Cat People + Shorts
Part of BAMcinématek
Mon, May 17 at 6:50*, 9:15pm
*Intro by Daniel Eagan, author of America’s Film Legacy
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
With Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway
(1942) 73min
"First in the wondrous series of B movies in which Val Lewton elaborated his principle of horrors imagined rather than seen, with a superbly judged performance from Simon." —Time Out London
One of producer Val Lewton's creepiest and most celebrated concoctions is this moody and understated horror classic from Jacques Tourneur, a masterpiece of light and shadow that plumbs cultural anxieties surrounding female sexuality via the supernatural story of a woman (Simon) possessed by the fear of a curse that can turn her into a killer panther when aroused.
With the shorts:
Free Radicals
Directed by Len Lye
(1958, revised 1979) 4min
Magical Maestro
Directed by Tex Avery
(1952) 6min
Review: Roger Ebert on Cat People
"Cat People wasn't frightening like a slasher movie, using shocks and gore, but frightening in an eerie, mysterious way that was hard to define; the screen harbored unseen threats, and there was an undertone of sexual danger that was more ominous because it was never acted upon."