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235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 6:33 am
by MichaelB
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
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:26 pm
by colinr0380
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!
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 3:31 pm
by MichaelB
Final specs:
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:10 am
by MichaelB
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 5:54 am
by MichaelB
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:29 pm
by domino harvey
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
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2021 5:00 am
by MichaelB
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2021 3:28 am
by reaky
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.
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:46 am
by swo17
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
Re: 235 Eye of the Cat
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 4:04 am
by MichaelB
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.