123 - The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

DVD Box
The Curse of the Cat People is the sequel to Cat People (1941) telling the story of Oliver Reed, the man who married the original cat person.

Having settled down with his new wife Alice since the last film, Oliver Reed becomes certain that there is something wrong with his daughter Amy after she starts to become excluded from her friends' games.

She is living in her own reality, preferring to create herself friends and when she stumbles across a curious old lady along with finding a picture of Reed's first wife Irena, Amy's behaviour becomes more disturbing.
Theatrical Poster
Source: Wikipedia
Apart from the main characters, The Curse of the Cat People is mostly unrelated from its original, preferring to build upon the success of the 1941 film. Instead of adding to the horror theme, The Curse of the Cat People forges its own path in the world in a study of the mind of a child.

Simone Simon, who was chilling as the cat person, returns to play the child's imaginary friend, prompting many questions about the real identity of Amy's mother. Perhaps, as there are no other curses on show, the alienated child is Irena's final gift to her traitorous husband.

The other side of the storyline involves Amy visiting an old lady who is busy trying to disown her own daughter. Disappointingly, this part of the story is never really resolved one way or the other as the daughter tries desperately to make her mother see the light.

Overall, disappointing is probably the best word for it. Perhaps because it followed the brilliant Cat People in a vastly different line, but probably because there was never really anything in Curse of The Cat People to relate back to. The producers should really have made the sequel a standalone film to fight for its place in the market as it would probably have done well without the Cat People branding.

On its own, a great insight into a child's mind, but don't expect Cat People.

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