by Ted Davis
Directed by: Philip DeGuere Jr.
This review contains an Implied Kitty Carnage Warning!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: In this made-for-TV movie, the evil and slinky sorceress Morgan LeFay (Jessica Walter) is returned to Earth by The Nameless One (David Hooks) to revenge herself on Thomas Lindmer (John Mills), a centuries old power-for-good and her hated and ancient enemy. If Le Fay doesn’t dispatch the doddering Lindmer within the allocated three day span, The Namless One will execute a horrible punishment upon her . . . not to mention turning her really old and ugly. Because his supernatural powers are fading with great age, Lindmer must find a successor, and recognizing the rare talents of Dr. Stephen Strange (Peter Wooten), resident at the psychiatric department of a city hospital, recruits him as his replacement. The aptly named Dr. Strange is a quick study at the sorcery mumbo jumbo, but is at a disadvantage battling Le Fay on an astral plane where her nasty minions can aid her.
Cat Burglars (Scene Stealers): Morgan LeFay sights a ginger alley cat licking its paws on top of a cardboard box and, using her occult powers, sends the cat to test the magic defenses of Lindmer’s funky Greenwich Village sanctum.
Implied Kitty Carnage Warning! As the cat nears the threshold of the dwelling, he receives a mild shock, then meows and runs away. (The effect is merely an animated overlay and the cat isn’t really hurt.)
Later, during a dark and stormy night, charged with thunder and lightning, a longhair black cat with brilliant green eyes is sitting in the same alley making guttural moans as she closely watches Dr. Strange approach and enter the Lindmer dwelling.
After a brief conversation with Lindmer, Strange leaves the house, but makes a rookie mistake when he takes the cat from out of the rain on the front doorstep and sets her in the house.
The wailing cat winds her way throughout the halls until she confronts Lindmer. At that point the cat transforms into the awesome Morgan LeFay, and the duel is on!
Final Mewsings: What kind of sorcerer doesn’t already own a black cat?
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