by Mark Murton and Linda Kay

Directed by: Alastair Reid

Synopsis: Libidinous 15-year-old English schoolgirl Luci (Linda Hayden) arrives home to find her single mother, Liz (Diana Dors), has committed suicide. Luci goes to live with a childhood friend of Liz’s, Robert Quayle (Keith Barron), along with his wife and son. Luci’s arrival causes sexual and psychological tensions to surface which threaten to destroy the family.

Kitty Cameo: At the beginning of the film, Luci comes home to find dirty dishes still on the table and a black cat helping him or herself to the leftovers. She gently brushes the cat off the table and clears the plates.

An off-screen cat cry sends Luci to the back door where the kitty is waiting to be let out. Luci opens the door and the cat runs out over the newspaper pages which have been placed on the floor.

Luci busies herself upstairs gathering up dirty washing and as she comes down again the cat re-enters through the still-open door, now leaving bloody paw prints on the newspaper. This leads Luci to the washroom where she finds her mother’s body.

When Luci is taken in by Robert and his family, the cat does not accompany her and is not seen again. However, there is a remarkable white cat statue in an arched back pose in Luci’s new bedroom which gives her quite a fright during her first night there.

Final Mewsings: Why does no one think to check the make sure the cat is all right when they see bloody prints?

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