7. “The Cat o’ Nine Tails” (1971)
Although Argento himself has repeatedly criticized the second installment in his so-called “Animal Trilogy,” “The Cat o’ Nine Tails” shouldn’t be overlooked as essential cinema from the writer-director. Following an unexplained break-in at a medical research facility, two reporters (played by the perfectly cast James Franciscus and Karl Malden) investigate the murder of a doctor who was pushed in front of a train by an unseen assailant.
The 1971 giallo is staggeringly straightforward compared to the hyper-violent, super-stylish Argento flicks to come. But by slowly pulling the threads of the intrepid journalists’ many leads, it weaves an almost mesmeric mystery that, if nothing else, is rich with hints of the auteur’s later work.