I just rewatched the 1982 version of Cat People. I hadn't seen it since it was on rotation on HBO back in the day. I've come full circle because it's on HBO Go right now. Some movies are just built for HBO I think.

[SPOILERS]

When I was ten years old I was spellbound by this movie, for more reasons than one. Several of them involved Natasha Kinski, but this movie also has some "body horror" and other disturbing elements that I was frankly too young to be seeing at the time, but which were utterly fascinating. Why did Malcolm McDowell's character "eat" some of the leftover glop on his body after he transformed? Why was there an arm inside the dissected cat, and why did it move? Brothers and sisters having sex, so that they don't turn into monsters?? I watched this movie a LOT back then.

I saw this version many years before I saw the Val Lewton version. Of course, that version is much better, but this one is worth watching. One thing that I noticed this time around was that the 1982 version also includes some elements from The Leopard Man (1943), including a higher body count than the original Cat People, an ongoing police investigation, and a greater emphasis on "zoology".

I actually really liked the first half of Cat People 82. Irene is a pretty good character and the story builds in an interesting way. The on-location New Orleans setting is cool. The murder aftermaths are sufficiently gruesome, and Malcolm McDowell is perfectly creepy and hammy. Unfortunately, the movie gets worse when it should be getting more exiting. At the halfway mark, the story becomes a little muddled, and Irene's character changes in ways that don't totally make sense and there's an overall drift away from logic. It almost, in fact, switches into a dreamlike, Argento-style movie, but it doesn't quite work. I think it actually needed to be longer and more drawn out for it to work like that. Maybe editing is the problem? I also think that director Paul Schrader is better at suspense, violence, and grittiness than surrealism. Another issue is the homage to the original Cat People stalking/pool sequence. It just doesn't fit here, and isn't scary. Then there's John Heard, but it's probably not his fault that his character is literally "boring zookeeper."

Things wrap up nicely though, with an ending that's creepy and disturbing, but that's also the best-case scenario for everyone involved, and an interesting change of pace from the totally downbeat endings of those "other" early 80s lycanthropy movies.

The real star of the show, though (other than maybe Natasha Kinski... I think i may have worn a hole through the pause button on my VCR back then), is the soundtrack! I found that I remembered almost every note, even though I hadn't heard it in 30+ years. I didn't realize that it was composed by Giorgio Moroder, who also did stuff like Flashdance, Scarface, "Take My Breath Away," and a bunch of those awesome Donna Summer disco songs. Throw in some David Bowie and you've got a 11/10 soundtrack! I just ordered a CD version on ebay!

Has anyone else seen this movie lately?