Cat People (1982)

- written October 2005

Summary: Irena has just landed in New Orleans and has met her long-lost brother for the first time in many years. She ends up at the zoo befriending the Zoo’s curator at the same time her brother had vanished. Throughout the last few weeks, a deadly panther is terrorizing the city and soon Irena suspects that she knows what and who the panther really is. Question is, can she stop it?           Overall: I had never seen the original completely through until just recently but the film was just as erotic and sexual as I remember. It’s no on the “gratuitous” level, but just enough to make it work with the story. Some nice acting here but still at 120 minutes, a little too long of a film. Yet it has some nice ideas and using director Paul Schrader’s own words, has one of the most perverse endings in the history of cinema. He did lament about the connections to the original film. As much as he didn’t want this to be a remake, it was and you can’t deny many of the similarities. Changing the title wouldn’t have been enough. But it has some really good ideas and frankly went everywhere the original film could not have gone. Go rent this.           Comparison: Altered States meets The Howling

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