This is such a curious work. Its producer Jon Pennington seemed to be attracted to unusual themes, the year before he made "Faces in the Dark" another story with a haunting ironic final outcome. He also seems to have been fond of working with the much exiled political activist and great Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis ~ an unusual choice for both movies. In fact if you took the exciting Theodorakis score out of 'Cat'...with it's eerie grinding base and shrill stings (perfectly bringing to mind the quick movements of a panicked cat) this film would lose much of it's considerable atmosphere. The pounding (near symphonic) main title, played over the image of an old dark country manor at the turn of the century sounds reminiscent of a ghostly steam locomotive, this makes the setting appear doubly creepy and hammers home the seriousness of the nasty crime that's just been committed.People rave about the directorial touches but director John Gilling, while he does a most capable job, had such superb assistance from several important professionals...Veteran director of photography: Arthur Grant ('Quartermas and the Pit '67) works wonders with stark, super sharp B/W images in various difficult indoor situations as well as wide open spaces. The remarkable look of the indoor settings were stylishly created by two hard working gents, Art Director: Don Mingaye ('Phantom of the Opera' 61) and Production Designer: Bernard Robinson who, also in '61, is known for the super atmospheric 'Scream of Fear'. The editor: John Pomeroy (who has also been known to direct) cuts tricky scenes together with much flourish. Then there's veteran sound recordist: Ken Cameron capturing all the verbal dramatics and atmos. Writer, American born George Baxt weaves individual nuances into each of his greed driven characters - who just seem to keep coming out of the rotting woodwork. This is an A1 team at work behind the camera. In retrospect, it might perhaps be a pity that director Gilling decided to change Baxt's original script, where the cat was intended to be seen only in 'shadow' (a form of psychological metaphor). Then again, others will argue there are some fine shots of this impressive feline used to good advantage, so maybe it's not easy to decide what may have been better (although I like Baxt's thoughts) Some Cat lovers will be delighted, others won't be overly impressed. Some won't buy the idea of a cat causing such panic, but this bunch of characters are murderers under close investigation, living on their guilt ridden nerves in an era where superstition was rife. They are also struggling with a haunted 'collective' conscience. The entire cast are rather amazing at what they have to convey, such a gathering of stalwart British ensemble players. Any lesser performers may not have been convincing within some of the more difficult to grasp situations. It seems this was originally intended as a Hammer studios film but I've found some of the smaller Hammer productions can at times look a little cheap. The quality production values of this film suggest that Independent producer Jon Pennington may have invested his own larger budget for this odd little work. Two years ago my sister purchased a DVD of 'S.O.T.Cat' from a seller in the UK who claimed his was the only DVD available. It had annoying permanently 'burnt into the image' subtitles! At last we can now get this new Final Cut release DVD, that features one of the best 'Stills Gallery' extras I've ever seen --sections of the full original music score are synchronized to wonderfully edited images from the feature-- Congratulations Final Cut for this rare quality product. Look for it while you can! While it won't please everyone, those who view it as a product of it's day, and within the limits of it's well used budget, could be pleasantly surprised ... Anyone seen Tabitha? Purrrr....KenR.

Filmmakers have long faced a dilemma as to how to make benign domestic pets and unferocious animals look malevolent.Short sharp close ups and doom laden music ,mickey mousing are 2 ways of doing it.both are tried by the director,the redoubtable John Gilling.However even he cant make this feline look ferocious.Maybe he should have hired a Twetie Pie double.However this doesn't affect the entertainment to be had as a number of venerable actors make themselves go silly trying to look as if they are truly worried about the pesky canine.It is in fact the sort of film where you scream with laugh rather than fear.It is worth viewing if for no other reason.

On a stormy night, elderly Ella Venable (Catherine Lacey) reads aloud a passage from Poe's "The Raven" before a man sneaks up behind her and clubs her over the head. Her body is wrapped up and carried outside as the woman's cat Tabitha, who witnessed the crime, quickly rushes out the door. The victim turns out to be a very wealthy woman who has been trapped in a loveless 30-year marriage to Walter (André Morell), who made no qualms about marrying her for her money. We also learn that her killer, Andrew the butler (Andrew Crawford), as well as the maid, Clara (Freda Jackson) are also in on the murder and have been promised a healthy cut of the inheritance if they play along. Ella's body is buried in a shallow grave somewhere on the property. A few days after the murder, Walter contacts the police to let them know his wife has disappeared. He's also taken provisions to ensure he's left everything in the estate by forging a will. However, the actual will is hidden somewhere in the home and must be found and destroyed before anyone else can get their hands on it. Promptly following Ella's disappearance, several relatives arrive at the home. First up is Ella's beloved niece Elizabeth (Barbara Shelley), who seems to be the only person her dead aunt actually loved. Also coming in for a visit are Walter's brother Edgar (Richard Warner), his sleazy, skirt-chasing son Jacob (William Lucas) and Jacob's smarmy wife Louise (Vanda Godsell). Those three are also in on the murder and, just like the two servants, have been payed off to keep quiet and assist in locating the missing will as well as helping throw off the investigators.So who's going to teach these greedy, murderous, thieving scumbags a lesson? Why Ella's beloved pet puss Tabitha, of course! She makes life a living hell for each of the conspirators; clawing, hissing and causing a general uneasiness and panic amongst them. They all want her captured and killed, which makes them look all the more suspicious to both Elizabeth and the investigators. Hey, it's just a cat, right? But this cat is no ordinary cat. It ignores plates of poisoned meat left around the house and when it's lured into a trap by the tempting treat of live mice, put in a sack and stands the chance of being dunked in the backyard swamp waters, it manages to escape and knock someone into a quicksand bog in the process. The kitty also finds ways to start killing them off one by one; knocking one down a flight of stairs, giving the weak-hearted one in the group a heart attack by rushing at his head and finding other methods of punishing the guilty. Tabitha has plenty of clever tricks up her, uh, paw.Naturally, a film portraying a domesticated animal going about getting revenge for its slain owner by committing premeditated murder is going to be called far-fetched by some, but this is a horror film we're talking about. I don't see why such nonexistent creatures as vampires, zombies and unkillable slasher maniacs who get shot hundreds of times but keep on tickin' are tolerated but people have a hard time accepting a vengeance-minded domestic cat doing the same thing. Any film with fantasy content requires the suspension of disbelief, and this is no different. But the movie is very well done for what it is. The cast is excellent, it's well paced, the Gothic mansion setting is perfect for this kind of material, the cat itself is fun to watch and there's an interesting score from Mikis Theodorakis, which alternates between commanding to almost whimsical. There is also some clever distorted camera-work to represent the cat's point of view.Even though the production company is listed as BHP (who according to IMDb only did two other films), it might as well be considered a Hammer Production. In fact, the director, the writer, the editor, the cinematographer, the production designer, the makeup artist and much of the cast frequently worked for Hammer. It was also filmed at Bray Studios. I don't know if the studio lent its resources out to an independent producer or what, but this definitely has that Hammer feel to it and will probably be appreciated by any fan of their usual films.

This Hammer film has a unique story while boasting the typically good to great Hammer assets of editing (which is especially well done this time) and production and of course acting. The copy I saw was a very poor dub of a dub and a good version would rate higher. I'm not sure if this was a Scope movie or not, though many of Hammer's Black and White films were and the full frame version I saw looked cropped. Originally the cat was supposed to be shown only as a shadow, this might have in the long run been more effective, or at least explained the title, though it's the shadow of guilt it still refers too. I can't think of another Hammer film quite like this as far as plot or structure. It starts with a very good longish pre-credit sequence and has typically effective music throughout. Director John Gilling is under-appreciated and this film is unique in his output.It is fast paced, stylish and fun, actor Andre Morell does a great freak out job. It can be a problem with films where most of the characters are bad guys to keep interest, but this group sweats in fear and celebrates their own misdeeds in a way that makes them engaging. You want them to die but you also somehow sympathize with the inevitable cruel nature of their fate.Some nice shots of cat's glowing eyes by the way as well.