Get Your Reps In: Paul Schrader’s “Cat People” Gets Four Claws Up

Cat People (1982)

A remake of Jacques Tourneur’s 1942 were-cat classic, Paul Schrader’s Cat People amplifies the suggested violence and eroticism of the original to, well, hair-raising levels.

The weirdness commences with Irena (Natassja Kinski) immigrating to New Orleans and meeting her long-lost brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell). Here, they have a chance to create the life together they never had…except that Paul is turning into a panther and Jack the Ripper-ing his way through the Big Easy (when he’s captured in kitty form and taken to the local zoo, Irena gets a job in the gift shop under the watchful eye of an animal curator played by John Heard).

Cat People is a rare film from Schrader—best known for writing Taxi Driver and directing American Gigolo and First Reformed—that tries to bend goofery to his reverent filmmaking style. Happily, musical contributions from Giorgio Moroder and David Bowie help him bridge the gap between mythic polish and shameless smut, as does Kinski’s other-worldly composure.

Still, the real MVPs are the cats themselves. There’s no special effect quite like fixing the lens directly on a snarling leopard’s ambiguous green eyes. Clinton, Oct. 8.

ALSO PLAYING:

5th Avenue: Arrival (2016) Oct. 6-8. Academy: Labyrinth (1986), Oct. 4-5. The Craft (1996), Oct. 4-5. Cinema 21: Mean Streets (1973), Oct. 7. Cinemagic: Food of the Gods II (1989), Oct. 6. Clinton: Santa Sangre (1989), Oct. 5. The Hunger (1983), Oct. 6. Ma (2019), Oct. 7. Mandy (2018), Oct. 7. Eyes Without a Face (1960), Oct. 8. TerrorVision (1986), Oct. 9. Hollywood: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Oct. 5. The Others (2001), Oct. 9-12. Ravenous (1999), Oct. 9. Seven Brothers Meet Dracula (1974), Oct. 10. Living Room: The Sting (1973), Oct. 8.