CAT PEOPLE

This is a little gem of a horror film from Jacques Tourneur, who was a master of this sort of thing.

It’s a taut 70-minutes which has the confidence to take its time building up a sense of unease and then dread.

The film starts with a chance encounter at the zoo between Irena and Ollie, a kindly if naïve soul, who rapidly falls in love with and marries her.

Unfortunately Irena is convinced that her Serbian ancestry means that if she is aroused into passion she will change into an evil black panther (!).

In 1942 film-makers couldn’t be too explicit, but nevertheless it is clear that the passion Irena fears is not just anger or jealousy but also sexual passion, so she cannot consummate her marriage or even kiss Ollie. 

His patience begins to run out when she resists the help of a psychologist, the smug and patronising Dr Judd, who is himself drawn to Irena.  

A further complication is that Ollie is loved by Alice, a work colleague. Irene’s jealousy puts Alice at risk and leads to two simple but memorable sequences.

in the first, Alice is walking home late at night, followed unbeknownst to her by Irena, the sound of whose footsteps then disappears, the implication being that she is now a panther intent on killing Alice.

The sequence ends with what might be the first example in cinema of a ‘jump scare’, when a bus suddenly screeches into view.

The second sequence is when Alice is using the swimming pool in the basement of her apartment block, again late at night. A large cat is suggested through the brilliant use of sound and shadows whilst a terrified Alice treads water in the pool.

After this, things build to an exciting conclusion when Dr Judd is foolish enough to kiss Irena, and as a result is savaged to death, but not before wounding her.

The film ends where it began, at the zoo, when Irena is killed by a panther she releases.

I guess modern audiences will find this film tame, but if you like your scares subtle and nuanced it is well worth checking out.

RATING: ✓✓ Catch It If You Can