Oddly, just before
watching this, I told a friend who said he was thinking of getting a dog to
help with anxiety that a cat was easier to take care of. And nothing is more
calming than a purring cat. What I neglected to mention is that they will
also revenge you if your demise was unnatural. Because they see and hear
everything. And revenge is what they do best. Of course, according to a book
written by the slightly eccentric elderly Mr. Gray (Peter Cushing) cats are
the masters and we are merely here to serve them. If you have had cats, you
know there is some truth to this. But Gray takes it further than us simply
spoiling them - his theory is that cats communicate, control and conspire
against us.
He takes his book to his skeptical publisher
(Ray Milland) at night with cats dogging him all the way. Yes, the publisher
says, your book on aliens did well, but really a book on cats in charge of
us? Let me give you facts. Three stories which proves this. And that is the
structure of this anthology. The main issue is that the first one is so good
that it leaves the other two feeling anti-climatic. Cushing is of course wonderful
as he nervously watches cats with fear and suspicion. His parts between the
stories is really a fourth tale.
Miss Malkin (Joan Greenwood) is an elderly
invalid in a Victorian house filled with cats from top to bottom. Of every
color and make. In every crook and crevice. Nook and cranny. She redoes her
will leaving her nephew out and the cats in. The maid (Susan Penhaligon) is
in love with the nephew and so attempts to steal the copies of the will. The
cats are not pleased and it gets very bloody as some poor sod off camera is
throwing one cat after another at the actress. The second story has sinister
supernatural elements but it just doesn't really work. A young girl and her
cat come to live with her aunt, her husband and her daughter after the girl's
parents die. The aunt is a bitch and her daughter is the evil seed. But fortunately,
the girl brought a book that her mother had. On witchcraft.
The third story could have been great,
but it doesn't take itself seriously. It is 1936 Hollywood and they are producing
The Pit and the Pendulum starring Valentine De'ath (Donald Pleasence) and
his wife. He is tired of his wife and so substitutes a real sharp pendulum
for the fake one. Don't worry, he tells the producer, I have the perfect replacement
(Samantha Eggar). The dead wife's cat begs to differ and is out for revenge.
Let's just say the cat's got his tongue takes on a new meeting. These are
all enjoyable to some degree, but only the first had some nice shock value.
If you are a cat person, you might appreciate this more. Your cat will enjoy
it too. Just make sure it is well fed.
