X
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
Summary In this erotic remake of the 1942 classic, a young woman's sexual awakening brings horror when she discovers her urges transform her into a monstrous black leopard.
Directed By: Paul Schrader
Written By: DeWitt Bodeen, Alan Ormsby, Paul Schrader
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
- 1982
- R
- Universal Pictures
- 1 h 58 m
Cat People
61
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary In this erotic remake of the 1942 classic, a young woman's sexual awakening brings horror when she discovers her urges transform her into a monstrous black leopard.
Directed By: Paul Schrader
Written By: DeWitt Bodeen, Alan Ormsby, Paul Schrader
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
61
47% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
41% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
12% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
61
47% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
41% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
12% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Cat People retains the psychological suggestiveness of the original while adding a blazing, carefully controlled eroticism and violence as well as state-of-the-art special effects and a ravishing over-all physical design. And it has the quintessential cat-person in Nastassia Kinski. As with all horror classics, what might be ludicrous is transformed into something gripping by the passionate logic of a grotesque metaphor. Alan Ormsby's screenplay has the logic and Paul Schrader has the passion. The result is Schrader's best work as a director. [05 Apr 1982, p.74]
Paul Schrader’s reworking of the 1942 Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur Cat People is a super-chic erotic horror story of mixed impact. Kinski was essential to the film as conceived, and she’s endlessly watchable.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 94 User Ratings
7.4
73% Positive
69 Ratings
69 Ratings
5% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
21% Negative
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 94 User Ratings
7.4
73% Positive
69 Ratings
69 Ratings
5% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
21% Negative
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
Cat People is a 1982 fantasy horror that never gets boring if at all hardly ever. It's a nice story which swings back and fourth from different time periods and Natassia Kinski sort of brings the film a sparkle with her natural beauty and this is even without wearing any makeup or lipstick or dressing too fancy. Annette O'Toole also gives a good performance and her character is likeable but all of them are in this film but add beauty to a few hints of terror and suspense and a bit of horror, gore, blood and you've the Cat People recipe. Plus a hint of love in the film as it deals with that aspect and also trust especially if you examine the film carefully and you'll see there's a subject surrounding or involving trust in probably a few ways. The mutation from human to beast is in there too and executed reasonably well and nothing looks fake in Cat People and it's all old fashioned but decent directing unlike today with computer nonsense and jumpscares. Malcolm McDowell, Natassia Kinski, John Heard and Annette O'Toole star in this entertaining horror and there's a few gory scenes but some dude getting his arm ripped off by the black cat beast is priceless. Malcolm McDowell laying naked on the bathroom floor and getting stabbed by a pane of glass by his sister before looking at his hand to see him mutating and them evil eyes. Cat People is an underrated movie beautifully directed and was made with care and attention and is actually fairly scary which is odd because I've seen many horrors and none are scary so this is a unique, beautiful and essential movie for any film lover. The use of beautiful and bright colours in some scenes and not so bright but dull in others but this doesn't spoil the movie because the whole story moves at a decent pace and genuinely feels put together well. The acting isn't silly and a good performance by all the cast and people involved even if some only had a small role because each was vital to create this beautiful gem. Blood, horror, some violence, sex scenes, nudity and the beautiful Kinski. Cat People delivers!
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The opening credits immediately insist that director Paul Schrader isn’t interested in merely reprising your grandparents’ beloved version of Cat People, the 1942 horror film memorably directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton. Set to the background of a profoundly bright brick red, which is soon revealed to be a desert jungle-scape, Giorgio Moroder’s primal synth score prepares us for an erotic blowout that overtly literalizes the Cat People conceit for the sake of a little soft porn fun.
It's not exactly good, and it has some very bad scenes indeed, but the performances sometimes sparkle and the unusual happy ending -- scored with David Bowie's 'Putting Out the Fire With Gasoline' -- is surprisingly moving.
Once again, Schrader tries to elevate a set of pimply sexual hang-ups to the level of Wagnerian opera; if this 1985 film were any heavier, it would probably crash right through the screen.
Director Paul Schrader's dreamlike, stylishly atmospheric remake of Val Lewton's 1942 horror classic needs to be taken on its own terms: viewers who assent to its Freudian logic and creepy sexuality will likely be entranced, but just a little critical distance renders the whole thing irretrievably ludicrous.
All the modest virtues of the original film have been discarded in favor of lurid excess. What was once unpretentious, suggestive, implicit and erotically tragic has become bombastic, literal-minded, explicit and erotically stupefying.
Hmmmm. I'm writing this in 2019, ok?, so it's an old movie, but probably my favorite Paul Schrader, and, let's be honest, Nastassia has a few fans and she's a Hot Potato in this. Visually it tells you practically all you need to know about the early 1980s. Weird? Yes. Great? That's debatable. But I still remember it, fondly. Prrrr.
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The great cast weren't enough to push beyond the limited screenplay and poor direction. The visual effects are interesting but have aged poorly in 2022. The soundtrack however was superb throughout. I loved the concept of the cat people, it's clear there was a decent budget to this but there just wasn't a coherent enough approach to making it. Sadly they delivered a b movie result with a movie ingredients.
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This is a slightly erotic "remake" (only the title and general concept were reused) of a 1942 film, more than forgotten today. And this film, apparently, follows the same path. The story revolves around a young woman who goes to visit her brother, from whom she was separated as a child because of the death of her parents. She ends up discovering that they are both descended from a long-extinct people where incest is necessary, because they turn into murderous panthers when they try to have sex with normal people, being forced to kill to return to human form.
The film plays on two realities that shock us in almost the same proportion: incest and homicide. The story is rather weak, it never sounds authentic, but if we accept it, the film flows. It is full of eroticism but if we can handle some reasonably explicit woman nudes we will have no problems with that. There are some tougher or violent scenes, but it never shows anything truly grotesque or scary... at least for me.
What I liked most about the entire film was Nastassja Kinski's excellent performance. I didn't like her for her physical beauty (I even thought she was very normal, to be honest) but for the way she was able to show her character's internal doubts and questions, the way she confronts fears, taboos and traumas to find out who really is. The incest issue disturbs and even leaves the romantic plot in the background, but the film works better as a psychological drama and it happens thanks to Kinski. Malcolm McDowell has done a decent job, but he is never more than average and does not shade anyone. John Heard is totally cliché and boring.
Technically, it is a very dated film, with a cinematography and colors very fainted, but that was the standard at the time. Everything else is as it should be, with sets and costumes according to the period and very functional special and sounds effects, which seem totally archaic to our eyes, as that we are used to something much more elaborate. The soundtrack, with an interesting David Bowie theme, looks really good.
Not being a wonderful film, because it is not, it seems to me one of those films that are difficult to frame. Not being terrifying or scary, it has several elements of terror; not being erotic, she has a lot of exposed skin; not being romantic, it is based on a romantic drama. Anyway, not as bad as I expected.
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Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Nominations
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 1 Nomination
Jupiter Award
• 1 Nomination
