Cat People/Curse of the Cat People, a review by Jon
CAT PEOPLE5 out of 5Simon Simone is brilliant as Irena, a woman afraid to love in case it awakens a curse. Her fiance thinks this is rubbish and tries to help her so they can be married. But he's taken on more than he bargained for.
Horror classic that uses shadow and suggestion rather than effects, backed up by strong themes of real horror that most people can identify with; jealousy, self-doubt, loneliness. Is she a cat woman? Doesn't really matter when those themes are already causing enough trouble. This I've come to learn is typical Lewton. Add in a fiance that might not actually have the will power to stay the course and help his bonkers girlfriend and you have a complex hero unusual for the time this film was released.
The photography is incredible, using shadows to shred your nerves. I particularly enjoyed the swimming pool sequence which is just superb. It's all backed up by the cat people myth, which may be without foundation, but Irena believes it fully so it adds to the intrigue. As does the strange woman who may also be a feline herself.
CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE5 out of 5A wonderful story that like its predecessor uses suggestion and backs it up with childhood fears as a daydreaming girl loses her real friends and seeks refuge with an imaginary one... who turns out to be Irena. Or does it? Is she a ghost, or just a construct? Whichever, the film is visually very striking, creating a fairytale world by indulging in all sorts of tricks with light. Whereas the first film played with shadows, this plays with sunbeams. Some of it is genuinely scary because after all, the best fairytales have darkness.
This film caught me out though. It is not Cat People Part 2. It's very different and really it bears no relation to the first film. I think I will appreciate it much more the next time I see it. No mention of cat people and Irena is truly a guardian angel with no sign of the neuroses that haunted her. No mention of cats even! Confusingly, a character who it was suggested might be a cat person in the last film, is here too, playing the nearest thing to a villain, perhaps a witch in relation to the fairy tale setting, but only late in the story did I realise there was never going to be any sort of reference to her earlier appearance. Which is fine! But I wish I knew. I kept expecting her to claw up! Instead her story is only implied and beautifully subtle. Nevertheless, the memories of Cat People are important as they cause the parents (from the first film) to react badly to their daughters perfectly normal wish for an imaginary friend.
Quite brilliant and a move that would never work these days. Imagine if the next Batman film didn't feature Batman? Just a story about how the idea of Batman affects peoples lives without ever mentioning him. Nolan could pull it off and I bet it would be brilliant, but no way would anyone forgive him!
It's title is both brave and perfectly descriptive. The result, probably more feasible than the first. Even then the shift in style is huge and it truly feels like a new chapter in these characters lives without repeating anything. Eli Roth produces Hostel III... a musical comedy.
Nah, they couldn't get away with that either!
It helps that I've always been a sucker for Christmas stories and this has some really nice scenes. It centres on a child (wonderful performance) who's imagination is in overdrive anyway at such a magical time. All in all, this could be the most rewarding film in the set. I tell you, it's bloody hard to remember these are "just" b-movies!
(From Val Lewton Horror Marathon on October 4th, 2008)
Users: 0
July 12, 2025, 10:52:30 AM
