by Frank Calvillo
Anyone who has ever been privileged to watch Cat People can instantly remember how much of an enthralling experience it was, and how it changed the game of the thriller genre in terms of mood, atmosphere and overall suspense. Using elements such as shadow and silence in ways which hadn’t yet been attempted to such unforgettable effect, made the film an instant classic and the hallmark of legendary producer Val Lewton’s career. Mixing elements of powerful suspense with heartbreaking romance, Cat People both set the tone and also redefined the image of where a thriller could venture story-wise, which still holds up, especially in the more-than-fitting new Blu-ray release from The Criterion Collection.
In Cat People, a lovely Serbian-born sketch artist named Irena (Simone Simon) who finds herself drawn to large felines, falls in love with the charming Oliver (Kent Smith), a successful ad-man who is likewise head over heals mad for her. Despite marrying, Irena is afraid to be intimate with Oliver, fearing that if she does, she will turn into a cat, according to ancient Serbian beliefs. Complicating matters even more is Alice (Jane Randolph), her husband’s co-worker and friend, whom Irena suspects has eyes for Oliver.
One of the notions which isn’t immediately jumped to when Cat People comes to mind, is how much of a romance film it is, particularly in the early scenes featuring Oliver and Irena. There’s such a genuine tenderness and warmth at watching their romance develop that is made all the more tragic because of the nature of Irena’s curse. Watching the film, there’s never any doubt that Oliver really loves his new bride and there’s deep anguish felt at watching that love fall apart because of the situation at hand. Irena wishes she could love her husband freely without the confines of her curse, which she finds herself both wrestling with and succumbing to as a result of her frustrations. Helping this along is great chemistry from the actors and flawless writing, both of which prove so compelling that they make you long even more for this romance to survive against the oddest of odds.
Romance aside, Cat People is first and foremost an exercise in terror and it will forever be known as such. The beauty of the thrills in the film is that the suspense happens so naturally and subtly, that it makes it all the more powerful when something truly shocking occurs. The secret of Cat People is that the horror elements of the film work because everything that takes place in it is grounded in reality, making things all the more eerie than they otherwise would be. There’s the iconic scene with Alice walking down a dimly lit city street by herself with the sound of footsteps trailing her that suddenly disappear when a bus turns up at just the right time. The scene has gone down as one of the most thrilling film sequences of all time, which is followed-up well by one of the most unnerving swimming pool sequences of all time, culminating in an unforgettable image of Irena in a fur coat, and a highly climactic ending which proves incredibly tension-filled for its time.
Simon is as entrancing and as luminous as she ever was. The sadness she brings to Irena courtesy of the curse she bears is deeply and tragically felt through and through. Because of this, the audience both fears her power while crying for her at the same time. Smith looks like the quintessential nice guy, which he is, but he gives Oliver a soulfulness and a deep love that makes him somewhat conflicted and slightly complex. Meanwhile, Randolph takes what could have been a stock romantic rival in the form of Alice and humanizes her to the point where the audience can’t really ever bring themselves to outright hate her.
Looking at the subtext of Cat People, it becomes easy to spot the film’s aim to serve as a commentary on a variety of subjects. For start, there’s the fear of intimacy of wives towards their husbands as well as the eternal cattiness that can exist between women when comes to the affections of a man. Last but not least, there’s also the importance and value attached to the power of ancient folklore as well as the significance of culture and tradition. For all it’s ideology however, Cat People will surely go down in film history as a doomed tale of romance and one of the most influential thrillers that ever existed.
The Package
A wealth of extras are on-hand to help celebrate the blu-ray debut of Cat People, including an earlier commentary from film historian Gregory Mank, with appearances from Simon, which features a bevy of facts and history concerning the film and RKO Studios in general. There’s also a vintage 1977 interview featuring director Jacques Tournier and new featurette with cinematographer John Bailey, who pays homage to the original film’s look and feel.
The disc’s best features however, are not only the gorgeous and flawless 2K restoration, which makes the already beautiful film even more stunning, but also the feature-length documentary Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, in which director Martin Scorsese profiles the legendary producer and his unique filmmaking touch.
The Lowdown
As thrilling now as it’s always been, Criterion’s Blu-ray release of Cat People elevates one of the ultimate tales of romantic suspense.
Cat People is now available on Blu-Ray from The Criterion Collection.
