Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #53 - Cat People (1942) - Jacques Tourneur directed and Val Lewton produced this horror classic. Simone Simon stars as Irena Dubrovna, a young artist who meets and marries architect Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). Irena is deeply troubled about her past — she believes her people come from a long line of cat women — who prey on their lovers. Oliver can only see that she is beautiful, and he wants to be with her. His co-worker Alice, who is not-so-secretly in love with him, waits patiently for Oliver to give up on his mysterious young wife. Psychiatrist Dr. Judd doesn't believe that Irena is a cat, but an extremely beautiful woman that he desires. What makes this love quadrangle stand out is Tourneur's superbly subtle direction. The horror is implied, but never overtly seen, in a series of wonderful, moodily-shot set pieces — Alice crossing the park and swimming in a pool in the dark, a catlike woman greeting Irena as "moya sestra" on her wedding day, Irena causing havoc in a pet store. Simon turns in a emotional performance as the tormented heroine. Irena being an artist adds to her outsider status. She sketches the big cats at the zoo obsessively, is haunted by a sculpture portraying a myth from the old country, and feels alienated and isolated when Oliver and Alice thoughtlessly ignore her during a trip to a museum. A classic film not to be missed.
Oliver (Kent Smith) meets Irena at the zoo
Irena shows a sketch to Alice (Jane Randolph)
Elizabeth Russell at the "cat woman" in the restaurant
Irena pauses under Goya's painting of& Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga (1784–1792), in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Based on author M.R. James's classic ghost story of the same name, Casting the Runesis a British television production from 1979. Television producer Prudence Dunning (Jan Francis) is drawn into a mystical world of alchemy, curses, and evil. She is pitted against occultist Julian Karswell (Iain Cuthbertson) who has "given" her a runic scroll — a scroll that contains a curse, and unless she can find a way to counteract it, possessing the scroll will result in her death.
Prudence is at first skeptical, but is more convinced of Karswell's evil power as strange things keep happening to her. She is aided in her quest to break the curse by her friend Derek (Bernard Gallagher).
The feature runs 47 minutes, but is accompanied by some great extras. A 20-minute film, Mr. Humphreys and His Inheritance, also from a story by James, and a 51-minute documentary on the author, A Pleasant Terror: The Life & Ghosts of M.R. James. Fans of James will learn many fascinating facts about the author — it's a real treat. All three films are available with SDH subtitles.
Horror movie fans may recognize the story of Casting the Runes. It had been filmed before as Curse of the Demon(or Night of the Demon, as it was known in England) in 1957, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, and Niall MacGinnis as a chilling Karswell.
Casting the Runes is an entertaining, spooky story. If this is the viewer's first encounter with the work of M.R. James, they will be sure to want to check out the author's classic ghost stories as well.
Addendum: the truly superior offering, and one of my all-time favorite classic horror films is Curse of the Demon/Night of the Demon, directed by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie):
is a British television production from 1979. Television producer Prudence Dunning (Jan Francis) is drawn into a mystical world of alchemy, curses, and evil. She is pitted against occultist Julian Karswell (Iain Cuthbertson) who has "given" her a runic scroll — a scroll that contains a curse, and unless she can find a way to counteract it, possessing the scroll will result in her death.
(or Night of the Demon, as it was known in England) in 1957, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, and Niall MacGinnis as a chilling Karswell.
as well.
