Featured Audience Ratings

• Devon B

  
  Oliver meets Irena at the zoo drawing pictures of the black panther, and the two strike up a quick friendship. Back at her place, she explains she comes from a cursed village in Serbia, where men turn into great cats whenever their passions rise. Even though Oliver finds the story… More
  Oliver meets Irena at the zoo drawing pictures of the black panther, and the two strike up a quick friendship. Back at her place, she explains she comes from a cursed village in Serbia, where men turn into great cats whenever their passions rise. Even though Oliver finds the story odd, he still romances Irena and soon the two are getting married. Irena however, will not so much as kiss her new husband, for fear the curse will strike her and she'll murder him in the heat of the moment. Is it just a matter of time before Oliver finds himself spending more time with his assistant Alice (Jane Randolph), the sweet, american girl who has already professed her love for him? Cat People was filmed on a very low budget and this lead to great economic measures at the time. Director Jacques Tourneur makes great use out of his "lack" of available lighting, creating dark alleyways and spooky office buildings that have been closed up for the night. And let's not forget the pool scene, as Alice hears the growl of a jungle cat reverberate off the walls of the pool, but can see only shadows reflecting off the water. And what is the underlying message here? Is it about the dangers of sex or the dangers of abstinance? A woman who can't fulfill her wifely duties isn't really a wife at all, or a man who can't control his passions will find them blowing up in his face. It's a bit of weird 1940s fetish-ism.

• AJ V

  
  A great old horror movie with a story focusing around an ancient curse. I really liked it.

• Michael G

  
  Cat People's strength lies not in its simplistic story but in Jacques Tourneur's fantastic direction and beautiful, beautiful use of shadows. So many great scenes (the swimming pool, the walk in the park, the final scene at the zoo) and Jane Randolph in a swimsuit made me… More
  Cat People's strength lies not in its simplistic story but in Jacques Tourneur's fantastic direction and beautiful, beautiful use of shadows. So many great scenes (the swimming pool, the walk in the park, the final scene at the zoo) and Jane Randolph in a swimsuit made me wish I saw Cat People a hell of a lot sooner. Younger audiences probably won't give a shit, but their street cred went out the door once they made Lady Gaga a big deal. Otherwise, Val Lewton does it again!

• Tim S

  
  Fantastic film.

• Anthony L

  
  A Classic Val Lewton production directed by the master of shadows, Jacques Tourneur. The first of too few collaborations, this film probably being their best. Although I walked with a Zombie is my favourite, Cat people is technical superior and it?s the film that invented the… More
  A Classic Val Lewton production directed by the master of shadows, Jacques Tourneur. The first of too few collaborations, this film probably being their best. Although I walked with a Zombie is my favourite, Cat people is technical superior and it?s the film that invented the 'Jump'. The Swimming pool scene and the bus scene are classic originals that have been ripped off ever since. This is a wonderful film not to be missed and the chances are that your favourite films wouldn't have existed without it!

• Jani H

  
  "Oh, it's alright. It's just that cats don't seem to like me." 'Cat People' is considered as a cult classic, which is odd for me because this film was very weak. Dull, monotonic and no suspension at all. Many of the 40's horror movies had… More
  "Oh, it's alright. It's just that cats don't seem to like me." 'Cat People' is considered as a cult classic, which is odd for me because this film was very weak. Dull, monotonic and no suspension at all. Many of the 40's horror movies had famous horror actors in 'em but this movie didn't have a single face that I recognize... The actors didn't even do a good job so what could save this film then? The story is about a young Serbian woman who has her own secrets. She meets a man, falls in love (reluctantly) and gets married. Why so serious then? Ain't love beautiful? She believes that she is cursed and her husband's life could be at stake.. Didn't enjoy 'Cat People' at all. The whole falling in love thing, getting married was done so fast that I just couldn't stop laughing. The story didn't have anything that interesting in it. The only interesting elements in this movie was the two supporting characters, the cleaner at the hotel and the zoo janitor. These two characters saved this movie and stole the film from its stars. A film noir classic it might be but didn't work for me. No excitement, dull characters and a weak story with an ending that got my head shaking... Give it a try, see what you think of it.

• Mark H

  
  Brooding film noir from producer Val Lewton is a triumph of imagination over budget in this haunting horror film. Relies not on overt shocks, but on a moody sense of dread. The whole cast is brilliant but Simone Simon as Irena is especially effective, suggesting subtle catlike… More
  Brooding film noir from producer Val Lewton is a triumph of imagination over budget in this haunting horror film. Relies not on overt shocks, but on a moody sense of dread. The whole cast is brilliant but Simone Simon as Irena is especially effective, suggesting subtle catlike behavior in just her movements. Remade less successfully in 1982.

• Cindy I

  
  This eerie story, of a mysterious woman who who carries a dark secret, has lost some punch over the years, but still has its moments. Made on a low budget by Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur, they had to do more with less. A lot of the scary stuff is implied rather than shown. They say… More
  This eerie story, of a mysterious woman who who carries a dark secret, has lost some punch over the years, but still has its moments. Made on a low budget by Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur, they had to do more with less. A lot of the scary stuff is implied rather than shown. They say the mind can scare itself better than anything on the screen can, but in this day of "torture porn" and in-your-face horror, our imaginations may be a little weak by now. The most well-known of the Val Lewton-produced films, its still worth a look if you still like atmosphere over gore. It will at least make you think twice about walking down a dark street alone.

• Stephen M

  
  A great little horror movie about a frigid young woman who imagines she will turn into a cat and kill her husband if he makes love to her. "Cat People" is a master-class in subtly suggested terror, the antithesis of today's nauseatingly graphic crop of horror films.… More
  A great little horror movie about a frigid young woman who imagines she will turn into a cat and kill her husband if he makes love to her. "Cat People" is a master-class in subtly suggested terror, the antithesis of today's nauseatingly graphic crop of horror films. It's remarkable how much atmosphere Jacques Tourneur was able to create with just a bit of shadow-puppetry, artful lighting and some clever sound-effects. The scenes in which a jealous Irena (Simone Simon) stalks her love rival Alice (Jane Randolph) are unforgettable.

• Ken S

  
  pretty shadows

• Dr Blood  

  
  This brilliantly understated horror film is an all time classic. Simone Simon is as feline as they come and is the ultimate sex kitten.

• Kylie B

  
  I think I've seen this but can't remember. When I rewatch rating may change.

• Matthew Y

  
  Before Horror films started to become more frightful and frankly horrific in the 60's & 70's films like Cat People utilized mood, shadows, and atmosphere to build tension and unnerve their audiences. Cat People features some solid acting and a weird and wild story about… More
  Before Horror films started to become more frightful and frankly horrific in the 60's & 70's films like Cat People utilized mood, shadows, and atmosphere to build tension and unnerve their audiences. Cat People features some solid acting and a weird and wild story about a woman who believes she is the decedent of an ancient race and cursed to turn into a giant monstrous cat if she becomes intimate with her husband. This abstinence angle provides a more intriguing element than typical stories of the time and the film is masterfully crafted in a noir-like setting which adds to the mystery of poor Irena. The pool sequence has become legendary in the art of using sound and shadows to give a frightening sense of something without showing the audience. This allows our minds to go wild piecing together what's going on, which is always more frightening. Excellent film, let's hope they don't re-make it.

• Ryan M

  
  **** out of **** As much as I love a good movie monster; I really do miss the days when producers either didn't have the money to show their grotesque creations of the imagination in full or just decided not to, as it was a semi-popular trend amongst less financially fortunate… More
  **** out of **** As much as I love a good movie monster; I really do miss the days when producers either didn't have the money to show their grotesque creations of the imagination in full or just decided not to, as it was a semi-popular trend amongst less financially fortunate or creative filmmakers to keep the monster in the darkness, waiting to pounce. I've always and always will be strongly opinionated on the matter; I think what we conjure up in our own minds is often scarier than anything we may actually see. This applies to the Val Lewton produced "Cat People", a 1942 horror film that never actually shows its cat people until the end, where we get a glimpse of what it might be like to be one. I'm not sure why they didn't show the titular beasts, but I'm glad they didn't; these days, they would have at any chance. Because the American movie-going public has since been trained to believe that to show the beast lurking in the shadows is payoff, and proves that you aren't cheap. But ah, that's where we come to the success of films like "Cat People". It's a prime example of early trend-setting and silver screen tension. Beautifully shot in black and white and brilliantly lit for maximum effect; it is not so much a film about its monsters but more about the attitudes that they carry. Aside from being genuinely chilling and moody, it has a strong intellectual and emotional core, just as all the best horror films tend to; a stark and provocative meditation on the sexual pretensions and misconceptions of the 40's. It evades the classification of a cautionary tale and a feminist film alike; but remains existent within those boundaries - although not limited to them - nonetheless. So they are possibilities, although not clearly intentions. The Serbian-born Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon, in an outstanding performance that provokes pity, sorrow, and fear) is sketching black panthers at the Central Park Zoo in New York City when she is spotted by a handsome young man named Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), who walks her back to her apartment that day and spends some quality time in her presence. It is clear that Oliver is looking for a girlfriend, although it would seem that the shy and docile Irena would not be the perfect match for his suave sensibilities; although before we know it, they're engaged in a relationship and married. Oliver is able to put aside Irena's strange beliefs, involving superstitions surrounding ancient Serbian curses, for the sake of love. They're happy for a while, although Irena does not want the relationship to become intimate. She doesn't even want to kiss her new husband. Oliver is only able to talk about these things with his assistant at work, a pretty girl named Alice (Jane Randolph), who he may also use to fulfill the desires that his timid wife cannot. Irena is instantly suspicious and even follows the two on a night out. It is on these nightly conquests that she discovers that there is something rather animalistic living inside her; something that makes aggressive hissing noises much like that of a cat. There might indeed be a reason for her inability to make physical contact with her lover. Yeah, I'm thinking these "cat people" would look rather silly if the film had decided to show any more of them than it did. It gets its point across find through the element of implication; we see shadows, hear noises, and feel the isolation of the characters as they are in the same room as this dark creature, which again, goes mostly unseen. But the monster is most importantly the creation of the sexual insecurities of the time. In that sense, maybe it is a sort of cautionary tale, but what is it cautioning against? As far as I know, women do not become great hairy beasts with the ability to maul your face off mid-coitus. But "Cat People" is a great fantasy; a great fantasy that is unable to disregard the fact that it should rightfully be grounded entirely in reality. There's no black magic here, merely a cultural curse that could, more or less, be real if one was superstitious enough. After all, superstition is like religion. Although superstitions such as these have not been proven; that is why they are called superstitions in the first place. This was one of the first films to employ the technique known as "The Lewton Bus". This refers to the bus that appears in the famous scene where Irena stalks her husband and his supposed mistress. A bus pretty much interrupts the best part of the scene, as a sort of early jump scare (that isn't really effective in that way anymore). But regardless, you get a Lewton Bus in essentially every horror movie these days, because people like to jump out of their seats and be surprised (I know I do, unless it's cheap and not particularly well-timed). The film is an important landmark horror film that tackles issues that were prevalent and important at the time of its production (it took just 18 days to shoot, with two teams divided to get the material). But the craft of its director, Jacques Tourneur, still remains in-tact today along with the film's overall relevance. It is an essential film for any respectable horror buff.

• Brandon K

  
  Hated this movie the first time I saw it back in college and this time I loved it. The lighting is incredible.

• Brian R

  
  The horror is viewed as cheesy by today's standards but back in those days the frightful, scary scenes was considered a benchmark in filmmaking. Mainly because audiences never seen anything like it. This film uses a lot of light and shadows, hints of dread, creepiness, satanic,… More
  The horror is viewed as cheesy by today's standards but back in those days the frightful, scary scenes was considered a benchmark in filmmaking. Mainly because audiences never seen anything like it. This film uses a lot of light and shadows, hints of dread, creepiness, satanic, and even erotic themes stands in the forefront. "Cat People" is a master film of exploiting these themes in an almost perverted way. Handed the exploitive title Cat People, RKO producer Val Lewton opted for a thinking man's thriller--a psychological mood piece, more reliant on suspense and suggestion than overt "scare stuff". Simone Simon plays an enigmatic young fashion artist who is curiously affected by the panther cage at the central park zoo. She falls in love with handsome Kent Smith, but loses him to Jane Randolph. After a chance confrontation with a bizarre stranger at a restaurant, Simon becomes obsessed with the notion that she's a Cat Woman--a member of an ancient Serbian tribe that metamorphoses into panthers whenever aroused by jealousy.

Read all 16 featured audience ratings