Available at Amazon.com
Directed by
Stuart Gordon
Cast:
Jeffrey Combs … Edgar Allan Poe
Elyse Levesque … Virginia Poe
Aron Tager … George Graham
Eric Keenleyside … Sgt. Booker
Patrick Gallagher … Barman
Christopher Heyerdahl … Rufus Griswold
Ken Kramer … Doctor
Ian Alexander Martin … Mr. Fordham
Ryan Crocker … Policeman
Without question, Showtime’s Masters of Horror anthology is a show that has had its ups and downs. While some of the show’s episodes, such as Dario Argento’s “Jenifer”, Takashi Miike’s “Imprint”, John Carpenter’s “Pro-Life”, and a few others, have been strong examples of what is really possible on this series, most of the episodes really only reach the level of guilty pleasures. Perhaps because of the show’s low budgets or the constraints of the format, many episodes seem to rush to an unsatisfactory finale, or they rely too heavily on gore or overacting to tell their stories. This is why I was shocked to see just how well thought out and produced Stuart Gordon’s second entry, “The Black Cat”, really was.
The premise for the episode itself borders on brilliant. “The Black Cat” is indeed a retelling of one of Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous stories, but with a terrific twist. While adapting the tale for TV, Gordon along with Writer Dennis Paoli, decided to make Poe’s nameless main character into the writer himself. By crafting the story around not only the original text, but around real events in Poe’s own life, “The Black Cat” becomes a fascinating work and one of the best episodes of Masters of Horror ever produced.
First and foremost, Jeffrey Combs simply disappears under his prosthetics and costuming to become Edgar Allen Poe in this tale. Much like Poe’s protagonists, he is a man that is actually quite gentle and likable usually. His manner is charming and Combs brings out a Southern gentile quality in his portrayal of the famous poet that I’ve never seen before. He is also quite mischievous and untrustworthy, as he was in real life, and this portion of Poe’s life is treated with equal flair. We see him beg money from people he has criticized or even fantasized of killing, but Combs keeps all these aspects of the author quite believable. We are also privy to his fits of rage, which was also the mark of many of Poe’s characters, as so many of them produced a touch of madness that was always triggered by certain events within the stories.
In this story that madness is brought about by a combination of Poe’s alcoholism and his wife slowly dying from consumption. Combs is matched quite well by the performance of Elyse Levesque as Poe’s wife, Virginia, the picture of innocence throughout this tale and the source of its great tragedy. Because of Levesque’s radiance, it’s horrifying to see Virginia’s disease start to ravage her. The worst sequence has her spewing blood as if she were some demented fountain, which was apparently based on a real event in Poe’s life. It was because of her infirmity that the writer’s alcoholism and delirium got worse and worse in his life, and also caused him a severe case of writer’s block, seriously hurting what little income the couple had. This is depicted in detail and we see just what kind of situation produced the writer’s works.
I think Stuart Gordon actually does the best work he’s done in some time on this episode, as he’s able to slowly turn the screws up on this story. He sets little things up early on in the piece, which all come to fruition, and somehow keeps Poe likable, even after he does horrible things, especially to his cat. There’s quite a bit of gore throughout this piece, but it never seems overly gratuitous, as each instance is actually from Poe’s original work. It’s the character that stay important here, and not the effects, which is why this story is able to succeed.
KNB Effects does their usual stellar work here, especially with the physical effects, which come off as quite gruesome. There are some subtle visual effects done throughout this episode which were also very well done, and enhance the mood of the piece as a whole. I especially love a sequence where Poe is thrown out a bar during another night of drunkenness and walks home with a gigantic cat shadow following him. The scene is creepy and efficient, without falling into comedy because of its simplicity.
Pound for pound, “The Black Cat” is the best and most effective Masters of Horror episode I’ve seen. With its terrific script and expert performances, the story flows very well and the hour is over before you know it. Gordon is obviously a big fan of Poe, and with this story the director honors his hero with one of the best Poe adaptations ever produced.
The Video
“The Black Cat” looks pretty great on this DVD. Though the picture is washed out, this is done on purpose, and when it is supposed to, the picture flows with great color. The image is never too dark, and there is no debris to speak of. The episode is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.
The Audio
The Audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is also nice. There’s TERRIFIC sound design on this episode and it all comes out quite well on this disc.
Audio Commentary by Director Stuart Gordon and Star Jeffrey Combs – These two know each other very well and it comes off swimmingly in this commentary track, that is loaded with tidbits about not only the making of this episode, but about Poe’s life as well. The two literally don’t stop talking the entire episode, which is good because they never seem to stop being interesting.
The Tell-Tale Cat: Making of the Black Cat – This is a nice 14 minute Featurette that covers everything from the project’s conception to the picture’s makeup effects. Gordon apparently got the idea for doing “The Black Cat” from one of his children, who is a teacher that always has Stuart come in every year and speak to their classroom about Poe. We get nice looks at Jeffery Combs’ makeup procedure and other little moments from the production. Overall, this is a decent, if short Featurette, especially considering the work done on this series before.
Bringing Down the Axe – A Look Behind The FX – This Featurette is devoted to the nifty Visual and Makeup effects of the piece, all of which are very impressive. The most ghoulish is a facial prosthetic of an axe wound to the face, which is actually pretty awesome.
Trailers – You get trailers for all the Masters of Horror DVD releases so far from both seasons, as well as the trailer for Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.
Photo Gallery
