Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Martin Bradley Tenuously based on the same DeWitt Bodeen story as the classic Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur movie but very different indeed in its treatment, it's development and in the story itself. In fact for most of its running time all this has in common with the earlier movie is the title, (though it does keep the swimming pool sequence). The plot may be silly, (the plots of most horror films usually are), but director Paul Schrader embues it with considerable atmosphere and, with its New Orleans setting, it looks terrific, (once again Ferdinando Scarfiotti is credited as 'visual consultant').Here Nastassja Kinski is the young woman who turns into a black panther, Malcom McDowell is her brother who does the same with very nasty results and John Heard is the zoo-keeper who falls for Kinski. Being Schrader this is much more concerned with sexuality of one kind or another than the original but it is hardly convincing and the performances are mostly terrible. Still, it rattles along in its crazy way and remains, perhaps, one of the most underrated films in the Schrader canon.

BA_Harrison Virginal beauty Irena Gallier (Nastassja Kinski) travels to New Orleans to live with her estranged brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell), unaware that they both belong to a race of cat people who turn into black leopards after sex, and who only return to human form when they kill. John Heard plays Oliver Yates (John Heard), curator at the local zoo, who puts himself in serious danger by falling in love with Irena.Like Tony Scott's The Hunger (1983), Paul Schrader's remake of Jacques Tourneur's 1942 classic Cat People is a case of '80s style over substance, the pretentious, art-house aesthetic coming before everything else, the film often more closely resembling an expensive music video than a horror movie. But where The Hunger was boring in the extreme, Schrader's Cat People manages to be a little more watchable thanks to lots of nudity, some decent gore, one or two genuinely tense scenes, and even an An American Werewolf In London-style transformation for good measure (special make-up effects by Tom Burman).As far as the nudity is concerned, it's kit-off time for both sexes, with the 21-year-old Kinski happy to wander around completely nude for her role, Annette O'Toole (Superman II) going topless for a re-creation of the original film's swimming pool scene, Lynn Lowry (of George Romero's The Crazies) briefly baring her boobs (her bra hilariously popping open as she escapes a cat attack), a blonde woman getting naked for a romp with McDowell, Heard baring his butt for a sex scene, and McDowell going one step further by briefly flashing his tallywhacker.The gore includes the mauling of call girl Ruthie (Lowry), Ed Begley Jr.'s arm being ripped out of its socket by one of the zoo's big cats (this fatal injury probably a regular occurrence at the zoo given how easy it is to reach the animals through the bars!), and the naked blonde bird's blood drenched mangled corpse, her body on the floor, her severed arm left laying on a bed.Chuck in a brooding synth score by Giorgio Moroder, a neat ending (Irena, remaining in cat form, caged in the zoo), and a theme song by David Bowie, and what you have isn't a complete waste of time, but neither is it worth going out of your way to see.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

Nigel P The late David Bowie (I still can't get used to using his name in a past tense) lends his voice to Giorgio Moroder's heavily synthesised soundtrack to this remake of Val Newton's 1942 original. Sadly, the music dates the production more than anything else.At nearly two hours long, 'Cat People' takes a while to get going, and even when it does, it comes in fits and starts. Nastassia Kinski and Malcolm McDowell are superbly cast as a somewhat creepy brother and sister – Kinski managing to exude both a virginal and sultry air that attracts John Heard as hunky-but-bland zoologist Oliver Yates. More than once, the film threatens to become too brooding for its own good and stumbles into dullness. But as things roll on, as Kinski's splendid Irena embraces her blooming sexuality, her brother Paul experiences a disappointing turn in his sex-life, indicating their sibling relationship polarizes aspects of each other's lives – and things become infinitely more interesting (and graphic). The incestuous relationship between them was echoed by their parents, suggesting in-breeding as one reason for their heightened personalities.The film comes full circle, with Paul and Aretha making their way across the surreal dusty, orange landscape that opened 'Cat People', towards a magnificent tree with its branches occupying resting black leopards. This scene brings with it a sense of surreality which acts as a welcome break from the comparatively unexceptional normalcy up until this point.Unlike the original film, Director Paul Schrader is unable to resist actually showing the transformation between human and feline. It comes far too late in the story to carry any real frights, rather it emerges as a tragic inevitability, sowing the seeds of Aretha's eventual, haunting fate. I think this is too slow moving to be truly great, but 'Cat People' remains an intelligent and enjoyable, sensuous fantasy.

gavin6942 A young woman's sexual awakening brings horror when she discovers her urges transform her into a monstrous black leopard.Something went wrong with this film. The director is a hugely talented man, and has made some great films. Even here, the film looks beautiful and has an incredible color palette. But it drags in spots, seems to switch gears without warning, and just never hits the high notes.The film infamously has been said to have "more skin than blood", and that is quite true. For anyone looking to see Nastassja Kinski naked for long periods of time, this is the film for you. But if you want suspense, go for the original. This one has more gore, which is welcome, but that does not make up for the weak plot.