Product Details

• Actors: Ann-Margret, John Forsythe, Peter Brown, Patricia Barry, Richard Anderson
• Directors: Douglas Heyes
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: October 31, 2000
• Run Time: 84 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004W46N
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,148 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Ann-Margret never actually touches a whip in this seedy jailbait drama of juvenile delinquents and square-john fall guys, but her slithery moves and schizophrenic mood swings are still enough to give anyone whiplash. The teen temptress makes her entrance skittering through an industrial park in nothing more than a baby-doll nightie as bongos pound away on the soundtrack. Taking refuge in the seemingly deserted house of political hopeful John Forsythe, she begins her torment of the man who would be her savior with her gang of beatnik buddies. "Now cool it and co-exist!" exclaims nominal leader Peter Brown. Fat chance.

Ann-Margret yo-yos from little girl lost to feral femme fatale with sharp claws and a taste for blood. She becomes a hellcat who turns on everyone in her nocturnal flight to Tijuana. She even growls with glee while gunning a jeep over a running buddy tangled in barbed wire! Stiff Forsythe is uncomfortably out of place next to the slinky sex kitten, like a sitcom dad who walked onto the wrong set, and the dated portrait of nihilistic, pseudo-philosophical teens makes the film unintentionally campy. But give it credit for energy: Ann-Margret almost single-handedly powers this offbeat drama with pure sass. If the music sounds familiar in the south-of-the-border scenes, that's because it borrows liberally from Henri Mancini's Latin-flavored Touch of Evil score. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Ann-Margret Flick, September 6, 2003

By	Richard Reetz (Tucson) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Talk about sexy. In this film Ann-Margret has got it going on. She is indeed a Kitten With A Whip. Filmed in black and white it has film noir quality. I'm sure she turned on a million teenage boys back in 1964 playing Jody, a troubled JD who prays on the frailties of politician John Forstythe. This kitten made me purr.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars MyReviewds, August 15, 2000

By	Danny J. Sibley (Jennings, MO United States) - See all my reviews

Kitten With A Whip was a fairly entertaining film which also marked the beginning of Ann-Margret's debut as Universal's "bad girl". Contrary to popular opinion, I think everybody had the right Idea: 1) tense drama about a psychotic/troubled teenage vixen who, with a bunch of other delinquents hold a middle-class suburbanite virtually prisoner in his own home while his family was away; 2) choosing sexy/talented Ann-Margret as the lead, 3) and using the old black and white cinematography to give it the old forties flavor; but somehow like "most" movies, it fell into the mediocre catagory for the more dicriminating movie goer. For the less dicriminating (the viewer who goes just to enjoy a movie), it was suspensful, plenty to keep you interested as to what happens to the characters, and well acted by all especially Ann-Margret and John Forsyth. Ann-Margret (a musical actress at the time) was very convincing as the "teenage-vixen-from-hell"; and John Forsyth did his usual top-notch work as the sympathetic though traumatized victim. Highly recommended for A-M fans, not a bad risk for lovers of its type. Critics "STAY AWAY", you've had your fun.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Greatest Movie Titles Of All Time!, December 12, 2001

By	Mike King "Michael A. King" (Taunton, MA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Ann-Margret turns in a star-making performance in "Kitten With A Whip," alternately acting scared, sexy, angry and even psychotic. This kitten has claws and she's not afraid to use them! She breaks out of a girls' reformatory and breaks into what she thinks is a deserted house. Later that night, the owner of the house returns home. John Forsythe plays his straight-laced character to perfection. Ann-Margret decides that she'd rather stay with him instead of running from the law. When she invites her beatnik friends over for a party, the action really heats up. After the head beatnik accidentally gets cut with a straight razor, they hightail it to Tijuana. There's a doctor friend of theirs who will patch him up with no questions asked. The violence escalates until the movie reaches its surprise ending. Hopefully, Rhino will release the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of this cult classic!