The Black Cat

Director Marc Ravenna and screenwriter Dan Grudzinski are working on their new film, which will be about the witch Levana. The film is being produced by the shady Leonard Levin, who seems to have very different goals. The leading role is to be played by Marc's wife Anne, but she is plagued by terrible visions of Levana. During further research, Marc and Dan meet the occultist Esther Semerani, who only warns them not to use the name Levana in their film. A short time later, Esther and Dan die brutally. Has Levana really come to life?

Before Dario Argento completed his trilogy begun with Suspiria and Inferno in 2007 with The Mother of Tears, a supposed third part appeared in 1989. Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat or Demons 6 - De Profundis was directed by Lugi Cozzi. The screenplay was written by Daria Nicolodi, who was originally supposed to play the lead role. But when Cozzi revised the script, which now no longer matched her vision, she dropped out of the project. Cozzi, who is a big sci-fi fan himself, inserted various sci-fi elements that didn't blend particularly well with the horror scenes. To make matters worse, producer Menahem Golan had already sold the film as an Edgar Allen Poe adaptation, so scenes of black cats keep popping up throughout the film, generally unrelated to the plot. The rest is a jumbled mess about an actress who has visions of an evil witch. At least the effects scenes are very well done and the sets are very atmospheric. In the end, the film tries to escalate the conflict as an epic confrontation between good and evil, which only succeeds to a certain extent.

French VHS shortened by one plot scene

The French VHS is based on the common theatrical version of the film, unlike the Japanese VHS which contains an alternate version. In the French version, the scene where Nora and the craftsman are killed by Levana is missing. One can only puzzle over the reasons. Apparently, the French distributor found the punishment of Nora too harsh.

Runtimes:

US Blu-ray (Severin): 88:57 min.
French VHS: 81:57 min.

Comparison between the French VHS by Front Line Video and the US Blu-ray by Severin.

[01:10:16][01:13:17]

The French VHS is missing the entire sequence where Nora gets in the car and picks up the handyman. Both drive to Levana's house. The latter is unhappy with Nora because she failed to stop Anne. Levana blows up the car with the handyman and hands Nora a razor blade with which she slits her throat.

US: 3:28 min