1971 film by Dario Argento
The Cat o' Nine Tails (Italian: Il gatto a nove code) is a 1971 giallo film directed by Dario Argento, adapted from a story by Argento, Luigi Cozzi, Dardano Sacchetti, and an uncredited Bryan Edgar Wallace. It stars James Franciscus, Karl Malden, and Catherine Spaak.
Although it is the middle entry in Argento's so-called "Animal Trilogy" (along with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Four Flies on Grey Velvet), the "cat o' nine tails" does not directly refer to a literal cat, nor to a literal multi-tailed whip; rather, it refers to the number of leads that the protagonists follow in the attempt to solve a murder.
The film was a commercial success in Italy but not in the rest of Europe. However, it was acclaimed in the United States. Argento admitted in the book Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento that he was less than pleased with the film, and has repeatedly cited it as his least favorite of all of his films.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.