Claws retracted

The Curse of the Cat People

(1944)

Wow!

I wouldn't want to go on record as saying this is a really good film, but it certainly one of the best I've ever seen in at least three categories: (1) genuinely weird sequels to genuinely weird and excellent films (in this case, the 1942 Cat People--and if you've seen only the dreadful 1982 remake, whose chief virtue, aside from Bowie's title song, was to teach us that, against all logic, Nastassja Kinski could look bad naked, forget about that and rent the original, which will give you the sequel as lagniappe); (2) completely mistitled films (though let's face it: The Redemption of the Cat People probably wouldn't have sold many tickets); and (3) pointed exemplars of world-class horrible parenting.

Like the original, this was produced by Val Lewton, and it has his signature creepy tone, but unlike the Jacques Tourneur-directed original, in this one, the creepiness is entirely a misdirection play; you'll never encounter a more benign filmic supernatural creature than Simone Simon here, not even Max von Sydow in The Greatest Story Ever Told. If unique is your thing, you owe it to yourself to see this one.