Pets (1973)

by Mark Murton

Also Known As: Submission

Directed by: Raphael Nussbaum

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

Synopsis: In this unremarkable slice of 70’s sleaze, naive but brash and sultry teenage runaway Bonnie (Candice Rialson) finds herself lost and adrift in Los Angeles and its environs. She hooks up with a series of oddball characters who all want use her in their own way, firstly violent criminal Pat (Teri Guzman), then domineering lesbian painter Geraldine Mills (Joan Blackman), and finally twisted affluent misogynist Vincent Stackman (Ed Bishop) who wants her as the prize exhibit in the menagerie of caged female animals he keeps in the basement of his luxurious remote mansion.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): There’s a long wait before the cat appears as the kitty lives with Stackman in his mansion and is first seen when Bonnie, having run away from Geraldine, accepts his offer of sanctuary. Here she is introduced to Lila, Stackman’s white angora cat who is feeding on the floor.

Pets - white Angora cat Lila eating from dish on floor

Bonnie picks her up . . . .

Pets - Bonnie Candice Rialson picking up white Angora cat Lila sitting across from Stackman Ed Bishop

Pets - Bonnie Candice Rialson picking up white Angora cat Lila with Stackman Ed Bishop

. . . and carries her with her as Stackman takes her to see where Lila sleeps.

Pets - Bonnie Candice Rialson carrying white Angora cat Lila as she walks down the stairs with Stackman Ed Bishop

They descend the steps to the basement where Bonnie and Lila seem surprised by what they see.

Pets - Bonnie Candice Rialson holding white Angora cat Lila as she walks down stairs with Stackman Ed Bishop animated gif

Luring Geraldine to his mansion on the promise of a “surprise,” Stackman introduces her to some of his all-female pets, including Lila who he proudly tells Geraldine he has had declawed. “Poor Lila,” Geraldine comments.

Pets - white Angora cat Lila coming out from underneath chair

Pets - white Angora cat Lila being held by Stackman Ed Bishop

In his bedroom, Stackman duly reunites Geraldine with Bonnie before escorting her from the room again. Geraldine starts to follow but is distracted by Lila emerging from under the bed.

Pets - white Angora cat Lila coming out from beneath bed

Stackman then takes Geraldine to the basement where she finds Bonnie in one of the cages. Bonnie relates to Geraldine what happened after she came to stay with Stackman and how he took her to see where Lila sleeps and then locked her in the cage with Lila. (It doesn’t seen to have occurred to Stackman that the bars are wide enough apart for the cat to easily pass through, although this would at least explain why Lila seems to have run of the house!)