Cat People

When Irena is alarmed by the woman in the restaurant, she makes the sign of the cross left-to-right, as a Western Catholic would.

However, as a Serb, she would more likely have made it right-to-left, as Orthodox and Eastern Catholics do.

And if she was Orthodox, she would join three fingers (thumb, index and middle finger) to make the sign of the cross, not use the whole hand.

There was no "King John of Serbia" who defeated the Mamelukes as Irena claims.

None of the lists of Kings/Princes of Serbia include a King John.

The closest historical personage was the Holy Martyr John Vladimir [St.

Jovan Vladimir], killed by Tsar Vladimir in 1015 AD.

When the shepherd arrives and finds the dead sheep, there's a live sheep sitting behind him.

After a brief shot of the footprints that he's examining, the film returns to a shot of the shepherd, and the sheep is gone.

When Irena does not show up at her apartment when Dr.

Judd, Oliver, and Alice are waiting for her, they leave.

Judd hides cane in apartment to give him an excuse to borrow Oliver's key and go back in for it, after when he leaves the door unlocked so that he can sneak back in, something hidden from Oliver and Alice.

Yet after Oliver and Alice are threatened in the office, they call the apartment to warn Dr.

Judd that Irena is definitely dangerous and that he should leave.

Although this movie had a much greater impact upon me when I first saw it, I still enjoy watching it because of the creepy atmosphere created by the team of Director Jacques Tourneau and Producer Val Lewton, including their effective use of muted light, abundant shadows, and long pauses of silence at critical moments of tension. Even though the script is far from perfect, I appreciate the cast and the characters that they portray, including the alluring Simone Simon (Irena) and the impressionable Theresa Harris (Minnie, the waitress), who is a frequent but all too brief support player in movies during this era.

A couple of French imports, director Jacques Tourneur and star Simone Simon, helped producer Val Lewton create one of the most haunting films you'll ever see in Cat People. After over 60 years it still holds up well today and I don't think today's computer graphic special effects could make it better.

Not quite the masterpiece most critics would have it, "Cat People" nevertheless is a fine demonstration of how the fear of the unknown is perhaps the greatest fear of all. The shadowy night scenes are superbly spooky, and Simone Simon is fascinatingly feline, and a tragic figure as Irena the "catwoman".

"Cat People" follows Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), a commercial artist who emigrated from Serbia. In America, she Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), who quickly marries her.

Oliver (Kent Smith) was strolling through the zoo, minding his own business, when, there she was, sketching a black panther. Her name was Irena (Simone Simon).

Cat People (1982) *** (out of 4) Irena Gallier (Nastassja Kinski) arrives in New Orleans to visit her brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell) but soon falls for a man (John Heard) she meets at the local zoo. It doesn't take long for the young woman to realize that there's something not quite right with her or her brother and soon her sexual design brings something else out in her.

An American man (Kent Smith) marries a Serbian immigrant called Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon) , a shy woman who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together . Dubrovna believes she carries the Serbian curse of the panther .

Simone Simon "Irina Dubrovna" comes to work in New York where she falls in love with Kent Smith "Oliver Reed". Their relationship soon becomes strained after she struggles with intimacy - you see she believes that should she ever even kiss someone she loved, she would turn into a violent feline and claw him to death.

Paul Schrader's version of Cat People is a movie that I've heard of, but never seen. After reading some of the reviews of the movie, I've decided to see on my own for the first time.