Another Val Lewton production! Hm… oh. His name seemed so familiar that I assumed that I had seen dozens of his films, but it’s really just The Ghost Ship. Is there another producer with a similar name?
Hm… ah, he headed the RKO horror division, overseeing a string of cheap B-movies that looked better than those things usually did.
This movie’s protagonist is a young girl it’s not as awful as it sounds. I mean, she (or any of the other children) wouldn’t win any awards for their acting prowess, but they’re pretty good. It’s a properly creepy movie, and keeping the point of view so solidly at the children really helps.
And there’s a wise black guy giving sage advice, which was probably an innovation at the time?
The movie has been beautifully restored for the blu-ray release.
Spoiler warning: There are no cat people in this movie. Is that the curse?
The Curse of the Cat People. Gunther von Fritsch. 1944.
Popular movies in March 1944 according to IMDB:
| Poster | Votes | Rating | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 4231 | 6.9 | The Curse of the Cat People |
 | 3514 | 6.9 | Cover Girl |
 | 344 | 6.8 | Four Jills in a Jeep |
 | 571 | 6.6 | The Whistler |
 | 548 | 6.5 | Weird Woman |
 | 217 | 6.5 | Shine on Harvest Moon |
 | 343 | 6.4 | See Here, Private Hargrove |
 | 503 | 6.2 | The Heavenly Body |
 | 353 | 6.1 | The Falcon Out West |
This blog post is part of the Decade series.