Note: I already posted this in CF Bad Movie Night, but thought Id share here too. One of my absolute favorites, Cat People is a 1942 horror film that has some pretty brilliant technical effects considering its budget. This film is credited for inventing/popularising the Lewton Bus effect (making the audience believe an everyday or mundane sound is something to be feared at a moment or climax of suspense). Around its release, Cat People was thought to contain lesbian themes, but Lewton and Tourneur brushed it off at the time (there is an article somewhere on the internet about this, but I cant find it). It is one of few horror films of its time in which the figure to be feared is a woman. Tourneurs film remains a strong statement of female power in difference, which is controlled only by the womans internalization of patriarchal standards (Karen Hollinger). As an aside, Simone Simon, the star of the film, went on to star in the French film Olivia (1951), aka The Pit Of Loneliness, which is described as a landmark film in lesbian representation. Cat People (1942): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_People_(1942_film)
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 00:59:30 +0000