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Cat People

Cat People

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Cat People gets its 3rd of Nine Lives!
Review: This re-release of the CAT PEOPLE DVD includes many extras never before seen on previous releases. Most notable is a running commentary by the director, and several excellent featurettes on the special effects. It's amazing to see so many goodies piled high on what may be considered a film of cult status.

Fans of THE HUNGER or VAMPYROS LESBOS will find themselves in familiar territory. This is a sexy excercise in style over substance, but what a great fun ride it is. Schrader gives us depth in a genere much maligned for being very dumbed down. He pulls no punches as the graphic scenes of sex and violence push the envelope of any censors. Shy about gore and full frontal nudity? You should skip this title.

Brainy, seductive, and always beautiful from the set to the score this one is a winner! Not at all faithful to the original Val Lewton classic, this one differs from its source as strongly as THE THING did.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A CULT CLASSIC WORTHY OF THAT STATUS
Review: The allure of N'Orleans, a cool cinematic look, a boffo Moroder score, and good acting from McDowell, Kinski, and Dee dd up to make "Cat People" one of the most erotic thrillers of all time.

David Bowie's rendering of the theme doesn't hurt, either.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Eerie and erotic
Review: "Cat People" blends the eerie with the erotic, benefiting from a literate script and artsy production values. Universal, eager to mine its horror properties as the genre came back strong during the late 1970s, decided to remake some of its classics, notably "The Thing" (also in 1982). The studio turned to Paul Schrader for an update of Val Lewton's 1942 "Cat People." Universal has released the film as a widescreen DVD with plenty of extras...

Schrader, riding high on the success of "American Gigolo," wasn't a fan of the original film and later tried to have the remake retitled. He saw the project as a chance to "work on my control of the visual language." The project ended up being "as personal or more personal than any film I'd done," the director says in his excellent commentary.

Key to Schrader's vision was Italian production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti ("The Last Emperor"). Schrader even tried to tag "Cat People" as "A Film by Paul Schrader and Ferdinando Scarfiotti." The detail-obsessed Italian ultimately was credited as a "visual consultant" because of his union status.

Shot largely in New Orleans, "Cat People" stars Malcolm McDowell and Nastassja Kinski as siblings cursed to live as half-leopards. The sensual and sometimes silly film ended up "more skin than blood," Schrader admits. Kinski's nude scenes should bring out the animal in most male viewers -- including the one that inspired that poster with the snake.

Schrader spins some great yarns. Cocaine fueled much of the production. The director became obsessed with the young Kinski. Handlers wrangled dangerous leopards, losing one manic cat in the process. Scarfiotti hid his sets until shooting.

The director points out a lot that's not apparent, such as the ambitious sets and John Whitlock's beautiful matte paintings, created at the dawn of the CG era. The matte work's transformation of the sets is demonstrated on the disc. Other extras include Schrader's recent docu "Cat People: An Intimate Portrait," a breakdown of Tom Burman's pre-CG special effects and director Robert Wise paying tribute to original "Cat" man Lewton.

Images are decent for a film of that era. Some outdoor shots have a MOW haze, but the set work looks fine. There is limited speckling. Giorgio Moroder's synth scores comes through strong and sure in Dolby Digital. The package says the audio is 2.0, but there is clearly surround encoding.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Wait to buy the DVD.
Review: If you are thinking about buying this interesting but somewhat flawed film, wait until the end of August. Apparently, Universal is releasing another DVD edition with -- believe it or not -- DVD extras, such as trailers, behind the scenes information, "making of" features, and so on. I think the release date is August 27, 2002. Why they released the original DVD without any extras is beyond me ... but, then again, if I ran a film company, I suppose I would do it too-- makes people buy the DVD twice.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Dreamy erotic thriller
Review: you will not find this movie out-dated even in 2002... with the dreamy sequence perfectly interwined with the self-discovery of our femme protagonist, we too are led to join a erotic but artsy journey with thrill. The soundtrack by GM has never been so atmospheric to pluck your heart-string.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: slick images, but they don't work together
Review: This is a remake of a 1942 film by the same title. Rent this if
you're interested, but before purchasing, try getting a hold of
the original. The black and white predecessor to this film is
far superior, and most movie critics agree (check the review
sites). Why? Because the original respects the imagination of
the viewer, and achieves an incredible state of tension without
overt violence and gore. It is much in the Hitchcock tradition, and if you don't like that great master's films, then you might as well just... forget it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cat People: After 20years , it still fails to disappoint.
Review: This wonderful admixture of horror, irony , lust, and romance set against an unremarkable and down tempo Louisiana background has Kinski and McDowell at the peak of their performing ability.Sterling performances in secondary roles by O'toole and Heard round out a beguiling tale of unrequitable love against a beautifully pitched Georgio Moroder soundtrack ( available on CD).

After 26 viewings of the movie , I'm still totally captivated by Kinski's subtle naivety, and total, total beauty. She only ever looked better in 'Hotel New Hampshire'. She gets some ironic lines like " Oh, I don't eat meat", and the opportunity to give us just enough exposure to invoke lustful thoughts for decades to come .
While the movie has some explicit content, there is much about it that is beautifully shot ( the crabbing scene with Kinski in waders and ultra high hot pants) and very, very sexy.
Cat people contains all the elements of a good thriller: People coming to the jolting realisation that everything they believed about the way the world is, is demonstrably wrong; powerful physical attraction that has consequences beyond the realm of human mortality ; the realisation that we are all to some extent prisoners of our own animal nature.
Cat people is in no way 'sensational' but builds the story as a slow investigation of the relationships between Zoo curator ( Heard ) recent arrival to New Orleans ( Kinski ) and her tortured and seemingly demented brother ( McDowell).
Special effects are minimal and used with a necessary discretion, as the true nature of Irene ( Kinski) and her brother , Paul ( McDowell ) makes itself apparent.
In my life, one of the three best movies I've experienced

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Remake of Classic Thriller is a Cinematic Delight
Review: A young Nastassja Kinski is perfectly cast in this remake of the 1942 Horror Classic. The DVD version is particularly breathtaking in its visual brilliance.

The story of humans turning into viscious wild cats at night, motivated by "animal attraction", attacking out of passion, turning their victims into "cat people" (multiplying like vampires would). The adding of color does not deminish the effects for which the original b/w film was remembered. This is a visual feast for any fan of the genre or the star. Highly recommended!*****

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nastassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell don't pussyfoot around
Review: The thing that first strikes you as you see this for the first time is the Sound track [Cat People: Original Soundtrack ASIN: B000002NYE] "Putting out the fire; Theme from Cat People" Music Written by Giorgio Moroder Lyrics Written and Performed by David Bowie.
Next in the midst of a great cast you notice Nastassja and wonder why you did not get the picture of her and the Python mounted over your fireplace. With her new eyes of green she almost overwhelms the story.
Malcolm is creepier than usual; the first time he hops up on all fours, you want to throw him a mouse. Among many other great performances he played H. G. Wells in [Time After Time (1979) ASIN: 6300271781]
The story plot follows the complicated lives of cat people as they cope with modern day Louisiana. Irena Gallier is coming of age and puberty hit her hard. She adds a new dimension to the term "running around."
You may want to watch the original movie; but do not waste you energy trying to compare them as they from two different eras and budgets.
You definitely want to see this film, as you may be a cat person and not know it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kinski rules
Review: "Cat People" is an all-time classic horror that you want to watch over and over again. I'm glad I found this marketplace seller who promptly delivered a top quality DVD for a very reasonable price. It's always nice to see a 21-year-old Nastassja Kinski getting turned on then turned into a black leopard. That was 20 years ago. And believe it or not, age could only make her look better and sexier. Try "Cold Heart" (2001) and you'll see what I mean.


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