The Shadow of the Cat main backdrop
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The Shadow of the Cat

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6.8/10 • 31

1961-05-011h 19m

HorrorThriller

Was it supernatural force or psychotic compulsion . . . that drove five maddened murderers to destroy themselves ?

Tabitha, once the placid, gentle and devoted pet, adopts all the characteristics of a ferocious, wild animal following the murder of her mistress. The three guilty people are all trapped by the cat's power and each will come to untimely deaths of horrific proportions without anyone being able to solve the mystery that surrounds their brutal death.

Directors
John Gilling
Writters
George Baxt
Editors
George Baxt, John Pomeroy

Top Billed Cast

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  1. André Morell

    André Morell

    Walter Venable

  2. Barbara Shelley

    Barbara Shelley

    Beth Venable

  3. William Lucas

    William Lucas

    Jacob Venable

  4. Freda Jackson

    Freda Jackson

    Clara, the Maid

  5. Conrad Phillips

    Conrad Phillips

    Michael Latimer

  6. Richard Warner

    Richard Warner

    Edgar Venable

  7. Vanda Godsell

    Vanda Godsell

    Louise Venable

  8. Alan Wheatley

    Alan Wheatley

    Inspector Rowles

  9. Andrew Crawford

    Andrew Crawford

    Andrew

Reviews1

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slayrrr666 Avatar

slayrrr666

Mar 8, 2017

5/10

Following their relatives’ murder, a group of relatives gathered together at her house to read her will find their servants and other guests more concerned with killing the pet cat who had witnessed the incident and must try to find a way of stopping them from doing so. This one was quite a decent and somewhat enjoyable enough effort. One of the more enjoyable elements here is the fact that this one really goes quite nicely with the traditional style of efforts featuring that old-school film style. Playing on the archetype of the old-dark-house mysteries with the idea of relatives gathered together to read the will of a recently-deceased relative only to find themselves involved in a greater horror while staying there, that one gives this a great ploy for having suspenseful moments due to this type of storyline. From the large grand layout and Gothic design of the house, there’s plenty to like here while this one plays out the rather fun notion of what’s going on as the film’s main focus here on taking on measures to find the cat and silence it which plays out throughout the film. These are quite fun from trapping it within cages and trapping it to chasing it around the house and other means of disposing of it which makes for a rather striking and somewhat fun efforts, while there’s some rather good stuff to be had here with the later revenge tactics to showcase the cat going around the house with them being paranoid about it to the point of rather comical natures of what’s going on here. That in itself is the biggest problem with the film, in that it’s central premise is so ludicrous and laughably played-out here that it really strains itself way too often to the point of the cast themselves pointing out how insane the film’s plot actually is. That’s never a good sign, and it’s helped along by the fact that this one really strains the credibility of the action here with the relatives going for the cat in such contrived and increasingly bizarre ways that it feels somewhat silly to have them play out as they do. The last flaw here is the fact that this one really doesn’t have all that great of a pace here which really stumbles with all the time spent on doing some rather than dealing with the cat as the family squabbles over the money or the group conniving about finding ways to stop the cat which are so stuffy and bland that it doesn’t feature much of any interest during these parts. It’s enough to really make it stumble along during the mid-section when it’s not involved in anything, and these here do hold it down rather significantly. Today’s Rating/PG: Violence and tense themes of animal abuse.

Media

  • The Shadow of the Cat backdrop
  • The Shadow of the Cat backdrop

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
heart attackcatswampmurderinheritancelast will and testamentfalling down stairspolice inspectormurder plotrats