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 | Family Relationships | Dog

Cast

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

Directed by
John McPherson

Writing credits (WGA)
Shaun Cassidy		(written by)

Produced by
Shaun Cassidy	....	co-producer
Niki Marvin	....	producer

Original Music by
Michel Colombier

Cinematography by
Jacques Haitkin

Film Editing by
Karen I. Stern		(as Karen Stern)

Casting by
Allison Cowitt
Mike Fenton

Production Design by
Mick Strawn

Art Direction by
Bradford Johnson		(as Brad Johnson)

Costume Design by
Susan Nininger

Makeup Department
Audrey Futterman-Stern	....	department head hair stylist (as Audree Futterman)
Peggy Teague	....	makeup and effects artist

Production Management
Susan Zwerman	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Brian Fong	....	second assistant director (as Brian T. Fong)
Scott Laughlin	....	second assistant director (as Chip Scott Laughlin)
Frank Orsatti	....	second unit director
John R. Woodward	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Anthony Aguilar	....	carpenter
James R. Barrows	....	painter (as James Barrows)
David Beck	....	leadman (as Dave Beck)
Bobby Bednar	....	carpenter
Chris Blocker	....	carpenter (as Chris A. Blocker)
Ronald Collins	....	carpenter (as Ronald Bryan Collins)
Diane Colone	....	painter
Ron Freeto	....	carpenter
Daniel Frey	....	carpenter (as Daniel S. Frey)
Dave Green	....	carpenter
Bret Hoffman	....	carpenter (as Brett Hoffman)
John Hulett	....	assistant set dresser
Mike Kraft	....	painter
Larry Lee	....	carpenter
Donald Lehoux	....	carpenter
Justin McCartney	....	assistant set dresser
Seth Micklin	....	swing gang
Bruce Mink	....	property master
David J. Olvera	....	carpenter
Tyler Patton	....	assistant property master
Wes Perry	....	carpenter (as Wesley N. Perry)
Lisa K. Sessions	....	art department coordinator
Billy Slane	....	carpenter
C.J. Strawn	....	lead scenic painter
Linda Triandos	....	set dresser
Eric Troop	....	swing gang
Pete von Sholly	....	storyboard artist (as Peter Von Sholly)
Michael D. Welch	....	construction coordinator
Perry Welch	....	construction foreman (as Perry L. Welch)
Edmond Scott Ratliff	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Rick Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer
Henry Barnston	....	boom operator
James Bolt	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Jim Bolt)
Andy D'Addario	....	sound re-recording mixer
Andy Dawson	....	adr editor (as Andrew Dawson)
Jeffrey Kaplan	....	sound effects editor (as Jeff Kaplan)
Richard LeGrand Jr.	....	foley artist (as Richard Le Grand II)
Itzhak Magal	....	sound mixer (as Itzhak 'Ike' Magal)
Diane Marshall	....	foley artist (as S. Diane Marshall)
Kyle Wright	....	supervising sound editor (as Kyle P. Wright)
Bill Baldwin	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Debi Boulden	....	artificial animals (as Debra Boulden)
Jim Boulden	....	artificial animals
Matt Hall	....	special effects
Nick Karas	....	special effects
Albert Lannutti	....	special effects: second unit
Howard St. James	....	special effects
Jamie Vesay	....	special effects coordinator (as James B. Vesay)

Stunts
Sandy Berumen	....	stunts
Janet Brady	....	stunts (as Janet S. Brady)
Bonnie Hock	....	stunts
Frank Orsatti	....	stunt coordinator
Frank Orsatti	....	stunts
Lynn Salvatori	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Scipio Africano	....	camera loader (as Arthur Africano)
Jerry Antonetti	....	electrician (as Gerry Antonetti)
Ron Bahara	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Joseph D. Beam	....	electrician (as Joe Beam)
Byron J. Cohen	....	still photographer
Marc Cohen	....	key grip: second unit
Paul D. Fischer	....	best boy grip (as Paul Fischer)
Rachel A. Flores	....	grip
Lisa Guerriero	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Keith Jones	....	electrician
Gary Kangrga	....	grip
Kenny King	....	dolly grip (as Ken King)
Jeffrey S. Lorenz	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Jerry L. Mandley	....	electrician
James McCalmont	....	director of photography: second unit
Peter Norkus	....	first assistant camera: 'b' camera
Michael K. O'Melia	....	best boy grip: second unit (as Michael O'Melia)
Steven Pehl	....	grip
Michael Pizzuto	....	key grip
Steve Randolph	....	camera operator: 'b' camera (as Steven C. Randolph)
Bill H. Roberts Jr.	....	second assistant camera
Ron N. Sill	....	best boy electric (as Ron Sill)
Michael Stewart	....	electrician
Walter Stewart	....	gaffer
Bill Summers	....	grip
Adam Teichman	....	gaffer: second unit
Brooks Tomb	....	grip
Wayne Trimble	....	first assistant camera (as Wayne Trimble Jr.)
Greg Wardell	....	best boy electric: second unit (as Grey Wardell)
Elizabeth Ziegler	....	Steadicam operator
Ellsworth Chou	....	electrician (uncredited)
Gary Molyneux	....	grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Julie Ashton	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lisa M. Foster	....	set costumer
Susan Scanlan	....	key costumer

Editorial Department
Kevin Henry	....	negative cutter
Robert Q. Lovett	....	additional editor (as R.Q. Lovett)
Paul Silver	....	apprentice editor
Karen Wanderman	....	assistant editor (as Karen L. Wanderman)

Music Department
Lise Richardson	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Michael Ballew	....	transportation captain
Jody Bingenheimer	....	transportation co-captain
Richard Burch	....	driver (as Richard A. Burch)
Ed Evans	....	driver (as Edward C. Evans)
Stephen Gray	....	driver
Geno Hart	....	transportation coordinator
Mark Steven Keller	....	driver (as Mark S. Keller)
Wesley G. Kramer	....	driver
Mick McCabe	....	driver (as William McCabe)
Ken Plumlee	....	driver (as Ken Plumee)
Ron Pope	....	driver (as Ronnie A. Pope)
Howard Rutman	....	driver
David Vaccaro	....	driver
Jay E. Vigil	....	driver
Bob Myers	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Janice Arthur	....	stand-in
Steve Battaglia	....	production assistant: second unit
Steve Buhai	....	key production assistant: second unit (as Steven Buhai)
Barbara Coston	....	assistant accountant
Robert G. Endara II	....	office production assistant
Traci Evans	....	craft service
Michael P. Fenton	....	driver/production assistant
Kathleen Flanagan	....	stand-in
Nancy A. Flint	....	studio teacher
Vivi Friedman	....	script supervisor: second unit
William Griscoe	....	additional animal trainer
Paul Guyot	....	production assistant
Adrienne Hamalian-Mangine	....	script supervisor (as Adrienne Hamalian)
Scott E. Hart	....	animal trainer and supplier (as Scott Hart)
Thora Hart	....	additional animal trainer
Peggy Hughes	....	key production assistant
Jeff Joy	....	stand-in
Lonnie Kragel	....	production secretary
Jackie Martin	....	additional animal trainer
Susan Muir	....	production accountant
Mill Ng	....	additional animal trainer
Stacey Packer	....	additional animal trainer
Barbara Sands	....	representative: American Humane Association
Todd Sharp	....	driver/production assistant
Jonathan Slater	....	location manager (as Jonathan Slator)
Don Spinney	....	additional animal trainer
Craig Titley	....	production assistant
Cynthia Von Suhr	....	production coordinator
Jessica Wilson	....	driver/production assistant
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Niki Marvin Productions
• MCA Television Entertainment (MTE)

Distributors

• USA Network (1991) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• CIC Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Movie Mechanics

Other Companies

• The Casting Group  extras casting
• Rescues Unlimited  first aid
• Michelson Food Services  caterers (as Mihelson's Catering)
• Universal Studios Sound Facilities  post-production sound (as Universal Studios Sound Department)
• Universal City Studios  re-recorded at
• All Payments Services  payroll services
• Maio & Associates  legal services
• Cohen Near North Insurance Group  insurance
• Cole Haan  thanks (as Cole Haan Tweeds)
• Smythe & Company  thanks (as Smythe & Co.)
• Guess  thanks (as Guess Inc.)
• Levi Strauss & Co.  thanks (as Levi Strauss)
• Keds  thanks
• AT&T  thanks
• Ford Motor Company  thanks
• BMW  thanks
• Lightning Strikes  lightning
• Hollywood Rental Company  lighting & grip equipment
• Cinema Research  titles and optical effects (as Cinema Research Corporation)

Also Known As:

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:[Firing a revolver at the dominant male cat only to see it just squirts water] Great going Doc/Nice one doc.

Scary cats, NOT!

Can you see the headline: 'Stray Cats Terrorize Household, Kill Three?' Sounds ludicrous, doesn't it? This movie actually makes a pretty good argument of how it's possible. Stray cats who've been neglected by humans don't fear them and don't like them. They've become feral so when you muscle in on their domain, they get aggressively defensive. Well, maybe not all cats do that. Just the "dominant male cat" and his posse in this movie.

However, the only cat that actually looks scary in this movie is the dominant male - probably a robo-puppet - who appears to be always wet for some reason but still fears water. The others cats are scattered around the house to look like troops but they simply seem like confused cats mewing in protest. It's not hard to see how this movie would fail to be scary. If someone clutching a mess of fur to their chest while writhing about in supposed agony isn't silly enough, what about seeing someone shoot a cat with a water-gun? And do you remember all those thrillers in which they use the tried-and-true but totally manipulative and pointless tactic of having a cat suddenly leap from the dark and make everyone jump? Well this movie finally has a legit reason to use that trick but it doesn't. Sheesh.