LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

trimbolicelia I love this early 70's made-for-TV horror film. Chock full of B-movie stars from the 40's in most secondary roles. A lawyer is doing inventory on a deceased millionaire's property in a closed-up mansion. If I had to do that chore I would insist that the facilities be turned on and have a couple of assistants. No way would I be alone in a dark creepy gigantic house at night. I've seen enough B-grade mystery and horror films to know that. Anyway the lawyer finds some illegally obtained Ancient Egyptian artifacts, inadvertently awakens a cursed mummy, and is promptly killed. See what I mean about being alone. Now the mummy takes on human form and is hot to retrieve an amulet stolen from the artifacts that can destroy it. At times spooky but entertaining. Little in the way of seen monsters. In fact more is implied than seen. Nice to see the great Gale Sondergaard as a proprietor of a store selling items of the occult. This film is unavailable on DVD but I was able to obtain a fair quality DVD-R. I hope this film is released re-mastered to DVD VERY SOON. A lot of these made-for-TV films were very watchable and worthwhile. Highly recommended.

kevin olzak 1973's "The Cat Creature" marked the first of two collaborations between producer Douglas Cramer with director Curtis Harrington and screenwriter Robert Bloch, followed a year later by "The Dead Don't Die," each a rather obvious homage to old style Hollywood horror of the subtle kind, perfect TV fodder for the 70s. Generally regarded as the better of the pair, this item gathers together a fine cast of veterans, mostly in small roles, in an all too predictable mystery plot headlined by Stuart Whitman's lieutenant and David Hedison's archaeologist. We first encounter Kent Smith, from the 1942 "Cat People," as the appraiser who becomes the first victim of the Egyptian mummy, which assumes human form after draining the blood of its prey, a vampire that prowls the night as a black cat and not a bat. The list of casualties wipes out nearly the entire cast, each one in possession of the mysterious golden amulet that has kept the mummy's spirit from returning to life over the centuries. Keye Luke plays the thief who pawns off the amulet, Gale Sondergaard the curio dealer who dabbles in the occult when not fencing stolen goods, Milton Parsons the coroner who reveals how each corpse has been completely drained of blood, John Abbott (the title role in 1945's "The Vampire's Ghost") the scholar who discovers the translation on the coveted amulet. Peter Lorre Jr. was no relation to the late Peter Lorre, just a pretender named Eugene Weingand who fortunately went on to complete obscurity. In the central role, Meredith Baxter never seems totally comfortable, a replacement for both Diahann Carroll and Patty Duke. As the Hotel Clerk who is present for the death screams of the unfortunate thief, John Carradine is as always a delight, paired with a dwarf prostitute because the censors wouldn't allow Gale Sondergaard's character to be a lesbian!

Rainey Dawn Another "well it had potential" type of films. It's not all that watchable despite the big names, familiar faces that appear in it. I love the idea behind the film: A mummy, the Egyptian goddess Bastet and cats getting revenge. But the way it was written and filmed really sucked more than any vampire. I'm sorry but the film is barely watchable.Meredith Baxter and John Carradine are the real reasons to watch out side of the cats, some Egyptian looking art and briefly a mummy. It's a film I should like but I don't - and I love a lot of "B" to "Z" grade films.Not a recommended horror film from me. But if you happen to catch it on one night and there's nothing else to watch then I would tell you well it's better than nothing if you're a horror fan.3.5/10

Bloodwank The first made for television collaboration between Psycho scribe and all round pulp horror titan Robert Bloch with classy b-horror veteran Curtis Harrington, The Cat Creature is a charming if inconsequential affair that neither reaches the levels of its influences nor surpasses its status as a made for television production, but is still perfectly good stuff for a dull afternoon left sparing. The outlandish plot sees an antique theft from a deceased collector result in the release of a murderous acolyte of the Egyptian cat goddess Bast, and cop Lieutenant Marco teaming up with Professor Roger Edmonds to figure out what's going on. Then there's occult shop owner Hester Black and her assistant Rena Carter getting involved in things as well. The vibe hearkens back to horror and detection stories of yesteryear, particularly the 1940's and Cat People, with a measured pace and restrained action as well as certain pleasing subtleties. Director Harrington pulls off a few effectively creepy stalking sequences and deploys the titular beast in fun if slightly repetitive fashion. Fortunately the story has a few twists and turns so things never get dull, although they fail to get all that heated either. The cast is fairly well handled and thread things through nicely, Stuart Whitman is suitably gruff and no nonsense as Lt. Marco, Meredith Baxter paints Rena in sympathetic shades of confusion, fear and yearning, while David Hedison takes a while to warm up and loose his awkwardness but is still likable as Prof. Edmonds, a classic academic good guy figuring things out with open-mindedness and learning. Best though is Oscar winner Gale Sondergaard as Hester, crooked and controlling, time soured and radiating low key negativity yet at the same time open and helpful. She steals every one of her scenes and brings an unaffected old fashioned class to things that is perhaps the films greatest asset. It's just a shame that the film doesn't really have enough in the way of atmosphere or shocks (being rather tame even by made for television horror standards), so for all that it has in the way of style and vacant likability it just isn't all that compelling. Certainly watchable, but definitely a film for fans of television horror of the era rather than more casual fans, who may quite reasonably be bored and unimpressed. As a fan of such horror then I give The Cat Creature 6/10 and partially recommend it to other such fans, but it is far from essential.