Directed by: Wes Craven
This review contains a Kitty Carnage Warning!
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: Caribbean vampire Maximillian (Eddie Murphy) comes to Brooklyn in search of a woman, police detective Rita Veder (Angela Bassett).
Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): In an Italian restaurant, Rita and her partner Detective Justice (Allen Payne) are interviewing a pair of mob bosses, Lizzy (John LaMotta) and Kitty Caprisi (Nick DeMauro), the latter obviously named for his love of cats. A longhaired white cat named Sugar is sitting on their table.
Maximillian disguises himself as a lowlife punk named Guido and bursts into the restaurant to further confuse and seduce Rita. As he holds everyone at gunpoint, Sugar hisses at him.
“You tell that f***king cat to shut the f***k up or I’m gonna whack her!” Guida shouts. Sugar actually looks highly offended.
Kitty Carnage Warning! Eventually Sugar has had enough and takes a leap at Guido. Unfortunately Guido shoots her, although all we see is fur falling. “Sugar!” cries Kitty Caprisi in horror. Rita then takes down Guido, saying angrily, “I like cats!”
As everyone is leaving the restaurant, Kitty Caprisi is holding an odd bit of white fur with paws that is presumably what’s left of Sugar.
According to the American Humane Society website, the cat actor was coaxed into hissing with the use of a stuffed toy the trainer commonly used to illicit that reaction. When the cat actor jumped off the table, it was into the arms of the trainer.
Final Mewsings: Cats don’t tolerate vampires who threaten to whack them.
Many thanks to Nick Wale for letting us know about the cat in this film.
Relevant Links:
To discuss this film and other cats in movies and on television, join us on Facebook and Twitter.