The Cat o’ Nine Tails, Il gatto a nove code

1971, dir. Dario Argento
with James Franciscus, Karl Malden, and Catherine Spaak.
112 min, 35mm

In the follow up to “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage,” Franco Arno, a blind ex-journalist-crossword-puzzle-pro (Malden) overhears a strange conversation between two men sitting in a car parked in front of a medical institute where genetic experiments are performed. When Arno learns the medical institute was later broken into, and a researcher turns up dead, he teams with journalist Carlo Giordani (Franciscus) to get to the bottom of the mysterious circumstances.  As the killer’s string of horrors continues, the two men learn the scientists are researching a revolutionary new drug that affects the chromosomes involved in juvenile delinquency for the government.  Discovering that there are nine leads to be followed, Franco and Carlo race against time to solve the mystery before they become the next victims.