Review of The Curse of the Cat People (1944) by Paul N — 10 Jan 2010

I must say that I walked away from this one with unfulfilled expectations. That is not to say that this is a bad movie. It's just not what I was expecting. I was expecting another brooding horror film and what I got was a story about a lonely little girl.

If you take the film on its own merits, you find that it is a beautiful take on the innocence of childhood. As other reviewers have noted, the dark horror that Lewton is known for only comes out in certain parts. The best way that I can say it is that the original Cat People can be seen as a gradual but relatively constant building of dark energy. Like the original, a great deal of the darkness here comes from the perceptions and paranoia of the characters. But that darkness is lighter and less omnipresent. Overall, I recommend this movie if viewed with an open mind and on its own.