The feline tale returns as part of the fourth instalment in a series of contemporary reinterpretations tackling the great Edgar Allan Poe’s work. Starting back in 2011 with P.O.E: POETRY OF EERIE (2011) which was followed a year later by P.O.E: PROJECT OF EVIL (2012) and then P.O.E: PIECES OF ELDRITCH in 2014, POE 4: THE BLACK CAT stands out from its predecessors in that rather than focus on the varied, poetic and macabre dimensions of the infamous Boston author, this chapter will focus instead on the bloody, violent and disturbing retelling of one particular story; that of the BLACK CAT. Additionally POE 4 is the first one to feature an American director, although I believe Yumiko Itou was the first non-Italian director in the series.
Historically these releases have all featured several directors producing an individual and very unique vignette based around an Edgar Allen Poe story but here each director will tackle the same tale, putting their own spin on it and making it very interesting for the viewer and Poe fan to compare and contrast not only the influence taken but which specific areas that the directors place emphasis on. As anyone who has seen any of the previous pieces of work in this series can testify – these productions are never just a simple reproduction of the great writer’s work and here, The Black Cat is promising to be no different.
Brought to us from Vestra Pictures and The Enchanted Architect, the latter a production company run by Cosi Perversa favourite and endorsed director Domiziano Cristopharo (HOUSE OF FLESH MANNEQUINS; RED KROKODIL), so far only two directors, out of three, have been announced.
Obviously one of these two initially announced directors is Domiziano Cristopharo but I was very surprised (and excited) to see American director Chris Milewski being announced as the second name. If that name is not familiar to you on first glance you might recognise his pseudonyms – Luciano Imperoli (used on THE COLD EYES OF DEATH); Agostina Scola (used on HELP ME HAVE NO HUMAN WAYS) and Gianni Batzella (WELCOME TO THE WORLD, DEAR CHILD). An interesting change in fortunes where in past decades Italians would anglicise their names to appeal to us, now we want to be like them, but I digress.
Milewski first came to my attention with his Lucio Fulci inspired short THE COLD EYES OF DEATH, which featured a Fabio Frizzi score, and I am very intrigued to see how he interprets this Poe classic, both as a standalone and essentially as a complimentary piece to the other directors.
The guy clearly knows the older Italian aesthetic, not to mention possess an eye similar to Sergio Salvati (CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD; THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY; THE BEYOND) and if he actually was Italian perhaps he would be getting more attention.
At the moment things are still being announced about the film but check out the initial teaser from Milewski and it will be interesting to see how it complements or not the next teaser from another of the directors.
Trailer:
Website:
https://www.poe4theblackcat.info/
