The Review of- The black cat
At it’s core, THE BLACK CAT is a tale of a home invader (the black cat) terrorizing its victim in
the most cat-like way imaginable- sheer irritation and utter contempt. Ruskin (played by
celebrated Indian actor Tom Alter in his final performance before his untimely passing on Sept
27 2017), are you trying to work on your book? I’ll just walk across your type writer. Oh Ruskin,
are you trying to sleep? Let me just jump on you, massage you with my sharp claws and run
around the room like its on fire. You know…typical feline mental warfare.
Ruskin Bond is not a big fan of cats to begin with. Earlier, he was telling the antique store
owner, where he bought a very unique broom, how obstinate he felt cats were. Just his luck
that this black cat would choose him as “his owner”, right? I’m not sure why Ruskin is so against
the cats that live in his neighborhood, aside from the antique owner, the cats are the only
interaction he has.
That is until the quirky Mrs Bellows turns up at his door, looking for her black cat. Ruskin is
more than glad to return the nuisance to it’s rightful owner. Even stranger than Mrs Bellows,
is the bizarre and magical potion she drinks while visiting Ruskins house to collect her black
cat. Like many people when they drink, this concoction gives us further insight into what exactly
Mrs Bellows is all about and who she is.
The production design is brilliant. It really shapes the story which on it’s own would be too
simplistic without those sumptuous details in the design. The acting is over the top, as is par
for the course with children’s horror. This is a great film for children. So much so that it was
released on Children’s Day on November 14th across India. I also want to give props to the
team behind this, because bless any film crew that has the patience to work with not one, but
two cats!
If you have little monsters between 6-10 I think they will really dig this film and you yourself
will be transported back to that time when you were discovering horror in its more supernatural
and fantastical form.