Universal Pictures
Starring: Cristina Raines, Burgess Meredith, Chris Sarandon
Directed by: Michael Winner
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Successful model Alison Parker (Cristina Raines) moves into an old, unique apartment building in New York and begins to notice strange things happening around and to her.
Featured Feline: Shortly after moving into the building, Alison is visited by a strange but friendly elderly neighbor named Charles Chazen (Burgess Meredith) who brings with him a yellow parakeet named Mortimer and a tuxedo cat named Jezebel (although the cat has a female name Charles refers to the animal as a ‘he’.)
Charles asks to see the apartment and looks around, setting Jezebel down on a sofa first.
When he gets ready to leave, Charles picks up Jezebel again.
Later in the film, Alison has had a bad day when Charles shows up saying he has a surprise for her. He leads her upstairs where it turns out he is throwing a birthday party for Jezebel and many of the residents (past and present) are there.
Jezebel is even wearing a little party hat. One of the most notable lines in this scene is when one woman comments, “Black and white cat, black and white cake.” The meaning of this is the subject of much discussion among fans of the film.
Still later, Alison keeps hearing noises in the supposedly empty apartment above her and grabs a flashlight to explore the sounds. When she gets upstairs she screams when she sees Jezebel eating Mortimer the parakeet.
Jezebel hisses at Alison and then carries the dead bird upstairs. In this scene the cat actor seems strange, as if its back legs are hobbled somehow.
At the end of the film Alison’s boyfriend, Michael (Chris Sarandon) shows up acting strangely. Jezebel then appears.
Jezebel hisses at Alison. Once again the cat’s legs are strange, sticking out to one side.
Alison pleads with Michael to kill the cat but Jezebel runs in and jumps into Michael’s arms instead.
Final Mewsings: Cats consider birthday parties to be Hell.
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