|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cat People relies on
excellent atmosphere, creepy locations and clever techniques of
hinting at the horrors to come – especially since none of
the actual slaughter takes place on screen. Rarely seen in thrillers
these days, this Val Lewton production focuses on character development
and an interesting love triangle over senseless, violent kills.
In fact, the film likely features the smallest body count of any
horror film out there – yet plenty of intrigue still surfaces
in the form of ominous supernatural elements and the unique catalyst
for transformation.
C.R. Cooper Ship and Barge Construction Company worker Oliver
Reed (Kent Smith) falls for Serbian fashion designer Irena Dubrovna
(Simone Simon), a mysterious woman with a haunted past. After
tea and a failed gift (a kitten that just doesn’t like her
– along with every other animal at the pet shop), they’re
madly in love and ready for marriage. Irena’s childhood,
involving King John having liberated Serbia from evil witches,
remains a dark omen that plagues the wedding and their future.
She’s terrified of the “cat people” that descended
from the surviving warlocks, but Oliver is convinced it’s
a harmless fairy tale. |
 |
 |
Months pass and Irena
continues to worry that she’s being controlled by wicked feline
creatures, including a panther at the nearby zoo she occasionally
visits. It doesn’t help that her apartment is within earshot
of constant howling from the lion’s den. Jealousy over Oliver’s
co-worker Alice (Jane Randolph) further deteriorates the situation,
along with the fact that Irena doesn’t want to kiss Oliver
for fear she’ll turn into a vicious cat and kill him. When
Irena’s pet bird dies, a psychiatrist (Tom Conway) is the
next step. Alice soon believes that she’s being stalked by
Irena, who she claims morphs into a catlike monster, but the skeptical
doctor reasons with explanations of hallucinations and insanity
and even a subconscious psychic need to loose evil upon the world.
But Alice knows the uncanny woman is transforming into something
murderous… and not human.
Bloody paw prints gradually turning into high heel marks, a shredded robe and animated shadows are an effective but dated method of revealing as little as possible – partly because of a low budget and conveniently because less is more. Even as a B-picture, the acting is quite good; it’s not over-the-top like most cheesy horror fare, but adequately believable. With great sets and very few characters in the film, the scenes in which the doctor must go back to an apartment to retrieve a forgotten item, alone, and when Alice takes a solitary midnight swim, are much more intense, if not humorously suspenseful. Val Lewton proves that it doesn’t take much money to create a short bit of mildly thrilling, creative and classically scary entertainment. - The Massie Twins
Click HERE to read the review of The Curse of the Cat People (1944) |