------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating : 7/10
Directed By : Stuart Gordon
Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator)
Ryan Crocker
Patrick Gallagher (Night at the Museum)
Christopher Heyerdahl (Catwoman)
Supplied By : Anchor Bay Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : July. 12, 2007
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| PLOT The Black Cat, directed by Stuart Gordon and written by Dennis Paoli & Stuart Gordon, has the great Poe, out of ideas and short on cash, tormented by a black cat that will either destroy his life or inspire him to write one of his most famous stories. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| THE REVIEW In Director Stuart Gordon's season two effort for the MASTERS OF HORROR, THE BLACK CAT, finds legendary gothic poet, Edgar Allan Poe down on his like. Stressed because his writing isn't selling well as of late, Poe chooses to indulge in endless amounts of alcohol, no matter how much it brings him down in debt. His wife Virginia begs him to take up his writing again to get them back on their feet financially, but when Virginia falls ill to the white plague, he ultimately blames her death that would follow on their black cat Pluto. It is in a rage of anger that he strangles the cat, and shortly afterwards, his wife appears to have never died. Feeling unsure of how Virginia could still be alive, it seems that the black cat still haunts him within his troubled mind - and when the deranged cat reappears, it is definitely more than coincidence. Soon Poe is more delirious and paranoid than ever, and on the edge of insanity, as he struggles to write and feels that he can't do so until he gets rid of the cat for good. The in results prove to to be very tragic, but is it just a story, or is it real life. Stuart Gordon, here reunites with his RE-ANIMATOR crew, Writer Dennis Paoli and Actor Jeffrey Combs, to bring a short story by Edgar Allan Poe to life. For THE BLACK CAT, not only do Gordon and Paoli adapt the story, but also, incorporate it into the real life of Poe. The story originates to tell the story of a man driven to madness by alcohol and of course a black cat - Gordon came up with the idea of having the events that happen in the said stories happen to Poe, it's writer. This plot and idea, was brilliant I thought and made for a very interesting story, as with every story, at least some of it must stem from personal experiences, so putting Poe in first person here, was a great idea. Not only does one relive the story in which he wrote in live action, but you also get an insight on the Poet's real life and who he was through various true-to-life incidents that occurred in Poe's life re-enacted - such as his wife Virginia's battle with Tuberculosis, or as Poe called it, "The White Plague". The look of the film, and the sets in which the scenes take place are very true to the time in which Edgar Alan Poe lived are very accurate and set up the time period perfectly. Also in shooting, Gordon decided in going with a sepia tone for the entire film, washing out the color making the film appear as if it were an old photograph, in the likes you would see pictured in, and with that certain colors were isolated to appear vibrant than the overall washed out hue - such as the blood being bright red, the cat's eyes a bright green and so on. This really gave the film a very unique look, almost reminding me of what Francis Ford Coppola once did in his film RUMBLE FISH, in which the entire film was shot in black and while, all except for a pair of vibrant red fish towards the end. The acting here, I found to be great - and with the integrity of Poe's work(and this story in particular) it almost had to be. As you'd guess, the majority of the one hour episode consists of the relationship between Edgar and his wife Virginia. Portraying the troubled writer is Jeffrey Combs, and with a little make-up and a wig, he surprisingly does look a lot like Poe, he already had similar physical characteristics that nearly matched Poe, so casting him for the role was the right choice, as he is able to pull off an entertaining, and most importantly believable performance. Elyse Levesque as Virginia or "Sissy"(her nickname given by Poe) was a great counterpart to Combs in her role as they seemed to share great chemistry, and again, were very believable. The rest of the cast consists of both fictional and real-life persons from the life of Poe, overall I was pleased with the acting overall. Stuart Gordon's THE BLACK CAT delivers a great twist on an already classic story, with great acting, cinematography and a few, really talented cats! |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| GORE
METER 4.5/10 We have blood spewed everywhere at one point, an axe to the head, a cat strangulation, and even the gouging of a cat's eye, PETA would hate this movie for sure. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| MUSICAL
SCORE 2/10 The score was very subtle, and just not that memorable to me... |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I have always liked the way that Edgar Allan thought and wrote about things as he did seem very mysterious and unique, so when, I heard about this episode, I knew that i'd want to see it. It turns out that it was really good, most due in part to the amazing cinematography, the overall look. Yes at times Jeffrey Combs may over-do it, but that's just his style (he did the same thing in RE-ANIMATOR), but overall, I thought he did great in the part. I would recommend THE BLACK CAT to Poe fans, or Horror fans in general! This DVD will be available July 17, 2007 |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| STILLS | ||||
|
