The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971)

The Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971), an English-language Italian film by Dario Argento, follows the investigation of a mysterious break-in at the Terzi Medical Institute. Despite not taking anything, the perpetrator kills one of the doctors, Calabresi, who had knowledge about the incident. The victim’s fiancée, Bianca Merusi, is told about this by Calabresi before his untimely death at the hands of the thief. A photojournalist captures the moment but misses capturing the killer. Reporter Carlo Giordani, who has been covering the story since its start, publishes an article on Calabresi’s demise and includes the photograph. Soon after, Franco ‘Cookie’ Arnò, a former successful journalist now blind and with his niece Lori in tow, visits Carlo to discuss his suspicions regarding the cropped photograph that was published.

These doubts are confirmed when they reach out to the photographer for clarification. Once the request to print the entire photo is made, a tragic event takes place. Sadly, the photographer is strangled to death, and the perpetrator escapes with the photo and negatives before Carlo, Franco, and Lori arrive at the scene. Carlo is impressed by Franco’s skills and allows him to assist in the investigation. As they discuss the case, they identify nine potential leads: Mombelli, Esson, Casoni, Braun and director Terzi from the Institute, Terzi’s daughter Anna, Bianca, the original break-in incident and the missing photographs. They make light of this somewhat complicated situation as they compare it to a cat o’ nine tails and make a plan to pursue each lead.