235 Eye of the Cat

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MichaelB
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235 Eye of the Cat

#1 Post by MichaelB » Thu Mar 18, 2021 6:33 am

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EYE OF THE CAT
(David Lowell Rich, 1969)
Release date: 21 June 2021


Limited Edition Blu-ray (UK Blu-ray premiere) - pre-order here.

Penned by Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano and directed by film and TV movie veteran David Lowell Rich (The Horror at 37,000 Feet), Eye of the Cat is a skilfully crafted, San Francisco-set chiller starring Michael Sarrazin (They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?) and Gayle Hunnicutt (Voices) as Wylie and Kassia – a couple whose scheme to rob wealthy, cat-loving Aunt Danny (Eleanor Parker, The Sound of Music) goes awry when Wyle’s compulsive feline phobia comes up against the many cats defending Aunt Danny’s mansion.

David Lowell Rich’s film benefits from suspenseful cat-attack set-pieces, a menacing Lalo Schifrin (Dirty Harry) score, and a seductive sixties wardrobe courtesy of legendary costume designer Edith Head (Sweet Charity).

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• High Definition remaster
• Two presentations of the film: the theatrical version (102 mins), presented in High Definition; the TV version (102 mins), presented in Standard Definition
• Original mono audio
• Audio commentary with The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television editor Kevin Lyons (2021)
• Pussies Galore (2021): writer and critic Kim Newman on Eye of the Cat and the feline horror subgenre
• Original theatrical trailer
• Radio spot
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Kasandra O’Connell, archival articles and interviews, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.
• UK premiere on Blu-ray
• Limited edition of 3,000 copies
• Extras subject to change

#PHILTD235
BBFC cert: 15
REGION B
EAN: 5060697921465

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colinr0380
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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#2 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:26 pm

I've never seen this one in full, but I do know that the hilly San Francisco setting plays an important element in the infamous wheelchair scene!
Last edited by MichaelB on Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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MichaelB
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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#3 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 06, 2021 3:31 pm

Final specs:

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MichaelB
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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#4 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:10 am


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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#5 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jul 14, 2021 5:54 am


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domino harvey
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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#6 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:29 pm

This plays out like a feature length precursor to Night Gallery, complete with the standard issue Universal backlot look to everything. The film abandons the already stale by 1969 Expo 66 Mondrian frames after the first five minutes and while the camera is suitably dynamic when it wants to be (usually just to show a cat), that's not often enough. The plot "twists" are obvious to anyone even sort of paying attention, but somehow the film squanders even that with its headscratcher of an anti-climax. Still, for the first two acts or so this is mildly entertaining, before the movie gives up and just starts throwing anything (including cats) at the wall (Eleanor Parker trying to bed her nephew? Sure, whatever). Features a far out hippie party wherein one attendee is shown drinking a glass of milk, to give you an idea of how removed from hip this thing is

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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#7 Post by MichaelB » Fri Jul 16, 2021 5:00 am


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reaky
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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#8 Post by reaky » Sun Jul 18, 2021 3:28 am

My other half loved the white double-denim outfit that makes a Ken doll of Sarrazin.

Regarding what Domino says about the film’s late-60s Universal look, it must surely have been a template or mood board for Anna Biller’s Love Witch.

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swo17
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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#9 Post by swo17 » Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:46 am

Interesting that the Johnny O'Clock disc in the third noir box includes an early film by the director of this one. It fits there as an example of another kind of film that noir crews were making, but might have been welcome as a duplicate extra on this disc as well. Not that I'm complaining.

Otherwise the main feature here wasn't really my bag, though the scene colin mentions above is admittedly pretty great

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MichaelB
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Re: 235 Eye of the Cat

#10 Post by MichaelB » Mon Aug 09, 2021 4:04 am

swo17 wrote:
Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:46 am
Interesting that the Johnny O'Clock disc in the third noir box includes an early film by the director of this one. It fits there as an example of another kind of film that noir crews were making, but might have been welcome as a duplicate extra on this disc as well. Not that I'm complaining.
There most likely wouldn't have been room - Eye of the Cat is a pretty crammed disc thanks to the TV version. And duplicate extras are very rare indeed - had it not been cancelled, Ishtar would of course have featured the same Nichols/May conversation that went on The Fortune because it was so Ishtar-specific (and we didn't know at the time of The Fortune that an Ishtar release might be a possibility), and it made sense to include the same comparison featurette on both The Criminal Code and Convicted (which were sourced from the same play), but those are the only two examples that I can think of.

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