The Cat o' Nine Tails
The Cat o' Nine Tails is a 1971 film from France, West Germany and Italy, directed by Dario Argento, running 89 minutes. reelscum files it under giallo.
- Year
- 1971 · 1970s films
- Country
- France · West Germany · Italy
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Director
- Dario Argento
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- known (21/100)
- Also known as
- Cat o' Nine Tails · Cat O'Nine Tails
Defined in the glossary: Giallo
Argento's least favourite of his own films. He is roughly right.
Argento's own least favourite of his films, and he is roughly right. A blind former journalist and a reporter investigate a murder at a genetics institute, and the mystery is more conventional and less visually deranged than the films on either side of it.
Karl Malden brings unexpected warmth as the blind investigator, and there are a couple of strong set pieces, but the film lacks the delirium that makes the best Argento essential. It is his most straightforward thriller.
Solid, competent, and the one Argento film that plays it safe.
Trailer
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Written about
- The giallo, 1963 to 1976
A line of yellow paperbacks, a killer in black gloves, and Mario Bava building the American slasher a decade before Hollywood cashed the cheque.
Filed alongside
Blood and Black Lace
The template, and still the best-looking film on this list.
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Argento's third. Unavailable for decades, and worth the wait for the last shot.
Inferno
Argento's sequel to Suspiria. Even less plot, even more colour. A building that is alive.
Tenebrae
Argento's coldest and cleverest. That crane shot earns its reputation.
Opera
Needles taped under the eyes so she cannot look away. Argento's last truly great film.
A Bay of Blood
Bava invents the slasher a decade early. Friday the 13th copied two kills outright.
Phenomena
Insect telepathy, a Swiss boarding school, and a straight-razor chimpanzee. Argento off the leash.
What Have You Done to Solange?
Unusually sad for a giallo, and much better for it.
Don't Torture a Duckling
Fulci's best film and his angriest. A giallo about mob justice in a village.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
The one usually called the first giallo. Still half a krimi.
Alice, Sweet Alice
American giallo in Catholic New Jersey. Genuinely disturbing and well acted.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Argento's debut, and the film that made the giallo an export.