlo Leva. Love those 70's fashions, the locations and décor, with ornate wall paper and a funky 70's colors. The kills are not particularly elaborate (mostly strangulation) and are lacking those great POV shots Argento went for, but we do get some trademark stairwell shots, cool eyeball close-ups and nifty murder set including a man meeting his grisly end as he goes screaming down an elevator shaft, his hands torn to pieces grasping at the steel cables.

Perhaps not on par with Argento's finest works during this golden era, but this is still a very fine giallo entry that absolutely outshines anything he's done post-Opera (1987) in my estimation. Some say this flick is too slow burning, but maybe because I grew up on a steady diet of slow-burn made-for-TV movies I rather enjoyed the pace. The murders are also not as intricate as some of Argento's more loved films, but it is still an enjoyable whodunit that's wonderfully acted, steeped in atmosphere and masterfully directed.

Highlights for me were a particularly tense scene featuring Carlo getting a close shave from a barber who takes exception to his article implicating that a barber might be murderous maniac, a white-knuckle car chase through the busy streets Italy, and the film's elevator shaft shocker finale, it's all fun stuff that's expertly directed. I am reminded in a way of Lucio Fulci, whose later gore-riddled films brought him much notoriety but it is forgotten that he once also directed suspenseful, less visceral film such as The Psychic and I think Argento's Cat O' Nine Tails is similarly lost amidst his oeuvre, and is deserving more respect for the solid thriller that it is.

Audio/Video: The Cat o' Nine Tails, which was previously issued on B Blu-ray from Arrow Video twice, now gets a UHD upgrade from Arrow with a 4K scan of the original camera negative, framed in the original 2.35:1 widescreen. The image offers a lush layer of film grain with the increased 

resolution bringing out some of the more delicate details in the 70's era clothing and fabric textures, as well as in the close-ups of facial features. The Dolby Vision HDR10 color-grading brings additional warmth to skintones and the highlights are terrific with an improved color-balance. HDR10 also brings deeper more consistent black levels which improve contrast, depth and clarity as well, this is a very pleasing upgrade. 

Sadly no Atmos upgrade but the original uncompressed mono sounds is solid, handling the high and lows with ease and without distortion on either the English or the Italian presentation. It's vintage mono so we don't get a lot of depth or bass, but the dialogue, effects and score are all well balanced and sound great, particularly the Ennio Morricone's score, highlighted by "Lullabye in Blue" which opens the film.

Onto the extras we get the same assortment of extras from the previous Blu-ray, these include the Freak-O-Rama produced interviews with co-writer/director Dario Argento, co-writer Dardano Sacchetti, production manager Angelo Iacono, and actress Cinzia De Carolis. We are also treated to a fantastic audio commentary with Argento-experts and film critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman who bang-out a finely detailed talk-along that is sure to please. The disc is buttoned up with script pages with the original ending, as well as three trailers for the film.

We were only sent a "check disc" for review without retail packaging, but retail copies edition also includes an Illustrated collectors booklet featuring an original essay on the film by Dario Argento, and writing by Barry Forshaw, Troy Howarth and Howard Hughes, a fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative, six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards, and a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the original and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative

Special Features:
- New 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Film

- 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)

- Restored original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks

- English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack

- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack

- Audio Commentary by critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
- Interview with co-writer/director Dario Argento (16 min) HD
- Interview with co-writer Dardano Sacchetti (35 min) HD
- Interview with actress Cinzia De Carolis (11 min) HD 
- Interview with production manager Angelo Iacono (15 min) HD 
- Script pages for the lost original ending, translated into English (3 min) HD
- Original Italian Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD
- Original International Theatrical Trailers (2 min) HD
- US Domestic Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD

- Image Galleries: Posters, Italian Lobby Cards, German Promotional Materials, U.S, Promotional Materials, U.S. Pressbook, Soundtracks

- Illustrated collectors booklet featuring an original essay on the film by Dario Argento, and writing by Barry Forshaw, Troy Howarth and Howard Hughes

- Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative

- Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards

- Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring originally and newly commissioned artwork by Obviously Creative

Cat O' Nine Tails (1971) might not be a giallo quite as stylish as Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) or Tenebre (1982), both are high water marks indeed, but is still a first-rate Argento thriller from his early period. It's almost annoying that Arrow Video have once again upgraded a golden era Argento whodunit with a now even more definitive edition than the previous definitive edition, but when it looks so good I think you can easily forgive them... your wallet might not though.