Cat People is a 1982 American erotic horror film remake of the 1942 film of the same name. It is directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell and John Heard. The film co-stars Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley, Jr. and John Larroquette. Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producer. Alan Ormsby wrote the screenplay, basing it loosely on the original by DeWitt Bodeen. Giorgio Moroder composed the film's score, including the theme song which features lyrics and vocals by David Bowie.
Plot
Irena Gallier (Kinski) meets her older brother Paul (McDowell), a minister, in New Orleans. It is the first time they have met since their animal trainer-parents died, and Irena was sent to a series of foster homes. Paul's Creole housekeeper Female (pronounced feh-MAH-leh) (Dee) helps Irena settle into her brother's home, but Paul himself disappears. That same night, a prostitute walks into a fleabag motel to meet a john — and is instead mauled by a black leopard. The police capture the leopard, aided by a team of zoologists: Oliver Yates (Heard), Alice Perrin (O'Toole) and Joe Creigh (Begley). The next day, Irena finds herself in the zoo where these scientists work. Drawn to the newly-captured leopard, she befriends Oliver and takes a job in the gift shop nearby. Shortly afterward, the leopard's violence turns deadly and it escapes. Soon, Paul turns up and tells Irena of their family's werecat heritage. He also tells her that their parents were actually brother and sister. Only sex with another werecat prevents the transformation; the werecats are ancestrally incestuous. When a werecat has sex with a human, it transforms into a leopard, and only by killing a human can the werecat regain human form. On the run from her brother, even though he is her only possible companion, Irena takes refuge in a sexually-frustrated romance with Oliver, afraid of what might happen if she consummates their passion.
Eventually, Paul (in leopard form) breaks into Oliver's house, intent on killing him so he can have Irena to himself; Alice shoots the leopard. While performing an autopsy on the cat, Oliver witnesses that the panther's body disintegrates; Paul has literally disappeared. Irena is trapped. If she takes a human lover, she will have to kill to regain human form. Eventually, Irena makes love with Oliver, transforms into a leopard and flees, sparing Oliver's life. She escapes, but is later trapped on a bridge by police. Shortly after Oliver arrives at the scene, Irena sees him and jumps off the bridge and escapes. Oliver realizes where she is headed and confronts Irena at a secluded lake house, she having regained human form by killing the house's caretaker. Irena tells Oliver she did not kill him because she loves him, and begs him to let her "be with her own". Oliver realizes that he cannot live without her, so he ties Irena's arms and legs to the posts of the bed and proceeds to make love to her, knowing what she will become. We then see Oliver at the zoo working. By this time, he and Alice are romantically involved. He walks to a cage that contains a black leopard, casually hand-feeding it and stroking its fur. It is implied that this is Irene, now resigned to permanently living as a leopard in the zoo to avoid hurting Oliver or anyone else.
Cast
Themes
Director Paul Schrader has said, in relation to the erotic and horror aspects of Cat People, that the film "contains more skin than blood". He has described the film as being more about the mythical than the realistic. He has likened the relation between Oliver and Irena to Dante and Beatrice, putting the female on a pedestal.[2]
Release
Critical response
Cat People received a variety of mostly positive mixed reviews upon its initial release. The film currently holds a 64% approval rating at the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.[3] Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the film a positive three and a half out of four star rating. He stated that "Cat People is a good movie in an old tradition, a fantasy-horror film that takes itself just seriously enough to work, has just enough fun to be entertaining, contains elements of intrinsic fascination in its magnificent black leopards, and ends in one way just when we were afraid it was going to end in another."[4] Weekly entertainment-trade magazine Variety also gave the film a positive rating by praising how "Kinski was essential to the film as conceived, and she's endlessly watchable."[5]
However, the film's star, Nastassia Kinski, stated when being interviewed by her friend, actress Jodie Foster, in Film Comment that she disliked the film, describing it as slick and manipulative. This surprised Foster, who asserted she thoroughly enjoyed the film.[6]
Box office
The film was released theatrically in the United States by Universal Studios on April 2, 1982. It grossed approximately $7,000,000 million at the domestic box office.[7]
Accolades
| Award |
Category |
Recipients and nominees |
Outcome |
| Saturn Awards[8] |
Best Actress |
Nastassja Kinski |
Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards [8] |
Best Original Score - Motion Picture |
Giorgio Moroder |
Nominated |
| Best Original Song - Motion Picture |
Giorgio Moroder (music) & David Bowie (lyrics) (For the song "Theme from Cat People") |
Nominated |
Home video
The film has been released twice on DVD in the United States; once by Image Entertainment in 1997[9] and again by Universal in 2002.[10]
Soundtrack
| Professional ratings |
| Review scores |
| Source |
Rating |
| Allmusic |
  [11] |
The theme song "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" was performed by David Bowie, who wrote the lyrics to music composed by Giorgio Moroder. The song was released as a single in 1982, and in 1983, Bowie included a re-recorded version of the song on his album Let's Dance. Bowie performed the song live regularly during his 1983 "Serious Moonlight" tour. The song was also used in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds.
Bowie's rerecording had guitar by a then-unknown Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Track listing
All compositions by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by David Bowie on "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)".
- Side one
- "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" – 6:43
- "The Autopsy" – 1:31
- "Irena's Theme" – 4:20
- "Night Rabbit" – 1:58
- "Leopard Tree Dream" – 4:01
- Side two
- "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" – 3:51
- "The Myth" – 5:11
- "To the Bridge" – 2:50
- "Transformation Seduction" – 2:44
- "Bring the Prod" – 1:57
Personnel
References
- ^ "Cat People Box Office Data". http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1982/0CP82.php. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ^ DVD Verdict Review, Cat People (HD DVD).
- ^ "Cat People Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003758-cat_people/. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. - Review: "Cat People". - Chicago Sun-Times. - January 1, 1982. - Retrieved August 5, 2010
- ^ Variety Staff. - Review: "Cat People". - Variety. - January 1, 1982. - Retrieved August 5, 2010
- ^ Interview, by Foster, with Nastassia Kinski, in Film Comment (New York), September/October 1982.
- ^ "Cat People". boxofficemojo.com. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=catpeople.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
- ^ a b "Cat People: Award Wins and Nominations". IMDb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083722/awards. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
- ^ "Cat People (DVD)". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=486. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ "Cat People (DVD)". dvdempire.com. http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=215655. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ McDonald, Steven. "Cat People > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved on August 26, 2009.
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