Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Pretty Good

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Paul Shrader is far better known as a writer (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) but he has also directed a few films and Cat People is one of them. A remake of a 1942 film it tells of an old, ancient time when big cats(leopards to be specific) roamed the lands and humans sent their daughters as sacrifice to mate with them(it is shown more poetically than how I wrote). One such union results in the birth of siblings whom we follow in present day New Orleans. This is a strange film in that it can be classified as fantasy-erotic horror. The atmosphere is supreme and the early scenes in the ancient times are reminiscent of David Lynch's Dune. The acting by everyone from the gorgeous Natasha Kinski to the always sublimely crazy Malcolm Mcdowell to John Heard as the sole "normal "human being is good. This is a good, distinctive horror film.

CAT PEOPLE is a very well directed - by TAXI DRIVER scribe Paul Schrader, no less - and stylish reworking of the Val Lewton 1940s classic of the same name and actually superior to my mind. It stars an alluring Natassja Kinski and a typically weird Malcolm McDowell playing a brother and sister who are cursed to transform into big cats during sex. It's an outrageous premise for sure, but one that's handled with surprisingly sensitivity by Schrader who makes the story all his own. This is a film that looks and feels good, keeping the story moving along with unexpected twists, some shocking moments of horror, and a general erotic atmosphere. Kinski and McDowell excel as expected, while John Heard impresses in a non-comedic role. The use of special effects and real-life animals is neatly handled too. It's not quite as good as something iconic like An American Werewolf in London, but it gets close.

Virginal beauty Irena Gallier (Nastassja Kinski) travels to New Orleans to live with her estranged brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell), unaware that they both belong to a race of cat people who turn into black leopards after sex, and who only return to human form when they kill. John Heard plays Oliver Yates (John Heard), curator at the local zoo, who puts himself in serious danger by falling in love with Irena.Like Tony Scott's The Hunger (1983), Paul Schrader's remake of Jacques Tourneur's 1942 classic Cat People is a case of '80s style over substance, the pretentious, art-house aesthetic coming before everything else, the film often more closely resembling an expensive music video than a horror movie. But where The Hunger was boring in the extreme, Schrader's Cat People manages to be a little more watchable thanks to lots of nudity, some decent gore, one or two genuinely tense scenes, and even an An American Werewolf In London-style transformation for good measure (special make-up effects by Tom Burman).As far as the nudity is concerned, it's kit-off time for both sexes, with the 21-year-old Kinski happy to wander around completely nude for her role, Annette O'Toole (Superman II) going topless for a re-creation of the original film's swimming pool scene, Lynn Lowry (of George Romero's The Crazies) briefly baring her boobs (her bra hilariously popping open as she escapes a cat attack), a blonde woman getting naked for a romp with McDowell, Heard baring his butt for a sex scene, and McDowell going one step further by briefly flashing his tallywhacker.The gore includes the mauling of call girl Ruthie (Lowry), Ed Begley Jr.'s arm being ripped out of its socket by one of the zoo's big cats (this fatal injury probably a regular occurrence at the zoo given how easy it is to reach the animals through the bars!), and the naked blonde bird's blood drenched mangled corpse, her body on the floor, her severed arm left laying on a bed.Chuck in a brooding synth score by Giorgio Moroder, a neat ending (Irena, remaining in cat form, caged in the zoo), and a theme song by David Bowie, and what you have isn't a complete waste of time, but neither is it worth going out of your way to see.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

Irena Gallier (Nastassja Kinski) has not seen her brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell) since childhood. When she shows up to visit him in New Orleans, she's shocked to find he's a total pervert that tries to make it with her. Paul tells her that they are the last two members of a race of cat people and have to mate with each other. Sex with humans causes them to transform into panthers.Remake of 1942 classic has none of what made the original work so well. It clubs the Lewtonian approach of ambiguity and psychological horror to death. There is no doubt lingering over the plot. We know the cat people are real. We see them transform. The remake repeats some of the memorable scenes from the original, but offers new elements of its own. I can appreciate that, at least. I hate shot-for-shot remakes. Unfortunately, none of the repeated scenes here are equal to the original, let alone improved upon. This film lacks any of the eerie atmosphere of the original. What it does have is breasteses. Lots of them. Very nice ones too. It's a much more explicit film with T&A and gore. This should come as no surprise given Paul Schrader is the director.Judging Cat People (1982) on its own merits is difficult if you have seen the original. This is always the case when a seminal film is remade. However, I believe a fair assessment is that it's a watchable though uneven werewolf (werecat?) movie. Kinski is attractive though not a patch on Simone Simon. McDowell does fine. John Heard and Annette O'Toole are good. O'Toole's naked as a jaybird in one scene, for those who are taking notes. David Bowie's title song is memorable. Ultimately, it's worth seeing once though certainly no classic.