GL84 Traveling to a family members' house, a woman finds that her family curse has passed onto her where she will transform and become a cat- like creature and tries to protect her friends there to help her from the now-murderous creature prowling the area.This one wasn't too terrible of a Gothic horror effort. What really works here is the fact that there's a solid amount of work delivered here from the curse which is pretty explicitly told and given plenty of reign across the film. Starting from the expository scene where he goes into detail about the concept of the legacy affecting the family and how it will become a part of her that works all the traditional Gothic tropes of the unsuspecting falling victim to the wrongs committed by the past, this one really gets quite a decent amount of mileage out of this setup which is what gives this some great points to work with. The additional configuration of the curse into a typical werewolf storyline but transplanting the creature in every other mindset into that of the titular leopard cat makes for a further great plot-point here telling this type of story while making for the great scenes of transformation occurring as she comes into the change through these rather fun scenes. As well, the film's biggest plus here is that it gets away from the grand Victorian mansion and into the city for the finale which is fun enough with the rather tense stalking scene in the city street as well as the big finish where the encounter with the turned animal hunting her in the darkened alleyways before the startling manner of finishing it off gives this a strong scene to close out on. For the most part these here are what really hold this one up over it's somewhat minor flaws. The biggest issue is the rather overt and obvious threadbare plot that simply generates nothing but the same scene over and over again of her being worried about what's going to happen to her and letting these fears onto others yet nothing else is ever done about them. That is repeated so frequently throughout here that it really manages to throw the film into a rather familiar pattern quite easily as once again playing up the influences of the werewolf genre by telling of the reluctant participant once again going for the majority of the film that really makes for quite a familiar route here that exposes this factor. As well, the other big issue with the film is that it's barely hour-long running length doesn't really leave it with a whole lot of time to get this going and it really just rushes by so quickly that it just enhances the overall cheapness of the film as a whole. Otherwise there's not a whole lot really wrong here.Today's Rating/PG: Violence.

Scarecrow-88 Niece returns home at the insistence of her mad uncle who tells her that their family, the Brandts, are cursed with "leopardcy" It seems the Brandts are psychically linked to a leopard and when their emotions are sparked bad things happen, typically with those who cause the "change" being savagely attacked. Barbara Shelley is almost the exclusive reason I felt so highly for this film which as you might already have been informed is a relative to Val Lewton's Cat People (emotions flamed result in the animal emerging, ready to attack; the noirish B&W style; the lovely female lead unable to temper the jealousy for the woman between her and the man she desires; the streets of a city harboring a dangerous threat). The opening has a very elusive and cold Shelley in a pub of her childhood/teenage home, returning to meet her uncle and become reacquainted with the home she grew up in, a place of dark memories she left behind. But her greedy rotter of a husband (Jack May) is persistent in Shelley going back to that wretched house she wants no part of if just because she has an inheritance waiting. Her money is all he cares about, and May has been having a torrid affair with their friend (the delicious, fetching Paddy Webster) while her beau (John Lee) drinks himself into stupors. Uncle Brandt (Ernest Milton) stirs up the madness in Shelley who succumbs to his suggestion that she's linked to the family leopard and there's no escape a tragic fate. So Shelley flees into the woods of the mansion while Milton turns the leopard loose to attack him! Once she pets the leopard, with it listening to her when told to sit, that link, according to Milton, was sealed. The rest of the film has former boyfriend, and current psychiatrist, Robert Ayres, trying to cure Shelley, but he instead ends up putting his wife (Kay Callard) in danger. Ayres tries to convince Shelley that all this leopard business is in her head, but is it? Shelley has never been more alluring, ravishing, enigmatic, creepy, and malevolent. You could see immediately something inside her was brooding, a mania certain to surface, an obvious neuroses buried but not far enough for the uncle to not rattle out of hiding. Just a moment: those shoulders, though! Shelley shows just enough skin to entice naughty thoughts. She's always fascinating and compelling: you can't take your eyes off of her. Meanwhile, the direction gets the most out of foreboding night scenes, whether at the mansion or the city. The plot waffles back and forth on whether or not Shelley has ties to a leopard or not…she even "transforms" with hands turning furry until her face is of a feline form. However, this supposed transformation is often indicated as in her mind, although the leopard "on the loose" seems quite separate but "one with her". The conclusion answers that connection when Ayres drives about looking for his frightened wife. Look out for your canaries when Shelley is around! If I had a complaint it would be the title is just too close to Cat People, making the film's influence a bit too obvious. And the psychiatrist asking his scared wife to hang out with someone seriously troubled (and just letting Shelley out period despite plenty of signs something is clearly wrong with her mental state), knowing how the patient loves him, is a bit dubious and questionable. Presentation-wise, this looks fantastic, and Shelley commands the film...maybe not a winner to some, I personally thought it was a gem even with its warts and imperfections. Scene where the housemaid forlornly looks on at Shelley as she gets dressed, commenting about how beautiful she is, raises the eyebrows as does how it teases with us regarding how naked she is under the covers. Shelley has never been more of a femme fatale as she is here.

Uriah43 Although similar in many ways to the movie "Cat People" from 1942, this was still a splendid little film in its own right. Essentially, "Leonara 'Brandt' Johnson" (Barbara Shelley) has inherited an infliction from her uncle which causes her soul to transform into a leopard at night which kills those she doesn't like. She confides to her ex-boyfriend (who happens to be a psychiatrist) and he convinces her to be admitted into a sanitarium in London for treatment. But even though she has left her uncle's estate and traveled to London she cannot escape her curse. At any rate, while this is a rather short movie it manages to give a good account of itself in spite of the time constraints. As a side note, I enjoyed the performance of Barbara Shelley as she managed to keep things interesting with both her talent and her looks. Definitely worth a watch for fans of this genre and I rate the movie as slightly above average.

MartinHafer The 1942 Val Lewton film, CAT PEOPLE, is considered by man to be a classic. Without really showing but implying, the film tells a compelling story of a strange lady who swears she is afflicted with a curse that turns her into a killing cat. When she is jealous, in particular, she is becomes this cat and kills. Even though she has a loving and caring husband, when she thinks he's being unfaithful, she strikes.In most ways, THE CAT GIRL is CAT PEOPLE with the plot rearranged just a bit. In THE CAT GIRL, a lady becomes a leopard AND controls a killing leopard--whenever she wills it or becomes jealous. In this film, she really does have LOTS of reason to doubt her husband's faithfulness and he's one of the first to be torn apart by the leopard. Like CAT PEOPLE, the deaths might just be the result of a runaway big cat and the viewer isn't sure if the leading lady really is cursed or just crazy! And, because of this strange conviction, both ladies are treated by well-meaning therapists bent on ridding her of this obsession.As I pointed out, the plots have a lot of similarity. The biggest differences are that THE CAT GIRL is less subtle. Its showing her as she sees her hands turn to silly paws and the fuzzy image of her as a cat is pretty silly and would have been better had these scenes not been used. That is the big strength of CAT PEOPLE--such silly gimmicks and costuming isn't used--the idea is that more is less and that is definitely true. Also, CAT PEOPLE is a better film because its main character, Simon Simone, was likable and hated her curse--whereas in this film, the lady was a selfish and nasty piece of work--making it harder to connect or care about her. On top of all this, THE CAT GIRL certainly lacks the originality and freshness of CAT PEOPLE.Despite its shortcomings, is this film worth seeing? Robert Ayres' character, Dr. Marlow, certainly isn't great. He lacks conviction and believability--being rather controlled and who would believe that a psychiatrist would treat an old flame--particularly after she tells him she loves him and wants him. Only an idiot would continue treating such a person themselves. This is a big problem with the plot. On the other hand, the film generally does a good job of setting the mood and is eerie. So, overall I'd say that this is just a mediocre copy of the original with nothing over the first film. However, if you just couldn't get enough of CAT PEOPLE and insist on seeing this sort of thing again, they by all means it's worth watching.