The Cat Creature (1973)

When a rich man dies, some items from a collection of his are stolen- an ancient Egyptian gold amulet and the mummy that was wearing it. The police consult scholars from the local ... See full summary »

Director:

Curtis Harrington

Writers:

Robert Bloch (teleplay), Douglas S. Cramer (story)

Stars:

Meredith Baxter, David Hedison, Gale Sondergaard

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Meredith Baxter	...	Rena Carter
David Hedison	...	Prof. Roger Edmonds
Gale Sondergaard	...	Hester Black
John Carradine	...	The Hotel Clerk
Renne Jarrett	...	Sherry Hastings
Keye Luke	...	The Thief - Joe Sung
Kent Smith	...	Frank Lucas
Stuart Whitman	...	Lt. Marco
Milton Parsons	...	The Deputy Coroner
Peter Lorre Jr.	...	The Pawnbroker
John Abbott	...	Dr. Reinhart
Virgil Frye	...	Donovan
William Sims	...	Bert

Storyline

When a rich man dies, some items from a collection of his are stolen- an ancient Egyptian gold amulet and the mummy that was wearing it. The police consult scholars from the local University to help with the investigation, which is taking a more serious turn as people connected with the case are killed by wounds that seem to be from a housecat.

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Plot Keywords:

old man | feline | three piece suit | black car | grandfather clock | 

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 December 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cat Creature

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Douglas S. Cramer Company, Screen Gems Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The network executives wanted Patty Duke to play the lead, but director Curtis Harrington was adamant that she was completely wrong for the part.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Buddy Hackett/Cass Elliot/Dong Kingman/Jan Munroe (1974)

User Reviews

Great Cast, Good Idea but Poor Execution

The Cat Creature (1973)

** (out of 4)

An antique collector dies and soon afterwards a thief steals a gold amulet with the face of a cat on it. Soon several people who come in contact with it are murdered or commit suicide, which leads a detective and a college professor into the investigation. THE CAT CREAURE comes from director Curtis Harrington and writer Robert Bloch and it features an all-star cast but in the end you can't help but see this as being pretty minor. The biggest problem is the story, which has a few interesting ideas but nothing good is ever done with it. I thought the film got off to an extremely good start and the ending was good but everything in the middle was pretty much a bore. The entire investigation just seems so one note and there's never any energy behind it. Even with such a short running time the film really did drag badly in spots, which is a real shame because there are some good things here. One such thing is the alternate way of looking at the legend of a mummy and the curse that comes with it. The actual look of the mummy was good and I also thought the film did a good job with how the cats were used. I'm not going to spoil what happens at the end but it's actually a nice little twist. Another good thing is that the cast is great. We get Meredith Baxter doing a good job playing a woman who gets involved with the case and David Hedison is also good as the college professor. Gale Sondergaard (THE BLACK CAT '41), Keye Luke, Kent Smith, Stuart Whitman and Peter Lorre, Jr. are also in the cast and are fun to see. Then we have the great John Carradine in a quick minute role but he gets to act along side a prostitute midget so here's another weird one for the actor's filmmography. THE CAT CREATURE has a few bright ideas but sadly they never really materialize into anything watchable. Fans of the cast might want to check it out but others should stay clear.