The Curse of the Cat People is a misleading title. It implies that this is a horror film and a sequel of Val Lewton's classic horror The Cat People (which by the way is one of the greatest films of all time). The title was certainly used to exploit the success of Cat People and the female lead of Cat People - Simone Simon - does make an appearance in Curse sort of reprising her role of the dead Irena (as an angel). Be that as it may, the real reason for Cat People's continued popularity is the great atmosphere and not the chills. There is plenty of atmosphere in Curse of the Cat People as well and if you view Curse keeping in mind that its not a horror movie, there is very little reason to rail at the title.
On its own merits, Curse is a very intelligent look at the world of children's imagination versus the real world of adults. The late Irena's husband Oliver is the same stupid dolt who just can't communicate with or understand his daughter. A parallel plot has a crippled and deluded lady living in what is rumored to be a haunted house who has her own communication breakdown and denies the very existence of her grown daughter Barbara. The two plots converge in the last 10 wonderfully timed minutes of the film when Amy is lost in a snowstorm and ends up at the last place she should be.
Apart from Simone, Lewton staple, the West Indian actor Sir Lancelot, who was seen earlier in films like the brilliant I Walked with a Zombie and the under-rated Ghost Ship plays the cook for the Reed household. The director is one Robert Wise (I), who went on to direct a genuine horror movie in The Haunting (possibly the scariest film ever), classic sci-fi like The Day the Earth Stood Still (Klaatu Barada Nikto!), musicals like West-Side Story and The Sound of Music. Eventually there were Presidentships of the DGA and AMPAS as well. I guess, the Curse provided a pretty auspicious start to a distinguished career.
On its own merits, Curse is a very intelligent look at the world of children's imagination versus the real world of adults. The late Irena's husband Oliver is the same stupid dolt who just can't communicate with or understand his daughter. A parallel plot has a crippled and deluded lady living in what is rumored to be a haunted house who has her own communication breakdown and denies the very existence of her grown daughter Barbara. The two plots converge in the last 10 wonderfully timed minutes of the film when Amy is lost in a snowstorm and ends up at the last place she should be.
Apart from Simone, Lewton staple, the West Indian actor Sir Lancelot, who was seen earlier in films like the brilliant I Walked with a Zombie and the under-rated Ghost Ship plays the cook for the Reed household. The director is one Robert Wise (I), who went on to direct a genuine horror movie in The Haunting (possibly the scariest film ever), classic sci-fi like The Day the Earth Stood Still (Klaatu Barada Nikto!), musicals like West-Side Story and The Sound of Music. Eventually there were Presidentships of the DGA and AMPAS as well. I guess, the Curse provided a pretty auspicious start to a distinguished career.