Double Feature: The Black Cat and Cat People
It took me an astounding five years to find these two rarities. While their names may seem synonymous, they have nothing to do with one another, other than that they both have cat in the title, they were both made for very little money, were exploitative for their time, and don’t get the recognition that they deserve. Oh, and that they are both featured on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments, where I first saw mention of these two films.
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
“The Black Cat” dir. Edgar G. Ulmer (1934) runtime 65 minutes
Based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name, “The Black Cat” has a plot that many will not pay attention to. The real draw is having Bela Lugosi (Dracula) and Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) onscreen, together, portrayed as foes. This was their first of eight collaborative films, all of which were made by Universal, the original creators of movie monsters. They play old foes who inadvertently come together following an automobile accident. Lugosi is the afflicted victim of Karloff’s grotesque experiments, as he tricks Lugosi’s wife into believing that Lugosi is dead, and then murders her as well. Lugosi’s daughter’s whereabouts are unknown, but it’s almost certain that Karloff has her imprisoned, or has killed her too.
The only iconic imagery from this film lies in the shots of floating women, who seem to be in stasis between life and death, perfectly composed in their weightless beauty. The motivations behind Karloff’s schemes aren’t entirely clear, but we are assured that he is wicked and hate-filled. Near the end we see the extent of his evilness and it’s understandable why Lugosi seeks revenge. There’s also a newlywed couple in the mix, but they don’t do much except serve as distractions to Karloff. The wife serves as nothing more than a damsel in distress, and her husband as a nothing kind of supporting character.
The ending is probably the only bit that’s worth mentioning as it relies on some truly grotesque horror, though in the shadows. Other than that there’s nothing truly extraordinary about this film other than it features two of the greatest movie monsters ever, together onscreen, fighting one another in perverted glory.
Courtesy of RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
“Cat People” dir. Jacques Tourneur (1942) runtime 73 minutes
There’s much to love in this RKO classic, and much to marvel at as well. The film stars French actress Simone Simon (Irena) as a Serbian woman who is deeply troubled by the mythology surrounding her former village. Believing these myths, she is under the impression that if she engages in sexual relations with her new husband, the old magic of the wicked witches of yore will fall upon her. It’s unclear where this belief comes from, and this missive is not easily gleaned, as 1942 standards couldn’t outright say anything about sexual arousal.
Much of the film builds up this mythology, and fleshes out the main characters, including Irena’s new husband’s best friend, who becomes his love interest after he can’t deal with his wife’s coldness. The love triangle lends itself to a revenge scenario, where Irena gets back at the home wrecker who deemed to break up her marriage. From this we don’t get to see any of the transformations between cat and person, but it’s alluded to. This makes for a really creepy sequence that is artfully done through suspense, great sound editing, and creepy imagery, which I will link to below.
Though a great deal of this entertains, I only wish that it relied more on the cerebral and not the visceral. We don’t know the reasoning behind Irena’s fear until she visits a psychiatrist, but the film remains very confusing. The ending is ridiculous as it follows Irena through her problems with transforming; without much sympathy. Her husband never truly loved her, tries to commit her to a mental institution without any evidence of true insanity, and in the end sees her fate as comeuppance. I would have liked to see a more sympathetic version of Irena, one that didn’t make her the woman wronged, and certainly didn’t see her ended by a perverted psychiatrist.
Both of these films have intense imagery, iconic performances, and a visual style that both haunts and intrigues the viewer. Though these films don't have much heft nowadays they are still true cult classics, as well as horror staples. These films will tickle lovers of horror, lost films, and underrated, rare gems.
