| Photos (see all 21 | slideshow) | Videos |
| Nastassja Kinski | ... | Irena Gallier (as Nastassia Kinski) | |
| 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 | |
| Frankie Faison | ... | Detective Brandt | |
| Ron Diamond | ... | Detective Ron Diamond | |
| Lynn Lowry | ... | Ruthie | |
| John Larroquette | ... | Bronte Judson | |
| Tessa Richarde | ... | Billie | |
| Patricia Perkins | ... | Taxi Driver | |
| Berry Berenson | ... | Sandra | |
| Fausto Barajas | ... | Otis | |
| John H. Fields | ... | Massage Parlor Manager | |
| Emery Hollier | ... | Yeatman Brewer | |
| Stephen Marshal | ... | Moonie | |
| Robert Pavlovich | ... | Ted (as Robert Pavlovitch) | |
| Julie Denney | ... | Carol | |
| Arione De Winter | ... | Indian Village Mother | |
| Francine Segal | ... | Church Woman | |
| Don Hood | ... | Train Station Agent | |
| David Showacre | ... | Man in Bar | |
| Neva Gage | ... | Cat-Like Woman | |
| Marisa Folse | ... | Indian Girl | |
| Danelle Hand | ... | Indian Girl | |
| John C. Isbell | ... | Police Officer | |
| Roger E. Reid | ... | Policeman (as Roger Reid) | |
| Charles Joseph Konya Jr. | ... | Policeman | |
| Marco St. John | ... | Policeman | |
| Brett Alexander | ... | Cub Scout | |
| Gregory Gatto | ... | Cub Scout | |
| Terc Martinez | ... | Cub Scout | |
| David Ross McCarty | ... | Man in Airport | |
| Harry Hauss | ... | First Helicopter Pilot (as Harold C. Hauss) | |
| James Deeth | ... | Second Helicopter Pilot | |
| Ray Wise | ... | Soap Opera Man | |
| Jo Ann Dearing | ... | Soap Opera Woman | |
| The Black Pope | ... | D.J. (voice) | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| David Blackwell | ... | Staring Man on Bus (uncredited) | |
| Stocker Fontelieu | ... | Priest (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Paul Schrader | |||
Writing credits(in alphabetical order) | ||
| DeWitt Bodeen | story | |
| Alan Ormsby | writer | |
| Paul Schrader | uncredited | |
Produced by | |||
| Jerry Bruckheimer | .... | executive producer | |
| Charles W. Fries | .... | producer | |
| Max Rosenberg | .... | executive producer (uncredited) | |
Original Music by | |||
| Giorgio Moroder | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| John Bailey | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Jacqueline Cambas | |||
| Jere Huggins | |||
| Ned Humphreys | |||
| Bud S. Smith | |||
Casting by | |||
| Mary Goldberg | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Ferdinando Scarfiotti | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Edward Richardson | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Bruce Weintraub | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Daniel Paredes | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Lance Anderson | .... | special makeup effects artist | |
| Janice D. Brandow | .... | hair stylist | |
| Thomas R. Burman | .... | special makeup effects | |
| Bari Dreiband-Burman | .... | special makeup effects artist (as Bari Dreiband) | |
| Leonard Engelman | .... | makeup artist | |
| Edouard F. Henriques | .... | special makeup effects artist (as Eddie Henriques) | |
| Tom Hoerber | .... | special makeup effects artist | |
| Mike Menzel | .... | special makeup effects artist (uncredited) | |
Production Management | |||
| Bill Badalato | .... | unit production manager | |
| Tom Jacobson | .... | unit production manager | |
Art Department | |||
| Lauren Cory | .... | set designer | |
| Lee Ezzes | .... | swing gang | |
| Peter Ivy | .... | construction foreman | |
| Jeannine Claudia Oppewall | .... | set designer (as Jeannine Oppewall) | |
| Vic Petrotta Jr. | .... | property master | |
| Curtis A. Schnell | .... | set designer | |
| Jack G. Taylor Jr. | .... | assistant art director | |
| Robert Misetich | .... | painter (uncredited) | |
Sound Department | |||
| Charles L. Campbell | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Larry Carow | .... | sound editor | |
| Louis L. Edemann | .... | sound editor | |
| Richard C. Franklin | .... | sound editor | |
| David W. Gray | .... | stereo sound engineer: Dolby | |
| Robert L. Hoyt | .... | sound re-recordist | |
| Scott Mathews | .... | special sound effects | |
| Chris McLaughlin | .... | sound | |
| Ron Nagel | .... | special sound effects | |
| Stanley H. Polinsky | .... | sound re-recordist | |
| Brian Reeves | .... | sound consultant | |
| Hank Salerno | .... | loop dialogue editor | |
| Norman B. Schwartz | .... | post-production dialogue | |
| John J. Stephens | .... | sound re-recordist | |
| James E. Webb | .... | sound | |
| Samuel C. Crutcher | .... | sound effects editor (uncredited) | |
| John Roesch | .... | foley artist (uncredited) | |
Special Effects by | |||
| James Cummins | .... | lab technician | |
| Pat Domenico | .... | special effects | |
| Karl G. Miller | .... | special effects (as Karl Miller) | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Robert Blalack | .... | catvision optical effects | |
| Syd Dutton | .... | matte artist | |
| Dennis Glouner | .... | matte photographer | |
| Henry Schoessler | .... | visual effects | |
| Bill Taylor | .... | matte photographer | |
| Albert Whitlock | .... | special visual effects | |
| Chris Regan | .... | optical supervisor (uncredited) | |
Stunts | |||
| Brad Bovee | .... | stunts | |
| Angeline Brown | .... | stunts | |
| Vince Deadrick Jr. | .... | stunts | |
| Bennie E. Dobbins | .... | stunts | |
| Madeleine Klein | .... | stunts | |
| Beth Nufer | .... | stunts | |
| Ron Oxley | .... | stunts | |
| Walter Scott | .... | stunt coordinator | |
| Mike Tillman | .... | stunts | |
| Mark Weiner | .... | stunts | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| William D. Barber | .... | assistant camera: New Orleans | |
| Richard Kamins | .... | best boy | |
| Jeffrey L. Kimball | .... | director of photography: second unit (as Jeffrey Kimball) | |
| Joel Kirschner | .... | second assistant camera | |
| Ann Lucas | .... | assistant camera: New Orleans | |
| Ann Lukacs | .... | second unit | |
| Joseph F. Valentine | .... | second camera operator (as Joe Valentine) | |
| Paul Vombrack | .... | photography: second unit, New Orleans | |
| Richard Walden | .... | first assistant camera | |
| Lito White | .... | camera operator: New Orleans | |
| Steve Yaconelli | .... | camera operator | |
Animation Department | |||
| Ellis Burman | .... | animation: artifacts | |
| Allan Hall | .... | animation: artifacts | |
| Bob Williams | .... | animation: artifacts | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Ross Albert | .... | associate film editor | |
| Craig Bassett | .... | assistant film editor | |
| Donah Bassett | .... | negative cutter | |
| Jack Garsha | .... | color timer | |
| Phil Hetos | .... | color consultant | |
| Bud S. Smith | .... | supervising editor | |
Music Department | |||
| Bob Badami | .... | music editor | |
| Brian Banks | .... | synthesizer programmer | |
| Sylvester Levay | .... | orchestrator (as Sylvester Levai) | |
Other crew | |||
| Patti Bosworth | .... | assistant to executive producer | |
| Corey Burton | .... | adr loop group | |
| Beverly Davis | .... | assistant to director | |
| Craig Deman | .... | production assistant | |
| Susan Goldberg | .... | production assistant | |
| Arnold Goodwin | .... | title designer | |
| Alan J. Lam | .... | assistant production accountant | |
| Steve Martin | .... | animal trainer | |
| Kiki Morris | .... | assistant to director (as Katherine Morris) | |
| Charles Newirth | .... | location manager | |
| Charles Newirth | .... | production assistant | |
| Ron Oxley | .... | animal coordinator | |
| Nanette Siegert | .... | production associate | |
| Wilbur Stark | .... | executive consultant | |
| Mark Weiner | .... | animal trainer | |
| Peter Weiss | .... | assistant to director | |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
In general terms, the basic premise of both original 1942 CAT PEOPLE and the 1982 Paul Schrader remake are the same: an exotic European beauty is given to transforming into a black panther when sexually aroused. But Schrader unravels this fantasy concept in some very overtly Freudian directions, setting his version in against the decadent charm of New Orleans, introducing a theme of incest, and ramping up the original with a lot of nudity, a lot of sex, and some of the most graphic violence around. The result is an American blood-and-gore horror film with a hypnotic European sensibility that equates both sexual frustration and orgasm with violent death.
The story line concerns two orphaned siblings (Natasha Kinski and Malcom McDowell) who are reunited in New Orleans as adults--but they are, unbeknownst to the sister, the descendants of a mutant race who can only mate with their own kind without transforming into ravening beasts who must then kill to regain their human form. When sister Natasha rejects her brother's advances and then falls in love with a hunky zoo director all hell breaks loose.
In some respects the film is extremely, extremely frustrating, often sliding over the edge from a sexually provocative shocker into moments of annoying silliness--but on the whole it works extremely well as a both a sexual fantasy and a semi-camp statement in gratuitous sex and violence. Kinski is ideally cast as the sexy but virginal Irena; you can literally see the "cat" side of her nature emerge more and more as the film progresses. McDowell is equally interesting as her mad brother, and John Heard, Annette O'Toole, and particularly Ruby Dee offer excellent performances in the supporting cast. The New Orleans backdrop is extremely effective, and (speaking as one who has been there) the darker side of the city is perfectly captured; the Moroder score--which includes some sultry vocals by David Bowie--is also extremely good.
A great many people will loathe CAT PEOPLE, and the reasons will be diverse. The film is extremely bloody, often to a can-you-stand-to-look-at-the-screen degree; there is tremendous nudity and considerably sexual activity; and the combination of sex and violence into a sadomasochistic eroticism is quite disturbing. Beyond this, more critically inclined viewers may find themselves annoyed by the script's silliness and the fact that it does not always go as far over the top as it leads you to expect, and certainly the film's very literal depiction of fantasy elements will not be to every taste. But if you have a hunger to walk on the wild side, CAT PEOPLE (which is rapidly gaining status as a cult film) will suit your need as guilty pleasure.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer