rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1942
Directed by Jacques Tourneur; produced by Val Lewton; screenplay by DeWitt Bodeen
Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt, Elizabeth Dunn
More than sixty years after its initial release, 'Cat People' is still effectively creepy. It starts slowly with a love affair, brings in human drama in the form of a third person, adds another layer with an urban legend thought to be true by one of the characters, and arrives at shock and terror in the last thirty minutes. The film, only 73 minutes long, works on all levels, mainly because it never seems to try very hard. In the understands the basic rule of horror: something unseen, only sometimes hinted at, is much scarier than the actual thing. Sometimes sound is much more effective.
The terror comes from a big cat, only we get to know her as Irena (Simone Simon), a woman of Serbian decent. She is the one believing the legend. It tells the story of women turning into big cats when they love someone, especially during the physical act of love. It also happens out of jealousy, if I am correct. Despite her fears she falls in love with Oliver (Kent Smith) and after they get marriage she will not have sex, out of fear of course. Oliver suggests a psychiatrist and Irena agrees. The plot thickens when Oliver falls for co-worker Alice (Jane Randolph), which means jealousy for Irena.
At this point 'Cat People' brings in numerous creepy moments and especially the build-ups to them are extraordinary. Alice is chased by something we never see, but most will suspect it is a cat. Funny, in most modern horror films the sudden shock is "just a cat". Here, where a cat would mean really something, the film finds a brilliant substitution. It shows a lot of intelligence, and not just in scenes like these. I have seen many films where I thought psychiatry would be a pretty smart thing to do, but somehow none of the characters think about it. And if they do, the person who needs treatment never agrees. Not here.
In short, the film works. I would choose 'Cat People' over almost any recent horror film where blood and gore are thought to be scary. It is not, as 'Rosemary's Baby' and in a way 'The Exorcist' would prove in later years. These two example also added human drama to the story, which seems an important ingredient. When you care for the human characters, you actually care whether they are torn to pieces or not.