Welcome to the Scream Factory Crypt! In this binge series I will be watching all my Scream Factory titles I own alphabetically! Scream Factory is my favorite imprint of Blu-Ray’s because they take movies that studios and the public might not adore but have fans and deserve to be given respect. This will take a long time as I have over 120(!) titles and counting, I know I will have more before I finish, so stay tuned!  Not only will I talk about them on the podcast but I will review them here as well so you can see how I feel about aspects of each release.

Part 22 is the semi-erotic were-cat remake, Cat People!

Released in 1982, Paul Schrader’s Cat People wavers between surreal and reality, with a healthy dose of star Nastassja Kinski (billed as Nastassia Kinski) nude.

Kinski stars as Irena Gallier who leaves Canada to visit her brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell) who is living in New Orleans. The siblings were orphaned, Paul found himself in and out of psych wards and Irena was raised in foster care.

In the night a prostitute is attacked by a black panther. The panther is later captured and taken to the zoo. The next morning Paul is missing, Irena is told Paul most likely went on a mission and is told to enjoy New Orleans. Irena goes to the zoo and is drawn to the recently captured panther.

During the course of the film Irena soon learns that Paul is a werepanther and she too is one. Paul also makes sexual advances towards his (barf) sister and she fall in love with the zookeeper Oliver (John Heard).

Cat People is weird. It’s a mystery thriller with horror undertones. The gore is great, so too are the leads Kinski and McDowell, but the film waffles between genres and excuses to show Kinski nude that it can never achieve what made the original, 1942’s The Cat People fun. Although there are some great moments Cat People is nothing more than a gory/erotic werewolf/panther remake. It is fun to watch but it never rises above its B-movie trappings.

The video presentation of Cat People is a lot like the film. It has its moments where it is really great, but overall it isn’t very strong. The colors don’t always pop and details are not very strong. Servicable but not amazing.

The stereo presentation of Cat People however, is fantastic. The panther growls and the victim’s screams sound fantastic. The David Bowie theme song sounds amazing and the synth score is money.

The extras are a little light on Cat People, especially since this release was given a Collector’s Edition banner by Scream Factory. Consisting of 7 interviews that total roughly 45 minutes, Scream Factory was able to get the major players in the film including Kinski, McDowell, and Director Schrader. All the interviews are fun but feel a little brief. Also included is a trailer, TV Spot, Production Art and a photo gallery. Solid but not earth shattering.

Cat People is weird. It’s fun but ultimately it suffocates under the weight of its own B-Movie trappings. The Scream Factory Collector’s Edition should please fans of the film, for everyone else proceed with caution.

Film: C+

Video: B-

Audio: A

Extras: B-

Overall: B-