History Main / CatPeople

* For characters wearing fake cat ears, see '''CatEaredHeadband''' aka CatEaredHood or NekomimiHeadband.

* For information about the Classic 1942 horror film ''Cat People'' produced by Val Lewton, the sequel ''The Curse of the Cat People'', and the 1982 remake starring Malcom [=McDowell=] and Natassja Kinski, see '''Film.CatPeople'''.

* For characters sometimes symbolically drawn with cat ears as a form of SuperDeformed art, see SproutingEars.

* For information about the Classic 1942 horror film ''Cat People'' produced by Val Lewton, the sequal ''The Curse of the Cat People'', and the 1982 remake starring Malcom [=McDowell=] and Natassja Kinski, see '''Film.CatPeople'''.

* For characters sometimes symbolically drawn with cat ears as a form of SuperDeformedArt, see SproutingEars.

* For information about the Classic 1942 horror film ''Cat People'' produced by Val Lewton, the sequal ''The Curse of the Cat People'', and the 1982 remake starring Malcom [=McDowell=] and Natassja Kinski, see '''Film/CatPeople'''.

* For LittleBitBeastly (human except for ears and tail) Catfolk, see '''CatGirl''' aka CatBoy or {{Nekomimi}}.

* For non-werecat people that turn into cats either voluntarily or involuntarily, see '''{{Animorphs}}'''.

* For information about the Classic 1942 horror film ''Cat People'' produced by Val Lewton, the sequal ''The Curse of the Cat People'', and the 1982 remake starring Malcom McDowell and Natassja Kinski, see '''Film/CatPeople'''.

* For LittleBitBeastly (human except for ears and tail) Catfolk, see '''CatGirl''' aka CatBoy or Nekomimi.

* For characters wearing fake cat ears, see '''CatEaredHeadband''' aka CatEaredHood or NekoimiHeadband.

* For characters wearing fake cat ears, see '''CatEaredHeadband''' aka CatEaredHood or NemkoimiHeadband.

* For characters wearing fake cat ears, see '''CatEaredHeadband''' aka CatEaredHood or NemkomimiHeadband.

* For characters wearing fake cat ears, see '''CatEaredHeadband''' aka CatEaredHood or NemkomimHeadband.

* For information about the Classic 1942 horror film "'Cat People'' produced by Val Lewton, the sequal ''The Curse of the Cat People'', and the 1982 remake starring Malcom McDowell and Natassja Kinski, see ''Film/CatPeople''.

* For information about the Classic 1942 horror film "'Cat People'' produced by Val Lewton, the sequal ''The Curse of the Cat People'', and the 1982 remake starring Malcom McDowell and Natassja Kinski, see '''Film/CatPeople'''.

* For werecats, see '''OurWearbeastsAreDifferent'''.

Temp

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rose,w_cat_people1942.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou In this movie,]] ''[[IncrediblyLamePun pussy eats you!]]'']]

Classic 1942 horror Film/CatPeople produced by 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.

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.

There was also a 1982 remake starring Malcom [=McDowell=] and Natassja Kinski; it was a great deal bloodier and more 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''.

See CatFolk for feline humanoids.
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!!This work provides examples of:

* BrotherSisterIncest -- In the 1982 remake, Paul suggests this to Irena as a way of solving the "we turn into deadly panthers after we have sex with normal people" problem.
* BreakawayPopHit -- DavidBowie's eponymous song (a.k.a. "Putting Out Fire") from the remake.
* CatScare -- A pioneering example in the original, often claimed (especially by the makers) to be the first using the brakes of a bus to make a sound very like the hissing of a great cat. Further uses would become known as Lewton's Bus.
* DidNotDoTheResearch -- The original makes much of the story that "King John" of Serbia "drove out the Mamelukes". Serbia has never had a king called John, and there were never any Mamelukes in Serbia.
* FootprintsOfMuck -- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrOCgZOi6uM&feature=PlayList&p=528B19D21E3ACF18 As seen in this clip]].
* HollywoodPsych -- A shrink in the original tries to convince Irena that her belief that she'll turn into a great cat if a man kisses her is just a delusion fostered by fear of male sexuality. He tries this out with a... ''practical demonstration''. [[spoiler: It doesn't work out the way he thought it would.]]
** He's also hilariously [[AllPsychologyIsFreudian Freudian]], absolutely convinced that her belief comes ''entirely'' from her own mind, despite it being established as a folktale from her Serbia.
* InNameOnly -- ''The Curse of the Cat People'' has very little in common with ''Cat People'' beyond featuring the three main characters of the first film.
* MagicPants
* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent -- Humans turning into panthers in sexual situations
* SexIsEvil -- In both versions, though the 1942 version requires a much smaller trigger to the evilness.
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Classic 1942 horror [[{{Film}} movie]] produced by 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.

See CatGirl for LittleBitBeastly feline humanoids.

* OurWerebeastsAreDifferent -- Women turning into panthers when aroused

See CatGirl for feline humanoids.

* FootprintsOfMuck -- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrOCgZOi6uM&feature=PlayList&p=528B19D21E3ACF18&index=5 As seen in this clip]].

* InNameOnly -- ''The Curse of the Cat People'' has very little in common with ''Cat People''.
** The sequel does feature the three main characters of the first film.

<<|{{Film}}|>>

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation - Irena is apparently considered clingy and jealous for being bothered by her husband confiding personal things about their marriage to his American co-worker Alice. [[spoiler:Since her husband ends up leaving her for Alice, it actually seemed rather sensible of her to be worried.]]
** He didn't so much leave her as she turned into a panther and went into display at the zoo.
** But he decided to divorce her before that happened.
** He also confided with Alice about his sex life with Irena while they're still married.

* UnfortunateImplications -- Irena's husband feels that she is causing him undue stress for the first time in his life because she is genuinely worried that she will turn into a cat monster and kill him - oh and because she won't consummate their relationship.
** Let's not leave out that he basically goes out and has an affair--not, of course, explicitly, this ''was'' made under the HaysCode--with another woman. Who happens to be quite definitely a [=WASPy=] American-born woman. Notice who happens to suffer the most...?

* DidNotDoTheResearch -- The original makes much of the story that "King John" of Serbia "drove out the Mamelukes". Serbia has never had a king called John.
** Also, the Mamelukes never reigned in Serbia.

** Let's not leave out that he basically goes out and has an affair--not, of course, explicitly, this ''was'' made under the HaysCode--with another woman. Who happens to be quite definitely a WASPy American-born woman. Notice who happens to suffer the most...?

* CatScare -- A pioneering example in the original, using the brakes of a bus to make a sound very like the hissing of a great cat.