Paul Shrader is far better known as a writer (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) but he has also directed a few films and Cat People is one of them. A remake of a 1942 film it tells of an old, ancient time when big cats(leopards to be specific) roamed the lands and humans sent their daughters as sacrifice to mate with them(it is shown more poetically than how I wrote). One such union results in the birth of siblings whom we follow in present day New Orleans. This is a strange film in that it can be classified as fantasy-erotic horror. The atmosphere is supreme and the early scenes in the ancient times are reminiscent of David Lynch's Dune. The acting by everyone from the gorgeous Natasha Kinski to the always sublimely crazy Malcolm Mcdowell to John Heard as the sole "normal "human being is good. This is a good, distinctive horror film.

I'd forgotten what a dirty, kinky movie this was! Nastassja Kinski plays a young woman reconnecting with her priest brother, the perennially off-kilter Malcolm McDowell. Without spoiling too much of the plot, after the two reconnect, McDowell meets a prostitute in a hotel room, only for her to instead get mauled and killed by a black panther. Kinski awakens the next day to find her brother missing and while visiting the zoo finds herself strangely connected to the new panther exhibit. Kinski then meets zoologist John Heard and the two being a romantic affair, which leads to a sexual awakening for Kinski, filled with love making, bondage, and incest. The film is a wild ride and one that I think only gets better with age. Back when I first saw this film, I remember seeing it as slick filmmaking, but rewatching it years later I can see how director Paul Schrader's was influenced by the film of Jean Cocteau in it's dreamlike nature. Schrader brings a hypnotic surreality to his erotic horror film that like many a nightmare, cannot be shaken off easily. "Cat People" also benefits from a strong supporting cast that includes Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Ed Begley Jr., John Larroquette, Frankie Faison, Scott Paulin, and Ray Wise. And in rewatching the film now, the film gets a lot of mileage from 80s nostalgia, featuring a great Davie Bowie theme song, a terrific synthesizer score from Giorgio Moroder, wonderfully slick blood red cinematography by John Bailey, and also Nastassja Kinski's super cute Human League short haircut. Overall, "Cat People" is a unique horror film experience, but it's a very dark and twisted one that will not appeal to most audiences, riding that fine line between art-house and grindhouse, where it's likely too arty for horror fans and too bloody and dirty for the art-house intelligencia, leaving a narrow band of folks who enjoy what it has to offer.

Immediately Giorgio Moroder's score captures you in the darkness with its sensual rhythms, then Schrader entices us into a labyrinthine journey of sex and death seen through the eyes of the dark & beautiful Irena (Kinski). Her brother Paul, played by a Malcom McDowell welcomes Irena to New Orleans ( a perfect location for this erotic & fetishistic tale ) dressed as a priest, this is their first 'reunion' since infancy & orphanage. Paul takes her home and introduces her to his housekeeper Female (played by the great Ruby Dee). Their joy is short lived, as Paul's incestuous overtures are rebuffed by an innocent Irena and his disappearance coincides with a visit by the police to investigate Paul's possible involvement in a 'ritualistic' murder involving a panther. Female is arrested as a possible accomplice to Paul's crimes. In jail, she advises Irena to 'not love' and 'pretend the world is what men believe it to be'. Irena is quickly taken in by Oliver ( John Heard ), curator of the New Orleans Zoo, after he startles her sketching a recently captured black panther. Irena settles into a life working at the zoo and begins a relationship with Oliver, much to the dismay of Alice ( Annette O'Toole ), ostensibly Oliver's love interest until Irena's arrival. Paul resurfaces after a tragic attack by the panther on a zoo keeper (played by Ed Begley, Jr.) in front of Irena, Alice & Oliver. Paul's presence is now menacing and his previous advances are now violent and threatening. He tells Irena that 'only she can save him': by being with him as they are like their parents- brother & sister and of an ancient and incestuous race, unable to mate with only their own kind, lest they transform-returning to human form only after killing. Schrader captures the dark, sensual and moody atmosphere of the New Orleans night with this tale of occult, sex, blood & lycanthropy.

The late David Bowie (I still can't get used to using his name in a past tense) lends his voice to Giorgio Moroder's heavily synthesised soundtrack to this remake of Val Newton's 1942 original. Sadly, the music dates the production more than anything else.At nearly two hours long, 'Cat People' takes a while to get going, and even when it does, it comes in fits and starts. Nastassia Kinski and Malcolm McDowell are superbly cast as a somewhat creepy brother and sister – Kinski managing to exude both a virginal and sultry air that attracts John Heard as hunky-but-bland zoologist Oliver Yates. More than once, the film threatens to become too brooding for its own good and stumbles into dullness. But as things roll on, as Kinski's splendid Irena embraces her blooming sexuality, her brother Paul experiences a disappointing turn in his sex-life, indicating their sibling relationship polarizes aspects of each other's lives – and things become infinitely more interesting (and graphic). The incestuous relationship between them was echoed by their parents, suggesting in-breeding as one reason for their heightened personalities.The film comes full circle, with Paul and Aretha making their way across the surreal dusty, orange landscape that opened 'Cat People', towards a magnificent tree with its branches occupying resting black leopards. This scene brings with it a sense of surreality which acts as a welcome break from the comparatively unexceptional normalcy up until this point.Unlike the original film, Director Paul Schrader is unable to resist actually showing the transformation between human and feline. It comes far too late in the story to carry any real frights, rather it emerges as a tragic inevitability, sowing the seeds of Aretha's eventual, haunting fate. I think this is too slow moving to be truly great, but 'Cat People' remains an intelligent and enjoyable, sensuous fantasy.