Surprisingly incoherent and boring

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

As Good As It Gets

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

1973's "The Cat Creature" marked the first of two collaborations between producer Douglas Cramer with director Curtis Harrington and screenwriter Robert Bloch, followed a year later by "The Dead Don't Die," each a rather obvious homage to old style Hollywood horror of the subtle kind, perfect TV fodder for the 70s. Generally regarded as the better of the pair, this item gathers together a fine cast of veterans, mostly in small roles, in an all too predictable mystery plot headlined by Stuart Whitman's lieutenant and David Hedison's archaeologist. We first encounter Kent Smith, from the 1942 "Cat People," as the appraiser who becomes the first victim of the Egyptian mummy, which assumes human form after draining the blood of its prey, a vampire that prowls the night as a black cat and not a bat. The list of casualties wipes out nearly the entire cast, each one in possession of the mysterious golden amulet that has kept the mummy's spirit from returning to life over the centuries. Keye Luke plays the thief who pawns off the amulet, Gale Sondergaard the curio dealer who dabbles in the occult when not fencing stolen goods, Milton Parsons the coroner who reveals how each corpse has been completely drained of blood, John Abbott (the title role in 1945's "The Vampire's Ghost") the scholar who discovers the translation on the coveted amulet. Peter Lorre Jr. was no relation to the late Peter Lorre, just a pretender named Eugene Weingand who fortunately went on to complete obscurity. In the central role, Meredith Baxter never seems totally comfortable, a replacement for both Diahann Carroll and Patty Duke. As the Hotel Clerk who is present for the death screams of the unfortunate thief, John Carradine is as always a delight, paired with a dwarf prostitute because the censors wouldn't allow Gale Sondergaard's character to be a lesbian!

An old attorney is in charge of cataloging a wealthy estate and is later found murdered near a mummy sarcophagus. On the case is Lt. Marco (Stuart Whitman), who quickly finds out that an amulet of Baast, the Egyptian cat goddess, was stolen. He enlists the help of Prof. Roger Edmonds (David Hedison) and they soon find themselves centering on an occult shop run by Hester Black (Gale Sondergaard) and her new assistant Rena Carter (Meredith Baxter). She admits a thief (Keye Luke) came by to try and sell the amulet, but she turned him away as she is out of the fencing game. Meanwhile, folks all over L.A. are being murdered with cat-like scratches found on their bodies. This ABC Movie of the Week was a return to TV for director Curtis Harrington (after his theatrical features WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN?, WHOEVER SLEW AUNITE ROO? and THE KILLING KIND). He definitely was looking to get into the Val Lewton mold a la THE CAT PEOPLE and it is pretty successful. The script by Robert Bloch moves quickly and there are some great performances in here. The best is Sondergaard as Hester Black, which might be one of the greatest names ever. Another interesting thing is Harrington, who was gay, fills the film with subtle gay moments (like Hester always asking her younger co-workers out for dinner and getting rejected).

The first made for television collaboration between Psycho scribe and all round pulp horror titan Robert Bloch with classy b-horror veteran Curtis Harrington, The Cat Creature is a charming if inconsequential affair that neither reaches the levels of its influences nor surpasses its status as a made for television production, but is still perfectly good stuff for a dull afternoon left sparing. The outlandish plot sees an antique theft from a deceased collector result in the release of a murderous acolyte of the Egyptian cat goddess Bast, and cop Lieutenant Marco teaming up with Professor Roger Edmonds to figure out what's going on. Then there's occult shop owner Hester Black and her assistant Rena Carter getting involved in things as well. The vibe hearkens back to horror and detection stories of yesteryear, particularly the 1940's and Cat People, with a measured pace and restrained action as well as certain pleasing subtleties. Director Harrington pulls off a few effectively creepy stalking sequences and deploys the titular beast in fun if slightly repetitive fashion. Fortunately the story has a few twists and turns so things never get dull, although they fail to get all that heated either. The cast is fairly well handled and thread things through nicely, Stuart Whitman is suitably gruff and no nonsense as Lt. Marco, Meredith Baxter paints Rena in sympathetic shades of confusion, fear and yearning, while David Hedison takes a while to warm up and loose his awkwardness but is still likable as Prof. Edmonds, a classic academic good guy figuring things out with open-mindedness and learning. Best though is Oscar winner Gale Sondergaard as Hester, crooked and controlling, time soured and radiating low key negativity yet at the same time open and helpful. She steals every one of her scenes and brings an unaffected old fashioned class to things that is perhaps the films greatest asset. It's just a shame that the film doesn't really have enough in the way of atmosphere or shocks (being rather tame even by made for television horror standards), so for all that it has in the way of style and vacant likability it just isn't all that compelling. Certainly watchable, but definitely a film for fans of television horror of the era rather than more casual fans, who may quite reasonably be bored and unimpressed. As a fan of such horror then I give The Cat Creature 6/10 and partially recommend it to other such fans, but it is far from essential.

A mysterious collector has died. It is up to the appraiser to go into the old dark house with only a flashlight and a fountain pin. He finds a mysterious mummy with a unique amulet of solid gold that has the head of a cat with emerald green eyes on it.While the appraiser goes for his tape recorder a sneak thief (Keye Luke) pilfers the amulet. In the morning the mummy is gone, the amulet is gone, and the appraiser looks like he was attacked by a common house cat.The Police Lt. Marco (Stuart Whitman) recruits the assistance of Prof. Roger Edmonds (David Hedison) from the local collage to help make heads or tails of the situation.