HorrorYear1966Duration1h 13mIMDb5.5

The Black Cat

Horror

An insane man is obsessed with the idea that his pet black cat, Pluto, is evil. He cuts out one of its eyes and then kills it. Later, he starts to believe that Pluto has come back from the dead to kill him for revenge.

Trailer

Cast

HH

Harold Hoffman

Director

Robert Frost

Lou

RB

Robyn Baker

Diana

SF

Sadie French

Lillian

SM

Scotty McKay

Singer - Special Guest Star

GR

George R. Russell

Psychologist

GE

George Edgley

Lawyer

Annabelle Weenick

Bar Girl

Jeff Alexander

1st Detective

Bill Thurman

Bartender

P

Pluto

The Black Cat

JM

Jeannie Miller

Dancer

CL

Cathy Lacey

Dancer

DS

Dale Silver

Dancer

PF

Phyllis Farrell

Dancer

RM

Rosemarie McKay

Dancer

Edgar Allan Poe

Writer

HH

Harold Hoffman

Writer

Comments

9 Comments

khalifaThaStyliztAug 18, 2024

The Black Cat, loosely based on the Edgar Allen Poe classic of the same name, is the story of one man's descent into madness, a case of unchecked schizophrenia fueled by alcoholism that ultimately results in murder. Robert Frost plays mentally unbalanced writer Lou, whose wife Diana (Robyn Baker) gets him a black cat to celebrate their first anniversary. At first Lou is delighted with the new addition to his menagerie (he also has a monkey, a toucan, a racoon and a parakeet), and gives more attention to the moggy than to his wife (who cries herself to sleep in bed), but as he spirals out of control, Lou comes to believe that the cat is evil, gouging out its eye, hanging it with a flex, and electrocuting it. Eventually, Lou's violence is turned towards Diana... With spirited central performances from Frost and Baker, a snappy pace, and some surprisingly gnarly violence (the axe in the head scene is extremely bloody for the time), this is a very entertaining '60s take on an oft-told tale. Hailing from the era of the twangy guitar, the film is replete with energetic rock and roll musical numbers that some might find off-putting but which I found only added to the wild nature of the movie (I liked how the band wear eye-patches during one song, mimicking the one-eyed cat). I do have to wonder how much animal cruelty was involved in the making of the film-the poor puss looks genuinely distressed at times-but if you can handle the questionable cat handling, this is definitely worth a go. 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for the memorable scene in which Lou chats to a nightclub floozy, accusing her of being a witch: Frost is utterly convincing as a scarily unhinged individual with only the faintest grasp on reality.

Adunni AdeAug 18, 2024

Taking a look at a poll being held on IMDb's Classic Film board for the best titles of 1963,I noticed that a fellow IMDb'er mentioned a film whose title appeared to be a rift on Edgar Allen Poe's famous story The Black Cat.Looking around for the movie,I was delighted to stumble upon a DVD from a company called Something Weird,which unexpectedly included a fun sounding bonus feature,which led to me getting ready to find out how lucky this black cat could be. View on the film: Shooting in stark B&W,writer/director Harold Hoffman transfers Poe's story to Texas so that he can give it a deep-fried Gothic Horror atmosphere,with Hoffman covering the couple's house in dark hues,which builds a gradually fear of a dark shadow covering the house.Along with the brittle chill,Hoffman shows a real skill in timing the moments of gore,thanks to Hoffman delivering them at the precise moment that Lou and Diana's relationship is on the edge. For the screenplay of the film,Hoffman allows the paranoid horror to slowly roll into Diana (played by a pretty Robyn Baker) and Lou's (played by a wonderfully stern Robert Frost) house,as Diana begins to witness the changes that Pluto causes on Lou,as they both start to find out how unlucky this black cat will be for them.

طارق العليAug 18, 2024

I saw this movie when it was first released; at this time, almost 35 years ago. I was all of 11 years old and found it horrifying. It is the only movie I have ever seen where I had to leave the theater during certain scenes. I doubt now that I would be that scared, but I have nevery forgotten this move. I have never seen it since that time. I cannot find it on video, nor can I even find a review of it in any of the ubiquitous movie-review catalogs. It's as if this movie never existed. If anyone knows anything at all about this movie, I would appreciate very much hearing from you.

Dr SID Oct 16, 2023

Hanuman Singh RathorMay 29, 2023

Connie FergusonMay 29, 2023

source: The Black Cat

Diya GcNov 16, 2022

The Black Cat

user2238158962281Nov 16, 2022

BLACK CAT, THE (1966) D: Harold Hoffman (SPOILERS) **1/2 (of ****) Cheap but fun, with cool Sixties tunes ("Sinnerman" is a favorite), sung by a group with eye patches! "Cruelty to Animals" activists might get up in arms about the mistreatment of a cat this time around. Great axe-in-the-head sequence! Bad acting from the leading man.

maheer.abdulcarimoNov 16, 2022

One of the closer adaptions of the Edgar Allen Poe tale. Though not one of my favorite adaptions of the story it was better then a thought it would be being a low budget B movie basically. Not that I don't like B movies I just didn't think it could compare to the Karloff and Lugosi version but it was actually close to it because the other version was less on track with the Poe story.

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