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Cat People [1982]
![Cat People [1982]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MRX9BQERL._SL160_.jpg)
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Paul Schrader, the director of American Gigolo, brought a similar kind of sexual chic to this explicit horror movie. A remake of the beautiful, haunting 1942 Cat People, this version takes off from the same idea: that a woman (Nastassja Kinski), a member of a race of feline humans, will revert to her animalistic self when she has sex. Arriving to meet her brother (Malcolm McDowell) in New Orleans, she finds herself disturbed by his sexual presence. A zoo curator (John Heard) becomes fascinated by her, but he will discover that her kittenish ways are just the tip of the claw. Schrader dresses the story up in a stylish, glossy production, keyed on Kinski's green-eyed, thick-lipped beauty; it's hard to think of another actress in 1982 who could so immediately suggest a cat walking on two legs. Luckily Kinski had a European attitude toward her body, because this film has plenty of poster-art nudity. There's also lots of gore and some wacky flashbacks to the ancient tribe of cat people, who hold rituals in an orange desert while Giorgio Moroder's music plays. Cat People doesn't really make all this come together, but it's always interesting to look at, and the dreadful mood lingers. --Robert Horton
Editorial
Special Features
English
Region 2
Editorial
Synopsis
After Irena (Nastassia Kinski), a young woman with a mysterious past, is reunited with her brother Paul (Malcom MacDowell), a series of bizarre events is set into motion. When Irena discovers that her sexuality is intimately linked with that of her brother's--as well as with a strange human-feline metamorphosis they secretly share--the moment is both frightening and alluring. A remake of the 1942 supernatural horror film of the same name, Paul Schrader's version of Cat People is more graphic, more eroticised, and more detailed in content. Shot in New Orleans, an eerie stillness permeates the film, coupled with naturally delivered dialogue that moves the story along. Ruby Dee provides extra mysterious insinuations as Female, the sibling's live-in servant in their French-style mansion, and John Heard is perfectly cast as Oliver, the animal biologist and love interest of Irena.
A GOOD REMAKE
Review date: 2007-10-31 Rating: 6 out of 10
Upon arriving in New Orleans, Irena Gallier, (Nastassja Kinski) meets her brother Paul, (Malcolm McDowell) and try to catch up on old times. When Paul goes missing before promising to show her around, she goes looking for him and runs into zoo worker Oliver Yates, (John Heard) who was called in after a series of calls about an escaped cat roaming the city. After giving her a job, Oliver and Irena start becoming friends, as well as with the other staff members Alice Perrin, (Annette O'Toole) Joe Creigh, (Ed Begley Jr.) and Bill Searle, (Scott Paulin) at the zoo. When Paul returns and threatens Irena, fully revealing a dark secret of both of their pasts, she is forced to accept the truth and face her destiny.
The Good News: One of the genre's classic movies, it's hard to believe that the remake would turn out really decent. The best part is just the same as the original: the story is one of the strongest and most creative ones around. So simply, so elegant, and it sets up potentially greater scenes late in the movie. That is a great strength to have, and it luckily has the same thing here. The film really picks up more towards the back end, with the final twenty minutes in particular being of considerable importance. That is where the two key moments in the original, the chase in the park and the pool attack, are both placed, and they still strike the exact same cords as they did then. The pool attack, in this one, is much better as the feeling of suspense and dread comes across just a little better, helped along with some more nudity than in before, but the dread comes out through that part just a little better. The new-era special effects also give this a new sheen, allowing it to have some acceptable gore for the time. There's a really brutal arm ripping-off, a nasty, throbbing scratch etched on a leg and series of very brutal dismembered bodies found. The transformation scene is also well-handled, and shown on-screen instead of hinted at in the original. The erotic elements of the general story allows for some decent nudity as well, giving this another leg up over the original. Overall, this was really good.
The Bad News: There was a couple problems with this one. The main one is that the beginning is pretty slow. Not much occurs until mid-way through, when the murders start, but that's way into the movie and the beginning could've used a little more action to beef it up. It's still watchable, and really sets up the story well, but it's still a tad slower than most. The majority of kills transpiring off-screen is another big problem, merely resorting to stumbling upon the body at a later point. They really looked savage, but there's 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. The one point where the original still beats this remake.
The Final Verdict: Hard to say which one of the two is better. The remake certainly makes a valiant attempt, and succeeds in certain areas, but the original still comes in first in certain areas. For the curious, give it a shot, it's surprisingly good, while those who love the original will want to compare the two and decide from there.
Similar Products
- The Hunger [1983]
- To The Devil A Daughter [1976]
- Twelve Monkeys [1996]
- Cat People (Moroder) [Us Import]
- Pulse [HD DVD] [2006] [US Import]
Reviews
Nastassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell don't pussyfoot around
Review date: 2007-07-29 Rating: 10 out of 10
The thing that first strikes you as you see this for the first time is the Sound track [Cat People: Original Soundtrack] "Putting out the fire; Theme from Cat People" Music Written by Giorgio Moroder Lyrics Written and Performed by David Bowie.
Next in the midst of a great cast you notice Nastassja and wonder why you did not get the picture of her and the Python mounted over your fireplace. With her new eyes of green she almost overwhelms the story.
Malcolm is creepier than usual; the first time he hops up on all fours, you want to throw him a mouse. Among many other great performances he played H. G. Wells in [Time After Time (1979)]
The story plot follows the complicated lives of cat people as they cope with modern day Louisiana. Irena Gallier is coming of age and puberty hit her hard. She adds a new dimension to the term "running around."
You may want to watch the original movie; but do not waste you energy trying to compare them as they from two different eras and budgets.
You definitely want to see this film, as you may be a cat person and not know it.
Kinski With A Bit Of Bite
Review date: 2007-02-19 Rating: 8 out of 10
Cat People is the story of a girl's reunion with her brother and the subsequent revelation that she is of a long line of were-leopards. Parallel to this scenario comes a spate of bloody big-cat murders across town and the frequent appearance and disappearance of a mysterious black leopard from the local zoo, where Kinski's character is working, and the equally coincidental appearances and disappearances of her brother.
Much about Cat People (except for Nastassia Kinski) can be viewed with mixed opinion and feelings. The effects range between crummy and excellent for their day (plus the animal handling is notably superb), the acting is of variable quality, and the storyline flickers between gorily intriguing and silly. The background legend/explanation narrated at the end is particularly daft and ultimately unnecessary.
There is something about the Cat People film however that is very engrossing, and whilst Kinski might be part of that, it does have an atmosphere about it that holds it above water and keeps it from floundering as a piece of average horror. It's also helped along by the theme music, suitably dark pieces of electronic ambience with the main theme including vocals from Bowie.
It's a film that has definitely grown on me since the first time I saw it, and I suspect that this would be the case with others who originally weren't quite sure which way to rate it.
great movie
Review date: 2005-03-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
yes it maybe too 80's but if that movie was done in the 90's where technology is much better, it would have been a blockbuster
It's very 80s...
Review date: 2003-10-08 Rating: 6 out of 10
Paul Schrader's remake of Jacques Tourneur's brilliant forties gothic-noir can never match the aura of the original- its look drifts between the High Art aesthetic of Bertolucci and the High Concept look of Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer. The Moroder soundtrack grounds this film in the 80s, though I've always been partial to the Bowie/Moroder track Putting Out the Fire.
Perhaps Cat People can be seen as the beginnings of Schrader's wilderness years- it is nowhere close to the screenplays of Taxi Driver/Raging Bull or to Schrader's initial films: Blue Collar, Hardcore, American Gigolo. In fact, following American Gigolo, Schrader would offer infrequent classics- Mishima:A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1991) & Affliction (1998). Cat People probably has more with the cocaine inflected creative redundancy noted in Peter Biskind's book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls...
It looks very iconic, then again, so did that Peter Murphy/Maxell advert- it shares a look with Tony Scott's superior The Hunger (also 1982)- when films began to have the panache of adverts (call it high art, high concept, cinema du gaze...) Nastassja Kinski has a suitable boyish look, though this reduces the obvious aura of her beauty apparent in Tess, Paris Texas & Faraway So Close! The sex elements, suitably hinted at in the Hays-bound original, are magnified here- tying in with Schrader's frequent sexual themes- incest is a factor, & one that drifts toward the silly. Apart from Kinski, the cast is rather cheap & dull- Malcolm McDowell now a bit of a caricature compared to those great performances in If, A Clockwork Orange & O Lucky Man! (still, Blue Thunder would be worse...)
Cat People is a twist in the sexual-horror film, it's certainly far from terrible- if you want an erotic exercise in panache, it probably does the business. Think Betty Blue with feline-metamorphosis and added incest- it also predicts the OTT film Trouble Every Day. The DVD extras are non-existent- perhaps it would have been more fun to put the Bowie/Moroder video on, or the original 1942 film to compare? Cat People is OK, Schrader has never made a truly terrible film (though Exorcist IV might be it...)- but this is far from such great films as Affliction, Blue Collar, Light Sleeper & Mishima.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Ruby Dee
John Heard
Malcolm McDowell
Annette O'Toole
Nastassja Kinski
Creators:
Nastassja Kinski (Primary Contributor)
Malcolm McDowell (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 3259190532823
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-08-11
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 112 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1982-04-02
Language: English (Original Language)