by Linda Kay
Directed by: Christian E. Christiansen
This review contains an Implied Kitty Carnage Warning!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Overdone horror plot about college student Sara Matthews (Minka Kelly) and her clingy, jealous, psychotic dorm roommate Rebecca (Leighton Meester).
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Returning to the dorm one night Sara finds an adorable little tuxedo kitten.
She smuggles the kitten into her dorm room and introduces him to Rebecca. They agree to keep the kitty, whom Sara has unimaginatively named Cuddles, their secret.
Cuddles appears in a few obligatory scenes afterwards so we don’t forget he exists. Most of these are with a brooding Jessica who gets angry every time Sara goes out without her and doesn’t check in regularly.
One night Sara carelessly lets Cuddles run from the room where he is found by the dorm’s resident assistant (Jennifer Cadena) who warns that she could lose her job if the kitten isn’t rehomed.
Sara considers moving in with her friend Irene (Danneel Ackles), both to get away from the increasingly scary Jessica and to be able to keep Cuddles. But before this can happen, Jessica decides to take Cuddles to the laundry room with her.
Implied Kitty Carnage Warning! Predictably things go south for Cuddles when Jessica places him in one of the large industrial size dryers. Wisely the filmmakers decide not to show what happens but the implications are clear.
The Animal Humane Association was on hand for the shoot and the dryer was not connected to power and had a false back. In fact you can see the door of the dryer is never actually closed on the kitten. The kitten actor was supplied by Steve Berens’ Animals of Distinction.
Final Mewsings: Cats are just as tired as we are of this overused trope.
Many thanks to Jack for letting us know about the kitten in this film.
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