morrison-dylan-fan Reading an old issue of British film mag Empire,I noticed a review from Kim Newman which said that people could hold a Barbara Shelley "cat" double bill,thanks to (the very good) Cat Girl and this John Gilling-directed flick coming out on DVD. Introduced to Hammer Horror with Gilling's superb dream-logic Gothic tale The Plague of the Zombies,I started searching round for more info,and I was thrilled to find the whole film online!,which led to me following the black cat.The plot:Licking their lips for the contents of a new will her husband pushed her to sign, Ella Venable's decide to speed things up and kill her.As they bury the body in the garden,her butler Andrew,husband Walter and the maid Clara promise to keep the killing secret,with the only one who does not agree being Ella's loyal cat Tabitha. Whilst trying find Ella's original will (which left nothing to him) Walter invites niece Elizabeth "Beth" Venable round,as the police search for "missing" Ella. As Walter secretly looks for the original will,Beth notices the trio are terrified of a cat!,who soon steps out of the shadows with its murderous paws.View on the film:Quoting Edgar Allan Poe opening lines of The Raven,the screenplay by George Baxt creams this "unofficial" Hammer Horror with a tightly spun murder mystery shadowed with a peculiar Gothic Horror purr.Largely taking place in the Venable house,Baxt attacks each of the murdering residences with a macabre delight,as the deaths in the cats eyes allows Baxt to tangle the killers in deadly Rube Goldberg twists. Hissing at the cat and Beth for asking questions about Ella's whereabouts,Baxt unrolls a delicious murder mystery,filling the dark corners of the house with frightful whispers over fears of Beth unlocking their secrets.Despite the black and white presentation taking away his remarkable use of colours, director John Gilling impressively still digs his claws into a rich Hammer Horror Gothic atmosphere.Casting a sense of fearful unease bubbling underneath the false concern for Ella, Gilling and cinematographer Arthur Grant stylishly whip-pan across each killer and strikes the viewer with their sly smiles. Holding back on the gore,Gilling dives in to the ridiculousness of the situation with fantastic first person tracking shots which make the cat look like a 60 foot beast. Staying in bed over fears of the avenging kitty, André Morell gives a splendid performance as Walter,who acts as a warm family figure,whose image Morell tears down to reveal the money grabber with scratches of death on his hands. Joining fellow Hammer star Morell,the elegant Barbara Shelley gives a terrific performance as Beth,whose puzzlement over everyone's fear of the cat Shelly curls up with a quick-witted questioning side,as Walter goes after that darn cat.

Theo Robertson This owes a lot to both Edgar Allan Poe and Hammer Studios . A man murders his wife with the help of his two servants to claim the inheritance quickly realising her cat Tabitha has witnessed the murder and is bent on revenge . It sounds slightly bonkers and it is but Poe in his short story The Black Cat brought a credibility to a macabre story of revenge . THE SHADOW OF THE CAT is much more in keeping with the spirit of Poe compared to the 1930s Universal film starring Karloff and Lugosi which took the title of Poe's story but absolutely nothing else .Alas SHADOW OF THE CAT is a rather mundane melodrama . Andre Morrell can do no wrong in my opinion and realises what sort of film he's appearing in and acts accordingly - by hamming things up every chance he gets including a laugh inducing scene where he's stuck in a cellar and shrieks like a banshee as he fights off an attack by Tabitha . As for the rest of the cast they're very mundane who have little impact in a film with a cheap feel with a rather uninteresting screenplay featuring a cat on a revenge mission . Maybe they could have got Charles Bronson to play Tabitha ?

malcolmgsw Filmmakers have long faced a dilemma as to how to make benign domestic pets and unferocious animals look malevolent.Short sharp close ups and doom laden music ,mickey mousing are 2 ways of doing it.both are tried by the director,the redoubtable John Gilling.However even he cant make this feline look ferocious.Maybe he should have hired a Twetie Pie double.However this doesn't affect the entertainment to be had as a number of venerable actors make themselves go silly trying to look as if they are truly worried about the pesky canine.It is in fact the sort of film where you scream with laugh rather than fear.It is worth viewing if for no other reason.

HEFILM This Hammer film has a unique story while boasting the typically good to great Hammer assets of editing (which is especially well done this time) and production and of course acting. The copy I saw was a very poor dub of a dub and a good version would rate higher. I'm not sure if this was a Scope movie or not, though many of Hammer's Black and White films were and the full frame version I saw looked cropped. Originally the cat was supposed to be shown only as a shadow, this might have in the long run been more effective, or at least explained the title, though it's the shadow of guilt it still refers too. I can't think of another Hammer film quite like this as far as plot or structure. It starts with a very good longish pre-credit sequence and has typically effective music throughout. Director John Gilling is under-appreciated and this film is unique in his output.It is fast paced, stylish and fun, actor Andre Morell does a great freak out job. It can be a problem with films where most of the characters are bad guys to keep interest, but this group sweats in fear and celebrates their own misdeeds in a way that makes them engaging. You want them to die but you also somehow sympathize with the inevitable cruel nature of their fate.Some nice shots of cat's glowing eyes by the way as well.