I saw the 1982 remake of “Cat People” in the late 80s, which sparked an interest in the 1942 original, which is part of the most bizarrely fascinating film trilogies I’ve ever seen.
01 The Seventh Victim (1943)
Prequel to the 1942 “Cat People”, which features Tom Conway as Dr. Louis Judd, this film focuses on a young woman named Mary (Kim Hunter) who stumbles on an underground cult of devil worshippers in Greenwich Village, New York City, while searching for her missing sister, Jacqueline (Jean Brooks). It marks Robson’s directorial debut. Critics have noted homosexual undercurrents running through the film, particularly in Jacqueline’s character and her relationship with Frances Fallon (Isabel Jewell), a cult member who is an employee at the company she formerly owned.
02 Cat People (1942)
The original film is an 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 Oliver (Kent Smith) begins to show interest in his co-worker, Alice (Jane Randolph), Irena begins to stalk her. The film stars Simone Simon as Irena, and features Tom Conway as Dr. Louis Judd, a psychiatrist who retroactively returns from “The Seventh Victim”.
The film featured the first jump scare, which involved a bus. For years, industry insiders referred to jump scares as “a bus”.
03 The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
This 1944 tangential sequel / spin-off is an American psychological supernatural thriller film directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, produced by Val Lewton. The film follows Amy Reed (Ann Carter), the daughter of “Cat People” characters Oliver (Kent Smith) & Alice (Jane Randolph). Alice befriends the ghost of her father’s deceased first wife, Irena Dubrovna Reed (Simone Simon), a Serbian fashion designer who descended from a race of people who could transform into cats.
Although the film was marketed as a sequel to “Cat People” and had four of the same actors (three of whom played the same characters in both films), “The Curse of the Cat People” has little in common with the earlier film. RKO studio executives wanted to cash in on the success of the first film and insisted on the title, despite producer Val Lewton’s desire to change it to “Amy and Her Friend”.
04 Cat People (1982)
This graphic and fantastical 1982 remake is an American supernatural horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, and Annette O’Toole. While clearly based on the original, the new version features a more detailed myth / lore for the Cat People of the title, leaning heavily into fantasy and eroticism, rather than realism or the implied horror of the original. In this iteration, Irina Gallier, falls in love with a man named Oliver and befriends Alice, a rival for Oliver’s affection, as Irina is also reunited with her brother Paul and learns that they are descended from werecats.
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. Jerry Bruckheimer served as an executive producer.