The Black Cat (Italian: Black Cat: Gatto nero) is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Lucio Fulci. Biagio Proietti co-wrote the screenplay with Fulci. It stars Patrick Magee, Mimsy Farmer, Al Cliver, David Warbeck, and Dagmar Lassander. The film is based loosely on the 1843 story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe, and uses the violent style that typified the director's later career, following films like Don't Torture a Duckling (1972).