Taglines: They are something more than lovers who are about to become something less than human.
Cat People movie storyline. Irena Gallier (Natassia Kinski) is a young woman whom was raised by adoptive parents and is, for the first time since childhood, meeting her older brother Paul living in New Orleans. Paul (Malcolm McDowell) meets Irene when she arrives at the airport and drives her home to his apartment. Paul lives by himself with only his housekeeper Female (pronounced Fee-MAL-ee) (Ruby Dee) to look after him. Irena and Paul are descended from a line of ‘cat people,’ people who turn into panthers after mating and who must then kill in order to take human form again.
Irena knows nothing about this side of her ancestry. She is still a virgin, so she has no idea what sex will do to her. On the other hand, Paul has been living with this knowledge for years and has worked out a system whereby he uses hookers as his prey. In fact, on Irena’s first night in New Orleans, Paul arranges for a hooker (Lynn Lowry) to meet with him at a cheap hotel. Unfortunately (for Paul) but fortunately (for the hooker), the hooker escapes with her life and Paul is left in his panther form, trapped in a hotel room. Curator Oliver Yates (John Heard) and his assistants, Alice Perrin (Annette O’Toole) and Joe Creigh (Ed Begley Jr), from the New Orleans Zoo, are called to capture the black panther and put him behind bars.
With Paul gone, Irena decides to spend her first full day in New Orleans by seeing the sights. First, a taxi ride through the French Quarter; then a stop at the zoo where she is fascinated by the new panther, so fascinated that she is still there sketching him 1-1/2 hours after the zoo has closed. When Oliver startles Irena, she drops her sketch pad and runs for the trees, winding up on top of one. Oliver coaxes her down. After noticing that Irena feels excessively warm, Oliver takes her inside and puts a cool cloth on her forehead. Thinking her exhaustion might be due to hunger, they decide to get something to eat. During the dinner conversation, Oliver learns that Irena is looking for a job and hires her to work in the zoo’s gift shop.
Irena’s first day on the job is memorable. Alice introduces herself to Irena, and the two get lunch. A strange woman calls Irena ‘mi hermana’ (my sister). That afternoon, as Irena continues looking at the black panther, it suddenly goes crazy and when Joe tries subduing it, the panther graphically rips Joe’s right arm off and he quickly bleeds to death. By the time Oliver gets back with his gun to kill the beast, however, the panther has disappeared.
When Irena gets home that evening, Paul returns, but he no longer seems so brotherly. He claims that he was “in jail” during his time away. He tries to get Irena to have sex with him, telling her that he’s the only one who can touch her and she’s the only one who can touch him. Irena knows only that she is attracted to Oliver and wants nothing to do with having sex with her brother, so she runs off.
While running in the street, Irena flags down a police car, but they find no one chasing her. However, when the police dog begins going nuts, they do a search of the area. The police dog leads them to Paul’s basement where they find a cage, chains, and parts of several bodies. A check on Paul Gallier shows that he’s been in and out of mental institutions since the age of 10, when his parents killed themselves. They were circus performers, and Paul grew up around big cats. Thinking that Paul might have been the one keeping the escaped panther, they call the Zoo. Oliver and Alice come over. It is the policeman’s opinion that Paul meant to kill Irena, so he suggests that she find someplace else to live. Oliver offers her a place to stay with him.
Cat People is a 1982 American erotic horror film directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Nastassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell; John Heard, Annette O’Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley Jr., Scott Paulin, and Frankie Faison play supporting roles. Wilbur Stark and Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producers. Alan Ormsby wrote the screenplay, basing it loosely on the story by DeWitt Bodeen, the screenwriter for the original Cat People (1942). Giorgio Moroder composed the film’s score, including the theme song, which features lyrics and vocals by David Bowie.
About the Production
British producer Milton Subotsky bought the rights to Cat People from RKO and began developing a remake. Subotsky eventually passed the property to Universal. Initially, Roger Vadim was set to be the director of the remake. Alan Ormsby, the screenwriter of the remake, stated that the film went though 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.
In the early 1980s, Universal Pictures hired director Paul Schrader to remake Cat People. The remake was announced and began shooting in 1981. 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.
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. 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.
Cat People (1982)
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Starring: Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, Annette O’Toole, Ruby Dee, Scott Paulin, Lynn Lowry, John Larroquette, Tessa Richarde, Patricia Perkins, Fausto Barajas
Screenplay by: DeWitt Bodeen, Alan Ormsby
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: John Bailey
Film Editing by: Jacqueline Cambas
Costume Design by: Daniel Paredes
Set Decoration by: Bruce Weintraub
Art Direction by: Edward Richardson
Music by: Giorgio Moroder
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: April 2, 1982
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