History Film / CatPeople

Spawned a sequel ([[InNameOnly kind of]]), 1944's ''The Curse of the Cat People'', which follows two of the characters from the first film and (apparently) a third one who had seemed to be dead at its end; it didn't really deal with the "cat people" angle at all, and dropped the "dangerous sexuality" theme in favour of exploring the importance of childhood imagination. It's not even in the same genre as the original, being more of a drama about family life than a horror film. It's also notable as the directorial debut of Creator/RobertWise.

Spawned a sequel ([[InNameOnly kind of]]), ''The Curse of the Cat People'', which follows two of the characters from the first film and (apparently) a third one who had seemed to be dead at its end; it didn't really deal with the "cat people" angle at all, and dropped the "dangerous sexuality" theme in favour of exploring the importance of childhood imagination. It's not even in the same genre as the original, being more of a drama about family life than a horror film.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[RussianReversal In this movie, pussy eats you!]]]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/catpeople1982_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300: 1982 remake]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rose,w_cat_people1942.jpg]]

[[caption-width-right:300:[[RussianReversal In this movie, pussy eats you!'']]]]

* NothingIsScarier: One of the most famous examples is the "Lewton Bus" scene, in which Alice is shown looking over her shoulder, walking faster and faster as the camera zooms in on her terrified face, before we are startled by a hiss. Spoiler: It's actually the hydraulic brakes on a passing bus. This scene is still terrifying over 70 years later!

[[caption-width-right:300:[[RussianReversal In this movie, pussy eats you!'']]

[[caption-width-right:300:[[RussianReversal In this movie,]] ''[[IncrediblyLamePun pussy eats you!]]'']]

* HollywoodHistory: Irena's tale involves one King John of Serbia who freed Serbia from "the Mamelukes". Well, there was a "King"--or rather an "Emperor"--John, but he fought the Hungarians during the Ottoman invasion and a subsequent Hungarian War of Succession in an effort to carve out his own Serbian kingdom--not the Mamelukes, who were Egyptians of Circassian origin and never actually fought Serbs. He also didn't rule very long--ultimately his rule wound up letting the Turks conquer most of Serbia...

* HollywoodHistory: Irena's tale involves one King John of Serbia who freed Serbia from "the Mamelukes". Well, there was a "King"--or rather an "Emperor"--John, but he fought the Hungarians during the Ottoman invasion and a subsequent Hungarian War of Succession in an effort to carve out his own Serbian kingdom--not the Mamelukes, who were Egyptian. He also didn't rule very long--ultimately his rule wound up letting the Turks conquer most of Serbia...

* GreenEyes: Irena has green eyes and is a werepanther. Her brother, however, also a werepanther, has violet eyes. The title song (by David Bowie) begins, "See these eyes so green..."

* MsFanservice: Anf how! There are 5 speaking roles for women in the film, only Femalé gets to keep her clothes on.

* MsFanservice: There are 5 speaking roles for women in the film, only Femalé gets to keep her clothes on.

* MsFanservice: There are 5 speaking roles for women, only Femal&eacute gets to keep her clothes on for the whole film.

See CatFolk for feline humanoids. See ''WebAnimation/CatPerson'' for a series of Internet shorts.

* LackOfEmpathy: Oliver is guilty of this with Irena.

->Even as fog continues to lie in the valleys, so does ancient sin cling to the low places, the depressions in the world consciousness.

Irena is a Serbian woman living in America who believes that if she is ever kissed by a man, she will transform into a deadly panther due to a family curse brought on by medieval dabbling in witchcraft. Her American co-workers try to persuade her otherwise, including a man who wants to marry her. [[spoiler: Turns out, she's right and they're wrong.]]

** References to Creator/DanteAlighieri and Beatrice are sprinkled in the film, reflecting Schrader's view that Oliver's obsession with Irena stems from his "Beatrice complex."

* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Paul picks up a blonde in a cemetery, takes her to bed, and can't get it up. He breaks down in tears, crying that he was always afraid "it" would happen again; she comforts him that she knows how to take care of guys like him, and will make it better. And then "it" turns out to be, not failing to get it up, but turning into a black leopard and eating her.

** References to Creator/{{Dante}} and Beatrice are sprinkled in the film, reflecting Schrader's view that Oliver's obsession with Irena stems from his "Beatrice complex."

* ShoutOut: Sharp-eyed viewers will note that Oliver has a book by Creator/YukioMishima on his nightstand. This is also a meta bit of {{Foreshadowing}} as Schrader would make a [[Film/MishimaALifeInFourChapters film about Mishima]] a few years later.

* TheBigEasy: The film's setting is moved to New Orleans, and Schraeder makes the most of the atmosphere of the city and the surrounding bayou.

* HumanSacrifice: In this version, Paul and Irene are cat people because their ancestors sacrificed their children to leopards. "The souls of the children grew inside the leopards until they became human," Paul explains in an expository DreamSequence.

* PsychicLink: Paul and Irene seem to have a mild one; she can sense when he's distressed and eventually recognizes him in cat form.

There was also a 1982 remake by Creator/PaulSchrader starring Creator/MalcolmMcDowell and Creator/NastassjaKinski; it was more of what would later be called a "reimagining" than a straight remake, as it made Irena the protagonist rather than Oliver, introduced a new male co-lead in the form of her brother Paul, and changed the cat people's origins from medieval witchcraft to prehistoric HumanSacrifice. It was also a great deal [[BloodierAndGorier bloodier]] and more [[HotterAndSexier salacious]] than the original, and generally preferred to show what the original merely suggested. It's also notable for the soundtrack, a collaboration between Gorgio Moroder and Music/DavidBowie.

Irena is a Serbian woman living in America who believes that if she is ever kissed by a man, she will transform into a deadly panther. Her American co-workers try to persuade her otherwise, including a man who wants to marry her. [[spoiler: Turns out, she's right and they're wrong.]] Despite some wooden acting, a low budget and rather primitive special effects, Cat People remains an effectively spooky (if not quite scary) film to this day, largely because of director Jacques Tourneur's use of visual and psychological suggestion to encourage the audience to imagine what might be lurking in the shadows.

Spawned a sequel ([[InNameOnly kind of]]), ''The Curse of the Cat People'', which follows two of the characters from the first film and (apparently) a third one who had seemed to be dead at its end; it didn't really deal with the "cat people" angle at all, and dropped the "dangerous sexuality" theme in favour of exploring the importance of childhood imagination. It's not even in the same genre as the original, being more of a drama about family life than a horror film. That said, it's well made and worth seeing in its own right, despite the ExecutiveMeddling.

There was also a 1982 remake by Creator/PaulSchrader starring Creator/MalcolmMcDowell and Creator/NastassjaKinski; it was a great deal [[BloodierAndGorier bloodier]] and more [[HotterAndSexier salacious]] than the original, expanded the original's sketchy backstory into a proper origin story for the cat people, and generally preferred to show what the original merely suggested. It's also very... very... ''slooooow'' and it has Music/DavidBowie belt out a title track.

* BrotherSisterIncest: Paul suggests this to Irena as a way of solving the "we turn into deadly panthers after we have sex with normal people" problem.

* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Early in the movie, Paul picks up a blonde in a cemetery, takes her to bed, and can't get it up. He breaks down in tears, crying that he was always afraid "it" would happen again; she comforts him that she knows how to take care of guys like him, and will make it better. And then "it" turns out to be, not failing to get it up, but turning into a black leopard and eating her.

* PervertedSniffing: Paul does this to his estranged sister Irena. However, they are, of course werecats and it's a part of their animalistic bonding ritual. Paul wants Irena to be his mate.

Classic 1942 horror film produced by Creator/ValLewton concerning Irena, a Serbian woman living in America who believes that if she is ever kissed by a man, she will transform into a deadly panther. Her American co-workers try to persuade her otherwise, including a man who wants to marry her. [[spoiler: Turns out, she's right and they're wrong.]] Despite some wooden acting, a low budget and rather primitive special effects, Cat People remains an effectively spooky (if not quite scary) film to this day, largely because of director Jacques Tourneur's use of visual and psychological suggestion to encourage the audience to imagine what might be lurking in the shadows.