cat people (1942)
After Irena meets Oliver at the Central Park Zoo, the two have a tea and talk about their past. Irena reveals that the Serbian village where she grew up dealt with witchcraft and while many were killed, with only a few escaping death. After a fractious encounter with animals in a local pet shop, Irena begins to understand that she may carry the curse of her village, transforming into a blood-thirsty panther when she becomes aroused. Oliver cannot understand her strange behaviour and seeks solace with another woman. After trying to salvage her marriage to Oliver and keep her curse at bay, Irena chooses to sacrifice herself, allowing a panther at the zoo to take her life and end the curse.
With a budget of $150,000 the film earned $4 million becoming a much needed hit for RKO. In order to keep costs down, similar set pieces were used, most notably from The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). The film's use of the startle effect, in this case coined the Lewton Bus (named after producer Val Lewton) in which the audience anticipates one image, but it revealed to be another. In Cat People, the audience anticipated seeing Irena ready for a kill, but the shot with the same sound, reveals a bus entering the shot. The film is regarded as skillfully suggesting horror rather than revealing it.
Required Reading: Tollette, J. P. (1985). Dreams of Darkness: Fantasy and the Films of Val Lewton.
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Writer: DeWitt Bodeen
Cast: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway
Running Time: 73 minutes
Year: 1942
Studio: RKO Radio Pictures
With a budget of $150,000 the film earned $4 million becoming a much needed hit for RKO. In order to keep costs down, similar set pieces were used, most notably from The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). The film's use of the startle effect, in this case coined the Lewton Bus (named after producer Val Lewton) in which the audience anticipates one image, but it revealed to be another. In Cat People, the audience anticipated seeing Irena ready for a kill, but the shot with the same sound, reveals a bus entering the shot. The film is regarded as skillfully suggesting horror rather than revealing it.
Required Reading: Tollette, J. P. (1985). Dreams of Darkness: Fantasy and the Films of Val Lewton.
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Writer: DeWitt Bodeen
Cast: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway
Running Time: 73 minutes
Year: 1942
Studio: RKO Radio Pictures
watch the trailer and famous 'pool' scene
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