BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Wordiezett So much average

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

JohnHowardReid I don't suppose any horror film has created more critical controversy than Curse of the Cat People. It has its admirers, its detractors and those who stand in the middle. Me, I'm a firm admirer. I love the movie. I think it's almost perfect. Ann Carter is so convincing a little actress, it doesn't really matter that Simone Simon's role is so small, nor that the script is sometimes a bit ambiguous, nor that the story sometimes heads in one direction only to veer off in another. Miss Carter not only holds it all together but overshadows any and all deficiencies in script, support acting and production. It doesn't matter to me whether Irena is a real ghost or whether she exists solely in Amy's imagination. I don't care if Amy's fantasy world is Disneyesque, - why wouldn't it be? If the attitudes of her parents and teacher appear stiff or inconsistent or enigmatic, isn't this precisely the way they could be interpreted by a child? Once you view the movie from Amy's perspective, the inconsistencies and non-sequiters, the oddities and half-explained events, don't just dissolve but become part of the fabric of the child's vision. Such is the skill of Wise's editing and direction, it's impossible to tell where he begins and another leaves off. Musuraca's moodily atmospheric photography gives the images a luster that are always a joy to behold. The sets strikingly contrast Victorian fusty with cleanly modern, the workaday real with romantic fantasy. Irena's costume has been criticized, but isn't it precisely the trailing-sleeved gown of a fairytale princess? The music too, the carols, are highly appropriate. An engrossing 70 minutes. The pace never falters. The only thing wrong with The Curse of the Cat People is its title. OTHER VIEWS: Great acting from Ann Carter who is actually the lead in this alleged "sequel", with some excellent support from Sir Lancelot as the little missy's minder, Julia Dean as a half-mad old thespian and Elizabeth Russell as her embittered daughter, and of course Simone Simon as the is-she-menacing-or-is-she-not wraith of traumatic past. These players more than overcome any slight feelings of doubt audiences may have about the story and its veracity. John Howard Reid writing as Charles Freeman.

thejcowboy22 This Movie is about a misunderstood girl named Amy (Ann Carter). She is 6 years old an is misunderstood by her classmates in Miss Callahan's class.Tells her classmates that her birthday is coming up and there all invited to her home for a party. Her parents are Ollie (Kent Smith)Ship Builder and Alice (Jane Randolph)who met on the job in the first movie Cat Prople. When Amy's mom learns that the invitations where put in a tree hole and not mailed by U.S. mail Mom and Dad are very angry and concerned about Amy's mental health. Amy believed that the tree hole was a magical mailbox. Serious action must be taken as the Reed's meet with her teacher Miss Callahan (Eve March) and discuss Amy's unpopularity with her fellow students. Miss Callahan would explain further to her parents that Amy would rather wander off by herself than to inter act with the other children during play time. Miss Callahan using real examples of the fantasy world of a child or should I say the screen writers of this movie took actual poems and Child Psychology books as examples in this private conference with the Reeds i.e.,The Unseen Playmate by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Inner World Of Children by Frances Wickes. As her teacher reiterates,"Children love to dream things up!" With the invitations stuck in the tree hole Amy's Birthday Party goes off with her Parents and house servant Edward played by (Sir Lancelot) an intriguing character who sings while he dusts the model ships throughout the Reed's home.This caught my interest about our Caribbean friend with the strange accent.I did some research and found in real life Sir Lancelot who's name is Victor Edward Pinard. Meanwhile Ollie Reed tells his daughter to make a Birthday wish. Amy promises to be a good girl and not get caught up on in a fantasy world. Unfortunately or fortunately she meets this diminutive,European woman in a white gown who appears in her backyard who just happens to be Ollie Reed's Dead first wife Irena unbeknownst to little Amy. Oh By the way Irena happens to be a ghost from getting killed for changing into a cat. No violence here as our soft heavenly apparition does magical things with the sun and stars. Amy just is enthralled by Irena and loves the attention she's getting by her ghostly gal.On another front Amy approaches her cold classmates but they snub her for not inviting them to her party she promoted in class earlier. Amy wanders cross town to a creepy venerable Victorian home. An elderly woman yells from the window to come over as one thing leads to anther as Amy enters the home and the brick a brack world of ex-stage actress Mrs. Julia Farren played by Julia Dean. Mrs. Farren has an over pronounced totters gait due to some hip problem caused by a nasty fall. Lurking off in the distance of this old edifice is the Daughter of Mrs. Farren, Barbara (Elizabeth Russel) with that creepy stare and jealously toward the new guest six year old Amy. Mrs. Julia Farren claims Barbara is not her daughter Mrs. Farren also claims her daughter died many years earlier and that Barbara is an impostor. Daughter Barbara claims her Mother had an accident and hasn't been the same. Which creates the very cold tension filled moments between Mother and Daughter in that dusty house. Mrs. Farren would perform her stage routine (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) as Amy is entertained. Mrs. Farren paints a scary atmosphere for Icabod Crane as she describes his horse ride of his life from the Headless Horseman. Servant Edward finds Amy at the home and lectures her about wondering off without telling anyone where she's going. Edward apologizes but reassures Mrs. Farren that Amy will come again with him escorting her.Back on the home front the the last of the fall leaves have vanished to a snow covered lawn. Amy still gets regular visits from her Ghostly friend and you wonder where this friendship will lead. To make matters worse Amy comes across photo of Irena and her Father and yells, "Irena!" as her Mother looks in Horror!This part of the movie frustrates me to no end as Ollie Reed with Amy look out back for Irena's return as she appears as our concerned Father denies seeing her as he looks the other way and not in the same directions it appears. Amy gets grounded but Irena appears in her bedroom and calms her to sleep. I found that seen very scary because I had my own monsters in the closet encounters at a young age, Moreover , If I was Ollie I would be overcome with dismay to put it lightly as my daughter is having heavenly encounters with my dead spouse in the yard. Having Amy seeing the picture for the first time proves she saw her and matching the name Irena to the photo in which the parents NEVER mentioned their past encounters with the Cat woman of Serbia. There are a few poignant scenes that stay with me. The Christmas scene is one of my favorite when Amy exchanges presents with Irena with a brooch she pins to her cloak. Irena sings that angelic French Christmas carol (llest ne le Divin Infant) in the snow laden yard. This movie does manipulate the senses and your imagination. The memories of this movie have stayed in my mind for years as I can and other kids who had trouble making friends did back in those days can identify with lonely Amy. This movie teaches us about trust and the value of friendship whether it's an object or an elderly woman or even a ghost!

Man99204 I actually enjoyed this film ore than the much more famous Cat People.This film is worth watching for a number of different reasons.Most people watch this film because of Simone Simone. And while I am a major fan of Simone, this is not one of her better films. She has what amounts to a cameo - as few scenes in which she plays the ghost of Irena - the character from the Cat People film.The central character is actually child actress Ann Carter. She is absolutely mesmerizing in the role of a lonely child. Sadly, she made few films before becoming struck down by polio. It is amazing what can be done with a tiny budget - and a great amount of imagination. For a film buff, the fact that this is the first film directed by Robert Wise, makes it worth watching. He has an adept hand at directing even at this very early stage in his career.

Boba_Fett1138 It's probably important to say I wasn't the biggest fan of the first movie "Cat People" to begin with. I pretty much still gave it the benefit of the doubt because it was such a well made movie but its pacing seriously bothered me and I also remember very little about the actual movie. This sequel is pretty much taking the same approach but it's featuring far less memorable moments in it.It's quite amazing; even though this is only an 70 minutes short movie, it feels like a much longer one, due to its slow pace. It also takes away before the movie finally starts to become truly interesting with its story and the twists and surprises that are in it. It are only really the last 20 minutes or so of the movie that are truly interesting. It is then that the movie starts to become an intriguing one with its mystery. A little too late to still make this a a great movie but it does make it a perfectly watchable one still.Don't really know what the motivations were for the film-makers to go with a story that follows a young child. It seems a bit an odd choice for a movie that could be considered to be a horror. Besides, it just isn't the most interesting approach, since it seems to restrain the movie in its drama, mystery and horror.So I never really expected this to be a great movie in the first place but I still thought it would be interesting to see, since its one of the earliest movies from Robert Wise's directing career. I however wish I could say the style and atmosphere was similar to great horror movies such as "The Haunting", which earned Robert Wise lots of fame and praise.But I also really can't call this a horrible movie. Despite of everything, it still is a watchable enough little movie, that should please the fans of the original "Cat People", who are hungry for some more, even though the movie really doesn't have that much to do that much with its original.7/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/