• Review Index
  • About Me
  • Suggestions

vinnieh

~ Movie reviews and anything else that comes to mind

vinnieh

Tag Archives: Jacques Tourneur

Cat People

26 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by vinnieh in Movie Reviews

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

1940's, Cat People, Horror, Jacques Tourneur, Jane Randolph, Kent Smith, Simone Simon, Tom Conway

With Halloween soon upon us, the lovely Maddy asked me to join her spooky blogathon. I decided to review the classic Cat People for my entry into this fine celebration of horror.

Film Title

Cat People

Director

Jacques Tourneur

Starring

  • Simone Simon as Irena
  • Kent Smith as Oliver Reed
  • Jane Randolph as Alice
  • Tom Conway as Dr. Louis Judd

A rightfully, highly regarded horror movie that champions lighting and atmosphere to create suspense, Cat People is much deserving of its classic status.

Serbian sketch artist Irena meets marine engineer Oliver Reed one day in Central Park Zoo while drawing a panther. The two enjoy a flirtation, yet Irena is hesitant to take events any further. Eventually, Oliver charms the shy Irena and after a courtship, they marry. Yet after they are married, she reveals a strange fear to Oliver. From childhood, she was aware of tales in her village of evil women who would turn into cats when feeling jealousy or experiencing passion. As a result, she is terrified to be intimate with Oliver and consummate their marriage. Oliver tries to support his wife, but her fears and sense of terror drive him away as he finds it harder to cope with the situation. He finds support in the form of work colleague Alice, who loves him more than just simply a friend. Irena is admitted to a psychologist, who tries to dispel her anxiety of what might happen if she is to be intimate with her husband. Yet even he is slightly curious as to why Irena has this fixation on the idea of her becoming a panther when jealousy or passion are about. But it may in fact be too late, as Irena becomes aware of Alice’s attraction to her husband. With jealousy aroused the results could be deadly. Or is it all just a delusion from the mind of Irena?

Jacques Tourneur is in the directing seat with the great producer Val Lewton also making a mark with this horror that’s all about the mind and what is hinted at rather than deliberately shown. Tourneur is an adept director whose expertise and ambiguity lend themself beautifully to this gorgeous and creepy exercise in spooky atmospherics and hidden horrors. At the heart of it, Cat People is just as much a mystery as it is suggestive horror. The main question of whether Irena is simply delusional or in fact in fear of a tainted curse she has no power over, provides Cat People with a really compulsive air and a tragic one too. On the visual front, the symbolism of all things feline and entrapment abound, much like how feels so caged and frightened of what may happen if she becomes intimate with her husband. Chiefly, it’s the shadows and sounds that are key to the eeriness of Cat People with many a moment being shrouded in darkness with just the right amount of light to back up the mystery of everything. There are two specific celebrated sequences that showcase just how effective suggestion can be. In the first, Alice is followed by something and is startled by a very loud noise, which is something else than what she thinks but still a jolt to the system and quite cunningly done. It’s a sly and very creative trick to use. The second sequence features Alice in a swimming pool, with light flickering about her as the noise of a panther stalks in the shadows around her. Both scenes wonderfully use the idea of what it could be, rather than what it is to generate the spooks and creeps within you. Cat People is more chilling than jump out of your skin frightening, but that’s the strength of it. It manages to tap into something subtly psycho sexual without being to overt about it, with regards to Irena’s fear of getting close to her husband in the physical sense. Rounding out things is the suspenseful music that knows exactly how to jangle nerves in this strange story.

Simone Simon, with her already feline features and slightly off kilter appeal, is sublimely cast as the terrified woman at the centre of this atmospheric film. Is she a pretty predator or a victim of a tainted curse? That’s the best part of Simon’s performance; the deep ambiguity and exotic mystery. Her eyes convey tragedy and can be simultaneously fragile and sensual in a great balancing act that keeps you guessing just what is the meaning of her fears and whether they have any validity. Kent Smith is the All-American guy who loves Irena deeply, but really can’t work her out as the movie goes on. Jane Randolph succeeds at not simply making her character a home wrecker, but a woman who actually wants to help and is assertive along with sympathetic. Then there is Tom Conway who is more than a little too interested in his patient’s condition and about to pay the ultimate price if he isn’t careful. Out of them all though, it is the alluring Simone Simon who makes the largest impact to this classic horror.

A masterwork of tension and mystery, Cat People is a horror that earns its stripes through its refusal to be over the top and the way it captures the imagination of the viewer with what it presents.

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012

Categories

  • 007 thoughts and reviews
  • Adventures of Satrap
  • Announcements
  • Awards and Achievements
  • Birthdays and Tributes
  • Blogging Community
  • Blogging Questions
  • Creepy
  • Gif Posts
  • Humour
  • Movie and Television Trivia
  • Movie opinions and thoughts
  • Movie Reviews
  • Music reviews and opinions
  • Photography Discussion
  • Rest In Peace
  • Sport
  • Television Opinions
  • Television Reviews
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
April 2021
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Mar    

Tags

007 1940's 1950's 1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's 2010's Action Adventure Announcement Based on a true story Bernard Lee Bette Davis Birthday Blogs You Should Follow Carry On Movies Cate Blanchett Comedy Crime Desmond Llewelyn Disney Drama Fantasy Foreign Language Film Gillian Anderson Happy Birthday Horror James Bond Judi Dench Julianne Moore Julia Roberts Liebster Award Lois Maxwell Madonna Matthew Fox Meryl Streep Michelle Pfeiffer Music Musical Mystery Natalie Portman Neve Campbell Period Drama Psychological Horror Psychological Thriller Rest In Peace Romance Romantic Comedy Science Fiction Spy Supernatural Horror Thriller

Top Posts & Pages

Two Moon Junction
The Stud
Beyoncé's Sexiest Videos
Lyric Analysis - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Kylie Minogue: Where the Wild Roses Grow
Which Actors and Actresses Seem to Get Naked A lot on Film?
Death Becomes Her
A Post for Emma
Have a Sexy Valentine's Day
The Stepford Wives
Alias Season 3
Follow vinnieh on WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy