Cat People (1982 film)

Last updated
Cat People
Cat People 1982 movie.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Paul Schrader
Screenplay by Alan Ormsby
Based on Cat People
1942 film
by DeWitt Bodeen
Produced by Charles W. Fries
Starring
Cinematography John Bailey
Edited by Jacqueline Cambas
Music by Giorgio Moroder
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • April 2, 1982 (1982-04-02)
Running time
118 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12.5 million [2]
Box office$21 million [2]

Cat People is a 1982 American supernatural horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, and Annette O'Toole. It is a remake of the 1942 RKO Radio Pictures film of the same name. Giorgio Moroder composed the film's score (the second Schrader film to be scored by Moroder, after American Gigolo ), including the theme song, which features lyrics and vocals by David Bowie. Wilbur Stark and Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producers.

Contents

Plot

A prologue set in an undisclosed, primitive human settlement shows a sacrificial maiden being tied to a tree. A black panther approaches and rests its paws on her, and the scene fades to black. Another girl with feline features approaches a similar big cat in a cave, without incurring its attack.

A close-up of her face segues to that of similarly featured Irena Gallier, who travels to present-day New Orleans from Canada to reconnect with her brother Paul. Irena was raised in foster care after they were orphaned. Paul, who spent his childhood in psych wards, is now involved in a church and lives with his Creole housekeeper Female (pronounced "Femolly").

That night, a prostitute named Ruthie walks into a fleabag motel to meet a john, but instead finds a black panther that mauls her foot. The police and zoologists Oliver, Alice and Joe capture the black panther. Meanwhile, Irena wakes to find Paul missing. Female guesses he went to the mission and urges Irena to enjoy New Orleans on her own.

Irena visits the zoo, is drawn to the newly captured black panther and stays after closing hours. She is discovered by Oliver, the zoo's curator, who takes her to dinner and offers her a job in the gift shop. Irena reveals she is a virgin in conversation with Alice, who shares a romantic history (and is still in love) with Oliver and sees her as a rival. One day the black panther tears Joe's arm off during a routine cage cleaning. Joe bleeds to death and Oliver resolves to euthanize the cat, only to find it missing. In its cage lies a puddle of melted flesh like the one found by the motel prostitute.

Paul turns up and makes a sexual advance towards Irena. She flees, flags down a police car and has second thoughts about turning Paul in, but a police dog catches a strong scent from the house and a detective is called in. In Paul's basement, police find shackles, bones, and remains of dozens of corpses. They figure Paul is a serial killer who fed corpses to a captive black panther, and call in Oliver and Alice to inspect.

On the run from Paul, Irena takes refuge in a frustrated romance with Oliver, fearing the consequences of physical intimacy. Paul visits Irena again and explains their shared werecat heritage, thus revealing himself as the escaped murderous leopard. Mating with a human transforms a werecat into a black panther, and only by killing a human can it regain human form. He tells her their parents were siblings because werecats are ancestrally incestuous and only mating between werecats prevents the transformation. He resumes his sexual advances, hoping Irena will accept their predicament, but she does not. Paul then transforms, attacks Oliver and is shot by Alice. Oliver starts a necropsy on Paul. A green gas emanates from the surgical cut and a human arm and hand reach up from within Paul's corpse. Before he can document this, Paul's corpse melts into a pool of green slime.

Irena's feline instincts start to emerge, and she stalks and nearly attacks Alice twice. She later mates with Oliver and transforms into a black panther but she flees, sparing his life, and is later trapped on a bridge by police. Oliver arrives in time to see her jump off the bridge. Realizing where she is headed, he confronts Irena at a secluded lake house. She has 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 kill her. When he refuses, she begs him, then, to make love to her again so she can transform and "be with [her] own kind". Oliver reluctantly agrees. He ties Irena naked to the bedposts by her arms and legs in preparation for when she changes into the panther. They then have sex one last time and the last thing seen is Irena starting the change.

Some time later, Oliver is again in a one-sided relationship with Alice. He stops at the cage holding the "recaptured panther" - Irena, now permanently trapped in her black panther form. Oliver reaches through the bars, casually hand-feeds and strokes the now-docile Irena's neck before she glances at him and roars with dignity.

Cast

Themes

Director 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. [3]

Production

British based American producer Milton Subotsky bought the rights to Cat People from RKO and began developing a remake. [4] Subotsky eventually passed the property to Universal. [4] [5] Initially, Roger Vadim was set to be the director of the remake. Alan Ormsby, the screenwriter of the remake, stated that the film went through three earlier scripts, two of which were written by Bob Clark. According to Ormsby, Vadim was very concerned that the film would appear sexist, as the woman who was sexually intense had to be destroyed. Ormsby changed this in the remake to have a male character who has the same problem. [6]

In the early 1980s, Universal Pictures hired director Paul Schrader to direct the remake. [4] [5] The remake was announced and began shooting in 1981. [5] According to cinematographer John Bailey, Schrader paid homage to the stalking scene in the original with a scene featuring Annette O'Toole's character jogging through a park as she appears to be stalked. [7] Bailey and Schrader also remade the swimming pool scene. Bailey recalled that the two carefully studied the original scene, taking note of how the shadows reflected against the pool. [8] Bailey stated that the pool sequence was the most similar of the homages, remarking that the primary reason for this was that "we didn't think we could do it any better".

The Blu-ray features interviews with Kinski, McDowell, Heard and O'Toole as well as director Schrader and composer Moroder. McDowell indicated that he was somewhat reluctant to make the film at first because he recalled the original film as "not being very good" but was convinced by Schrader's take on the material with its focus on the erotic horror elements. McDowell also revealed that the scene where he leaps on the bed in a cat-like fashion was shot with him jumping off the bed. They then ran the film backward. Heard discussed how he almost turned down the role because he believed it was a porno movie. He also recalled that he felt very awkward, particularly during the nude scenes. O'Toole discussed the fact that they used cougars that were dyed black because leopards are impossible to train.[ citation needed ]

Release

The film was released theatrically in the United States by Universal Studios on April 2, 1982. It grossed approximately $7 million at the U.S. box office. [9]

Home video

The film has been released twice on DVD in the United States; once by Image Entertainment in 1997 [10] and again by Universal in 2002 on the film's 20th Anniversary. [11]

Shout! Factory's division Scream Factory released the film in January 2014 on Blu-ray, when they announced on their Facebook page that they were releasing films from the 1980s in early 2014.[ citation needed ]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64% based on reviews from 58 critics, with a weighted average of 6.1/10. Its consensus reads: "Paul Schrader's kinky reimagining of Cat People may prove too grisly and lurid for some audiences, but its provocative style and Nastassja Kinski's hypnotic performance should please viewers who like a little gasoline with their fire". [12] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 62% based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [13]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a three and a half out of four star rating: "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". [14]

Variety also gave the film a positive rating by praising Nastassja Kinski's performance: "Kinski was essential to the film as conceived, and she's endlessly watchable". [15] Leonard Maltin awarded the film a mixed two out of a possible four stars, calling it "sexy, bloody, technically well crafted, but uneven and ultimately unsatisfying". [16] However, Nastassja Kinski stated, when being interviewed by her friend and 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. [17]

Christopher John reviewed Cat People in Ares Magazine #13 and commented that "Cat People is distinguished as one of the year's top science fantasies for several reasons: aside from its superior camera work, tight story line and the rest, the movie told a story that mainstream filmmakers shy away from – a sexual story". [18]

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for three prestigious awards: [19]

Best Actress (Nastassja Kinski)
Best Original Motion Picture Score (Giorgio Moroder)
Best Original Motion Picture Song (David Bowie)

Soundtrack

Cat People
Soundtrack album by
Giorgio Moroder
Released2 April 1982
Recorded1981
Studio
Genre
Length35:00
Label MCA
Producer Giorgio Moroder
Singles from Cat People
  1. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)"
    Released: April 1982

The soundtrack album was released by MCA Records the same week as the film. 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. [20] [21]

Track listing

All compositions by Moroder, lyrics by David Bowie on "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)".

Side one

  1. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" – 6:41
  2. "The Autopsy" – 1:30
  3. "Irena's Theme" – 4:18
  4. "Night Rabbit" – 1:57
  5. "Leopard Tree Dream" – 4:01

Side two

  1. "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)" – 3:52
  2. "The Myth" – 5:09
  3. "To the Bridge" – 2:49
  4. "Transformation Seduction" – 2:43
  5. "Bring the Prod" – 1:58

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982)Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [22] 18
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [23] 16
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [24] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [25] 2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [26] 6
US Billboard 200 [27] 47

Year-end charts

Chart (1982)Position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [28] 33

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nastassja Kinski</span> German actress (born 1961)

Nastassja Aglaia Kinski is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with Stay as You Are (1978). She then came to global prominence with her Golden Globe Award-winning performance as the title character in the Roman Polanski-directed film Tess (1979). Other films in which she acted include the erotic horror film Cat People (1982) and the Wim Wenders dramas Paris, Texas (1984) and Faraway, So Close! (1993). She also appeared in the biographical drama film An American Rhapsody (2001). She is the daughter of German actor Klaus Kinski.

Cat People may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giorgio Moroder</span> Italian composer and music producer (born 1940)

Giovanni Giorgio Moroder is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had a large influence on several music genres such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, synth-pop, new wave, house and techno music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klaus Kinski</span> German actor (1926–1991)

Klaus Kinski was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a career that spanned 40 years, from 1948 to 1988. He is best known for starring in five films directed by Werner Herzog from 1972 to 1987, who would later chronicle their tumultuous relationship in the documentary My Best Fiend.

<i>American Gigolo</i> 1980 crime drama film by Paul Schrader

American Gigolo is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story of a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically involved with a prominent politician's wife (Hutton), while simultaneously becoming the prime suspect in a murder case.

<i>Cat People</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Jacques Tourneur

Cat People is a 1942 American supernatural horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced for RKO by Val Lewton. The film tells the story of Irena Dubrovna, a newly married Serbian fashion illustrator obsessed with the idea that she is descended from an ancient tribe of Cat People who metamorphose into black panthers when aroused. When her husband begins to show interest in one of his coworkers, Irena begins to stalk her. The film stars Simone Simon as Irena, and features Kent Smith, Tom Conway, and Jane Randolph in supporting roles.

<i>The Curse of the Cat People</i> 1944 film by Robert Wise and Gunther von Fritsch

The Curse of the Cat People is a 1944 American psychological supernatural thriller film directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, produced by Val Lewton, and starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph, and Ann Carter. Its tells a story about a young girl who befriends the ghost of her father's deceased first wife, a Serbian fashion designer who descended from a race of people who could transform into cats. The film, which marks Wise's first directing credit, is a sequel to Cat People (1942) and has many of the same central characters, but the plot is only tangentially related to its predecessor.

<i>Nosferatu the Vampyre</i> 1979 film by Werner Herzog

Nosferatu the Vampyre is a 1979 horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is set primarily in 19th-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, and was conceived as a stylistic remake of F. W. Murnau's 1922 German Dracula adaptation Nosferatu. The picture stars Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula, Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker, Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker, and French artist-writer Roland Topor as Renfield. There are two different versions of the film, one in which the actors speak English, and one in which they speak German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal roleplay</span> Animal roleplay or petplay (erotic roleplay related to BDSM)

Animal roleplay is a form of roleplay where at least one participant plays the part of a non-human animal. As with most forms of roleplay, its uses include play and psychodrama.

<i>Town & Country</i> (film) 2001 film by Peter Chelsom

Town & Country is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Chelsom, written by Buck Henry and Michael Laughlin, and starring Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Garry Shandling, Andie MacDowell, Jenna Elfman, Nastassja Kinski, Charlton Heston, and Josh Hartnett. Beatty plays an architect, with Keaton as his wife, and Hawn and Shandling as their best friends. It was Beatty's and Keaton's first film together since 1981's Reds, and Beatty's third film with Hawn, after 1971's $ and 1975's Shampoo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cat People (Putting Out Fire)</span> 1982 song by David Bowie

"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is a song recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie as the title track of the 1982 erotic horror film Cat People. Bowie became involved with the track after director Paul Schrader reached out to him about collaborating. The song was recorded at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland in July 1981. Bowie wrote the lyrics, which reflected the film, while the Italian producer Giorgio Moroder composed the music, which is built around only two chord changes.

<i>Venom</i> (1981 film) 1981 British film

Venom is a 1981 British natural horror-thriller film directed by Piers Haggard, written by Robert Carrington, and starring Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, Nicol Williamson, and Sarah Miles. It is based on Alan Scholefield's novel of the same name.

Alan Ormsby is an American director, screenwriter, make up artist, actor and author.

<i>The Day the World Ended</i> 2001 television film

The Day the World Ended is a 2001 American science fiction/horror television film and is the fourth in the Creature Features series broadcast on Cinemax. It stars Nastassja Kinski, Randy Quaid, and Bobby Edner.

<i>Susans Plan</i> 1998 American film

Susan's Plan is a 1998 American black comedy film written and directed by John Landis and starring Nastassja Kinski, Dan Aykroyd, Billy Zane, Rob Schneider, Lara Flynn Boyle and Michael Biehn. The plot revolves around Susan (Kinski)'s plan to kill her former husband and collect his life insurance.

Irena Dubrovna is the name of Simone Simon's character in the 1942 movie Cat People.

<i>American Gigolo</i> (soundtrack) 1980 soundtrack album by Giorgio Moroder

American Gigolo is the soundtrack album to the 1980 film of the same name, starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. The music was composed and performed by Italian musician Giorgio Moroder and was released worldwide on the Polydor label. It peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200 album chart. All the cuts from the soundtrack also went to number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts.

<i>Stay as You Are</i> 1978 Italian film

Stay as You Are, also known as Stay the Way You Are, is a 1978 erotic drama film, directed by Alberto Lattuada, starring Nastassja Kinski, Marcello Mastroianni, Barbara De Rossi, and Ania Pieroni. An Italian–Spanish co-production, it follows the May–December romance between a vivacious young college student and a middle-aged professional who is unhappy in his marriage.

<i>Exposed</i> (1983 film) 1983 film by James Toback

Exposed is a 1983 American drama film written, produced and directed by James Toback. It stars Nastassja Kinski, Rudolf Nureyev, Harvey Keitel, Ian McShane and Bibi Andersson.

<i>Countach (For Giorgio)</i> 2016 studio album by Shooter Jennings

Countach (For Giorgio) is the seventh studio album by Shooter Jennings, released on February 26, 2016 on vinyl through Jennings' own Black Country Rock label. A 16-bit music video for the song "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" featuring Marilyn Manson was released on August 1.

References

  1. ↑ "CAT PEOPLE (X)". British Board of Film Classification . 1982-04-20. Archived from the original on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2013-07-05.
  2. 1 2 "Cat People Box Office Data". Archived from the original on 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  3. ↑ DVD Verdict Review Archived 2010-09-02 at the Wayback Machine , Cat People (HD DVD).
  4. 1 2 3 Newman 2009, p. 70.
  5. 1 2 3 "Cat People (1982)". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  6. ↑ Warren 1982, pp. 32–33.
  7. ↑ Bailey 2016, 00:12:43.
  8. ↑ Bailey 2016, 00:14:10.
  9. ↑ "Cat People". boxofficemojo.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-25. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
  10. ↑ "Cat People (DVD)". dvdempire.com. Archived from the original on 2010-02-03. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  11. ↑ "Cat People (DVD)". dvdempire.com. Archived from the original on 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  12. ↑ "Cat People". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "Cat People 1982". Metacritic . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  14. ↑ Ebert, Roger. - Review: "Cat People" Archived 2011-01-04 at the Wayback Machine . - Chicago Sun-Times . - January 1, 1982. - Retrieved August 5, 2010
  15. ↑ Variety Staff. - Review: "Cat People". - Variety . - January 1, 1982. - Retrieved August 5, 2010 [ dead link ]
  16. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide . Penguin Press. p.  226. ISBN   9780451418104.
  17. ↑ Interview, by Foster, with Nastassia Kinski, in Film Comment (New York), September/October 1982.
  18. ↑ John, Christopher (Winter 1983). "Film & Television". Ares Magazine . TSR, Inc. (13): 40.
  19. ↑ NYTimes.com, Cat People - Awards.
  20. ↑ Pegg, Nicholas (2016). The Complete David Bowie (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Titan Books. p. 57. ISBN   978-1-78565-365-0.
  21. ↑ Trynka, Paul (2011). David Bowie – Starman: The Definitive Biography. New York City: Little, Brown and Company. p. 366. ISBN   978-0-316-03225-4.
  22. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6482". RPM . Library and Archives Canada.
  23. ↑ Timo (13 August 2015). "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Soundtrack, eri esittäjiä". Sisältää hitin. Archived from the original on 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  24. ↑ "Charts.nz – Soundtrack / Giorgio Moroder – Cat People". Hung Medien.
  25. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Soundtrack / Giorgio Moroder – Cat People". Hung Medien.
  26. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Soundtrack / Giorgio Moroder – Cat People". Hung Medien.
  27. ↑ "Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  28. ↑ "Top Selling Albums of 1982 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2022.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.