The sequel to the film “Cat People”, The Curse of the Cat People centers around a introverted six year old girl who spends too much of her time daydreaming. In the film Amy is so caught up in daydreaming that she doesn’t have any real friends aside from a creepy old lady who lives in the local haunted house. When Amy is lonely and out of sorts, she is given a ring by the creepy old lady and uses it to make a wish. Amy decides to wish for a friend, and her wish is granted. Amy then suddenly finds herself charmed by a beautiful woman no one else can see.
Things begin to get interesting as this apparition coincidentally appears exactly like Amy’s fathers first wife Irena. Irena is a main character of the film “Cat People” who not only happens to be crazy, but also murdered a man and let herself be eaten by a panther. In the sequel the apparition of Irena is far from erratic and is very calm and stable when interacting with Amy. However this creates conflict between Amy and her father since the memory of Irena still has a haunting prescience over him.
The overarching theme of the film is less about the prescience of Irena as a ghost or apparition of Amy’s imagination and more about child psychology. The way that a little girl might use fantasy and imagination to cope with the world around her, a world that isn’t always friendly and relatable. The film also in my opinion highlights that sometimes pressuring kids to grow up can be more harmful than helpful. That sometimes it’s ok to let kids embrace their imagination. Aside from the general theme I was really impressed by Ann Carter’s performance as Amy. From beginning to end Carter’s performance comes off as genuine, and never seems to be overacted. Carter’s performance really carries the film, and definitely should be up there with other great child acting performances.
Another thing I really liked about the film was the creative cinematography. The director, Robert Wise does a wonderful job of painting the theme of film with different camera angles. Each scene seems to be filmed with a purpose, and does a good of connecting to the overall story. In the end I was pleasantly surprised with The Curse of the Cat People. Though it was kind of odd, it actually grew on me. This movie is definitely not a thriller, so don’t let the title fool you but nonetheless is entertaining in it’s own unique way. All in all I wouldn’t say this is a must see classic, but if your looking for an interesting change-up The Curse of the Cat People is definitely that.
