Scott LeBrun This sequel to producer Val Lewtons' breakthrough film "Cat People" continues the story of two of its characters. Ollie Reed (Kent Smith) and Alice Reed (Jane Randolph) have now been married for a while, and have sired a daughter, Amy (Ann Carter). Amy is a lonely, troubled child who conjures up the image of her dads' mysterious first wife Irena (Simone Simon), and thinks of her as her devoted friend. Amy also makes a connection with Julia Farren (Julia Dean), a dotty old former actress whose daughter Barbara (Elizabeth Russell) is upset, because the old lady got it into her head that her child died long ago."The Curse of the Cat People" is not really a horror film, nor is it trying to be one. Instead, returning screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen takes the opportunity to tell a haunting, affecting story through a kids' eyes. He shows what happens when parents are unyielding in their attitude and don't make the attempt to truly understand their children, or to be their friends. In fact, this intelligent and perceptive narrative carries enough weight that the film has actually figured into psychology classes!It's beautifully atmospheric, like all of the Lewton productions were, and DOES have some moments that are dark and chilling. But, as others have said, it's more a portrait of a kids' fancies and fantasies than traditional horror. To aid in its effectiveness, it has characters who easily earn our rooting interest, especially Amy, as played by the adorable, angelic Carter. The whole cast is fine, with Eve March and Sir Lancelot providing additional gravitas in their portrayals of the teacher Ms. Callahan and the butler Edward.Don't go in expecting any story threads about "cat people" (it's too bad the film had to get stuck with that title), and you too might be charmed by this simple little tale.Eight out of 10.

Hitchcoc This is more of a ghost story than a horror story. The cat reference has to do with Simone Simon who plays the not so "imaginary" friend of a little shy girl. She was previously the star of the original "Cat People." The little girl is brought into a family with serious history. She has no playmates (and doesn't seem to have the wherewithal to find any) until the "ghost" of Simon's character comes into her life. This creates great problems because people begin to see the girl as strange at best, mentally handicapped at worst. Soon there is a jealous lady involved, and an umbrella of protection that begins to manifest itself. This is a nicely complex film. Ignore the title and see it as a movie all its own.

GL84 Trying to help his shy daughter, a man's efforts to give her a friend results in her conjuring her mother as a playmate and spending more time with her to where they find the truth about her and try to stop her before she gets to the child.There isn't a whole lot to this one. One of the better points for the film is the general plot-line. It's a little original and does offer up some potentially disturbing ideas here of the dead mother coming back to her daughter as an imaginary friend, though that tends to fall off quite easily in here. Every now and then, this pops out a pretty nice suspense scene, as the initial walk-through of the house does get some good moments in, as there's a really creepy air going through the place from the large amount of furniture and other objects found to the darkness of the place really makes for a creepy sequence. What also works is the latter scene where she's startled in her sleep from the howling wind, mainly for adhering so closely to horror conventions over the years. The only other thing that works here is the final chase, as the run through the snowy forest looking for her friend, the dogs on her trail and finally finding shelter at the house here for a big final confrontation. These here are the only right parts, but as much good as there is, there's the same amount of bad. This is due to their not being a whole lot wrong since there isn't much at all to the film. Nothing much happens at all in the way of scares, suspense, action or even jumps, and at times very rarely feels like a horror film. There's a bit of potential due to the original plot, but the fact that nothing at all happens really destroys this one. That is the main and central flaw with this one, which is just as bad as it's other one, where it rarely feels like a horror film. This is due to the film really failing to make any real threat associated with what's happening here as though everyone here knows who she is and what happened to her that doesn't come across over to this one. This really could've done something by hinting that the daughter could've started to act like her mother once they let her in on who her playmate really is when she was still alive, but instead this one utilizes the time showing her shyness with other kids and treats the whole affair like a story told by a child with an overactive imagination. This is a really damaging part here as this here not only devalues of lot of what happened in the original but really keeps the film from really embracing what kind of film it really is with the avoidance of being a horror film so much a part of this one. Likewise, the other part that makes no sense here is the relationship of the two women in the house who are given a status to each other but continually deny it without saying why, and the entire point here is lost and quite confusing. These are the main strikes against it.Today's Rating/G: Nothing.

gavin6942 This mostly unrelated sequel to "Cat People" (1942) has Amy, the young daughter of Oliver and Alice Reed. Amy is a very imaginative child who has trouble differentiating fantasy from reality, and has no friends her own age as a result.The most notable thing about this film is that it was Robert Wise's directorial debut. This also happens to be produced by Val Lewton and the key cast members reprise their roles, so it is not exactly the "mostly unrelated" sequel the plot says above (though the film does go in a radically different direction than the original and the cat aspects are played down).Also, I love the child slap! This girl may be lonely and in need of a friend, but she sure knows how to slap a kid hard in the face.