Rating: 
Summary: STRANGE AND FANTASTIC
Review: In 1982, I snuck into the theater to see this. I was 15. In all honesty, I was shocked. There was so much nudity, I was unnerved.Now, I'm 37. It still is a strange, good film. It really is. Mike
Rating: 
Summary: Such untapped potential
Review: I'd been meaning to sit down and watch this film for years before I finally saw it. An erotic cult film with the gorgeous Nastassja Kinski as a were-leopard? It sounded right up my alley... unfortunately, the film is too trite and amateurish to be effective at, well, anything. It doesn't scare, thrill, titillate, or engage the mind. The first nail in this movie's coffin is the casting. Nastassja Kinski is absolutely beautiful, but at this stage in her career she lacked any sort of camera presence and failed to invoke any of the mystery or raw animal magnetism (pun intended) necessary for the role. She's pretty to look at, but comes across more vapid than vampish.
John Heard, although he plays his character well, completely lacks chemistry with Kinski, and their (few, brief) love scenes are so emotionless that they seem forced.
Malcolm McDowell was a shoo-in as the incestuous Paul, but by the time this movie was made, he had already starred in A Clockwork Orange and Caligula, effectively telegraphing his sexual deviance. The horrible direction doesn't do the casting any favors, either. Moments of strong emotion are accompanied by a quick zoom of the camera into a strong close-up, in a technique that went out of vogue in the 1960s (and comes across as cheesy and laughable here). Where the director tries to be erotic, breasts pop gratuitously out of bras in unsexy college-sex-movie fashion. Jumpy editing obscures the plot, making the film a little harder to follow than it needs to be. Finally, the writing: John Heard's character is simply too boorish to be sympathetic. The dialogue is often stilted and unnatural. The worst moment in the plot is at the end, which (without spoiling it) is more reminiscent of Boxing Helena than Born Free. To make things even worse, the DVD transfer is exceedingly poor. The picture is frequently grainy, the sound at the beginning is muddy (though it improves half-way through), and there are no special features. This movie has such untapped potential in themes of human superego vs animal id; feline mystery; cult mysticism; and just sheer eroticism that it's a tragedy that the film ended up such a poor mish-mash. It begs for yet another remake...
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and erotic 80's horror.
Review: This is a strangely fascinating 80's horror flick about a brother and sister cursed to become leopards if sexually aroused. The pic features Nastassja Kinski (Kinky?), John Heard, Malcolm McDowell and the beautiful Annette O'Toole. One thing that I don't get about the story is that it is implied that Kinski and McDowell must have incestuous sex (shudder) because they are the only cat people left. Yet, when Kinski is in a diner with O'Toole she is recognized as a cat person by a woman who is obviously herself a cat person. This gives evidence that there are definitely other cat people out there. So why does McDowell insist that he must have an incestuous relationship with his sister? (Am I giving this too much thought?) This is a classy and mature horror flick; it blows away 95% of the films in this genre. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Kinski purrsssss
Review: loved this movie with a flame. not because that Kinski's naked in this one, ok thats one reason, but the story and the incredable direction just blew me away and Kinski has support also by John Heard(obsessive in this movie over Kinski) and Malcom McDowell(who is simply great as Kinski's brother). good horror mixed in there as well, and being that Nastassja Kinski is my favorite actress this has got to be up there with her performances in Paris, Texas and Tess and the other good movies she was in. a classic and its one of the best movies of 1982
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible film, great DVD
Review: I'm not opposed to the idea of remakes, although this film shows just why it's a better idea to remake bad films with unfulfilled potential than great ones that far exceeded theirs. Even ignoring comparisons with Val Lewton's classic, it's rare for a film to misfire on quite as many levels as this early Bruckheimer movie - and it's much more of a Bruckheimer movie than a Schrader one - but sadly, like all Bruckheimer movies, this promises much but then resolutely fails to deliver (after all, Bruckheimer is the guy who made a car chase movie and then forgot to include any car chases until the last reel). The sexual fantasies may be Schrader's, but the style is all Bruckheimer's - glossy visuals, marketable soundtrack, good-looking cast given little to work with, meandering script and a dogged refusal to make good on the hype. However, even ignoring the fact that the producer is more interested in the marketing than the movies themselves, taken on its own merits, 'Cat People' just doesn't work. For a film about a race of incestuous cat people, it's astonishingly boring. Nothing much happens in the most uninteresting way possible for 90 minutes until Kinski's character undergoes a sudden complete moral u-turn and the filmmakers try to wrap everything up in a hurry so they can get home before the pubs shut. As a film about sexuality, it has no insight. As a sex film, it has no sex or eroticism. As a thriller, it doesn't thrill. As a horror film, it has no atmosphere or menace. Worst of all, it's just so astonishingly dull. And don't expect much in the way of special effects or gore - most of what was shot hit the cutting room floor (and don't go looking for them on the DVD - no deleted scenes there). Suddenly the omens for 'Exorcist IV' are looking very, very bad indeed... The DVD itself is a good package - a new 25-minute interview with Schrader and a worrying one from 1982 where he's barely coherent and obviously under the influence; interview with make-up FX man Tom Burman; Robert Wise on Val Lewton; stills montage; trailer; and an audio commentary by Schrader. Absolutely none of which makes this film any better, but at least gives you some insight into how Schrader's admitted personal problems helped send it off the rails. Only a poor stereo mix lets the side down.
Rating:
Summary: Cat People is the Best!
Review: I love this movie. It cracks me up. You can tell they were trying to make a serious movie here, with moods, tones, imagines, sexiness, the whole deal. It just doesn't really work that well and it takes itself so seriously, you can't help but to laugh. But it is an extremely interesting misfire. The imagery and photography are beautiful, the soundtrack is great, and actually, a good part of the plot and scenes do work. All of the actors are fine. It is just I could never quite get over how silly the premise is as well as the ending. The nudity, and there is a lot of it, male and female, are tastefully done, it works well for the sexy, primitive tone it seems to be going after. There is a lot of violence, but the special effects were terrible and very dated, it is almost cartoonishly funny how some of the violence is handled. Some may find it dull and not like the violence. I enjoy it for what it is. The scenes that work are great and scary and excellent. The ones that don't, you can laugh at. Still, I go into convultions laughing when that black tail comes out from under the bed at the bordello early on. The autopsy of the cat toward the end, the cat "body" looks like the poorest of the poor quality stuffed animals ever. I think I could see the price tag on it. Yet Kinski's scenes are truly mesmorizing. Strange film, but I like it.
Rating:
Summary: See The Original.
Review: A revamp of the 1942 horror classic with cold and flashy graphic effects that do small justice to the imaginative and haunting mood of the original. Nastassja Kinski is captivating as the mysterious woman who turns into a vicious black leopard and Malcolm McDowell also turns in a strong performance but the screenplay is thin and the style uneven.
Rating: 
Summary: Natassja purrs
Review: This film is almost exactly like a were-wolf film, except the people turn into large black cats (I think they're leopards). Malcolm McDowell welcoms Natassja Kinski to New Orleans. They're siblings who've not seen each other for some time. On the were-wolf theme, these people don't turn at the coming of the full-moon. Rather, when they have sex (!) they become cats! Malcolm long ago realised that only having sex with his sister will prevent this transformation (apparently they'd be able to ... without bother - only mating with a human will produce the change (?) ) Anyway, although that all sounds rather silly, this film is darkly erotic anyway, especially when Natassja runs wild, and naked through the dark forest.
Rating:
Summary: MMEEEOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!
Review: Stylish remake that keeps very little of the original intact. Although I think the original "Cat People" by the great Val Lewton far outweighs the remake in atmosphere, this version still has it's high points. If you're looking for plenty of gore, nudity, and more of a horror tale, then this is it! Of course the story revolves around Irena, young girl who transforms into a black leopard when sexually aroused. I have awaited the release of this DVD, as my old VHS is of poor quality. Older releases of this picture on DVD had very little to offer in the way of extras. Picture and sound is very good, considering age of movie.
Rating:
Summary: Cult classic!
Review: Look fella, there's one reason and one reason alone to buy this B-movie. NASTASSJA KINSKI! If you love Nasty as much as I do, and a lot of you guys do (admit it), you should be informed that the DVD release of Cat People has a good solid 10 minutes of Mrs. Kinski prancing around naked. This is really good quality nudity here. The only other reason to buy this film, aside from Nasty's naughty bits, is to see the laughable special effects. Especially when the guy has his arm ripped off by the big cat and you see the silly strings flapping in the air. Malcolm McDowell, however, is suitably creepy as the cat guy. Or something.
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