Cat’s Eye (1985)
Directed by Lewis Teague
Starring Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King, Kenneth McMillan, Robert Hays, and Candy Clark
A tabby cat runs away from a rabid St. Bernard and is nearly hit by a vintage red Plymouth. From there, our protagonist feline finds itself wondering into three stories. First, the cat is picked up by a company that specializes in getting smokers to kick the habit. When a new client enlists their services, he has no idea what terror it will bring upon his family and himself. Second, the cat is taken in by a casino owner/crime boss. The boss makes a wager against his wife’s lover that he cannot traverse the entirety of his building’s ledge without falling off. Finally, the cat is found by a little girl. While the girl sleeps at night, the cat must protect her from a tiny troll who is looking to steal her breath.
In case the opening sequence could not make it any clearer, this movie is entirely composed of Stephen King stories. And there is quite a variety of tales of terror in this film. The first segment does a good job feeding on paranoia and slowly revealing just how dangerous this program can be. James Woods does a fine job looking distraught and like he needs a cigarette. The second segment has a Hitchcock-like feel to it, combining personal drama with high tension. Robert Hays spends most of this part looking horrified, but his performance does not evolve much beyond that. The third segment is easily the best, with the entire movie building towards the cat’s quest. Once finds this girl and has to fight the troll, the filmmaking gets very interesting. Their confrontations are done in a similar style to those in older movies about shrinking people fighting spiders and cats. A man in a troll suit is filmed on a giant sized bedroom set, while the cat is filmed on the normal set. The blending of the two is pretty seamless and is a nice throwback to the 50s sci-fi and horror that pioneered it.
Overall, Cat’s Eye is an enjoyable collection of stories. It is not remarkably fantastic, but it is much better than most of the anthologies you could turn on. If you like variety, this is the one to find.
7 out of 10
