THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE
DEBUTING ON BLU-RAY FOR THE FIRST TIME
ON JUNE 26, 2018
When producer Val Lewton’s hit gold with Cat People at RKO, the studio was ready to get more feline frights on the screen. So Val elevated editor Robert Wise into the director’s chair (which he shared with Gunther V. Fritsch) to make people cringe at a meow from the silver screen. The film goes beyond just the fear of people turning into cats as it brings in a ghost element. Lewton picked right on Wise since over the course of his long career, he’d direct The Sound of Music and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Curse of the Cat People will be coming out on Blu-ray on June 26th. Here’s the press release from Scream Factory with the bonus feature:
Scream Factory has announced the June 26 release of The Curse of the Cat People, which will bow on Blu-ray for the very first time.
Filled with “wonderful atmosphere [and] fine, moody fantasy” (Leonard Maltin), this continuation of 1942’s Cat People follows Oliver Reed (Kent Smith), now remarried, living in idyllic Tarrytown, New York, and the father of six-year-old Amy. When Amy becomes withdrawn and speaks of consorting with a new “friend,” Oliver worries that she may be under the influence of the spirit of first wife. Is it just Amy’s imagination that has manifested the enigmatic Irena (Simone Simon), who long believed herself to be descended from a race of Cat People?
Directors Gunther V. Fritsch and Robert Wise (making his directorial debut), co-helmed a gothic-laced mix of fantasy and fright so astute it was used in college psychology classes. And producer Val Lewton, given small budgets and lurid, pre-tested film titles by RKO, worked with rising filmmakers to emphasize the fear of the unseen, and turn meager resources into momentous works of psychological terror.
Special Features:
· NEW Audio Commentary with author/historian Steve Haberman
· Audio Commentary with historian Greg Mank, with audio interview excepts with actress Simone Simon
· NEW Lewton’s Muse: The Dark Eyes of Simone Simon – a video essay by filmmaker Constantine Nasr (Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy)
· NEW Audio Interview with Ann Carter, moderated by Tom Weaver
· Theatrical Trailers
· Still Gallery
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