tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post2441780474195391683..comments2024-03-12T12:38:23.542-04:00Comments on The Kind of Face You Hate: Cat People: Both Parts Must Diebill r.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-55634094729926019092010-08-19T13:29:05.622-04:002010-08-19T13:29:05.622-04:00Fuzzy - BODY SNATCHER was my first Lewton, and not...Fuzzy - BODY SNATCHER was my first Lewton, and not only got me into Lewton, but into Karloff. It's one of his greatest performances. But it may hold such a high place for me partly by virtue of being first. The most fascinating and disturbing to me is probably 7th VICTIM.<br /><br />Will - I heard that, too. And, in fact, at the time I was outraged. Outraged! But I've mellowed, and would watch the films if they ever got made. I don't see that happening at this point, though.<br /><br />Arbogast - I absolutely believe that Lewton's insights are more enduring, at least partly because I don't know what insights Schrader/Ormsby bring to the table. Maybe I wasn't watching closely enough, but even though I largely enjoyed his film, I didn't find it especially "deep".<br /><br />And I'm guessing Coppola never cracked the book.<br /><br />Bryce - <i>I don't have it in me to hate a movie wherein Malcolm McDowell solemnly explains the destiny of the Cat People.</i><br /><br />In a dream, yet!<br /><br />Kael's line is clever, I guess, but I don't quite see it, myself. I think that's actually kind of an unfair jab.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-53563180814236797302010-08-19T00:52:20.091-04:002010-08-19T00:52:20.091-04:00I have a certain affection for Schrader's vers...I have a certain affection for Schrader's version. Because of both its trashiness, and unabashed lack of irony. <br /><br />I don't have it in me to hate a movie wherein Malcolm McDowell solemnly explains the destiny of the Cat People. Also Annette O Toole! Appealing! And um erm Perky!<br /><br />This also has the distinction of inspiring one of my favorite *ahem* catty Pauline Kael comments, "That every shot looks like the cover for an album that you would never want to play." <br /><br />I completely agree. The key difference being that I would totally play those albums.Bryce Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17040954580033470664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-35657192878159169382010-08-18T21:02:03.706-04:002010-08-18T21:02:03.706-04:00Thank you for this comparison, Bill. I enjoyed Sc...Thank you for this comparison, Bill. I enjoyed Schrader's <b>Cat People</b> back in 1982 and it was one of the first DVDs I bought... yet I've never rewatched it. Meanwhile, the original <b>Cat People</b>, which I never owned on video and which only recently came out on DVD, is often respun here. <br /><br />I'm with you on the original's essential worth (while thumbs-upping Rod's championing of its disquieting poeticism) vis a vis the other Lewton horrors and with the value of the remake. I like them both but I think Lewton's insights are the more enduring. <br /><br />Schrader's comment reminds me of Francis Ford Coppola's insistence, around the time of the release of <b>Bram Stoker's Dracula</b> in 1992, that Bram Stoker's original novel was "unreadable."Arbogasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12670776992289080245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-82259003775016170892010-08-16T22:55:51.834-04:002010-08-16T22:55:51.834-04:00I heard a year or three ago some film company had ...I heard a year or three ago some film company had bought rights to a bunch of Lewton films to do remakes. Haven't seen/heard anything more. However, anyone unfamiliar with Roky Erickson's 1978 song "I Walked with a Zombie" should avail themselves here:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcGb24n9hvMWill Erricksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285306262078600804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-4462514608818647552010-08-16T21:49:01.160-04:002010-08-16T21:49:01.160-04:00BODY SNATCHER is delightful, not least for the cha...BODY SNATCHER is delightful, not least for the chance to watch Lugosi and Karloff acting at each other. Meanwhile my friend Ian W. Hill desperately wants to do a remake of THE SEVENTH VICTIM set in the 90s downtown theater scene, which would be a hoot. But hell, choosing a best Lewton horror film is tough---they're all so good.That Fuzzy Bastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09586029006083399346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-68607278003822632312010-08-14T11:19:39.012-04:002010-08-14T11:19:39.012-04:00A lot of people rank CAT PEOPLE at or near the top...A lot of people rank CAT PEOPLE at or near the top of Lewton's films. With the exception of THE 7th VICTIM, my favorite tend to be the ones other people rank a bit lower -- THE BODY SNATCHER, BEDLAM, etc.<br /><br />But really, I do think CAT PEOPLE is a wonderful movie, so don't get me wrong. Tourneur was the furthest thing from a slouch, but of his Lewton work I prefer I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, and I prefer OUT OF THE PAST and NIGHT OF THE DEMON over either.<br /><br />The bedroom door scene is something. I was listening to Greg Mank's commentary track, and he was singling that one out as a moment where Tourneur and Lewton were trying to get one over on the censors, or rather one the censors had problems with, and I thought "Is he going to mention, you know, where her head is positioned?" He never did, though.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-67488215112516678742010-08-13T21:58:02.654-04:002010-08-13T21:58:02.654-04:00I actually put CAT PEOPLE at the top of Lewton'...I actually put CAT PEOPLE at the top of Lewton's output, largely because it's a Lewton-Tourneur film, and Jacques Tourneur was no slouch himself. A lot of his films (including his other Lewton films) thrive on atmosphere and suggestion, but what gets me about CAT PEOPLE is how much readable semiotics he packs into the images. From the opening shot of getting a ball in a hole (nudge, nudge, SHOVE!) to the shadowed crosses in the design office, with stops along the way for suggestively cropped paintings in the psychiatrist's office and Irina's panther-ear bows, the movie's images have a kind of dense readability that's unique in Tourneur's work.<br /><br />And oh god, that door shot on their wedding night!That Fuzzy Bastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09586029006083399346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-67828727911258958432010-08-13T12:27:43.979-04:002010-08-13T12:27:43.979-04:00Thanks, Rod. As I said, I do think non-genre film...Thanks, Rod. As I said, I do think non-genre filmmakers can make pretty extraordinary horror films (Lewton!), but I feel like Schrader thought he could blow the roof off while sticking to what he perceived to be essential elements of some mythical "formula". I think THAT is what kills some horror films made by acclaimed directors new to the genre -- the belief that some kind of formula must be adhered to.<br /><br />And I only think CAT PEOPL is middling in relation to Lewton's other horror films. I still think it's damn good.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-49216602260534571962010-08-13T04:09:42.587-04:002010-08-13T04:09:42.587-04:00Fine, probing piece, Bill. Schrader's comments...Fine, probing piece, Bill. Schrader's comments do reveal something to me about the reason why his remake ended up a disorientating mess - although Carpenter and Kaufman interrogated and subverted the models for their remakes, they clearly also loved the models, where Schrader obviously felt a bit detached from his. That's a trait in a lot of acclaimed directors turning their hand to the horror genre, and one that's ruined a lot of films.<br /><br />I too used to rank the original <i>Cat People</i> as fairly middling, but my last couple of viewings have really brought the film's disquieting poeticism home to me.Roderick Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-84233199275796321672010-08-12T23:40:04.349-04:002010-08-12T23:40:04.349-04:00Will, there are a lot of people in the movie busin...Will, there are a lot of people in the movie business, or in the writing-about-movie business (Schrader's been in both) who could have made that statement, and I wouldn't have thought twice about it. It would have been no less ignorant, but it wouldn't have been surprising. But coming from <i>Paul Schrader</i> is downright astonishing. Of all people, he's a guy who should know better.<br /><br /><i>And Annette O'Toole--!</i><br /><br />That Michael McKean's one lucky fucker.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-12301254742640996602010-08-12T22:54:45.164-04:002010-08-12T22:54:45.164-04:00Thank you for calling Schrader out on that crappy,...<i>Thank you</i> for calling Schrader out on that crappy, insensitive comment. I first read it when I picked up <i>Schrader on Schrader</i> way back when and was astonished he'd said something so clueless. That was even before I'd seen Lewton's original! That said, I *loved* the remake (I'm not strictly against remakes either) as a teenager in the '80s, but I didn't expect it to be any good when I watched it as an adult. But like you, I found it a bit better than its reputation suggests. And Annette O'Toole--!Will Erricksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285306262078600804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-67544824095691003572010-08-12T22:07:19.115-04:002010-08-12T22:07:19.115-04:00Thanks. Yeah, it's worth seeing. I especiall...Thanks. Yeah, it's worth seeing. I especially would like to alert you to the presence of one Annette O'Toole. But honestly, when you see it, tell me I'm wrong about those opening credits. Did Paul Schrader advise Scorsese on his LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST credits, or is it some wild coincidence, or am I just way off?<br /><br />CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE is a great movie, but even though I prefer it to CAT PEOPLE, I'm less familiar with it. Even so, yes, it's batshit, and brilliant.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2856547151523423474.post-35909474117892595342010-08-12T21:51:46.256-04:002010-08-12T21:51:46.256-04:00Great work.
I adore the Lewton version (it's ...Great work.<br /><br />I adore the Lewton version (it's one of my standbys when a friend expresses a desire to "watch an old horror movie") but I've never seen the Schrader version. But oh look- you mentioned the tits and the whatnot and it just jumped 300 places in my Netflix queue.<br /><br />I'd pay damn good money to see someone try a modernized version of the followup to the original. That's a movie that seems more hypnotically batshit every time I see it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com