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Movies / Upcoming / Cat People
Cat People

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Cat People (1942)

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Reviews Counted:31

Fresh:29

Rotten:2

Average Rating:8/10

Consensus: Influential noir director Jacques Tourneau infused this sexy, moody horror film with some sly commentary about the psychology and the taboos of desire.

Runtime: 73 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) is a young, Serbian artist living in New York City. When she meets American Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), she falls in love and gets married. But their union hits the... Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) is a young, Serbian artist living in New York City. When she meets American Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), she falls in love and gets married. But their union hits the rocks when she becomes consumed with the belief that she is the victim of a curse. According to Irena, the curse will make her turn into a deadly panther the minute she becomes emotionally aroused. In an effort to fix their problems, Oliver seeks psychiatric counseling for his beautiful and tormented young bride. But talking about her problems may only make them worse. The first of several interesting horror films by producer Val Lewton, CAT PEOPLE was innovative in its style. Joining Lewton's artistic sense and mastery of atmosphere with Jacques Tourneur's directing talent, the film created fear in its audience precisely by not showing too much. This restraint and emphasis on psychological tension rather than physical violence would go on to influence later horror directors. [More]

Starring: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph

Starring: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph, Jack Holt, Alan Napier, Elizabeth Dunne, Elizabeth Russell

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Director: Jacques Tourneur
Screenwriter: DeWitt Bodeen
Producer: Val Lewton
Composer: Roy Webb

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Cat People

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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In its complexity, it functions as a sharp, canny blueprint for the rest of Lewton's pictures.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
10/22/09
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Magnificent.

comment Comment
11/30/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

ts techniques would be adopted by noir, its themes are aped by horror films and thrillers today.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
09/26/07
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cat People wasn't frightening like a slasher movie, using shocks and gore, but frightening in an eerie, mysterious way that was hard to define; the screen harbored unseen threats.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
09/26/07
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

More a film about unreasoning fear than the supernatural, this work demonstrates what a filmmaker can accomplish when he substitutes taste and intelligence for special effects.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/26/07
Don Druker
Don Druker
Chicago Reader

A thinking man's supernatural thriller.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/24/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

First in the wondrous series of B movies in which Val Lewton elaborated his principle of horrors imagined rather than seen, with a superbly judged performance from Simon.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Tom Milne
Tom Milne
Time Out

What works the best, though, is the compelling sense of conviction -- something missing from most 1940s horror films.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
05/17/06
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Ladies who have such temptations -- in straight horror pictures, at least -- should exercise their digits a bit more freely than does Simone Simon in this film.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
03/25/06
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Female sexuality is a rich source of a certain kind of horror - the kind of horror that plays upon the anxieties that prudish bourgeois men have about their wives' sex lives.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
11/01/05
Leo Goldsmith
Leo Goldsmith
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The way it messes with your head -- and Jacques Tourneur's deft ability behind the camera -- make it quite the '40s standout.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
10/06/05
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

It's what you don't see in a Val Lewton production rather than what you do see that makes it frightening.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
10/05/05
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/30/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Beautiful and strange film, a timeless classic.

Full Review Source: StaciWilson.com | comment Comment
05/24/05
Staci Layne Wilson
Staci Layne Wilson
StaciWilson.com

Pretensioso, artificial e com uma péssima atriz como protagonista, o filme empalidece frente à refilmagem comandada por Paul Schrader.

comment 1 Comment
02/03/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
12/21/04
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
11/24/04
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/04
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Atmospheric, chilling Tourneur classic

comment Comment
10/23/04
Steve Crum
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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