There’s something undeniably charming about b-horror movies. It’s the purity of how they operate. There is no cynicism in any aspect. The actors will never ever ever win an award, but they are sincere. The dialog is never realistic, but gels perfectly with the overly gothic sets. Cat Girl is not a particularly memorable b-movie, but it’s still enjoyable.
The film opens with a particularity mad scientist. How do we know he’s mad? Why there’s thunder and lightening when he’s talking, of course. He mumbles about his niece returning home. Then he talks to a leopard for a little bit. The niece, Lenora, isn’t thrilled about returning home. She never had a good time at that mansion as a child. If only she would have searched a bit father, she would have found the wardrobe that led to Narnia. Pity.
So Lenora and her husband and their married friends are all going to the place for the weekend. Unfortunately Lenora’s new husband is already hitting it up with Dorothy, the female friend. I know! So Lenora’s uncle reveals that their entire family is cursed and will forever be cursed. Every night they turn into a cat and will have the urge to kill. Also they can control leopards. The uncle proceeds to turn the leopard on himself and now the curse is on Lenora. Or something to that effect.
Sure enough when she gets angry or upset, she either turns into a cat or the leopard attacks various people. Dorothy’s husband is a psychologist and deduces through intense examination that Lenora is crazy. Despite the fact that people keep getting murdered by leopards, he believes there’s a perfectly rational explanation for this.
That’s one of the problems of this movie. This is a remake of Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People, which was more effectively at being creepy. Both films try to have the idea that the lead isn’t a were-cat but simply insane. That can never work for this movie because there are too many instances where Lenora would only know things if she was controlling the leopard.
As I alluded to earlier, the dialog exists in its own realm. Characters ramble on too long about being both man and beast and the burden with it. Other characters are too on the nose with their cat observations. It all seems to work because they have actors like Barbara Shelley to deliver them. As Lenora, she seems to be channeling her inner Norma Desmond which looks like it’s fun. The level of danger can be calculated to how wide her eyes are.
Aside from a few cool camera shots, Cat Girl doesn’t have anything that really stands itself out from the crowd. Due to its earnestness and it never stooping to condescension, it is a fun way to spend the time. Also it has a leopard occasionally leaping at people and that is always awesome.