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Cat People (1982 film)

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Cat People
Cat People film poster
Directed byPaul Schrader
Written byAlan Ormsby (screenplay)
DeWitt Bodeen (story)
Produced byJerry Bruckheimer (executive)
Charles W. Fries
StarringNastassja Kinski
Malcolm McDowell
John Heard
Annette O'Toole
Ruby Dee
CinematographyJohn Bailey
Edited byJacqueline Cambas, Jere Huggins, Ned Humphreys, Bud S. Smith
Music byGiorgio Moroder
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
April 2, 1982
Running time
118 min.
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18,000,000 (estimated)

Cat People is a 1982 horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, and John Heard. The film co-stars Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, and features small parts for Ed Begley, Jr. and John Larroquette. Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producer, Alan Ormsby was the screenwriter, whose script was loosely based on the story by DeWitt Bodeen, the screenwriter for the acclaimed 1942 original.

Giorgio Moroder composed the film's score, including the theme song which features lyrics and vocals by David Bowie. The film's tagline is: "They are something more than lovers who are about to become something less than human."

Plot summary

Irena Gallier, a waifish young woman, meets her older brother Paul, a minister, in New Orleans for the first time since their animal trainer parents died and she was sent to a series of foster homes. Paul's Creole housekeeper Female (pronounced feh-MAH-leh) helps Irena settle into her brother's home, but Paul himself disappears. Cut to a fleabag motel where a blasé prostitute finds an angry panther instead of a client; after mauling her, the cat is captured by the police and a team of zoologists: Oliver Yates, Alice Perrin and Joe Creigh.

The next day Irena finds herself in the zoo where these scientists work; drawn to the newly captured panther, she befriends Oliver and takes a job in the gift shop. Shortly after the panther's violence turned deadly, it escapes, soon Paul turns up and tells a story about his family's werecat heritage and his inevitable sexual union with Irena. On the run from her dangerous brother, Irena takes refuge in a sexually frustrated romance with Oliver, afraid of what might happen if she consummates their passion.

Main cast

Actor Role
Nastassja Kinski Irena Gallier
Malcolm McDowell Paul Gallier
John Heard Oliver Yates
Annette O'Toole Alice Perrin
Ruby Dee Female
Ed Begley, Jr. Joe Creigh
Scott Paulin Bill Searle
John Larroquette Bronte Judson

Nominations

  • Saturn Awards - Best Actress - Nastassja Kinski
  • Golden Globe Awards
    • Best Original Motion Picture Score - Giorgio Moroder
    • Best Original Motion Picture Song - Giorgio Moroder (music) and David Bowie (lyrics)