Stephen King's Cat's Eye (1985)

65% of critics liked it
(23 reviews)
51% of users liked it
(29,994 ratings)

Cat's Eye is an uneven, tepid trilogy of stories written by Stephen King connected by a cat which appears at the beginning of each story. The best story, and first episode, concerns chain-smoker Morrison (James Woods) who joins a stop-smoking group run by sadistic Dr. Monatti, played with great… More Cat's Eye is an uneven, tepid trilogy of stories written by Stephen King connected by a cat which appears at the beginning of each story. The best story, and first episode, concerns chain-smoker Morrison (James Woods) who joins a stop-smoking group run by sadistic Dr. Monatti, played with great relish by Alan King. In the second episode, a gambler named Cressner (Kenneth McMillan) makes a bet with his wife's lover. In the third episode, a young girl (Drew Barrymore) is terrorized by a tiny troll. Although he wrote the screenplay, Stephen King was disappointed with the results and thought the interconnection of the stories using the cat clumsy and distracting. Directer Lewis Teague does an average job of directing the confusing and sometimes foolish script. However, James Woods' fine performance and the special effects by Jeff Jarvis make the film worth a view. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 34 min.
Directed By: Lewis Teague
Genres: Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Apr 12, 1985 Wide
On DVD: Oct 1, 2002

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
The three stories just don't connect and efforts to join them never work. However, an excellent roster of talent does try its best.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Stephen King seems to be working his way through the reference books of human phobias, and Cat's Eye is one of his most effective films.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Even though the mix contains lumps, Cat's Eye is the best screen adaptation of any King work since Brian De Palma's Carrie.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
The film seems like a throwback not to old horror comics but to bad syndicated TV horror.
, Time Out
The usual caveats about cumulatively unsatisfying portmanteau pictures certainly apply.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
A terceira história é também a pior, o que é lamentável, já que conclui o filme de forma decepcionante depois de duas narrativas interessantes, tensas e divertidas.
Chuck O'Leary, Fantastica Daily
A horror anthology written by Stephen King with two good segments enveloping a great one.
Staci Layne Wilson, StaciWilson.com
Fair frights, feline style.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Uneven, but mildly diverting at times.
Widgett Walls, Needcoffee.com
Decent King adaptations shrouded with a weak framing story.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Amusing adaptation of a few Stephen King short stories -- if only smokers were treated in real life as they are in this film!
, Film4
Although there are big problems with the horror compendium concept, this is worth seeing for James Woods alone, and the crafty use of The Police's 'Every Breath You Take.'
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
A fairly uneven collection of short horror stories. The segment with James Woods, however, justifies the price of a rental
Alex Sandell, Juicy Cerebellum
You would think they could have gotten at least ONE story right.
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is
A very interesting movie!

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jeff "

Interesting horror anthology, Cat's Eye features three tales written by Stephen King. Although not as memorable as many in the genre, Cat's Eye is a fine film with a good cast. Overall Cat's Eye is a good anthology of horror stories, but is not as good as Creepshow or… More
Interesting horror anthology, Cat's Eye features three tales written by Stephen King. Although not as memorable as many in the genre, Cat's Eye is a fine film with a good cast. Overall Cat's Eye is a good anthology of horror stories, but is not as good as Creepshow or Trick 'r Treat. This film has three stories, but only two deliver some good chills. Quitters Inc and The Ledge are great stories However the final story The general leaves a lot to be desired. Cat's Eye is one of the better Stephen King films. The film is a fun anthology, never anything great, but definitely worth watching. The film boasts a good cast and there is plenty to offer to Stephen King fans. The best horror stories are the first two, with the third lacking something to really make this anthology very memorable. The film almost succeeds at being a memorable addition to the Anthology genre. But there's something missing to really make Cat's Eye a worthwhile anthology. Despite the mediocrity of the final story, the first two horror yarns that Stephen King conjures up make up for it. Quitters Inc. is an effective tale about a guy join an agency where they convince you quit smoking the most deadly ways. A very effective yarn that stars James Wood as the unfortunate former smoker. Then you have The Ledge which stars Robert Hays who is forced in a deadly bet after he gets involved with the wife of a crime boss. Then you have the final story, The Guard, this story doesn't really close the film well, and it stars Drew Barrymore. This story is quite silly and doesn't do anything to really thrills you. However despite a weak final story, Cat's Eye is a good anthology that is worth checking out.
AJ V

Yet another great anthology horror movie, this one is of Stephen King stories. It has a lot of great actors, and the stories are great too. I loved it.
James A

With the exception of some bad blue screen I still loved this movie. The Goblin at the was still creepy as well.
Cassandra M

A movie divided into three parts, each separate story linked by the passage of a cat through it. The first two parts (Quitters' Incorporated and The Ledge) are well done adaptations of two short stories that are amongst Stephen King's best writing. Admittedly, they read… More
A movie divided into three parts, each separate story linked by the passage of a cat through it. The first two parts (Quitters' Incorporated and The Ledge) are well done adaptations of two short stories that are amongst Stephen King's best writing. Admittedly, they read better (you can find them both in the Night Shift collection) because a lot has to do with what the characters are thinking, which you can't really do on screen. However, they come about as close as possible here. The third part of the movie, I think is written specifically for the movie and wraps things up nicely. Well worth seeing.
Sanjaya &

I don't get the point of this story... Just a cat with its journey in three different stories... Just a weird movie from Stephen King... I really didn't believe he's working the screenplay for this movie too... Even that, it's still pretty interesting to watch...
Curtis L

Yes! This movie is great. I was terrified to sleep for years with my face up, because I thought a wall goblin would suck my breath out.
Lafe F

I liked the 80's synthesized music, and the framing story about the Cat trying to rescue the little girl, but some of the other stories just weren't up to snuff for this anthology of horror tales. Story #1 - about the man going to the agency to Stop Smoking - just… More
I liked the 80's synthesized music, and the framing story about the Cat trying to rescue the little girl, but some of the other stories just weren't up to snuff for this anthology of horror tales. Story #1 - about the man going to the agency to Stop Smoking - just wasn't very interesting or scary. Story #2 - the man who must walk all the way around the building's ledge, was a bit suspenseful, but not scary. I was expecting a horror movie here! Story #3 - I loved the battle between the cat and the little troll in the girl's bedroom. Great effects and action. Worth the price of the movie alone. Drew Barrymore is the greatest 80's movie child.
xGary X

Only the post-modern kitsch appeal of Hammer can really save a horror compendium, this one from the 80s is particularly lame. Silly rather than scary, it plays like a bunch of bad episodes of The Twilight Zone and is only of interest for the appearance of James Woods.
Dr Blood

A young girl, in the closing and the best narrative, has difficulty sleeping. Though her parents suspect the family cat of wrongdoing, the girl knows better - especially after she spots a foot-high troll coming out of her bedroom wall!
Jason V

Each of the three stories shown in Cat's Eye has its own problems. The best of the lot is the first, featuring James Woods. Even it, though, it hampered by the connective tissue of a cat wandering the East Coast. The second story is implausible in all the little details while… More
Each of the three stories shown in Cat's Eye has its own problems. The best of the lot is the first, featuring James Woods. Even it, though, it hampered by the connective tissue of a cat wandering the East Coast. The second story is implausible in all the little details while the third features a child's worst nightmare: adults who do not listen to them. King tries, to be sure, to channel everything which frightens human beings, but this is just a mish mash of ideas not amounting to a whole lot. Typical 1980's made for TV fare, nothing more.
Sylvester K

The little girl was Drew Barrymore!!!!! It's similar to most of the horror anthologies, but this time the host (The cat) actually gets involved. The stories are from Stephen King's Collections. Quite entertaining, not his best adaptaion however.
shane h

I absolutely love Steven King movies. One of my favorite parts of this movie is the beginning when the cat is Being Chased by Cujo, then passes Christine on the road and a couple other references to great King movies. This is classic King style wrapping mini stories into one movie. My… More
I absolutely love Steven King movies. One of my favorite parts of this movie is the beginning when the cat is Being Chased by Cujo, then passes Christine on the road and a couple other references to great King movies. This is classic King style wrapping mini stories into one movie. My favorite book of King's is 4 Seasons which I believe the fall story is what Stand by Me was based on. Drew Barrymore hot off the box office smash Fire Starter is the in the movie showing up in each of the 3 short stories. A cat travels cross country to help a girl that keeps showing up to the cat in mannequins and store windows. The 1st story follows Peter Weller as he tries to stop smoking. The place his friend takes him has some very irregular methods of helping you quit. The 2nd story takes us to Atlantic City where an old gangster who is addicted to gambling finds out his wife is gonna leave him for her tennis coach. The gangster is the guy who played The Baron in Dune. The tennis coach is set up by The Baron and has to choose jail or something completely worse. The 3rd and final story takes us to Washington DC where Drew and her family live. The cat is following a small troll that is after Drew. The family takes in the cat only to find out that the cat may have killed the family pet, a parakeet names Pauly. The cat (General) is taken to the pound but manages to escape just in time to come to Drew's aid. This is an amazing movie by a literary genius.
Lee K

Once again like twilight zone the movie this movie features shortyet entertaining stories thru out one containing james woods in an anti smoking campaign that would make even me quit
Anthony V

Yeah, parts are a bit corny, but I do like the last story and the smoker's story with James Woods.
paganchild1979 p

Drew Barrymore before she knew what sex was and at her best! Great movie!