Rent Cat People (1942)
3.6 of 5 from 131 ratings
1h 10min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), a beautiful and mysterious Serbian-born fashion artist living in New York City, falls in love with and marries average-Joe American Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). But Irena believes that she suffers from an ancient curse and whenever she is emotionally aroused she will turn into a panther and savage her victims. Oliver thinks that is absurd and sends her to psychiatrist Dr. Judd (Tom Conway) to cure her. But truth is sometimes stranger than fantasy...
- Actors:
- Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt, Henrietta Burnside, Alec Craig, Eddie Dew, Elizabeth Dunne, Dynamite, Dot Farley, Mary Halsey, Theresa Harris, Charles Jordan, Donald Kerr, Connie Leon, Murdock MacQuarrie, Alan Napier, John Piffle, Betty Roadman
- Directors:
- Jacques Tourneur
- Producers:
- Val Lewton
- Writers:
- DeWitt Bodeen
- Studio:
- Odeon Entertainment
- Genres:
- Classics, Horror
- Collections:
- 100 Years of German Expressionism, All the Twos: 1902-62, All the Twos: 1972-2012, Film History, Roger Corman's Poe Cycle, A Brief History of Film...
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 26/09/2016
- Run Time:
- 73 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentary from 2005 featuring film historian Gregory Mank, with excerpts from an audio interview with actor Simone Simon
- Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, a 2008 feature-length documentary that explores the life and career of the legendary Hollywood producer
- Interview with director Jacques Tourneur from 1979
- New interview with cinematographer John Bailey about the look of the film•
- Trailer
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Reviews (2) of Cat People
Lewton Horror. - Cat People review by Steve
When RKO asked Val Lewton to take charge of their new B horror unit, they expected monster movies similar to those made at Universal but on a lower budget. Instead, they got a new genre- psychological horror- set in realistic, modern city locations. Its fears were drawn from the darkness and superstition and the unknown. Secret personal anxieties.
The studio just gave Lewton the title. Simone Simon plays a commercial artist in Manhattan, who believes she has inherited a curse. If she is sexually aroused she will turn into a predator. Desire will make her bestial. Her rejected husband (Kent Smith), encourages her to try psychoanalysis, but rationality proves to be inadequate.
This is horror noir. It was shot and lit by RKO's great noir photographer Nicholas Musuraca. There's an extremely imaginative script which invents a rich folklore for the woman's psycho-sexual anxiety to inhabit. Simon is poignant as this outsider, tortured by her need for love but fearful of its consequences
This is one of the best and most influential horror films ever made. It was a revolution, a Freudian allegory heavy with shadows and symbolism. It is one of Jacques Tourneur's greatest noirs. It was a huge hit and allowed Val Lewton to make another eight high quality B horrors for RKO.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
A landmark horror film you can enjoy without getting too scared - Cat People review by tm
This is a very special film. It is a horror film in that there are many horror elements in it but it is also a very period exploration of sexuality, male fears about sexual vulnerability and female power.
Alternatively you could see it as a sort of psychosexual version of the noir genre.
The psychology is very dated and the reliance on pot boiler Freudianism is thick and gooey but there are so many interesting myths and ideas, so many quirky insights and observations and most of all such a unique central theme that this remains a must see film for anyone who wants to survey the landmarks of cinema.
Dated yes, but not so as it would spoil the experience of watching it.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.