Movie Review: Cat’s Eye (1985)

OMG!!!!!

Cat’s Eye, 1985 was on the horror channel. This is going back to my childhood. It was one of those movies not too scary for an 8 year old but scary enough (disclaimer: I wouldn’t recommend it for 8 year old’s it’s just my mum was more relaxed than many about what I watched). I LOVE this film. It’s dated but watching it again I didn’t feel it was too dated. It felt retro and the storytelling hasn’t changed its impact.

Cat’s Eye is written by Stephen King. It series of 3 stories linked by the tabby cat who is the main star of all of them.

Quitters Inc is the first story, where a man enlists the help of a company with a 100% success rate to quit smoking. Horrors befall the mans wife and child if he does not quit and the cat is used to demonstrate.

The Ledge concerns a tennis player who has been having an affair with a crime bosses wife. He’s been kidnapped and blackmailed into walking the incredibly high ledge around a tall building. The cat has been taken home by the crime boss as a result of a wager that he would cross a busy road successfully. The cat is hearing the voice of a little girl asking for help. After the cat helps the tennis player he’s on his way.

The General: The cat has found the girl (an ickle Drew Barrymore!) who was calling him. She adopts him, against her mothers concerns. Her mother has been told the story of how cats steal children’s breath. What she does not know is a small troll thing has taken up residence in her daughters bedroom that DOES steal breath and the cat is trying to protect her daughter.

9/10 I love this film. It’s not about the effects or the graphics. It’s about damn good story telling. When the man tried to navigate the ledge of the building, you can feel his fear and the pain of the pigeon pecking at his ankle. Quitters Inc is disturbing about the horrors people inflict on one another. It’s the fear of things happening to your loved ones. The funny little troll in the last story? I STILL find holes in skirting boards creepy. The idea of a small creature in the night stealing my children’s breath frightens me because you can see the big monsters coming but this one slips in and takes what you love in the night.

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