The Cat People (1942)
The Cat People (1942) Rating:
- Dylan = 10 / 10;
- Raoul = 7 / 10;
Synopsis:
A young woman from Serbia falls in love with an American whom she quickly marries. Everything sounds ideal but a terrible curse stops them from loving each other’s as they would like to.
Also, read: Pinhead Alter Ego
The Cat People (1942) Review:
The Cat People is one of the best films from French horror director Jacques Touneur (The Curse of the Demon, I Walked With a Zombie) and definitely one of the greatest horror films from the ’40s.
The story relates the dramatic curse of a loveable woman who knows evil is crawling inside her because of her origin but who, because of it, is forbidden to love. Her curiosity and affection for a handsome stranger will have her trying her chance anyway. A choice that will slowly consume her until her wrath finally explode.
The first half of the film is all about romance and the perfect love story between the two main characters. Thereee is a great amount of poesy in this arty horror film, and the dialogues are beautifully written. The mystery about the woman, however, is not held for long and quickly she admits what she fears might happen. The other half of the film is mostly suggested horror and the very few horror scenes only come very late in the film. Some of them, such as the swimming pool one, is brilliantly realized. They are both visually beautiful and stress inducing. The finish of the film is at the image of the movie: really dark, pessimist, sad and concluding this tragedy as it started, on a really poetic way. A must watch for those who enjoy good old “clever” horror classic.
