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January 19, 2007: Tale of The Black Cat
"Meow meow meow meow meow meow." My black cat, "Sprite" wanted to get her 2 pounce in about this week's Masters of Horror episode, The Black Cat. I had to give her a six-word limit, or else she would have hijacked this post. She gives it 4 out of 4 claws, mostly because she thought that "Pluto" the cat was very handsome (even with just one eye).
Ahem.
How can I find the words to describe Stuart Gordon's adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat, when all I can think is "wow?" I've always enjoyed Stuart Gordon's masterful cinematic interpretations of H.P. Lovecraft's work, and had hoped he would bring the same atmospheric, dramatic and gory details to his Edgar Allan Poe debut. Well, he did, and I would love to see Gordon take on even more Poe in the coming years. Come on, Stuart, we know you can't resist the pulse of The Tell-Tale Heart!
As Gordon explained in the Fangoria interview I posted Friday, The Black Cat does get into some difficult terrain with realistic scenes of graphic animal abuse. I was prepared for this, and it helped to read about it ahead of time (thank you, Fangoria). It was also interesting to know ahead of time that unlike the original Black Cat, Gordon decided to place Poe and his beloved betrothed "Sissy" into the story as the main characters. I found this to be effective, because it made me feel like I was getting to know the darkness behind Poe "in the flesh," in addition to what I already knew about his demons in a literary sense. What also made this effective was the superb casting, as Jeffrey Combs delivered the right touch to make Poe's madness both operatic and tragic. Supporting actress Elyse Levesque delivered a very natural performance as the beautiful, innocent and fragile Virginia "Sissy" Poe.
In essence, Stuart Gordon's Black Cat is a fantastic period piece, a mood-drenched, blood-soaked, maddening tale of horror, just as I believe Poe would have wanted to see. I found myself utterly fascinated by the Edgar Allan Poe in this story, and found this one-hour film to deliver the range and depth of a feature length adaptation of Poe's work.
We're down to the final Masters of Horror Season 2 episodes now, and worthy of the title of "Master," Stuart Gordon has raised the bar another notch. If the final episodes even remotely rise to this level, season two will shape up to be just about as good as season 1 or better, and I would personally welcome a season three.
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Jan 21, 2007 9:43 PM
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From the opening credits [which reminded of the Edward Gorey titles for PBS' Mystery] to the final scene with Poe beginning to write The Black Cat, this episode startled and amazed me.
Stuart Gordon has, once again, done a lovely job for this series. He definitely has a way with mood/atmosphere - and his take on Poe's writing process was certainly unique!
Another intersting thing about this ep is the way Gordon finds new ways to bring on the blood. There's something even more horrifying about blood when it's being coughed up by a sick person than when it's erupting from a severed limb. Something to do with its closer connection to reality, no doubt.
This is also probably the most nuanced ep of the season, to date. Gordon definitely elicits a pair of fine, emotionally real performances from Combs [one of my favourite actors for decades] and Levesque.
I believe that The Black Cat has just moved up to the number two position for season two [right behind Pelts].
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Jan 25, 2007 1:33 PM
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