Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye
It is a house of lies and deception, Dragonstone Castle, ancestral home to the MacGrieff family in the Highlands of Scotland, heir Lord James a virtual prisoner, presumed mad, his mother Lady Mary adamant that despite rising debts they will not sell the mansion, her sister Lady Alicia unable to offer support, her fortunes tied towards the education of her daughter.
Alicia pressuring Mary to sell up and move to London where James can receive proper care, arriving unexpectedly Corringa claims the school closed before the end of term for repairs when in fact she has been expelled, the reunion over dinner marred by James’ open hostility which culminates in Alicia’s death that night, Mary asking Doctor Franz to declare it natural causes when in fact she was murdered.
A 1973 Gothic giallo directed by the prolific Antonio Margheriti, Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye (La morte negli occhi del gatto) is an oddity in that genre, most typically taking place in the present day but here set around the 1890s, the new theories of Freud controversial, a reversal of the favoured format of Hammer’s horrors of the era which were most often period pieces with only the occasional contemporary excursion.
Inexplicably set in Scotland yet filmed entirely in Italy though with an international cast, American Hiram Keller, French Françoise Christophe, Italian Dana Ghia, English Jane Birkin and German Anton Diffring, with Venantino Venantini (It) and Doris Kunstmann (Ger) as Padre Robertson and Suzanne, James’ tutor in French – and other languages – while the ginger cat who prowls the corridors, ticking off the seven murders of title, remains unnamed.
A witness to all that happens who only interferes at Alicia’s funeral, jumping on the lid of the coffin, Mary’s fury leading her to command the animal be locked in the crypt to die, the cat does not tell tales and so does not contribute to the lies, though it does lead Corringa from her bed chambers through a secret passage to the catacombs where bats lurk and bodies are chewed upon by rats, the unidentified first victim holding the key to the mystery.
Magnificently designed and shot, while the grey skies and trees pass for Scottish scenery the Mediterranean origin of Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye is betrayed by the costumes, ill suited for the climate, and the incongruously modern music played upon the gramophone, yet despite the numerous red herrings which act as no more than diversions – the caged great ape, the folk tales of vampires and Suzanne’s egalitarian approach to extra curricular activity – it has aged better than many similar films of the genre.
Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye is streaming on Shudder now
