Pretty Good

Just what I expected

Absolutely the worst movie.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Shot on a shoestring budget, Jacques Tourneur's CAT PEOPLE is an early specimen epitomizes the "less is more" suspense in the horror genre. Irene Dubrovna (Simon), a Serbian immigrant now working as a sketch designer in NYC, meets cute with a marine engineer Oliver Reed (Smith). But Irene is bedeviled by the urban legend of her provenance that she is a descendant of cat people, will turn into ferocious feline critter when she is sexually aroused, or as the story goes, gets overcome by jealousy or anger. Oliver isn't deterred by the obstacle, although he barely believes it, they tie the knot and Oliver promises he will give all the time she wants before they consummate their marriage, also introduces her to the psychiatrist Dr. Judd (Conway) when she voluntarily seeks resource to professional help. But, Oliver is not as perfect as he believes, an exemplar of America's good old boy, he literally admits he has never been "unhappy" before until this marriage is becalmed without any (sexual) progress and his promise turns paper-thin, when his colleague-and-best-friend Alice Moore (Randolph) blows the lid of her affection, why on earth she has been curbing her feelings for so long? A clunky plot device to instigate the downturn of Oliver and Irene's platonic marriage. Tourneur and screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen cunningly scheme suspenseful set pieces thence, ostensibly, Alice becomes the third wheel and must be disposed of, the subsequent two occurrences are the film's money shots, one would eventually coin the term "Lewton Bus", which signifies the situation where heightened tension is evaporated by a rather unexpected happenstance; another occurs in a natatorium, which seems Alice is doomed in the flurry of frenzied editing and striking images, in neither case, there is no clear sight of the human-turned- creature, but we are on the edge of our seats. So after Alice survives both murderous attempts, it dawns to audience that her character is not going to be a supposed casualty because now she represents the right woman for a honest-to- goodness Oliver, it is Irene, a continent immigrant who is wide-eyed enough to be inveigled into a false promise of American dream, must take her bow now, all because she is not willing to put out, her exotic charm fades, her mythic belief becomes threats, and after finally she prances on an imbecile who has too much self-regard to contain, the film ends in a slipshod scramble, the film's running time clocks in a mere 73 minutes, and finally, we are allowed with several glimpses of the assailing panther (along with some animation and great play of shades), money well spent! French actress Simone Simon leavens her iconic role with wondrous glamour and fondness in addition to her very feline features, while the rest of the movie's meager cast is borderline on autopilot. By today's yardstick, CAT PEOPLE is a far cry from a horror on its scale of scariness, but as a forebear of the genre, at the very least, it inculcates how to make good use of the ilk's often limited resource to set up the atmospheric ballast, that's a merit cannot be gainsaid.

Another watch for this fabulous, Jacques Turner directed black and white gem. I thought watching b&w blu rays might be a waste but not a bit of it. I have never seen this shine and sparkle so well and those dark shadows so effectively sweeping across the screen. I remember seeing this as a boy and being disappointed that Simone Simon didn't change back and forth throughout but now can appreciate the true subtlety of her performance. Strange that I should have re-watched Gilda last night and sat spellbound as Rita Hayworth seemingly treads her own path, bewitching and beguiling men at will with her physical presence and charisma and here the poor Serbian girl afraid to even take a step in that direction. Very impressive and helped enormously by being able to see this is such a fine print. Perfect.

We never know how much threat there is because everything is behind a sort of curtain. The whole cat thing is there and we are made privy to it through different "cat" events (like a caged bird dying of fright). The two women who revolve around the male lead are at odds but no one is accepting the possibility that there may be some validity to the thoughts. The best scene in the movie is in the swimming pool complex. We hear growls; we see evidence. But where is it visually. It's just as terrifying with virtually no visible threat. Tourneur lets our imaginations take the implications and create the threat. Simone Simon is the best cat woman ever.

Cat People is one of the horror genre's most influential films, it's one of the first psychological horrors or at least one of the first to play on the fears of the audience. But Cat People is more than just an influential film, it's also a great one and holds up terrifically well.It's very well made, with beautiful cinematography and great and effective use of shadows and shadowy lighting. The sets are also hauntingly sumptuous. Cat People has a haunting music score and a very intelligent script that has a good amount of tension as well as a bit of subtle wit. The story, and the atmosphere it has, is one of the main reasons why Cat People works so well, this is more than a monster/ghost feature, this is more a psychological horror that relies on suspense and playing on the audience's fear. Both of which Cat People does splendidly, the suspense in the best parts is positively nerve-shredding and the whole film has a constant eeriness that makes it creepy without resulting to cheap shocks, jump scares or gore. For me the two most effective scenes have always been with the pool and the walk through the park, the latter being justifiably famous and contains a very clever "false shock". It's beautifully directed by Jacques Tourneur, the characters are interesting and the acting is mostly solid if not the best, with Simone Simon being superb. Simon brings a sensuality, menace and poignancy to her role, that makes her presence chillingly mysterious but at times moving. Tom Conway does just fine too.If there is anything to criticise, Kent Smith is very stiff here. Other than that Cat People is great, both of its genre and as a film in general. 9/10 Bethany Cox