Apt Pupil (1998)

Directed by: Bryan Singer

This review contains a Kitty Carnage Warning!

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

Synopsis: Teenager Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) suspects that a distant neighbor named Kurt Dussander (Ian McKellen) is a Nazi war criminal and blackmails the man into sharing stories of his atrocities.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Dussander is dozing in his garden one night when a ginger tomcat with slight white markings jumps into the chair across from him.

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy running towards chair across from Kurt Dussander Ian McKellen

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy in chair across

Dussander smiles and asks, “Who are you, kitty kitty?” The cat meows in reply.

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy in chair

Apt Pupil - closer of ginger tabby cat Timmy

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy in chair across from Kurt Dussander Ian McKellen

“It’s getting cold out here, kitty,” Dussander sighs before getting up and gathering his things then picking up the cat to take him inside.

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy being picked up by Kurt Dussander Ian McKellen

Once inside Dussander carries the cat to the oven and switches on the gas burners inside.

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy held by Kurt Dussander Ian McKellen

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy held by Kurt Dussander Ian McKellen outside oven

Kitty Carnage Warning: Suddenly Dussander says “Goodbye!” and attempts to shove the cat into the hot oven.

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy being shoved into lit oven by Kurt Dussander Ian McKellen

The cat resists, fighting and finally scratching the man. The cat then bolts through an open window.

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy fighting

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy jumping out through window

Later a Lost Cat poster is seen tacked to a tree outside Dussander’s home, stating the cat’s name was Timmy. Did Dussander eventually manage to kill the cat? Or did Timmy just run far far away never to return?

Apt Pupil - ginger tabby cat Timmy on Lost Cat poster

A real cat actor as well as an animatronic cat were used to create the harrowing scene, with the animatronic cat used in shots in which the cat’s body enters the oven. Fast editing makes the violence against the cat actor seem more extreme. In the original novella by Stephen King, Timmy the cat does not make such a triumphant escape.

Kitty Cameo: There is also a brief clip of the I Dream of Jeannie episode entitled My Incredible Shrinking Master in which Orangey the cat chases after a shrunken Major Nelson.