The Black Cat

An unnamed man drives through the village when a black cat sits in the back seat. The cat's unsettling stare seems to seize his attention and he loses control, crashing and dying at the roadside. The cat lingers in the wreckage, hinting at its supernatural influence.

Robert Miles, a former college professor of the supernatural, lives alone in an old house and records audiotapes at the tombs of the recently deceased. He is reputed to be a medium, and locals whisper about his odd habits. His work foreshadows the cat's power that will later manifest through him.

American tourist Jill Trevers enters an open crypt to photograph it and discovers a microphone on the floor. She is warned by Sergeant Wilson not to return to the crypt. This encounter ties Jill to the town's mysterious happenings.

At a boathouse, Maureen Grayson and her boyfriend Stan seal themselves in an airtight room to have sex. They soon realize they have lost the key and are running out of air, trapping them inside.

The following day, Maureen's mother Lillian Grayson reports her daughter's disappearance. Inspector Gorley from Scotland Yard is called to town to investigate the string of odd events.

Jill's search for the microphone's owner leads her to Miles. The cat leaps and scratches Miles, preventing him from hypnotizing Jill, who escapes. The cat's actions reveal Miles's susceptibility to its influence without fully explaining it.

That night, Ferguson leaves a pub and heads home, only to be terrified by the cat inside a disused barn. He tries to escape along a beam but loses balance and falls onto spikes, dying gruesomely.

The next morning, Gorley asks Jill to help photograph Ferguson's corpse. She notices that the scratches on Ferguson's hands resemble those suffered by Miles, linking the cases and deepening suspicion around the medium.

Miles, at Lillian's behest, agrees to help find Maureen. He enters a trance and describes the boathouse and the location of the key. The police and Lillian locate Maureen and Stan's bodies; the key lies outside the locked door, confirming their traps. That night, Lillian dies in a fire started by the cat.

The following day, Jill shows Miles photographs of the Ferguson scratches. Miles acknowledges that the cat exerts a supernatural influence over him, deepening the bond between his fate and the animal.

That night, Miles drugs the cat and hangs it from a tree. The cat's death unleashes supernatural forces that strike Jill as she sleeps at the village inn, signaling a direct consequence of Miles's actions.

Gorley visits Jill to discuss the flashes of light and strange occurrences. While leaving, he encounters the cat, which attacks and hypnotizes him, causing him to stagger onto the road where a car runs him down.

The next day, Jill, still convinced Miles is the killer, sneaks into his house and uncovers recordings of his conversations with the dead. Miles returns, and Jill hides in the cellar, where the cat appears and disappears and Miles corners her.

Jill is pursued through the cellar, attacked by bats, and knocked out by Miles. The cat's lingering influence fuels the village's nightmare as she fights to survive Miles's grip.

Jill wakes bound and gagged while Miles bricks up the cellar to hide her away and make it look as if she left town. Gorley and the others search Miles' house, hear the cat's cries, and break down the wall to find Jill barely alive and the dead cat. Miles concedes that the cat has won.