it takes a genius

Cat People (1942)
4 Stars
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Produced by Val Lewton
Starring Simone Simon

I hate horror movies, but there are exceptions. The Ring and The Shining come immediately to mind, but not the 1982 remake of Cat People starring a largely naked Nastassja Kinski. Besides those obvious "merits", that movie has a unique style that makes it better than your typical horror movie. But it is not the same species as the original.

The original is an odd beast. A B-movie commissioned by RKO to rescue it from the financial collapse caused by Citizen Kane, it nevertheless has all the glimmer, beauty, and slick professionalism of the height of the Studio Era. It has more in common with contemporary A-movies like Casablanca than any subsequent low-budget horror movies. That was the advantage of the Studio system: for $134,000, a first-time producer and minor director get the star of La Bête Humaine and the use of lavish sets from Shall We Dance and The Magnificent Ambersons. To this, Lewton added a refreshingly personal vision that connects in a way the purely popcorn or purely high-minded movies of the era don't. The result is a horror movie that is also a class melodrama — it's even quite funny in parts.

This one is especially hard to rate on a linear scale: judged as a straight drama, it's 3 stars, but it is so unique a movie, I heartily recommend watching it.