Cat People (1942 film)
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"Fusing psychoanalysis with mythology, Jacques Tourneur’s supernatural tale casts an enduring spell; it was even remade by Paul Schrader in the 1980s! As taboo desires escape the cage of dreams and spring onto the streets of New York, Cat People evokes the feral spectacle of the monstrous feminine."
— MUBI's take
Cat People (1942 film)
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This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 1993.
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Cat People is a 1942 horror/thriller/suspense/drama film directed by Jacques Tourneur, written by DeWitt Bodeen, musically composed by Roy Webb, filmed by Nicholas Musuraca, edited by Mark Robson, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures Inc., produced by Val Lewton, and starred Kent Smith, Simone Simon, Tom Conway, and Jane Randolph.
Why It's "Purr-fect"
- This film is able to scare its audience by realizing that what you don't see is often scarrier than what you do see. In the movie, you never actually see anything supernatural, no actual cat people like the title would imply, but the movie is skilled with making you think that a cat person will show up, such as the scene where a bus shows up from behind, with its engine resembling a panther or some sort of large cat.
- The film handles the horror factor surprisingly well considering the lack of a monster, special effects, or virtually a budget. And yet despite it's low budget, the studio was able to acquire great sets -- though they had to use existing sets from past films rather than create new ones. The film’s cinematography features rich black tones that have a lush and deep vastness, and white tones that are hard, angular, and almost violently tactile. Soft lighting is purposefully used to cast a sense of dreamy subjectivity.
- The themes in the narrative are shockingly dense. On the surface, the film's about a murderous predator, but it's really about sexual dysfunction, jealousy forced into the open, and crippling neuroses as a way of lie. Irena might be the literal monster, but she's also an immigrant woman who's manipulated and batted around by men of authority who're mostly concerned that she gentrify in accordance with American urban culture. Because Irena is afraid to have sex, given what she thinks she may be, the film is a coded tale of a frigid woman in need of conditioning. Irena faces a hypocrisy familiar to all women: She's relentlessly pressured by puritanical society to be chaste, yet resented when she doesn't sexually gratify men. Tom marries Irena, but strays toward his co-worker and friend, Alice, who represents an ideal of the franker, more accommodatingly sexual and easygoing modern woman.
- There's no music in the movie, which only helps to enhance the atmosphere and mood and to build tension. The characters' footsteps and some rustling bushes are pretty much the only sounds heard.
- Aside from just the lack of music, the overall film's pretty quiet in general. Rather than broadcasting their lines and personalities, and their roles being fixed by script and shooting styles, in the film, crucial plot twists are spoken quietly, almost in whispers, a symptom of insecurity and self-doubt.
- Creative, interesting, well-written story involving a woman who never sleeps with her husband, (never even kisses him), because she's afraid that passion will turn her into a panther. Even though the story is pretty thin (especially for modern standards) as it's mainly about a woman who believes she's the subject of a curse that will turn her into a panther, the tension's enough to make up for it.
- This film is often credited for creating the jump scare. While that cliche is misused a lot today, it can be effective if done right, and it is very effective in this film.
- Great acting, especially from Simone Simon, and the other two sides of the love triangle, Kent Smith and Jane Randolph.
Bad Qualities
- It got a crappy remake in 1982 of the same name and wasn’t well-received by critics and fans of the 1942 original film.
Reception
Cat People has a 93% critic rating and a 73% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a 3.7/5 on Letterboxd, and a 7.4/10 on the International Movie Database (IMDB).
