Cat People

"Cat People! Cat People! Stalk like cats, Talk like people. Cat People! Cat People!" The first, and maybe most noteworthy, of the Val Lewton/RKO horror B-movies to come out of the 40's was this atmospheric, little psychological suspense thriller. While never actually horrific, especially by modern standards, the brilliant use of cinematography and shadows throughout helps create a building sense of dread around our tragic love story. Certainly still worth checking out for classic genre fans.

The moral of the story: Don't kiss Serbians.

Has the first documented movie jump scare - a dubious legacy to say the least. The filmmakers' less-is-more approach (dictated more by budget than style) didn't really work for me - when you spend the whole movie teasing an appearance by a transformed cat woman and (spoiler alert) you only get about 30 seconds of a panther at the end, you can't help but feel a little cheated. Overall fine but overrated.

If nothing else, wonderfully atmospheric. That "chase" scene at night, with Jane Randolph (who rocks the hell out of a one-piece later on) looking over her shoulder to the dark street behind her, is killer. Tourneur deftly avoids the limits of the era and manages to imply instead of show; this movie hides its monster longer than just about any other. Its relationships aren't terribly convincing, but oh well.

It's a B-movie premise treated with A-movie taste, Jacques Tourneur letting suggestion and imagination fulfill the film's inherent curiosities with noir atmospherics. How many great set pieces are there in this movie? Probably a metaphor for American xenophobia, wherein Simone Simon's spiritual crisis is thought to be nothing more than silly foreign superstition, until it's too late.