Product Details

• Language: English
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1985
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00001W0G3
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,179 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite movies., September 14, 1999

By	Birthe Jrgensen (Odense, Denmark) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just wrote a review for "The Two Mrs. Carrolls" mentioning "Curse" as a deleted title. Apparently it's not; cos' here it is. Why did I talk about "Mrs. Carrolls" ?. -Well, that one also features the superb Ann Carter. She's perfect here; they could not have found a better actress. She's in nearly every scene (not surprisingly since the film's really about her), and completely steals the show from all the adults. Jane Randolph and Kent Smith (as the parents) reprise their roles from "Cat People", but they're merely shadows here. Simone Simon returns from the grave, to play with the lonely and isolated little Amy. Lewton regular Elizabeth Russell was also in "Cat People", but in a different part apparently. -Although that character was never really explained, so I suppose somehow it could actually be the same character; out to "curse" again. (I know it's probably not the case, but think about it; it's not impossible). Whatever, this is one eerie and spooky movie. It's filled with memorable, and atmospheric scenes. I love it. Actually, it's not just a Horror film, but a touching and moving story about a misunderstood child. And if it weren't for that misplaced title, I'm sure more people would see it. I highly recommend it anyway, you won't be disappointed if you're into the good old style of movie-making. Actually, I think TV should show it every year around christmas; please demand it and make it a tradition wherever you can. -It's not just a wonderful movie which will suit the season, there's a message in it as well: listen to children with invisible playmates. Oh, I almost forgot; it also features the brilliant Sir Lancelot. See it ! .

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Atmospheric and Touching Sequel to the Classic Horror Film, August 24, 2002

By	B. M. Banzon (California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

'Cat People' is a horror film. 'The Curse of the Cat People' is a fantasy, an exploration of a child's imagination. The first film focused on Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), who marries a woman named Irena. Irena is cursed with the supernatural ability to turn into a cat when angered. This deadly ability causes the detoriation of her happy marriage, the death of a man, as well as hers. This movie begins years after the first, Oliver is now married and has a six-year old daughter named Amy. Her imagination and belief in the fantastic triggers her fathers memories of Irena and her "mental delusion," as it is addressed in this film. We are left to ponder whether Irena really was cursed, or whether it was just a mental delusion of hers. Oliver does everything to suppress his daughter's fertile imagination, but this only causes the alienation of Oliver from his daughter. This is when Amy calls for a friend, and she gets one in the form of Irena (Simone Simon).

Is it Divine intervention? Or is it all in Amy's imagination?

'The Curse of the Cat People' is a touching and ethereal film. Great directing, well-built suspense, chilling atmosphere, wonderful script, great acting (especially from the young girl), and unforgettable and haunting visuals (Irena caroling in the distance, Amy at Sleepy Hollow, etc.) This film has nothing to do with cats, or cat people. It never specifies the "mental delusion" Irena Reed had in the first film. The title is very misleading. Great movie.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the Title and Enjoy the Movie, December 13, 2001

By	Richard Cody (Oakland, The Golden State) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As others here have noted, and as anyone who has seen this wonderful film is aware, the title (meant by the studio to cash in on producer Val Lewton's and writer Dewitt Bodeen's earlier success, "Cat People") is misleading, exploitive and wildly inappropriate.

While this is a tenuous sequel to "Cat People", the 1942 tale of sexual awakening/fear, the only real connection it has to that movie is the lurid title and a few characters. Occuring some years after the events of the first film, "Curse of the Cat People" finds introverted young Amy (played with wide eyed perfection by Ann Carter) discovering that the fantasy world she inhabits does not meet the approval of her parents (Kent Smith and Jane Randolph from the first movie) because she spends too much time alone and, in fact, that it sometimes clashes with the real world - as when she attempts to deliver birthday party invitations via a magic tree rather than a post box.

Relations with her concerned (and, I think, narrow minded) father do not improve when Amy makes a new "imaginary" friend of his dead first wife (the otherworldly Simone Simon, killed in the first movie). She also befriends an aged former actress (Julia Dean) while simultaneously gaining the resentment of the old lady's smoldering, alienated daughter (Elizabeth Russell).

This is not a horror film in any sense (except for the horrible title, of course), but more a magical realist coming of age story. A sense of suspense and wonder permeates the film, thanks to producer Val Lewton's celebrated use of light and shadow and the brisk direction of Robert Wise (his directorial debut if I'm not mistaken) and Gunther von Fritsch.

Not a horror movie, I repeat, but without doubt one of the best films about the wonders and terrors of childhood ever produced.