A Cat Just Walked Over My Grave

Cat People (1942) Dir. Jacques Tourneur

Irena, a Serbian-born fashion designer, is relentlessly courted and pursued by Oliver after a chance meeting at Central Park Zoo. They marry, but Irena keeps her distance, believing herself to have the Curse of the Cat People.

“You resist temptation admirably.” - Dr. Louis Judd

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but approaching classic cinema can sometimes feel like homework when you’re sitting down to a film at the end of a long day. The editing and pacing isn’t quite as impatient as we’ve become used to and I always worry I’m going to fall asleep. But every time I take a chance on a classic, I find myself glued to the screen and rewarded for giving it my attention. I should do it more often.

“This coffee's been workin' so long, it's got muscles.” - Minnie

What I often forget is that films from the thirties and forties are short. The average, I think, is 100 mins but horror, like Cat People, is often as short as 70 mins. While the editing could be languid, the writing was not. This is an era where the studios sought out journalists, authors and playwrights to write screenplays. Screenwriters didn’t really exist yet. As such, the dialogue is snappy, dense, and almost always delightful.

Cat People is one of those classic horror films you’ll find making an appearance on Best Of lists but it doesn’t quite have the same cultural impact as the Universal monster movies or some of the better known B movies from the same era. That’s a shame because it’s a beautifully shot, subtle, and inventive horror that’s influenced generations of filmmakers - especially those (like Tourneur himself) who went on to work in the film noir genre.

This is the first Val Lewton produced horror with RKO, after the studio gave Lewton the title and a modest budget to deliver a cheap B movie fright fest in the vein of the Universal films. He hired writer DeWitt Bodeen and director Jacques Tourneur and encouraged them to develop something that took inspiration from Algernon Blackwood's 1906 short story Ancient Sorceries. Together, they were determined to deliver something that looked and felt different to other horror films at the time:

"Tourneur was entirely responsible for the style of Cat People, but if you read the screenplay you would find everything in the film was in the original script – and that's simply because it was a group project. Val, Tourneur, myself, Robson – we all talked about it and I put it down on paper" - DeWitt Bodeen

Due to the limited budget, sets from other films were repurposed and the “monster” is never on screen - instead suggested by shadows and playful visual inferences. But the film’s suspense is still palpable even now.

The most famous set piece involves a tense walk down a quiet street in which Alice, one of the film’s protagonists, is being pursued by Irena. As the increasingly oppressive sound design and lighting build the tension, the release comes with a hiss of a cat that turns into the sound of an arriving bus. It’s a standard fake-out jump scare that we’re used to today, but it should come as no surprise that those moments are referred to as Lewton Buses. 

Irena’s origin as an immigrant could be read as a xenophobic fear of the foreign invader, considering she is, or at least belives herself to be, a Cat Person. But I don’t think that’s the intention from a group of filmmakers who were, themselves, immigrants to America. Instead, Irena is treated with empathy and her fate is viewed by the film as a tragedy.

Fear of intimacy, and Irena’s belief that it will lead to her turning into a vengeful WereCat, allowed the film to explore women’s sexual desires and repression at a time when such things would not, traditionally, have gotten past a censor. There are even hints at homosexuality that feel fairly overt to modern eyes. 

One could write (and I imagine plenty of people have) several essays on the gender politics of the film and the way in which Irena resists Oliver’s attempts to possess and mould her into a heteronormative model of a relationship that she seems to have little interest in. Oliver is the real monster in this film, and I find this line particularly telling when he begins to lose patience with Irena’s struggles to change for him:

“You know, it's a funny thing. I've never been unhappy before. Things have always gone swell for me. I had a grand time as a kid. Lots of fun at school and here at the office with you.” - Oliver (to Alice)

It’s not about you, Oliver.

Ultimately, I think there’s still a sense that Irena is punished for being a woman who has sexual desire - and this is probably something of a template for the Monstrous Feminine tropes to come throughout the history of horror.

Cat People was a huge success when it came out and allowed Lewton and his team to make a bunch more horror films without studio interference. I’m still working my way through them but at least now I don’t see them as homework.

“I like the dark. It's friendly.” - Irena

Where can I watch it in the UK?

You can stream it for free on BBC iPlayer. I think it’s copyright free so you can also watch it on the Internet Archive here.

Pairs well with

I think a good double bill would be with Carnival of Souls (1962, dir. Herk Harvey, available to stream for free on Amazon/Shudder/FilmBox - or, again, on the Internet Archive here).

An excellent psychological horror film about a woman who gets in a car accident and relocates to a new city where she is stalked by ghoulish figures. The ending probably won’t surprise modern audiences, but it’s a wonderful, atmospheric work that’s absolutely worth your time.

Further Reading

• Read more about the history of the jump scare and where the Lewton Bus sits within it here.
• You can watch the Lewton Bus scene here.
• A good video on Val Lewton and Horror Noir by Cinema Cities.
• An analysis of sound in Val Lewton horror films from the 1940s by Jerome Weiselberry.
• This Dark Corners video goes much more in-depth into the making of Cat People. If you’re interested in exploring more of Lewton’s work, this additional video is also great.
• The Final Girls podcast discuss Cat People in their Female Monsters season here.

Other Recommendations

• If you’re in the mood for spooky radio drama, the BBC have helpfully collated nine radio shows in one article. I’d especially recommend number nine - the Lovecraft Investigations - a mock podcast in which the presenters uncover global conspiracies and Lovecraftian horror across three really fun seasons.
• If you’re in Edinburgh, there’s an Evolution of Horror screening of Dead Ringers (on 35mm) at The Cameo on October 11th. There’ll be an introduction and live panel discussion with EoH podcast hosts and special guests.