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Movie Reviews:

Masters Of Horror - "The Black Cat"
Anchor Bay Entertainment - 2007

Directed by Stuart Gordon
Teleplay by Dennis Paoli & Stuart Gordon

Starring
Jeffrey Combs

A writer sinks into debt by drunkenness both stemming from his wife's death.  You have to think that much of this story seems to be accurately close to what Edgar Allan Poe's life must have been like.

Stuart Gordon has been a real roll since his episode in the first Masters of Horror season.  Dennis Paoli and Gordon always work together well and the same can be said of Gordon's relationship with Jeffrey Combs.

The Tell Tale Cat: Making of THE BLACK CAT delves into the construction of this episode by speaking with cast & crew.  The inspiration for Gordon doing this story came from his daughter who is a high school English teacher.  Every Halloween Gordon's daughter has her father come to her class to talk to them about Edgar Allan Poe.  The previous year, he had read them THE BLACK CAT and scared the crap out of them. 

Visual Effects Supervisor Lee Wilson speaks about his contribution in Bringing Down The Ax: A Look Behind the FX of THE BLACK CAT.  Wilson explains how he added the axe blade to the axe handle that strikes the actresses head in the episode.  Howard Berger shares how they did the make up on the actress's face who is struck by the axe.  Wilson also talks about how the eye of the cat is stabbed by Jeffrey Combs.  Other effects moments are talked about and you see they way the effects artists pulled off the gags.

Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli provide an engaging Audio Commentary.  Their long standing history enable them to communicate their work on this episode.  A Photo Gallery and DVD-ROM of Screenplay wrap up the supplements.

THE BLACK CAT is further proof that Stuart Gordon indeed one of the Masters of Horror. It's also nice to see a filmmaker tell one of stories from the legendary Edgar Allan Poe.

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