#nitrate diva

Even if I don’t believe that lust can turn a woman into a panther, Cat People gives me something to really fear by exposing the evil that passion can summon... Rather than spooking us out with a fake monster, which we can all shrug off, the film forces us to look at the monstrous drives that drive us all.

Cat People crumples up and dismantles just about every post-Enlightenment notion we might have about a rational universe and the intrinsically good nature of mankind. Producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur disfigure the American Dream and don’t even leave us with a concrete ending. And yet, we enjoy the film. I’ve seen it more times that I can count. It’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s a classic example of art being able to make bearable those festering layers of human experience.

"Fear You Can Hear"