Cat People
Director: Paul Schrader Run Time: 118 min. Format: 35mm Rating: R Release Year: 1982
Starring: Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard
40th anniversary screening. Co-hosted by writer Abbey Bender.
Slinking through the streets of New Orleans with a score by Giorgio Moroder and theme song from David Bowie, Cat People is a gooey, sultry exercise in style directed by Paul Schrader. Nastassja Kinski stars as Irena, a woman reuniting with her brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell), whom she was separated from as a child. After only hinting at what their parents were like, Paul disappears just as a murderous black leopard terrorizes the town. Captured and caged by zoologist Oliver (John Heard), the leopard has a mysterious hold on Irena, who in turn enchants Oliver. Irena is resistant as something stirs within her, something she’s known may have been kept hidden all along…
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