“In the 40s the ghoulish genius of Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur bequeathed a new forumula to the horror genre with collaborations such as I Walked With a Zombie and The Leopard Man. Their first venture, The Cat People, signalled an innovative departure from tradition. Terror no longer dwelt within the exclusive realm of Transylvanian fantasy - it took up residence in the sexually-troubled psyche of an attractive working girl.

“Believing she is possessed by a panther's spirit, Irena spends hours at the zoo, drawing morbid pictures of large cats transfixed by swords. Thus plagued by lycanthropy, the young fashion illustrator rapidly assumes predatory traits of the feline demons when she falls in love with Oliver. Suffice it to say that the arousal of insane sexual jealousy serves as the catalyst which unleashes a ferocious feline terror. Tourneur's allusive orchestration of camera movement, shadow, and sound crystallizes in some of the most chillingly satisfying sequences of horrific cinema.”