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The Crimes of the Black Cat

aka Sette scialli di seta gialla

Poster of The Crimes of the Black Cat
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Terrifying!

  • Photo of Troy Howarth

    The Crimes of the Black Cat shamelessly borrows from Dario Argento’s early works. The story of a blind amateur detective refers back to The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971), as does the title itself, while the finale with its shocking freeze-frame image cannot help but remind one of Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971). The screenplay also gets ample mileage out of the old “half-remembered clue” that Argento was so fond of working into his gialli. There is even a tape recording with a screeching bird providing a clue as to the whereabouts of one of the suspect’s hideaway. The end result is none too fresh but compensates in unexpected ways. … The murder scenes are handled with little imagination, on the whole, but it has to be noted that the razor slashing at the end of the picture is one of the nastiest to be seen in a giallo of this vintage. The mean-spirited quality of the ending recalls another sloppy but oddly endearing entry, Riccardo Freda’s The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire (1971), though Pastore’s film is handled with greater professionalism on the whole.

    Troy Howarth, So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films, Volume 1, 1963-1973 (Midnight Marquee Press, 2015)

Selected disc options for The Crimes of the Black Cat

Extras
Cauldron box art
Cauldron BD-A/US 2021
Audio Commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson has extra
Audio Commentary by Peter Jilmstad and Rachael Nisbet has extra
Sergio Pastore: Un Ammirevole Indipendente (An Admirable Independent) (2012, 17:12) has extra
Remembering Sergio Pastore - Interview with Daughter Sara Pastore (17:47) has extra
Stills Gallery (1:43) has extra
English Theatrical Trailer (3:50) has extra
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Notes

  • Cauldron’s Blu-ray is also available as a limited edition containing a soundtrack CD and 4 double-sided mini lobby card reproductions.

Ultimate Edition

Combine the best digital presentation with a selection of choice extras for the ultimate edition.

  • Screen shot for Sergio Pastore: Un Ammirevole Indipendente (An Admirable Independent)
    Sergio Pastore: Un Ammirevole Indipendente (An Admirable Independent) (2012, 17:12)
  • Screen shot for Remembering Sergio Pastore
    Remembering Sergio Pastore (17:47)
Presentation Cauldron BD 2021
  • Video
    • File 1
      • Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
      • Resolution: 1080p23.976
      • Overall bit rate: 35.00 Mbps
      • Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
      • Length:1:38:38.162
      • File size: 25.74 GiB
  • Audio
    • File 1
      • Language: English LPCM 2.0 Mono
      • Sampling rate: 48 kHz
      • Bit rate: 1536 kbps
      • Bit depth: 16-bit
    • File 2
      • Language: Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
      • Sampling rate: 48 kHz
      • Bit rate: 320 kbps
      • Bit depth: 16-bit
  • Subtitles
    • English
    • English SDH
Extras Audio Commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson Cauldron BD
Audio Commentary by Peter Jilmstad and Rachael Nisbet Cauldron BD
Sergio Pastore: Un Ammirevole Indipendente (An Admirable Independent) (2012, 17:12, 1080p) Cauldron BD
Remembering Sergio Pastore - Interview with Daughter Sara Pastore (17:47, 1080p) Cauldron BD
Stills Gallery (1:43, 1080p) Cauldron BD
English Theatrical Trailer (3:50, 1080p) Cauldron BD