Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key

A pretty torturous title for this giallo adaptation of Poe's "The Black Cat", in which an alcoholic and abusive writer becomes a suspect in a series of murders, driving his wife insane with paranoia. A couple of nice twists, but only if you're not familiar with the source material. Still, it's got Luigi Pistilli rampaging around like a lunatic and Ed Fenech gets her fabulous tits out a few times, so it's definitely worth a look.

It might not be as memorable as its title, and it is (of course) trashy, but it's relatively accomplished trash.

Viewed January 19, 2022. Sergio Martino turns wealthy, alcohol-fueled decadence into horror, and then pushes the film toward heady violence and psychological disorientation. The Gothic atmosphere is well-constructed and fitting for the way narrative heightens into increasingly grisly places. Martino can certainly craft an unsettling image, but what sticks out to me more is his portrayal of human filth and the physical manifestation of their desperation.

MURDER KITTY! Also a bunch of people go crazy in a crumbling mansion. Poe done giallo style and it works.

This extremely loose adaptation of Poe's "The Black Cat" is an okay Giallo, if also one of the weakest of Sergio Martino's early 70's run. The first and last act are pretty decent, but the middle of the film meanders about with no suspense to speak of. It's kind of funny that the film briefly drops in Ivan Rassimov for a second near the beginning and then just hopes you forget seeing him since he's obviously not the insignificant side character he appears to be.

I enjoyed the twist and the cinematography. Overall, there was too much sleaze for me with not enough substance. At times, it felt like a late-night HBO movie.

Lush visuals, haunting score, surprisingly not-terrible dubbing, and a cat named Satan.

Pretty awful purportedly erotic euro-horror with Poe's black cat (portrayed by a ridiculously cheap prop) thrown in and an overly repetitive soundtrack. Don't bother.

A scuzzy minor suspense classic, full of debauchery and murder, with a hint of incest. The adaptation of Poe's original work to post-hippie rural Italy, surprisingly, works. And its tongue-twister of a title is a personal favorite.

watched: 2016, 2017

I've seen this twice and been disappointed both times. It can be due to comparing it to earlier Martino gialli as this is clearly different. It's not as fun and has a decadent, nasty atmosphere with quite despicable characters. The beginning resembles those films, but it then turns into a sleazier version of Diaboliques with shades of Poe's Black cat thrown in, and I don't think it works as a whole. There's still plenty to enjoy here: Fenech is striking and the soundtrack is solid.