THE
BLACK CAT (1966)/THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT
(1963)Directors: Harold Hoffman, Harold Lea
Something Weird Video/Image Entertainment
THE
BLACK CAT (1966)/THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT
(1963)THE BLACK CAT is one of the more faithful adaptations of the Poe story, even though it's set in sleazy mid-60s suburbia. Filmed in Texas, it concerns a half-baked young man named Lou (Robert Frost) and the sweet, pretty wife (Robyn Baker) that puts up with all his nonsense. On their first anniversary, Lou's wife gives him a black cat as a gift. Lou gets toasted, assaults his wife, and just totally flips out, believing the animal is the reincarnation of the father he hated. After quoting a line from Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart," he gauges the poor thing's eye out in the film's first unsettling scene. The poor pussy then gets hung and electrocuted!
Later, his house burns down (an unconvincing doll house mansion is set to flames) and Lou attacks a man in an office after discovering that his father didn't have fire insurance on it. He's then committed to institution, is released, gets back with his wife, and befriends another black cat with a similar eye wound. Now he spends most of his time boozing at a go-go club where a hip band performs rock standards wearing pirate eye patches. Lou is tormented and haunted by the new cat, but in an attempt to belt it with a hatchet, he settles for his wife's head (ouch) in the film's second unsettling scene (a still photo of this appeared several times in the pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland). You probably know the rest of the story.
THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT was shot mostly in New York's Greenwich Village, and the title refers to a then popular beatnik hangout that has since become a Mexican restaurant (which I've probably patroned on several occasions). The story concerns the murder of a naked girl in an alleyway and the square detective (Frank Jamus), and his equally lame partner, sifting through the bohemian underground to find the killer. He falls for a sexy NYU anthropologist/professor (Janet Damon), who's doing a study on these characters. There are lots of future stars here, including a young Geoffrey Lewis (a character actor that you've seen in a ton of Clint Eastwood films), the late Leonard Frey (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), and I swear that's Wavy Gravy (of "Woodstock" fame) as the goofy-looking guy in the party scene!
This cut of THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT is a spiced up version with new footage from master exploiter M.A. Ripps (who turned failed dud BAYOU into the hit POOR WHITE TRASH). In the new footage, a black cat (with ESP!) appears any time there's a murder, there's more sex and blood, and the killer's identity is different. The original ending is also included as part of 30 minutes cut from the film's initial incarnation. Here, someone else is reveled as the culprit and is tracked down in an amusement park. These mostly boring scenes also include a young Hector Elizondo as a dinner party guest.
The transfers for both titles are very pleasing. THE BLACK CAT is letterboxed at 1.85:1. It starts with a brief, rarely seen prologue that was obviously tacked on from an inferior source. This footage is well-worn, and bears the "SWV" logo in the right hand corner. Once the credits begin, the logo disappears and the image becomes very sharp, and aside from some minor lines and other dirt that quickly fade from sight, it looks excellent. THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT is shown full frame and looks even better, with a very clean, well-detailed representation of the film. The mono sound on both is fine, with no apparent glitches.
Frank Henenlotter pens the liner notes that exclusively pertain to FAT BLACK, and it's an excellent, all-inclusive essay on the film. There also a lot of cat-themed special features on the disc. Included are "Kitty Kat Trailers" for THE BLACK CAT, THE FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT, THE CATS, CONFESSIONS OF A PSYCHO CAT (also on DVD from SWV), THE GIRL FROM PUSSYCAT, THE HOUSE OF CATS, PUSS 'N BOOTS (the stiff German version), PUSSYCATS PARADISE, and THE TOMCAT (what, no "Dr. Tongue's 3-D House of Cats?"). There's also a stag short featuring stripper Margie La Mont in "The Cat Girl," a gallery of publicity photos from FAT BLACK PUSSYCAT, and the always great "Gallery of Horror Drive-In Exploitation Art" accompanied by "Horrorama" radio spots. (George R. Reis)