The Curse of the Cat People

Robert Wise directed this sequel to "Cat People", set several years later. Oliver Reed(played by Kent Smith) and Alice(played by Jane Randolph) are now married with a six-year old daughter named Amy(played by Ann Carter). Amy is a lonely child who has a hard time making friends, and seems to prefer living in her fantasy world, visited by the ghost of Irina(played by Simone Simon) Irina looks after Amy, but Oliver wants nothing to do with this, insisting that Amy must be socialized. Amy does befriend an elderly woman in her "haunted" house, though her daughter(played by Elizabeth Russell, though not as her cat lady character from the first) is resentful. Amy will later run away from home, becoming lost, though she is far from being alone... Unique and thoughtful sequel builds on the story from Part I, rather than repeating it, and result is most satisfying. (No third film was made however!)

In "Curse of the Cat People," the beautiful child, Ann Carter, who looked so much like Veronica Lake, plays Amy, the daughter of the now-married Oliver (Kent Smith) and Alice (Jane Randolph) from the film's predecessor, "The Cat People." This is a sweet film about a lonely young girl's fantasy life, showing her to be a highly imaginative and creative child. Unfortunately for Amy, she's the child of two complete duds. Her father, former husband of Irena, sees in his daughter an eerie mental and emotional resemblance to his late wife, and it makes him nervous. He gets even more nervous when Amy sees a photo of Irena and claims Irena is her "friend" who has been meeting her. He has burned all the photos of Irena except for one photo that shows him and Irena together, looking happy, though one wonders a) why he kept it since he told Irena he was in love with Alice and was thinking of having her, Irena, committed; and b) when exactly were they happy? They couldn't even consummate the marriage because she was afraid of turning into a vicious cat.

Irena's appearances are interesting but to my mind, it's left open as to whether Irena was actually talking to the child or not. We probably are supposed to think it's Amy's imagination, but I like to keep an open mind. After all, Amy gives her a pin and Irena puts it on her cloak - anyone ever find said pin? It is strange, though, that now she's singing in French instead of Serbian, and there is no sign of the cat stuff.

If you remember "The Cat People," there was a scene at the wedding celebration where the exotic, cat-eyed actress Elizabeth Russell greets Irena in Serbian as "sister." (Actually, Simone Simon dubbed the Serbian.) In "Curse of the Cat People," Russell plays Barbara, the daughter of an old actress whom Amy visits. It doesn't seem like Russell is playing the same character because her mother is not Serbian. Nice to see her, though, and at least in this film, she receives a credit.

"Curse of the Cat People" is a good film, but you'll be disappointed if you go in expecting another "Cat People." Take this lovely movie on its own merits, and feel sorry for Amy - with Oliver and Jane as parents, she's going to need all the help she can get.

...this one is thoroughly commendable.Jacques Tourneur's "cat people " was more psychological Freudian fantasy and horror whereas Robert Wise 's sequel mostly deals with Gothic horror.This Gothic horror he would take to its absolute peak with "the haunting" ,twenty years after.

For a relatively short movie (about 70 min),there are SIX almost equally important female characters:the girlie,her mother,her teacher,her "friend" ,the old (laughing)lady and her daughter.This is the continuing story of Oliver Reed (not the actor)and the Alice whom he married after first wife Irena's death.The three characters -you read well even Irena) appear in the sequel.There's a lot of Gothic elements :the old house where an old lady tells terrifying tales about "sleepy hollow" (precisely Tim Burton's "spleepy hollow"),the strange borders of dream and reality,of the living and the dead,a subject which will be used a lot of times ;even if we can see the '"friend" ,she recalls sometimes Victor's part in Amenabar's masterful "the others".

But like in Tourneur's version,there may be also a Freudian side :the father/daughter does not seem to be very satisfying at the beginning of the film.Would the child be Irena's psychic daughter?

Never mind the lurid title; this is a charming fantasy involving a little girl and a lonely retired actress. Julia Dean actually hadn't done a film for a quarter of a century, and is terrific in her comeback role of the secluded actress who is delighted to befriend the child. Recommended to all.

The title is very misleading for this is a film about a little girl's isolation and her need for an imaginary friend. The original "Cat People" picture provides just the backdrop for this moving story about lonely people, both young and old. There is a certain innocence and pathos that works very well alongside competent direction and acting. Definitely not a horror film, this is a gentle fantasy and a very good one at that.