Cat’s Eye *** (1985, Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King) – Classic Movie Review 8384

Director Lewis Teague’s 1985 compendium / portmanteau/ anthology horror movie Cat’s Eye is a trilogy of Stephen King’s suspense and terror tales (Quitters Inc, The Ledge, The General), with King’s screenplay competently directed for mild scares and shocks by horror specialist Teague (Alligator, Cujo).

A cat walking along a Manhattan sidewalk sees in a shop window a mannequin of a girl (Drew Barrymore) who cries: ‘Help me! It’s going to try and get men! You’ve got to find me. Please!’

Then: 1. James Woods wants to give up smoking but gets more than he bargained for when he goes to Alan King’s quit-smoking centre, Quitters Inc, and gets shocking treatment.

2. Kenneth McMillan bets a cat can’t cross a busy road without being killed and is happy to put Robert Hays’s life on the line.
3. A tiny monster threatens little girl Drew Barrymore.

For those who frighten very easily, then these mild-mannered yarns may suffice. Others may want a little more tension and a lot more meat. Barrymore, Woods, Candy Clark and James Naughton show their class as actors, but this suffers from the usual problem of all portmanteau horror films – a lack of time and space to create believable characters and situations in which the frights can occur.

Its jokey tone makes it more of a comedy than a horror film at times, and a more sophisticated tongue-in-cheek style such as in King’s earlier collaboration with George A Romero, Creepshow (1982), would have served better here.

On the plus side of Martha J Schumacher’s production are Jack Cardiff’s cinematography, Alan Silvestri’s score, Giorgio Postiglione’s production designs and Carlo Rimbaldi’s special effects, all of them of excellent quality.

Cat’s Eye [Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye] is directed by Lewis Teague, runs 94 minutes, is made by Famous and Dino De Laurentiis, and is released by Columbia-EMI-Warner.

Creepshow 2 followed in 1987.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8384

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com