Customer Reviews

Masters of Horror: The Black Cat

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a huge "Re-Animator" fan, I really looked forward to Stuart Gordon's contribution to Showtime's "Masters of Horror" anthology series. Season One brought us "H.P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House"--which sadly was not one of my favorites. Season Two's offering is "The Black Cat." But while I enjoyed this episode much better, I still don't know how warmly it will be embraced by those seeking out this series. Not a conventional horror story, "The Black Cat" is a historical (but fictional) account of the life of Edgar Allen Poe. The tale documents a descent into madness and its horror is derived from this--whether or not that seems entertaining may be a matter of opinion.

The episode features Jeffrey Combs (always a delight) as Poe. Struggling and impoverished, he lives in a dark and unpleasant dwelling with his ill wife. Attempting to sell his poetry to survive, he is also sinking into desperation, alcoholism and insanity. There really isn't much more plot than that--this is a story that is reliant on mood rather than narrative. Combs does well with the various aspects of Poe's dementia and there is plenty of macabre humor interspersed. Haunted by visions of his wife and menaced by household pets, there are moments of real gruesomeness and gore to be appreciated.

I enjoyed the film's literary references and setup as a fan of Poe, but some may find the beginning a bit slow. The tale takes a while to develop--but that never bothered me. The ending does maintain a frantic pace and has some great effects, but if you're a lover of animals--you might want to steer clear. Combs is a uniquely engaging actor and this is a must-see for his fans. Otherwise, I'll issue a cautious recommendation. About 3 1/2 stars for me, and that's about my average for most episodes of "Masters of Horror." KGHarris, 05/07.

The Black Cat, directed by Stuart Gordon and written by Dennis Paoli & Stuart Gordon, features the great Edgar Allen Poe (Jeffrey Combs), out of literary inspiration and short on cash, tormented by an inky feline who will either destroy his sanity or spur him to write one of his greatest horror stories ever.

It's nice to see Stuart Gordon's take on something other than H.P. Lovecraft (I haven't seen Edmund yet). I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by his take on The Black Cat and it might just be my favorite of his work to date aside from the first Re-Animator film.

Gordon does an amazing job of turning the emotional but bloodless work of Poe and turning it into a grand guignol good time, and while he may not look the part as much as, say, Christina Ricci, Combs makes for a highly believable Poe.

Everything from the bit parts, to the set decoration, to the animal actors is top-notch in The Black Cat. Don't miss this one... it's (sorry) the cat's meow!

Staci Layne Wilson

Director Stuart Gordon, known for his Lovecraft movies, really did his homework and put together an excellent adaptation of Edgar Allen Poes "The Black Cat." First and foremost the casting is great. Jeffrey Combs is a dead ringer for Poe. The prosthetics and make-up department did a bang up job on matching Combs facial features to Poe's, and it only heightens Jeffery's amazing performance. Mr. Combs wasn't alone; the casting in the film is wonderful. Even the bit part actors are great.
What I liked most was that this film really has that old school Vincent Price feel to it. The colors were all muted and dark, and it really helped to notch up the tension when bright colors appear in key moments. This story is more cerebral than the typical slasher blood bucket film. However, there is at least one scene that really delivers in that department as well (I don't want to spoil it for you). If you are an animal lover beware. I'm sure the ASPCA and you probably won't like this movie a whole lot, because there is a whole lot of kitty cat abuse. I admit, I felt a bit guilty watching this with my two cats sitting on the couch next to me.
The adaptation of the story itself is the most suprising aspect of the film. I'm not sure how they managed to mesh events from the life of Poe with his story. They pulled it off with some amazing results; I was impressed.
The only drawback is the short run time. It's only about 60 minutes long. There are a few behind the scenes feautures and a director commentary, but that's it. Still, it's at least worth a rental. This is an appropriate tribute to a true master of horror.

When Stuart Gordon and Jeffrey Combs come together, they normally make beautiful landscapes that remind me more of cinematic tides touching portrayal-laden sands than of two people trying to push together frames. Perhaps that's because of the great deal of things they've done together; they've done a great deal of work in the realms of H.P. Lovecraft and Gordon has also put in time in the realm of Poe, and this revitalization of The Black Cat is yet another appealing picture painted by the Gordon quill. I liked it, too, enough so that I forgave the Masters of Horror series for a lot of the lackluster subsets it had done in this latest series. In a sense this is what I wanted when I saw Gordon was up to bat anyhow; I've always imagined Gordon and Combs as a tandem that were quite knowledgeable of the inner workings of the classics and I knew whatever they did would be amazing.
And Gordon and Combs coming together with something that has been done more than once - I enjoyed the fact that they could connect all the dots and to connect them well.

Much of what comes from the director also echoes in the performance of his case, and nobody seems to work better with Gordon than combs. Much like Combs had done when he played the role of Lovecraft in Necronomicon, he took on the tormented form of Poe and made his pain believable. One of the marks of a great horror actor is to become a sensation like that of pain and to somehow sell it along with the movements and the backgrounds and the terrible stuff of legends and Combs does that beautifully. Equally impressive is Elyse Levesque in her portrayal of EAP's dying bride, and the cat - well, the cat was not exactly what I'd call a household dream.

If you are a fan of the Masters of Horror, a fan of Stuart Gordon or Jeffrey Combs, or if you haven't seen the story of Edgar Allan Poe come to life before and would like a pseudo-tour of his troubles then this is a great buy. It has a small punchline in the price department and has a nice kick that is nasty by nature, and it is just plain good.
Not too campy, not too serious - it is what Masters of Horror set out to be.

This is a wonderful interweaving of Poe's life and his famous story, "The Black Cat." If you know only a bit of the man's biography and the story, the mixture is not the least bit confusing; "The Black Cat" already contains enough of Poe the man to make the respective plot lines simultaneously independent and seamlessly interwoven. The production values are exceptional and Jeffrey Combs gives one of the most passionate performances I have ever seen of the famous writer. If you're teaching Gothic literature, this could easily be the highlight of your class to cap things off. Give it a look. It's worth every penny.

I've seen many Poe adaptations over the years, everything from Jean Epstein's masterful silent version of "House of Usher" to the Corman/Price films, and even animated shorts like the 1953 "Tell-Tale Heart" (narrated by James Mason) and Czech animator Jan Svankmajer's "The Pit, the Pendulum, and Hope." Most of these directors portrayed his works with a measure of restraint, and that has always been my preference. That said, I felt this version manages to be faithful to the original Poe story, and to Poe's own life. For this film is somewhat unique in being both an adaptation of The Black Cat and an abbreviated biopic of Poe himself. It's an interesting synthesis, and I think Stuart Gordon pulled it off nicely.
My main criticism is the occasional gore. This is displayed in 3 main sequences: the eruption of blood from the mouth of the tubercular Virginia Clemm; the gouging out of the cat's eye by the Poe character; and the splitting of Virginia's skull with an axe near the end of the film. Gordon defends these forays in the commentary track by saying he wanted to remain as faithful as possible to the way Poe originally wrote the story. I can cut him that much slack, but I still don't believe it's necessary to hew so literally to an author's work, simply because the very nature of the printed word creates an aesthetic distance between a horror narrative and the reader, whereas the medium of film allows for much less distance. Consequently, I've always felt that more should be left to the imagination. Otherwise, what we get is not so much "horror" as revulsion and disgust. Of course, I come from the Old School of horror fans who grew up on the films of Lewton, James Whale, et. al. I daresay not many fans under 40 years of age share my views.
Despite these "lapses," I give this film 4 stars because the acting is generally first-rate, starting with Jeffrey Combs, a superb actor in a first-rate performance, and almost all the supporting cast. The one exception is the actress playing Virginia Clemm. She's a stunning girl, and certainly looks the part. And her acting is competent. The problem is her diction. While Combs pulls off a very convincing Southern accent (and Poe himself was a Southern gentleman of real breeding), she speaks with a northern intonation that sounds like it's coming somewhere between Chicago and Philadelphia. Not only that, but it carries no aura of someone who might have grown up in mid-19th Century America -- it's simply too "contemporary" in tone and inflection. I don't know whether to attribute this incongruity to her lack of experience or to a lack of concern on Gordon's part. But it creates a jarring effect whenever she speaks.
Despite these flaws, I give this drama high marks and believe it's well worth seeing. It's also a valuable contribution to the Poe canon on film inasmuch as it's very well researched, and tells us a lot about Poe himself. It's likely that Gordon's treatment would have been even more graphic had he been filming for the theater rather than for television. Nevertheless, give him credit for turning out what is essentially a fine piece of work.

With the latest Masters of Horror DVD release, you don't just get one Master of Horror, but three: Director Stuart Gordon, Actor Jeffrey Combs, and early master of the macabre tale Edgar Allan Poe. The three combine to bring you one of Poe's best-known tales, The Black Cat. Gordon and Combs are certainly no strangers to each other. They first worked together in 1985 on the cult classic Re-Animator, and would team again on films such as From Beyond and Castle Freak. This time they tackle a Poe story that has been adapted several times but never all that well.

The interesting thing about the production is how the writers Gordon and Dennis Paoli combine Poe's own life with his tale. Rather than an unnamed narrator, Poe himself becomes the narrator as the screenplay cleverly mixes Poe's original tale, with events from Poe's actual life. Poe is played brilliantly by Jeffrey Combs. When Combs is made up, the likeness to photos of Poe is uncanny. I actually had to a double take to see that it was really Combs. I've grown accustomed to his wild-eyed, nebbish roles that he took me by surprise.

As the film opens, Poe is already famous for his horror tales and his publisher demands more while Poe would prefer to write poetry. He struggles to make ends meet and provide for his wife Virgina. Desperate for income, they decide to sell Virgina's beloved piano however Edgar insists his wife play a song for a potential buyer. While playing, she begins to cough up bursts of blood due to being inflicted with consumption, or Tuberculosis as it's called today. This is, in fact, all true. Virginia did break a blood vessel while singing and playing the piano. As Virginia's condition worsens, Poe begins to drink more and more, and becomes increasingly irritated with their pet cat, Pluto. In a fit of a drunken rage, Poe gouges one of the cat's eyes out with a penknife. The battle of wills between cat and man eventually leads to the film's chilling ending but with a twist on the original tale.

The Black Cat is beautifully filmed. Most of the film appears in a washed out color palette that borders on black & white. This is contrasted by the bright red crimson of Virginia's blood and the deep emerald eyes of Pluto. Combs and Elyse Levesque give superb performances as Edgar and Virginia. Combs immerses himself into the tragic psyche of the lead character who, despite his literary successes, lived a life of destitution, alcoholism. and eventually madness, which only worsened after Virginia's death. Levesque is the supportive wife, willing to sacrifice her own comforts, and even her fragile health, for her husband.

The Black Cat is not the usual Masters of Horror episode. Its horror is more subtly spread; although gore fans shouldn't be too disappointed...this is, after all, from the guy who gave us Re-Animator! There are a few nice extras on the disc: Audio commentary with Gordon and Combs; a short feature on the various special effects; a fifteen minute "making of" documentary, photo gallery, and DVD-ROM script.

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

Bravo! I have to admit I have finally been impressed by the lack luster MOH series. This is by far the finest piece of work I have seen out of all the MOH short films.

The Black Cat is a classic Edgar Allen Poe tale that was created perfectly by Stuart Gordon.It was slightly slow at the start but picked up beautifully half way through. It wasn't scary (if thats what you're looking for) but it was intense and extremely well put together. I absolutely loved it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a unique viewing experience, especially if you are a fan of the MOH series.

This may be the best single cinematic treatment on the life of Poe yet filmed...for it is much more than a spin on "The Black Cat". The film covers and cross-references so much of Poe and his life and loves and literary output that it is absolutely the best visual introduction to the Poe Universe I have come across. The image of a drunken Poe walking home with a gigantic cat shadow stalking him is alone worth the price of this DVD! The acting, sets, music are all gothically top-notch. (The actor playing Poe looks (with makeup, of course) so very much like Poe it would be wondeful if Stallone considered him for his own long-planned biopic of the Divine Edgar. But then again, if Stallone is directing I don't have very high hopes for its eventual quality or accuracy. Poe will get into a 12 round drunken boxing bout somewhere in it, I'm sure!) However...what makes this gripping film all the more poignant and at the same time horrific is that, yes, it seems to end on a happy note - Virginia is alive and Poe gains the inspiration for a story that will win more bread for his meagre table.....but the horrors of Virginia's demise he has been tortured by throughout the bulk of the film we all know will, indeed, come to pass. The Red Death will take her at age 24. Poe at 40. The only thing missing from the script is Virgina's mother - Muddy - for the three were inseparable...and her inclusion could have wrought futher tormented, waking nightmares in Poe's mind. But....this is a small point considering how very much ground is, indeed, covered in the time given. Bravo to one and all who made this mini-masterpiece!

Edgar Allen Poe (Jeffery Combs) is a writer who has been getting drunk lately and believes that his cat is causing terrible mayhem especially to the death of his wife, he believes the cat is a killer or could it be all in his twisted mind?

Wonderfully grim and gothic story based on a poem from Edgar Allen Poe and Jeffery Combs just plays the author perfectly, Stuart Gordon (maker of "Re-Animator", "From Beyond" and "Dagon") has crafted another winner of his films. There are scenes of ghastly gore here not for the squeamish such as a cat getting it's eyeball removed but don't worry folks it's all fake and not real, i love how Gordon has twisted Poe's short story into a grueling and disturbing 60 minute movie for "Masters of Horror" and i think it's one of the best stories on the show yet.

This DVD has nice extras like a photo gallery, audio commentary by Stuart Gordon and Jeffery Combs, and two featurettes.

Also recommended: "The Black Cat (1980 Fulci)", "Two Evil Eyes", "Maniac (1980)", "Suspiria", "Re-Animator", "Pin...", "May", "The Hills Have Eyes (2006)", "The Prowler" and "High Tension".