Cat People (The Remake)

Cat People (1982)

Runtime: 118 minutes

Directed by: Paul Schrader

Starring: Nastassja Kinski, John Heard, Malcolm McDowell, Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee

From: Universal/RKO

What a movie this remake was. See why below: 

Tuesday night I watched the original Cat People then this sleazy remake, which keeps the idea of people turning into black panthers if horny, some character names, a few scenes are borrowed and little else was used. To address the giant jungle cat in the room, one angle of this movie is incest; on its own that is always creepy, but it became incredibly so when a few years ago, star Nastassja Kinski and her half-sister made some allegations against their dad Klaus... there are some frightening moments in this film but nothing that comes close to that real life horror story. I tried not to think about it but it was pretty difficult not to.

Anyhow, the plot of this is that Kinski reunites with her long-lost brother Malcolm McDowell in New Orleans, a natural city to have spooky goings-on take place. As it's McDowell, saying that you can't trust his character is not too much of a spoiler now, is it? As Kinski and the late John Heard fall in love, things aren't as ambiguous when you compare it to the original Cat People. Yet it definitely is more bold and frank in exploring the sexual subtext of the original; after all, the act of sex has always been animalistic anyway.

What an odd movie this is; I am not just talking about the plot either. The story progresses in a strange manner, in fits and starts. It has a dreamlike quality throughout, sometimes becoming rather obvious. I can still say that this is good. I can't complain about the direction from Paul Schrader nor the performance of the cast, which has other famous faces (Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley, Jr., Frankie Faison, and even a small role for John Larroquette. Kinski was great in what was not an easy role; she had to be bold, and not just because she spent a decent amount of time without any clothes on.

A big plus for me was the score from Giorgio Moroder; I am partial to him anyway so there is bias but I thought it was very good. There's more than just David Bowie's Cat People (Putting Out Fire), which surprisingly has been used in some other films; I imagine plenty of people know that version of the song (and not the re-recorded version on the legendary Let's Dance album) who have never even watched a minute of this before; I say the tune is pretty great.

I say this and the original should be watched. You may love both for entirely different reasons, or you could be me and think that both are at least good and they each have their unique merits.