| CAT PEOPLE |
 1982
-
USA
Director:
Paul Schrader - Reviewed by Linda
But it is because it is so excessively stylized, Cat People overcomes the initial problems that make many period horror movies from the 70s and 80s giggle-worthy simply from wide lapels and bad hair. It's a great-looking movie. But that's not saying it's a good movie. Nastassja play Irena, a pretty young thing who arrives in New Orleans to reunite with her long lost brother Paul (Malcolm MacDowell). The siblings were raised in a vague European country by freaky circus folk, and got mysteriously separated when they were very young. Irena quickly decides her brother is vaguely creepy, as he seems to know a family secret that she has not quite picked up on yet: their race is a cursed human/panther hybrid. If they have sex, they turn into big black mean kitties (imagine the surprise for the partner!). When in panther form, it is only when they kill (ideally people, of course... it's the werewolf syndrome) that they can turn back into their two-legged, prehensile-thumb selves. To overcome this cat curse, they have to have sex with their own kind. But since there's only two of them left, Paul immediately wants to get busy with his sister! Ewww! Irena wants nothing of this as her brother keeps entering the room all cat-like and proclaiming, "Mate with me!" She insteads falls in love with a zookeeper named Oliver (!). Oliver (John Heard) is smitten by the lovely, exotic, and pure Irena, but she is hesitant because she knows what will happen to her the first time she has sex.... But we wouldn't have much left in the movie if that didn't happen. Cat People is known as an "erotic" horror movie, which, I suppose, it is. Once she overcomes her initial qualms, it seems that Irena takes off her top or completely disrobes at the drop of a hat. (I just hope for poor Nastassja that the movie sets were somewhat heated, as she spends much of the movie barely clad.) We have the obvious allusions to incest, plus a taste of bondage, and a hint of... yes... bestiality! A little something for everyone, I suppose. Director Paul Schrader, in his commentary, casually mentions that he and Nastassja had an affair during the making of the film, and it sounds like he was basically whipped when it ended. In fact, the whole affair was so uncomfortable when the short-lived tryst ended, that Nastassja wanted much of the nude scenes taken out for the release of the film (but then there wouldn't have been much left after the edits!). Scrader's commentary, as well as the extras on the DVD are surprisingly interesting, to the point where they almost make the movie seem better than it really is. But the truth is, Cat People suffers from clunky pacing (it seems like it is wrapping up 2/3rds the way through... then it keeps going...), plus the horror isn't really that scary, and the erotica is more artfully-interesting than sexy. Fans of Kinksi and MacDowell might find something to enjoy in this film, and film buffs get a lot of cool "making of" info in the extras, but as a stand-alone film (which it should ultimately be judged upon), Cat People doesn't really make the cut. |
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By many accounts, the 1982 version of Cat People is dated. It is super-stylish for the times: there are stage sets with burning matte sky paintings (made me think of Robert Palmer videos); there's a very young Nastassja Kinski looking virginal, yet come-hither-pouty in her 80s teen-sexy androgynous haircut; there is a transformation scene that barely makes the cut as even vaguely believable; and there is an excessive synthesizer-rific score by the ubiqitous Giorgio Moroder.