Starring: Ashley, Sugar, Wellington
Directed by: Denis Héroux
This review contains a couple of Kitty Carnage Warnings!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Author Wilbur Gray (Peter Cushing) tries to convince publisher Frank Richards (Ray Milland) to consider his book of terrifying cat stories which he insists are true, relating three of the chilling tales in this feline-centric horror anthology.
Cat Credits: Paintings of creepy cats are featured during the opening credits which were created by Robert Ellis.
Kitty Cameo: The bookend story with Gray and Richards begins with a black cat seemingly stalking Gray as he leaves his apartment.
Featured Feline: When he reaches Richards’ home, he is shocked to find out that Richards owns a male white Persian cat named Sugar (played by a female cat of the same name). Gray begins telling his stories, wary that the cats are not happy with his endeavors to expose their nefarious activities.
London 1912
Cat Cattle Call: The first story takes place in London in 1912. An elderly invalid named Miss Malkin (Joan Greenwood) owns a ridiculously large amount of cats which keep her company.
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): Miss Malkin’s constant companion is a calico cat which stays beside her at all times. She also seems to be the ringleader of the cats.
Less thrilled with the constant feline care and feeding is her maid, Janet (Susan Penhaligon). Janet is also dating Malkin’s nephew Michael (Simon Williams).
When Janet steals the will which Miss Malkin has drawn up with her lawyer Wallace (Roland Culver) that cuts out Michael and leaves everything to the cats, she is quick to let Michael know. He tears up the lawyer’s copy and convinces Janet to steal the other copy from Miss Malkin’s safe. Unfortunately she is caught in the act and she smothers Miss Malkin. After this the cats won’t let her near the will (note the exceptionally long claws on the fake cat paw!)
Cat Attack! The cats attack Janet and claw her badly, forcing her to take shelter in the pantry.
Janet can’t call for help without giving up the scheme of making Michael rich, so she remains stuck in the pantry for days while the cats linger without.
Eventually Janet ventures out of the closet when the cats seem to have gone. She tries to retrieve the will from Miss Malkin’s room and is horrified to find the cats have been eating their benefactor.
Cat Attack Number Two! The cats again attack Janet, this time killing her.
Cat Attack Number Three! Michael and the lawyer Wallace bring a policeman to the house to investigate Miss Malkin’s silence. Michael heads upstairs and sees the will. For a moment he thinks he will still be able to destroy the paper and get the inheritance but he is attacked by a particularly determined Bengal tabby and has his throat ripped out.
Between stories, Richards puts Sugar out to do his business. Gray sees him meeting with other cats and freaks out, but Richards does not see this.
Quebec Province 1975
Featured Feline: The second story takes place in Quebec in 1975. Lucy (Katrina Holden) is a young girl whose parents have died in a plane crash. She goes to live with her Aunt (Alexandra Stewart) and Uncle (Donald Pilon) and their horrible, snarky daughter Angela (Chloe Franks). All are surprised when Lucy introduces them to her pet black cat Wellington.
Auntie is not too happy about having a cat in the house but puts up with it for Lucy’s sake. Angela is mad when Wellington doesn’t want to play with her, and she bullies Lucy around.
After several incidents in which Angela torments Lucy and then frames Wellington for spilling paint in the playhouse, the Aunt tells her husband to sneak the cat away to be destroyed.
But Wellington escapes (or possibly comes back from the dead??) and returns, then suggests what can be done by pawing one of Lucy’s mother’s old books on witchcraft.
They go to the playhouse to cast a spell and Angela catches them, then stupidly steps inside Lucy’s pentagram. Lucy shrinks Angela to the size of a mouse and lets Wellington play with her.
Kitty Carnage Warning! Angela uses a paintbrush to poke at Wellington, hurting his eye (paint is used for blood.)
Wellington holds Angela’s nightgown with his giant (clearly fake) paw while Lucy delivers the final step.
In the introduction to the next tale, Gray produces a photo of the movie star in question, Valentine De-ath (Donald Pleasance.) It’s interesting to note that the photograph is one of Donald Pleasance as Blofeld with his Persian cat from You Only Live Twice.
Hollywood 1936
Featured Feline: The third story takes place in Hollywood in 1936. Valentine De’ath (Donald Pleasance) is a B-movie actor who manages to kill his wife while filming a horror movie scene involving a pendulum. He is quick to replace her with her much younger understudy and his new love interest Edina (Samantha Eggar). He takes Edina home where she is enamored with his wife’s pet ginger and white tabby cat, whom Valentine calls Scat (played by cat actor Ashley.).
Kitty Carnage Warning! That night they find that Scat has had kittens. Valentine very cruelly takes the kittens to the bathroom and flushes them down the toilet (this is not shown on screen, only implied by the sound.)
Scat does not approve of the goings-on and actually follows the couple to the movie studio where he chews through a rope holding up a lamp. The falling lamp misses Valentine by inches.
Valentine sets out numerous traps and poisoned baits around the house, which Scat just looks at with contempt.
Scat returns to the movie studio that night as Valentine and Edina are rehearsing a scene involving an iron maiden. Scat assures that things don’t end well for Edina.
The next morning the producer (John Vernon) finds Valentine silent in his make up chair. He asks if the cat has his tongue, then realizes that Scat actually does!
Having heard these stories, Richards is still not convinced but promises he will give the book his consideration.
Cat Attack Number Four! Gray heads home, only to be attacked by numerous cats on a staircase and killed.
Richards settles down to read the manuscript but his attention is diverted by Sugar, who seems to use some kind of mind power to make Richards get up and burn the book then serve him some milk.
The cat trainer for this movie was John Holmes. You can read more about this movie in our special feature entitled Sugar and Spite: Behind the Scenes of The Uncanny which we will be posting tomorrow.
Final Mewsings: Cats being in control of us isn’t exactly breaking news!
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