Influential noir director Jacques Tourneau infused this sexy, moody horror film with some sly commentary about the psychology and the taboos of desire. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), a New York City--based fashion designer who hails from Serbia, begins a romance with marine engineer Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). After the couple gets married, Oliver becomes concerned about Irena's notion that she is cursed and may transform into a large cat in the heat of passion. Confiding in his beautiful assistant, Alice Moore (Jane Randolph), about his marital issues, Oliver unwittingly triggers Irena's curse, with tragic results.
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Genre: Horror
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Original Language: English
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Director: Jacques Tourneur
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Producer: Val Lewton
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Release Date (Theaters): original
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Runtime:
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Production Co: RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
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News & Interviews for Cat People
Critic Reviews for Cat People
Audience Reviews for Cat People
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A young married couple's union skids into trouble when the young wife (a high school grade sultry Simone Simon) begins to moan (like a sick cat really) that she's afraid there is something evil inside of her, some curse from her small Serbian village roots perhaps. As this comes from the pre-WW2 era this admission is a pretty shocking revelation in the course of the film, milquetoast behavior being the norm in those times. And therein is my problem with this work - that the standard behavior of most of the participants is so stilted, so bland, so phony, that I found myself incapable of any emotion but for wishing it was all over. Or better, that the cat creature that finally appears might eat it's way through the cast. And the director. But thrills are noticeably minuscule here. Here is an excellent candidate for remaking, I thought.
kevin w Super Reviewer -
I guess this must have been scary when it was released in 1942, but today it is definitely not scary at all and only seems terribly pretentious, trying to look more profound than it is and getting dull real fast with endless exposition and a lame protagonist played by an awful actress.
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Despite the silly title, this is a solid and economic thriller. Also, the movie is barely coy about it's sexual themes which no doubt contributed to it's surprisingly popularity.
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'Cat People' is a great concept for a horror movie, even if it does seem like a knock-off (and mirror) of the Wolfman genre. It also has a couple of very nice moments of suspense when the Cat Woman stalks her husband's girlfriend, one in which a bus abruptly pulls up (thenceforth known as a 'Lewton Bus') and another in a dark, creepy pool. It is unfortunate, however, that some of the tension is missing in the first half of the film because we clearly know what's going on with this young woman, and why she won't get intimate with her husband. The film also lacks the slinky sexiness you'd expect from a woman who turns into a black panther when sexually aroused or angered, some of which can be attributed to the production code at the time, and some of which are due to director Jacques Tourneur and his leading lady Simone Simon. It is understated for sure, and it's admirable that it relies on suggestion rather than showing us graphic violence. With the exception of those fantastic stalking scenes, though, it's almost too minimalistic. I can forgive it for being bare bones and for being short at 73 minutes, but have to knock it down a bit for the lack of passion in all of its main characters. Certainly worth watching though.
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