Cat People (1982)

Perfect cast and a good story

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Paul Shrader is far better known as a writer (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) but he has also directed a few films and Cat People is one of them. A remake of a 1942 film it tells of an old, ancient time when big cats(leopards to be specific) roamed the lands and humans sent their daughters as sacrifice to mate with them(it is shown more poetically than how I wrote). One such union results in the birth of siblings whom we follow in present day New Orleans. This is a strange film in that it can be classified as fantasy-erotic horror. The atmosphere is supreme and the early scenes in the ancient times are reminiscent of David Lynch's Dune. The acting by everyone from the gorgeous Natasha Kinski to the always sublimely crazy Malcolm Mcdowell to John Heard as the sole "normal "human being is good. This is a good, distinctive horror film.

Arriving in New Orleans, a woman joining her brother to tour the city finds that a family curse has come upon her which turns her and her brother into vicious, man-eating cats and forces her friend from a local zoo to stop her bloodthirsty rampage in the city.This here is quite the enjoyable enough remake. What really makes this one work nicely is how much it changes around the general storyline of the original to make for quite a more lively effort.by engaging the entire first half in a far more intensive romance between the two as well as the family curse and backstory are mentioned quite heavily in the section of the film, this one gives plenty of opportunities to spread the big storyline featured here about the incestuous nature of the family transforming into the cats. This manages to provide a rather sensuous take which is a far cry away from the original as this one more accurately depicts this by going into the ploy of them having sex and then turning into the cat creatures which is played as far more prominently here both with his attacks on the prostitutes or her seductions which grow far more prominent the deeper they fall, culminating in the several sex scenes here which throw this into far greater light. Likewise, the action here comes off rather nicely y being not only original such as the capture in the sleazy motel or it tearing the assistant to pieces, as well as the recreations of scenes from the original including the park stalking and the encounter in the public swimming pool that is replicated from the original. Coupled with the fine, erotically-flavored nudity and the graphic gore, these here manage to hold this one up over the few minor flaws. The biggest factor is the fact that there's hardly any kind of action or actively going on for the majority of the film as the exaggerated amount of time they begin their romance fills a large portion of the film. This ends up really lowering a lot of what happens here by filling up such a large part of this one with a pretty slow beginning where not much occurs until mid-way through when the murders start. That's way into the movie and the beginning could've used a little more action to beef it up, and while it's still watchable, and really sets up the story well, it's still a tad slow. There was another big problem with this one in that the majority of kills transpire off-screen, merely resorting to stumbling upon the body at a later point. They really looked savage, but there are only a few actually killed on-screen. In this one, the park chase is a major disappointment, especially since the pool attack is superior. The music played over the chase is totally inappropriate and runs the entire mood. That is one point where the original still beats this remake, but overall it's still quite fun overall.Rated R: Full Nudity, Graphic Language, several sex scenes and themes, Graphic Violence and themes of incest.

I'd forgotten what a dirty, kinky movie this was! Nastassja Kinski plays a young woman reconnecting with her priest brother, the perennially off-kilter Malcolm McDowell. Without spoiling too much of the plot, after the two reconnect, McDowell meets a prostitute in a hotel room, only for her to instead get mauled and killed by a black panther. Kinski awakens the next day to find her brother missing and while visiting the zoo finds herself strangely connected to the new panther exhibit. Kinski then meets zoologist John Heard and the two being a romantic affair, which leads to a sexual awakening for Kinski, filled with love making, bondage, and incest. The film is a wild ride and one that I think only gets better with age. Back when I first saw this film, I remember seeing it as slick filmmaking, but rewatching it years later I can see how director Paul Schrader's was influenced by the film of Jean Cocteau in it's dreamlike nature. Schrader brings a hypnotic surreality to his erotic horror film that like many a nightmare, cannot be shaken off easily. "Cat People" also benefits from a strong supporting cast that includes Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley Jr., John Larroquette, Frankie Faison, Scott Paulin, and Ray Wise. And in rewatching the film now, the film gets a lot of mileage from 80s nostalgia, featuring a great Davie Bowie theme song, a terrific synthesizer score from Giorgio Moroder, wonderfully slick blood red cinematography by John Bailey, and also Nastassja Kinski's super cute Human League short haircut. Overall, "Cat People" is a unique horror film experience, but it's a very dark and twisted one that will not appeal to most audiences, riding that fine line between art-house and grindhouse, where it's likely too arty for horror fans and too bloody and dirty for the art-house intelligencia, leaving a narrow band of folks who enjoy what it has to offer.

Paul Schrader's 1982 remake of Cat People is such a missed opportunity, by no means a turkey, but not even close to its full potential. It is hard to put my finger on why it ultimately falls short of its promise. I know it's not the visuals, which are often arresting (the blood soaking through Irena's white shoes, Irena walking nude through the night, etc.), nor the actors, who all do an excellent job with their characters.One problem I have is that the movie lacks real focus and there's way too much going on. The original film focuses on Irena mainly: she falls in love and marries a cheerful American; her fear makes her unable to consummate the relationship; he has an affair; she may or may not be turning into a giant killer cat out of jealousy. The new one initially focuses on Irena, here visiting her long lost brother in New Orleans. She falls in love with a zookeeper, but cannot make love to him because she learns from her brother that they are cat people who become killers when aroused in any way. Her brother offers himself as her only option, but Irena refuses. This is a compelling story and the conflict between the siblings is the most interesting one in the movie, but unfortunately most of the script is interested in Irena's beloved zookeeper-- who also happens to be the least interesting character in the movie.The film is also burdened by its connections to the original movie. The remake of the pool scene is well-done but ultimately unnecessary, as is the addition of an "other woman," since in this film Irena is never betrayed by her beloved the way she is in the original. The main villain is the brother now, not any rival woman or Irena's husband, so why is she here at all? The filmmakers also kept in the mysterious "hello sister" scene from the original, which makes no sense in this version since Malcolm McDowell's character states he and Irena are the last of the cat people.While this remake has a lot of interesting new elements, there are just too many problems with the script, so many weird things that never add up. As it is, there are a few things which are admirable about it and it does end with that awesome David Bowie song, but the parts are more satisfying than the whole. This is one case where a re-imagining could have been interesting, not because the 1942 film is bad or even lackluster (it's a masterpiece of the horror genre), but because the core story still has things in it which are relevant now: sexual repression, jealousy, and the pain of being different from the crowd.