Strays (1991) (TV)

User Rating:

3.1/10   

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:

Cat | Dog | Family Relationships | Feral

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:

Paul Jarrett: [as he electrocutes the Alpha male] Yeah kitty... how'd you like that?

Cat Scratch Fever? Attack of the psycho-kitties? Kitten with a Whip?

I've heard of a "wolf pack" (think Nazi U-boats). I've heard of the "Rat Pack" (think Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. etc.). Now we have the "Cat Pack": think gang of furry ferocious crazed felines on a bloodthirsty rampage in some old house out in the middle of nowhere, terrorizing a hapless young family, and you basically have the premise for this movie.

I can't say it's entirely a bad premise, but unfortunately it doesn't come off well in this movie. 'Lame and un-scary' doesn't begin to describe this mess of a film. My overall reaction: much like you'd do with a bad kitty who claws the sofa legs, you want to take a rolled up newspaper and give this movie a good swat on the rear end.

The acting by everyone involved is embarrasing (especially the wife and kid, who, traumatized by cat-induced fear and shock, overplay their overblown reactions so bad that you'd swear you'd seen better acting in your junior high school play). As for Claudia Christian, who later went on to fame and fortune in Babylon 5 as Susan Ivanova, well, the less said the better.

A great theme song for this movie would have been "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads - only with the name and lyrics changed to "Psycho Kitty". Now that would have been a nice touch. Meow. Purrrrrr.