Cat People

The original 1942 Cat People is an adult horror film made on a low budget for RKO's B-movie unit by producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur. Simone Simon stars as Irena, a kittenish young artist from a rural Siberian village who has moved to urban America but still believes in the legends and superstitions of her homeland. Kent Smith costars as Oliver Reed, the generically charming American engineer who meets her in the zoo, where she obsessively sketches the black panther prowling its small cage. The pair marry, but her fears prevent her from consummating the marriage: Irena believes that she comes from a cursed bloodline of devil-worshippers and that any form of romantic passion will transform her into a jungle cat. The filmmakers bring art, intelligence, and a sophisticated psychology to what could have been merely a cheap horror film, slyly making the connection between sex (both repressed and unleashed) and horror. The only transformation viewers witness is when Irena turns aggressive after becoming jealous of her husband's co-worker (Jane Randolph). Everything else is left to suggestion and imagination, using feline snarls, shadows on the wall, and ingenious art direction to hint at transformation. Tourneur proves himself a master of suspense and a brilliant director of poetic horror, working together with cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca to create remarkable, evocative images on a limited budget. One of the most beautiful horror films ever made, Cat People is presented here with a new digital restoration, with extras including audio commentary by film historian Gregory Mank, the 2008 feature-length documentary Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, new and archival interviews, and an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)