Strays (1991) (TV)

Director:

John McPherson

Writer (WGA):

Shaun Cassidy (written by)

Release Date:

18 December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The Jarretts have finally found their dream house...Now it's about to become their worst nightmare

Plot:

A troubled family move to an isolated house, and find and adopt a couple of cats already in residence. These are not the only occupants however... |

Plot Keywords:

House | Cat | Feral | Dog | Family Relationships

Cast

Kathleen Quinlan	...	Lindsey Jarrett
Timothy Busfield	...	Paul Jarrett
Claudia Christian	...	Claire Lederer
William Boyett	...	Dr. Lyle Sokol
Heather Lilly	...	Tessa Jarrett
Jessica Lilly	...	Tessa Jarrett
Gary McGurk	...	Phone Man
Eve Brenner	...	Old Woman
Michael McNab	...	Policeman

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Niki Marvin Productions

Quotes:

Dr. Lyle Sokol: They've been around people all their lives... so they're not afraid at all.

Un-CAT-egorical!!!

Is it a horror movie? A spoof? Are the movie's creators really trying to rip-off Fatal Attraction? Is this a movie about an alternative universe? I don't know.

All I know is one night I was flipping channels and saw Timothy Busfield wrestling with a soggy kitty puppet and throwing it around his kitchen and had one of the best laughs of my entire life.

I spent the next few years searching for this movie.

When I finally saw it again and watched the whole thing I was bored to tears and irritated by the stupidity of the characters and late 80's "TV movie" budget.

Then I got my money's worth.

I love cats, don't get me wrong, but I find something inherently, cruelly, disturbingly funny about cats being abused in movies (ex: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), and this one tops them all.

See: **cats being flung at windshields**Kathleen Quinlan tossing (fake) cats around like dirty socks after she thinks they're eating her baby**K.Q. in the same scene squeezing a cat up against the wall with the door after it attacks her hateful girl-child. The cat grunts on the soundtrack, and I'm rolling on the couch in paroxysms of laughter**Timothy Busfield in a career-ending wrestling match with a gamey, fur covered puppet. He throws it out the window, chucks it into a microwave and threatens it with electroshock therapy, but it keeps coming back for more, always accompanied by those great stock "cat screech" sound f/x used in comedies.

People who have an unhealthy love of cats as "cute, darling little pets" should stay away, they won't be amused. For the rest of us, who recognize that cats are cute but have claws and fangs for a reason (to kill things with) and think they're kind of weird and creepy even at the best of times, there are some unforgetful laff-out-loud moments.

I'm laughing as I write this, thinking about the last scene. Thank you, Hollywood, for this stupid, stupid movie!!