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Review

Cat’s Eye – Movie Review

Stephen King is a man who needs no introduction in the world of literature and film, The God Father of the supernatural and macabre, Stephen King’s stories having been frightening audiences in novels, short stories and film for many, many years.

It would be an understatement to say you haven’t seen a Stephen King based movie at some point in your life.

CAT’S EYE, Directed by Lewis Teague (Cujo, Navy Seals) is based on King’s ‘NIGHT SHIFT’ collection of short stories turned into a  feature length film in 1985. Of all the movies based on King’s novels and stories; this is one that may have slipped under your radar and thanks to Madman Entertainment is now released on DVD for the new generation of fright seekers.

Strictly speaking, CAT’S EYE isn’t a movie-movie as such, it actually brings three very different short stories together into a whole, with the only subjects joining the three together- All the stories seen through the eyes of a mysterious tabby cat and a very young ‘ET-esque’ Drew Barrymore.

The first story revolves around a man Dick Morrison (played by James Woods) visiting ‘Quitters, inc” (as the title suggests) a company ‘devoted to helping the fellow man beat smoking’- except with a sinister twist..  Dick is shown a cat being electrocuted in a small room by his new quit mentor Dr. Vinnie Donatti (played with stirring precision by Alan King) then told he must quit smoking cold turkey, If he screws up (meaning he has even a drag) his first offense will cost him his wife being semi-electrocuted, second offense his 10 year old daughter electrocuted (Drew Barrymore) and third offense his wife will be raped.  It’s a truly nasty premise and of the three films in CAT’S EYE it is the most chilling and effective, coupled with a gross-out twist, This little gem is a definite must watch.

The next short film follows a premise of luck and betting- an old gambler (played by Kenneth McMillan) finds his luck changed when he bets on a cat (The same Tabby as short number one) running across a road and NOT getting run over, winning the bet he takes the cat home and creates a new bet ‘for kicks; having a man Johnny Norris (Robert Hays)  walk around the entire ledge of his high rise apartment without being killed. It;’s both a simple premise and a very odd one, It certainly does not hold the suspense of the quitters,inc film and unfortunately the narrative loses it’s tempo and falls into that dreaded ‘dull’ category. Hit that fast forward button the moment you yawn in this story, it aint gonna get any better.

Note: I am avoiding all references to Drew Barrymore's pussy here.

Note: I am avoiding all references to Drew Barrymore's pussy here.

Finally the last story and the strangest of the lot; kind of a mix between ‘THE DARK CRYSTAL and ORDINARY PEOPLE… Kinda) : Drew Barrymore plays a young girl called Amanda who has a little problem with night terrors, except in this story they are very very real. Her parents Mr and Mrs Milequetoast (Played by Russel Horton and Patricia Benson) in true cliché’ fashion do not believe her and blame it on the newly found stray tabby cat now with a name ‘General’ to save the day and prove his innocence.  Drew Barrymore gives a cute performance as the terrified young girl and proves she was always going to be something much bigger in the future, a lot like the rising star Dakota Fanning will be when she gets older.

CAT’S EYE is all in all an interesting foray into the short / feature length film genre. It’s also great knowing King wrote the screenplay for this film and didn’t just sit back and cash in his royalties for the use of his stories.

It’s not quite ‘Nightmares and Dreamscapes’ but it’s not terrible either, keep in mind it is the 80’s here kids and things were a little different then when it came to thrillers.

A reasonably fun ride for those who are fans of Stephen King’s work and film adaptions. If you only have a fleeting interest however then you might have a hard time staying awake in this one. That said give the first short film (Quitters, inc) a go- This is surprisingly a really menacing little film that could of even had a feature length treatment.

Have fun and enjoy the fright!

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Trailer

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Would you walk around a ledge to make sure no-one ever watched this film?  Or would you summon a troll to terrorize children into watching it? OR are you too scared by Stephen King and you’re just a PUSSY! (see what i did there?)  feedback and let us know!

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About The Author

Trent

Trent Saunders is composer, artist and film maker based in Tasmania, AUS. When he isn’t annoying other people or throwing himself through car windshields he can be found writing dark and menacing film scores, drawing naked girls (secretly, who doesn’t?) and creating all manner of crazy films with THE BLONDE LUSTY TEAM.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Friday, November 20th, 2009
  • Author: Trent
  • Filed Under: Film, Review
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