Cat People

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich

It's interesting to look back at films that dealt with sexuality back in the '40s during this era of Wokeness. As Hollywood tries to change it's views towards women in general, Cat People is an interesting case study of the attitude of the past. A time when women were sexually repressed. A woman's sexual appetite was jut not discussed on film. If it was in a Hollywood film, it was seen in a negative context. 

And here we have Cat People, a film where a woman transforms into a bloodthirsty beast if she becomes sexually aroused. On face value yes it might seem like this film is taking a negative view of a woman and her sexuality. But I think director Val Lewton is commenting on what sexual repression can do to a person. We all have needs and eventually sexual desires will not be repressed. The sexual repression within the Catholic Church, a requirement of celibacy, is partially to blame for the decades of abuse of altar boys by priests. Cat People has a character who is so repressed sexually she will kill anyone she is attracted to. In the world of the film it is explained away that the character of Irena, our cat person is descended from a tribe that transformed into panthers, but come on, the subtext is there. 

As far as technique and use of scares, yes Cat People is an older film. But there's some effective moments. The most famous scare involves a woman who is alone and walking home at night. She begins to hear footsteps. Standard horror movie brew here. But she becomes alarmed when she doesn't hear footsteps. An interesting moment where silence is scarier than an actual sound. 

Cat People doesn't have the timeless feel of something like Frankenstein but I still think it's an interesting film. Might be a Halloween view for a cinephile who wants something outside of the old standards.