The Night of a Thousand Cats (1972)

A Millionaire playboy flies around Acapulco in his private helicopter to pick up sexy young women. He whisks them away to his secluded old castle, where he wines and dines them.

Director:

René Cardona Jr.

Writers:

René Cardona Jr., Mario A. Zacarías (as Mario Marzac)

Stars:

Anjanette Comer, Hugo Stiglitz, Zulma Faiad

Cast

Cast overview:
Anjanette Comer	...	Cathy
Hugo Stiglitz	...	Hugo
Zulma Faiad	...	Dancer
Christa Linder	...	Christa
Tere Velázquez	...	Woman Who Shoots Doves
Barbara Angely	...	Barbara
Gerardo Zepeda	...	Dorgo
Jorge Russek	...	Husband
Delia Peña Orta	...	Cathy, the daughter
John Kelly	...	Stranded doctor
Marcelo Villamil	...	Dancer's lover

Storyline

Millionaire playboy Hugo (whose lack of facial expressions give him the appearance of a Thundercat marionette) flies around Acapulco in his private helicopter to pick up sexy young women. He whisks them away to his secluded old castle, where he wines and dines them (among other things, *wink*). With the aid of his bald mute little helper Gorgo, he kills his dates, keeping their heads in a crystal cage and feeding their chopped up body parts to his 1,000-strong army of blood thirty, flesh hungry cats.

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Plot Keywords:

helicopter | evil man | killed by an animal | killer cat | giallo | 

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Taglines:

Pray You Have Nine Lives

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 67039 delivered on 2 September 1975.

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Goofs

At 20:00, the girl's swimsuit top changes styles.

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Connections

Featured in Movie Nights: Strays (2016)

User Reviews

Surreal and Wacky Film

The Night of a Thousand Cats (1972)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Hugo (Hugo Stiglitz) is a millionaire playboy who flies around in his own helicopter looking for beautiful women. He puts the women into the helicopter with him and takes them to his house, which is also the home to hundreds (not thousands) of cats. He then brutally murders the women, puts their heads in his collection room and feeds the rest of them to his cats.

René Cardona Jr. is best remembered for some rather strange and crazy films but THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS has to be one of the weirdest. In fact, this movie is just so strange and bizarre that I'm somewhat shocked that it isn't better known by cult fans. I'm not sure if there's an alternate, longer version out there but the one making the rounds on various sites clocks in at just 62-minutes.

There's very little plot going on in this film and in fact there's very little that actually happens. Throughout the short running time we see Hugo flying around, spotting the beautiful woman, picking her up, showing her his home and then we see them killed and fed to the cats. None of the murders are overly graphic but the director loves showing the chopped up bodies that are being fed to the cats.

That there is pretty much the only thing that happens in the film. Over and over the exact same thing happens and while the film is somewhat poorly made it's just so crazy that you can't help but enjoy what's going on. I certainly haven't seen a movie like this before. On one hand you can bash that plot-less film but then again you have to respect a sleaze movie like this that just gives the viewer the same thing since the director obviously believes that's what they want.

THE NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS has a few scenes towards the cats that will offend those who love the animals so those people should be cautioned. With that said, the film is certainly a unique one and fans of cult films should enjoy it.

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night of a 1000 Cats

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Avant Films S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1