An interesting setting for beautiful location photography, but idiotically plotted in certain ways, this adventure film with a bit of horror starts off fine, and I really thought I was going to like it. But when Jennifer Rhodes goes outside at night to look for the family dog with her daughter, it becomes absolutely ridiculous when she doesn't rush inside after telling her daughter to run because she senses danger. It's a 5-minute sequence of Rhodes being stocked by a black panther, covered in blood at one point and not trying to get inside to get medical attention. She's the daughter of Donald Pleasance, once a victim of a black panther as well, now determined to hunt it and destroy it, but putting everyone in jeopardy because of its presence on the outside. Nancy Kwan and Russ Hagen co-star in this disturbing and frequently dumb adventure where Pleasance can't explain why he did what he did, and now everyone else is in jeopardy because of his stupidity.
Playing another daughter of his, Kwan tries her best to create a compelling character, but the script really prevents that from being the case and the film begins to drag as it becomes more absurd. By this time, the audience has either begun to root for the big cat as those stuck there do nothing to try to get off the island, and Pleasance, despite having a commanding presence, plays a character so so centered and vile that the audience doesn't care what happens to him anymore. Obviously this is a script that someone like Peter Cushing would have turned down or maybe in Vincent Price's case just laughed at and walked away, and It ultimately becomes the cat and mouse game where the mouse is bigger than the cat but certainly not as strong.
Playing another daughter of his, Kwan tries her best to create a compelling character, but the script really prevents that from being the case and the film begins to drag as it becomes more absurd. By this time, the audience has either begun to root for the big cat as those stuck there do nothing to try to get off the island, and Pleasance, despite having a commanding presence, plays a character so so centered and vile that the audience doesn't care what happens to him anymore. Obviously this is a script that someone like Peter Cushing would have turned down or maybe in Vincent Price's case just laughed at and walked away, and It ultimately becomes the cat and mouse game where the mouse is bigger than the cat but certainly not as strong.