Cat People (1982 film)

Did You Know?

• Schrader has said the film 'contains more skin than blood' and likened the relationship between Oliver and Irena to Dante and Beatrice.
• The film has been released on 4K UHD Blu-ray by Scream Factory on August 30, 2022, with a new 4K scan that more accurately captures the film's earthen tones.

Plot

In an ancient settlement, a sacrificial maiden is tied to a tree; a black panther approaches and rests its paws on her. Another girl with feline features approaches a similar big cat in a cave without being attacked. In the present, Irena Gallier travels from Canada to New Orleans to reconnect with her brother Paul, who spent his childhood in psych wards and now lives with his Creole housekeeper Female. That night, a prostitute named Ruthie is mauled by a black panther in a motel. Police and zoologists Oliver, Alice, and Joe capture the panther. Irena visits the zoo, is drawn to the panther, and meets Oliver, who offers her a job. The panther later kills Joe during cage cleaning, then vanishes, leaving melted flesh. Paul makes a sexual advance toward Irena; she flees. Police find shackles and bones in Paul's basement, suspecting he fed corpses to a panther. Irena takes refuge with Oliver, fearing physical intimacy.

Production

British producer Milton Subotsky bought the rights to Cat People from RKO Pictures and began developing a remake, eventually passing the property to Universal Pictures. Roger Vadim was initially set to direct, but Alan Ormsby, the screenwriter, noted that Vadim worried the film would seem sexist because the sexually intense woman had to be destroyed; Ormsby changed the remake to include a male character with the same problem. Paul Schrader was hired to direct in the early 1980s, and shooting began in April 1981. Cinematographer John Bailey said Schrader paid homage to the original's stalking scene with Annette O'Toole's character jogging through a park, and they remade the swimming pool scene after carefully studying the original, feeling they could not improve it. Malcolm McDowell was initially reluctant due to his memory of the original as "not being very good" but was convinced by Schrader's focus on erotic horror. John Heard almost turned down the role, thinking it was a porno movie. O'Toole noted that cougars dyed black were used because leopards are impossible to train.

Reception

Cat People opened in 600 U.S. cinemas, grossing $1,617,636 in its opening weekend and ranking tenth at the box office. It earned $1,502,216 in its second weekend and $846,603 in its third, concluding its theatrical run with a $7 million domestic gross and a worldwide total of $21 million. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half out of four stars, calling it a good fantasy-horror film that takes itself seriously enough to work. Variety praised Nastassja Kinski's performance as essential and endlessly watchable. Leonard Maltin awarded a mixed two out of four stars, describing it as sexy, bloody, and technically well crafted but uneven and ultimately unsatisfying. Kinski herself disliked the film, calling it slick and manipulative, surprising her interviewer Jodie Foster, who enjoyed it. Christopher John of Ares magazine commended the film for telling a sexual story that mainstream filmmakers avoid.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the 1982 film arrived in stores the same week as the movie, courtesy of MCA Records. David Bowie sang the title track, "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)," for which he wrote the lyrics to Giorgio Moroder's music; it also came out as a single that year. Moroder composed every instrumental piece, with Bowie contributing only the words to that one song. The album features cuts like "The Autopsy," "Irena's Theme," "Night Rabbit," "Leopard Tree Dream," "Paul's Theme (Jogging Chase)," "The Myth," "To the Bridge," "Transformation Seduction," and "Bring the Prod." The credits list Bob Badami as music editor, Brian Banks on additional keyboards, Keith Forsey on drums and percussion, and Michael Landau on guitar, among many others.