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culture, film, musings

Unyielding in Their Mystery: Cats in Horror Films

Cats as mysterious creatures is more widely accepted among cultures worldwide than is certitude that the earth is round. You  will never find anyone arguing the former. Ubiquitous are tales of cats as otherworldy animals — from ancient Egypt to the modern day. It’s only natural, then, that the mythology and folklore of cats would find its way to film. And no films are better suited to tales of cats than those of the horror genre.

An 1894 short called “Falling Cat” by French scientist Étienne-Jules Marey is believed to be the first film in history to show a live feline; it consists solely of a cat falling down and landing on its feet. Why do we say a cat has “nine lives”? Its righting reflex, apparently. Mystery solved. But not really. Throw all the science you want at it; the fact remains that cats are mysterious creatures. The supernatural in our homes.

That writers of the nineteenth century inspired filmmakers of the twentieth is not surprising. And that Edgar Allan Poe is first and foremost among them is no surprise either.

Poe’s titular black cat alone has been the subject — even title — of several films. Boris Karloff totes one around in the 1934 film bearing the name (with little other resemblance to Poe’s classic). Similarly separate from anything resembling Poe is 1941’s THE BLACK CAT — a semi-comedic film in the “old dark house” style with the now common trope of a crazy cat lady.

Closer to Poe is 1966’s THE BLACK CAT where a mentally disturbed man is convinced his black cat is possessed. Closer still is Roger Corman’s wildly entertaining TALES OF TERROR (1962) that finds Peter Lorre and Vincent Price in a mash-up of Poe’s story with another of the author’s works: “The Cask of Amontillado.”

Vincent Price as Verden Fell in Tomb of Ligeia
Vincent Price as Verden Fell in Tomb of Ligeia

But tales of a cat as a truly supernatural being get no better than Corman’s atmospheric Poe adaptation TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964). There, Vincent Price as the mournful eccentric Verden Fell (one of the best named characters in all of horror films… with the coolest sunglasses) has the spectre of his wife’s death hanging over him.  Her spirit seemingly inhabits a black cat that torments his new wife, Rowena.

“The eyes, they confound me,” says Fell of cats. “There’s a blankness, a mindless sort of malice in some Egyptian. They do not readily yield up the mystery.” By film’s climax, the cat attacks Fell as Ligeia’s tomb burns down around him.

Tomb of Ligeia (1964)
Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

Written by Robert Towne — best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplay for CHINATOWN (1974) — TOMB OF LIGEIA takes Poe’s theme of the dead having influence over the living and adds possession to the mix. Is it metempsychosis? Or is it paranoia? That the cat could be a symbol of Fell’s unnatural love for Ligeia, or her undying influence (and possible revenge?), is left to the audience to decide.

Shadow of the Cat (1961)
Shadow of the Cat (1961)

Revenge, however, is definitely at the heart of Hammer’s 1961 SHADOW OF THE CAT, starring studio regulars André Morell and Barbara Shelley. There, a cat named Tabitha who witnesses the murder of her owner, exacts revenge on her killers just as they try, and continually fail, to kill her.

Cats exacting revenge runs throughout Rank Organization’s THE UNCANNY (1977). Although it performed poorly at the box office, and is pretty much universally panned, it is notable for star Peter Cushing’s portrayal of Wilbur, whose book about cats — as supernatural creatures and the devil in disguise — frames not one but three tales of feline revenge.

The theme of a cat as avenging devil may be at its most gory and over-the-top entertaining in an adaptation of a 1977 Stephen King short story entitled “The Cat from Hell.” Directed by George Romero as the second of three stories in 1990’s TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE, “Cat from Hell” finds a wheelchair bound old man named Drogan hiring a hitman to kill a black cat (whose visage graces the header of this blog post). Drogan believes the cat is murderous. Downright evil. When it is revealed that the man’s pharmaceutical company killed thousands of cats while testing a new drug, it becomes clear that the cat is not evil as much as it is vengeful: exacting its revenge as it kills Drogan’s sister, friend, butler, and hitman, before ultimately dispatching Drogan himself.

A young Drew Barrymore holds General, her savior, in Cat's Eye (1985)
A young Drew Barrymore holds General, her savior, in Cat’s Eye (1985)

But cats are not always killers. Sometimes, they are our saviors. 1985’s CAT’S EYE, written by Stephen King, finds a cat named General figuring into three separate stories. The last — and most effective — is the one named for the cat, which finds General at the home of a little girl whose mother dislikes the animal — going so far as to have it euthanized. But General knows that a malevolent troll has moved into the little girl’s home. And it’s up to the cat to fight the troll and protect the child.

Then there’s the unassuming white kitty in 1999’s remake of THE MUMMY. By merely walking across piano keys, it scares Imhotep, the titular character, and the monster runs away.

Avengers. Saviors. Emissaries of the dead, or the dead themselves transmogrified, cats will undoubtedly continue to capture the imagination of audiences eager to delve into their many mysteries for years to come.

Insofar as to how they have been used in horror films, this post has only scratched the surface.

film

Solitary and Abhorred: Vincent Price as The Last Man on Earth

Last Man on Earth, British Quad Poster
Last Man on Earth, British Quad Poster

Richard Matheson’s seminal post-apocalyptic vampire novel I AM LEGEND (1954) has been adapted into film three times * — most closely as “Last Man on Earth,” an English-language Italian production starring Vincent Price from 1964. Based on the book — with Matheson writing a first draft that was later abandoned — “Last Man on Earth” is often overshadowed by 1971’s “The Omega Man,” starring Charlton Heston, or 2007’s CGI-heavy “I am Legend,” starring Will Smith. Yet the 1964 film, despite its immediately apparent (incredibly) low-budget, is certainly the most faithful to the spirit of the novel. And it has as its star the always brilliant Vincent Price. Here, he is at his most melancholic. But he is no Robinson Crusoe, stranded on an island. Instead, he IS the island, stuck in a sea of desolation.

GRIEF AND DEPRESSION

While the book, and each adaptation, explore the isolation of the main character, only Matheson’s novel and “Last Man on Earth” spend considerable time on grief and depression.

“Another day to get through,” is the voiceover that opens the film. “Better get started,” Price adds, as if another intolerable day holds no meaning beyond survival.

It’s a tone that is repeated over and over again throughout the film. This is not the confident swagger of Charlton Heston in “Omega Man,” or the dedicated scientific curiosity and concern that is Will Smith’s turn. Clearly, Price is neither the last bastion of mankind’s art and culture (Heston) or its self-appointed savior (Smith). He has lost family, friends, and a purpose. He is a man with little hope for the future, spending his waking hours looking for survivors, and killing vampires.

MONOTONY AND MEMORIES

That these others are vampires is almost immaterial. Sure, they are repulsed by garlic, can’t stand mirrors, and are easily dispensed with a stake to the heart, but Price’s character never seems to think of them as monsters. He is more sympathetic to their situation. And the horror clearly comes from his memories of what was. Of what these people once were. His family, and friends. The horror of isolation. The horror of of remembering how things used to be.

While not part of the voiceover, one line from the novel could well be the theme of the entire movie.

“In a world of monotonous horror
there could be no salvation in wild dreaming.”

Memories and daydreams bring no peace. Even the temporary elation of finding a dog for a companion eventually leads to despair. Even the dog is infected. It must be put down.

THE TRUE MONSTER

SPOILER: in the novel, it is made clear by the final chapter that in a world populated by vampires, the vampire-killer becomes the monster. Neville / Morgan is feared as the man who brings death while the rest of the world sleeps. It’s only with the main character’s execution that the world rid itself of the true monster and move on.

“Last Man” and “Omega Man” both find their Morgan / Neville characters killed before the movies’ closing credts (both ultimately dispatched by spears in scenes of obvious Christ symbolism]). The plot of “Omega Man,” however, makes clear in its world of survivors, that “civilized” man’s art, culture, and, particularly, its science, are to blame for the plague. The survivors rally around a charismatic leader who refers to his “Family” — a none too subtle reference to Charles Manson (who, himself, had prophesized a (race) war).

In “Omega Man,” the fall of mankind is tied to biochemical warfare. And it raises the question of man’s hubris with waging wars that no one can win. But there is no doubt about it; Heston is the hero. Not the monster.

Similarly, Will Smith’s Neville is heroic, although a little misguided. The monsters exist because of a cure for cancer gone wrong. He experiments on them in an effort to return their humanity. It raises the question of man’s hubris with altering nature. Its subtext — and theatrical ending — become matters of bio-ethics. Smith lives, and there’s hope by the film’s end.

Price’s death, however, is the closest to the spirit of the novel where Neville is outright executed. Morgan is killed simply because he exists. It doesn’t matter what caused the plague. There are no politics. He’s just in the way of the future.

SOLITARY AND ABHORRED

“Last Man on Earth” has absolutely no pretensions to condemn mankind (or a single man) for hubris. Instead, it focuses on the psychology of the individual who craves human contact.

In that respect, Neville / Morgan is much like another misunderstood creature: The Frankenstein monster. Its an inversion of sorts, where one creature finds itself shunned by mankind, and one by its replacement.

Price could very well have added voiceover taken directly from Shelley’s novel, and it would not sound out of place:

“Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.”

LEGACY

“Last Man on Earth” did not get particularly good reviews upon its release, but has since enjoyed relatively good reception as more and more people discover it. It currently holds an 80% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its detractors, however, point out the slow pace and the low budget. Decide for yourself. You can watch it in its entirety on YouTube.

Four years after its release, George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” changed the horror movie landscape. And in a 2008 DVD release of the film, Romero made it clear that “I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend.” It is not too much of a stretch to think that the Vincent Price film may have influenced him, too, especially with its relentless horde of zombie-like creatures pounding on the walls and doors of a house — in deliciously stark black and white!

Whatever its legacy, “Last Man on Earth” is memorable if only for Price’s performance. As with most films in which he starred, he steals the show, and it is haunting just to hear him lament his circumstances: the monotony, and the horror of it all.

Note: I realize that the novel has technically been adapted four times, with the fourth being 2007’s “I am Omega,” released at the same time of the Will Smith movie. Such films are often referred to as “mock-busters” — b-movies meant to capitalize on larger mainstream releases. I haven’t seen it, and, frankly, don’t intend to!