Taxidermia (2006)

Directed by: György Pálfi

This review contains a Kitty Carnage Warning!

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: The twisted tale of three generations of offspring, each with their own brand of perversion and obsession.

Featured Felines: The third segment follows the life of Balatony Lajoska (Marc Bischoff), the offspring of champion speed eater Balatony Kálmán (Gergely Trócsányi). Over the years Kálmán has grown so obese he cannot move from the chair in his apartment. His son Lajoska has to tend to him daily, buying him food and cleaning him. In addition to these chores, Lajoska also cleans up after and feeds three giant cats which Kálmán is raising for competition.

Taxidermia - giant orange tabby and tuxedo cats in enclosure
Taxidermia - giant white cat in corner

The cats are kept in a barred off section on one side of Kálmán’s apartment. A ginger tabby named Greta, a white cat and a tuxedo cat are fed a diet of nothing but margarine to make them huge.

Taxidermia - giant orange tabby and tuxedo cats in enclosure

The size of the cats makes them dangerous, and Lajoska carries an electrical prod just in case. Thankfully he is never shown using this against the cats.

Taxidermia - giant orange tabby, white and tuxedo cats in enclosure

At one point Kálmán throws a candy bar at the tuxedo cat, telling the cat to eat the still-wrapped food. The cat looks at him with disdain.

Taxidermia - giant tuxedo cat lying in enclosure
Taxidermia - angry giant tuxedo cat in enclosure

None of the cats are happy in this situation and Greta in particular hisses and looks to get out of the cage.

Taxidermia - giant orange tabby Greta hissing
Taxidermia - giant orange tabby Greta hissing
Taxidermia - giant orange tabby, white and tuxedo cats in cage behind broom
Taxidermia - giant orange tabby, white and tuxedo cats in cage behind Lajoska Marc Bischoff
Taxidermia - giant white cat in cage

It’s clear that Kálmán thinks more of the cats than he does of his son, leading to a fight between the two. As Lajoska storms out of the apartment, he neglects to fully close the door of the cage. Greta takes advantage of this to get out.

Taxidermia - giant orange tabby cat Greta looking out of cage at Lajoska Marc Bischoff and Balatony Kálmán Gergely Trócsányi
Taxidermia - giant orange tabby cat Greta squeezing out of door of cage

When Lajiska returns to the apartment he finds the cats have eaten part of his father. Lajiska even tangles with Greta at some point. Although it is not shown on screen, we later see him with huge scratch marks down his back.

Kitty Carnage Warning! What Lajiska does to the cats is not shown, but at the end of the film we see his stuffed father on display in a museum with the tails of the three cats (and presumably the cats themselves) stuffed inside his enormous stomach.

The cat actors were filmed on a separate miniature set and shot with the same angles at a different speed to make them look large against the human actors in the same scenes.

Taxidermia - orange tabby, white and tuxedo cats on set of Taxidermia
Taxidermia - orange tabby, white and tuxedo cats on set of Taxidermia

Final Mewsings: Margarine probably won’t make cats bigger, only fatter.

Many thanks (we think!) to Yayoi Neko for letting us know about the cats in this film!

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