The Cat o' Nine Tails

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The Cat o' Nine Tails is a 1971 Italian mystery thriller film written and directed by Dario Argento. Starring James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Catherine Spaak, Horst Frank, Aldo Reggiani, Carlo Alighiero, Rada Rassimov, Tom Felleghy, Emilio Marchesini, and Ugo Fangareggi. 112 minutes, rated PG.

[edit] Plot summary

The film begins with an unseen assailant breaking into a genetics laboratory, but when the police arrive to investigate it appears that nothing has been stolen. Newspaper reporter Giordani (James Franciscus) is intrigued by the incident, and soon thereafter one of the laboratory's geneticists dies after falling in front of a train.

Giordani teams up with a blind man named Arno (Karl Malden), who used to be a reporter before he lost his sight. Arno discovers that the dead scientist is the same man he heard whispering to a shadowy figure in a car right before the burglary, and his investigator's instincts tell him that the scientist's death might have been the result of a failed attempt at blackmail.

Soon, the photographer who took a snapshot of the geneticist's fatal stumble is himself murdered, strangled to death and cut up. Both Giordani and Arno realize he was killed to hide something, probably an incriminating clue in the uncropped negative of the photograph. But what is so important that the killer is trying to cover up, and why was nothing stolen from the lab? As they get closer and closer to the truth, more people die and several attempts are made on their lives before the secret is finally revealed.

[edit] Additional Info

• This was Argento's second film as a director. It enjoyed moderate success in Europe but was dismissed in the U.S., and Argento has admitted to being less than pleased with it.
• A heavily edited version running 90 minutes also exists.