I first caught 'The Cat' about 6 years ago when the wonderful folks over at 'Dead Formats' introduced me to it via a VCD copy of the film that had apparently been quite hard to come by. I was absolutely mesmerized by it, and was beyond dissapointed to hear (at the time) that it was very unlikely to ever get a legitimate western release…letalone a HD one. Skip forward 5 or so years though, and 88 Films COMPLETELY out of left field decides to just casually drop 'The Cat' on bluray in the UK, fully remastered with extras. It was basically a day 1 purchase for me. And while it has taken me a while to get around to rewatching it. I have to admit I loved it almost as much as I did the first time.
The film is set in the not too distant future of 1996 and predominantly follows 'Wisely' a journalist and paranormal investigator who also acts as our narrator for the film. who picks up on several bizarre thefts and murders in his local area and decides to investigate. it quickly becomes apparent that the thefts and murders are linked, but what Wisely doesnt know is that these are all of extra terrestrial origin!
We meet an alien princess and her defender named Errol who are both taking care of a supernatural cat with super-extraordinary powers and abilities. And while at first we're led to believe that they're up to no good. Its quickly revealed that they are in fact biding their time to take on ANOTHER alien species known as the 'Star Killers' that are essentially a kind 'Blob by way of 'The Thing' creature' thats able to ooze around and envelope humans essentially killing them and taking over their bodies in the process. When the princess and the cat steal an ancient artifact, Wisely begins to try and hunt them down. But when he finally DOES catch up to them, its revealed that the artifact may be the only thing thats able to save planet earth (and the galaxy even!) from total annihilation.
And ultimately; what I love about this film is the same thing that I love with 'House (Hasu)'…Which is that, on the surface this seems like a somewhat spooky science fiction action film. But every so often it takes THE most surreal left turns you'll ever see in your life. creating the kind of tonal whiplash that I seldom think many will experience in their lifetimes.
The pacing is positively ADHD driven, breakneck plotting with a clean and smooth 3 act transition. its a sloppy SLOPPY film, seemingly almost entirely running off of vibes and instinct. But that total chaos really helped to keep me engaged and on my toes for most of the runtime. While it doesnt always land the eccentricities perfectly, it has a bloody good hit rate, that caught me off guard the first time I Watched it, and continued to do so on the rewatch.
I think some of the dialogue is a little stiff and awkward at times, sometimes that works to the films favour in helping give the feature a more 'dream like' tone. but sometimes its just a bit creaky. the characters as well dont get a tremendous amount of depth and some of the scenes do drag a little past their strongest end point. But again, I dont so much mind that when the action is so breakneck you dont get TIME to wonder about the casts backstories.
Its really the 'vision' for this film that really takes it to the next level, absolutely bonkers levels of creativity are on display here with everything from puppets, to animatronics, to stop motion to guys in suits are utilized to the fullest. and combined with a VERY vivid and colourful colour palette, this is probably one of the wildest movies i've seen in a good while. the cinematography is sharp, crisp and B-roll is plentiful, leading to robust sequence building and a SUPER sharp edit that really appealed.
The visual effects are just delightful. and the cine is some of the most creative and interesting i've seen in a while. all in all, even if you dont care much for the plot of this one. its almost undenyable that this is a pretty good looking feature.
Add to that that the performances, while a little threadbare on detail are rock solid, and that the score is solidly memorable and probably one of my favorite Eastern horror soundtracks. and you've got a rock solid slice of fried gold on your hand. I wholeheartedly recommend you try and catch this this halloween season, its a trip and a half, and I really need to watch this WAY more than I have in the past.
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-cat-1992/1/
