by Linda Kay
Directed by: Lucio Fulci
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Slow paced but gory giallo finds archeologist Liza (Meg Register) having visions of past atrocities involving a group of nuns in a town in Sicily. Things only get worse when her expedition arrives in the same town and is shunned by the superstitious locals.
Purr Blur: As Turi the butcher (Lino Salemme) walks outside to talk to his friends, a cat can just barely be seen in the narrow street behind them.
Cat Cattle Call: Liza is approached by a fortune teller named Lilla (Carla Cassola) who urges Liza to visit her for more information. When Liza arrives at the woman’s house she is greeted by numerous cats who give her a welcoming jump scare.
Lilla appears holding a longhair black cat and proceeds to tell the truth behind Liza’s visions.
Shortly after this, Lilla returns home to find the cats strangely missing. When they do appear, they are clearly angry, hissing and arching their backs.
Lilla backs against a wall as the cats, who apparently didn’t like the fact she told the town’s secret, close in on her (all done in separate shots).
Cat Attack: The cats, or rather the cat puppets, attack her in earnest, jumping at her face.
Shots of the cats being dropped to the ground are reversed to make it appear they are launching themselves at the woman.
A combination of puppets and real cats effectivley rip the woman’s eyes out (we’ll spare you those images) and she crumples to the floor, dead.
Final Mewsings: Don’t make cats or puppets angry.
Many thanks to Mark Murton for letting us know about the cats in this film.
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