The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

88% of critics liked it
(24 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(3,181 ratings)

Officially a sequel to Val Lewton's psychological-horror classic Cat People (1942), Curse of the Cat People is in fact an engrossing and oftimes charming fantasy, told from a child's point of view. Six-year-old Ann Carter plays Amy Reed, the lonely daughter of eternally preoccupied Oliver Reed (Kent… More Officially a sequel to Val Lewton's psychological-horror classic Cat People (1942), Curse of the Cat People is in fact an engrossing and oftimes charming fantasy, told from a child's point of view. Six-year-old Ann Carter plays Amy Reed, the lonely daughter of eternally preoccupied Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). Amy's vivid imagination and inability to get along with her schoolmates leads Oliver to worry that the girl will start exhibiting the psychopathic tendencies of his long-deceased first wife Irena (Simone Simon), the obsessive "Cat Woman" in the earlier film. Oliver's second wife Alice (Jane Randolph) and Amy's sympathetic schoolteacher (Eve March) try to help, but Amy prefers the company of elderly Julia Farren (Julia Dean), a harmlessly crazy ex-actress who lives in a forbidding mansion with her neurotic daughter Barbara (Elizabeth Russell). Insanely jealous of Amy, Barbara ultimately tries to do the girl harm, but she is thwarted in this effort by the ghost of Irena, Amy's self-appointed guardian angel. Advertised as a horror picture, Curse of the Cat People has only one genuine "shock" scene; otherwise, the most frightening moment in the film is Julia Farren's spirited rendition of "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." Saddled with a lurid title, producer Lewton and screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen chose to offer a fascinating glimpse into the wonderfully boundless realm of a child's imagination, and in this respect the film is an unqualified success. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 10 min.
Directed By: Gunther von Fritsch, Robert Wise
Written By: De Witt Bodeen
Genres: Drama, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Oct 8, 1945 Wide
On DVD: Oct 4, 2005

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Made as sequel to the profitable Cat People, this is highly disappointing because it fails to measure up as a horrific opus.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Hardly a moment is wasted.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
It makes a rare departure from the ordinary run of horror films and emerges as an oddly touching study of the working of a sensitive child's mind.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Old-fashioned horror fantasy isn't too scary for tweens.
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks
One of those movies that coheres more interestingly because of its own odd heterogeneities, largely because the brio and friskiness of the filmmaking remain fairly constant over the short 70 minutes, even as the idioms keep moving around.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
A remarkably elusive picture, a producer-auteur's personal summarization, a gold mine for later fabulists
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
Lewton's masterpiece
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
This picture remains one of the most ethereal looks at childhood the cinema has produced.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
No curses or Cat People.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
One of the weakest movies from the Val Lawton unit. It's difficult to tell whether it's a horror film, a ghost story of just the imaginings of a sad, lonely, little girl.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Far from being a horror film, it's a touching, perceptive and lyrical film about childhood, psychologically astute and occasionally disturbing as it focuses entirely on the child's-eye view of a sad, cruel world.
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Truly creepy, atomospheric classic directed by Robert Wise.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
This rather silly follow-up to Cat People isn't so much unwatchable as it is merely unnecessary.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...instead of a horror thriller, The Curse of the Cat People is a sweet, psychological fantasy about childhood fears.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
RKO expected to get another supernatural chiller, with people turning into panthers and killing folks in the streets. Boy, were they disappointed.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A lovely family story cleverly couched in psychology.
, Film4
Marvellously eloquent, and touchingly accurate in accessing the secret landscape of a child's mind.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner
Some kind of gentle, bizarre masterpiece.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

A bad sequel, it doesn't have anything to do with the first one really, and it's silly. I don't recommend this movie.
Michael G

The words "horrible sequel to a great movie" spring to mind when trying to describe Curse of the Cat People. Taking place several years after the original, Kent Smith and Jane Randolph have settled down in the suburbs, had a weird (mostly because Smith turned into a total… More
The words "horrible sequel to a great movie" spring to mind when trying to describe Curse of the Cat People. Taking place several years after the original, Kent Smith and Jane Randolph have settled down in the suburbs, had a weird (mostly because Smith turned into a total dick) kid and generally gave up on life. The action (a word used very loosely) mostly follows said weird kid Amy who creates an imaginary friend in Simone Simon from the first Cat People and hangs out at the house of a nutty has-been actress in some kind of odd emotional struggle with her creepy yet foxy daughter. Robert Wise's (co-) directorial outing shows some real promise of what was to come from one of the world's most underrated directors with some really beautiful imagery in the back yard scenes. If you like child psychology mixed in with your suspense you're in for a real treat but otherwise its a completely pointless sequel. The good news is that The Curse of the Cat People will only eat a little over an hour of your time should you feel the overwhelming need to see it, but no matter what anyone says they should've let it go with the first.
E.J. B

(Review coming soon)
Anthony L

You can ignore the title which is very misleading. It is the sequel to Cat People but it?s a totally different kind of film. This time round its directed by Robert Wise but still produced by Lewton. It?s a wonderful fantasy film that I recommend viewing around Christmas time. It will… More
You can ignore the title which is very misleading. It is the sequel to Cat People but it?s a totally different kind of film. This time round its directed by Robert Wise but still produced by Lewton. It?s a wonderful fantasy film that I recommend viewing around Christmas time. It will make you feel all warm inside and will make a change from watching The Great Escape & It?s a wonderful life :o)
Mark H

Inaccurately titled sequel to <I>Cat People</I> is not a horror film and more importantly, doesn't even feature any cat people. However, this gorgeous fantasy film is just as potent in creating mood as its predecessor and deserves to be treated as a classic in its… More
Inaccurately titled sequel to <I>Cat People</I> is not a horror film and more importantly, doesn't even feature any cat people. However, this gorgeous fantasy film is just as potent in creating mood as its predecessor and deserves to be treated as a classic in its own right. Atmospheric film is enchanting look into the mind of a child. It's amazing the six-year-old protagonist, Ann Carter, didn't become a bigger star. She is memorable.
Stephen M

In its own quiet way this is even better than the original "Cat People". Though it does use some of the tricks of the horror genre in the last 10 or so minutes, this is not a horror movie but rather the sweetest and most magical tribute to childhood imagination ever made.… More
In its own quiet way this is even better than the original "Cat People". Though it does use some of the tricks of the horror genre in the last 10 or so minutes, this is not a horror movie but rather the sweetest and most magical tribute to childhood imagination ever made. The film reunites four of the cast members from the earlier film: Simone Simon (Irena), Kent Smith (Ollie), Jane Randolph (Alice) and Elizabeth Russell (Barbara Farren; formerly the Cat Woman in "Cat People"). A lonely little girl wishes for a friend, who materialises in the form of her father's dead first wife, whom only the girl can see. Meanwhile, the girl's loneliness is contrasted with that of a woman living nearby, whose eccentric mother refuses to accept her as her own daughter, believing her to have died at the age of six. An amazing film which owes much of its potency to Ann Carter's terrific and touching performance as Amy, the little girl.
Eric B

What a terribly misleading title. "The Curse of the Cat People" is no horror film, and it's barely even spooky. Add more visual atmosphere and this fantasy would verge on Jean Cocteau turf. It's also not much of a sequel to 1942's "Cat People,"… More
What a terribly misleading title. "The Curse of the Cat People" is no horror film, and it's barely even spooky. Add more visual atmosphere and this fantasy would verge on Jean Cocteau turf. It's also not much of a sequel to 1942's "Cat People," beyond its recasting of Simone Simon and Kent Smith. A lonely little girl (Ann Carter, merely adequate) starts seeing her father's dead wife (Simon) and embraces her as a friend. She also befriends an elderly woman who lives with her daughter in one of those typical spooky homes that everyone avoids out of unfounded fear. Her concerned father (Smith) and his new wife frown upon these indulgences. Neither storyline resolves in a satisfying way, and it's not even certain exactly what has happened.