Cats Eye

                                                                 

 

        'Polly got in one good peck before the cat killed her....'

 

Cats Eye is an anthology of three Stephen King short stories. The stories are united by the appearance of a cat.  King fans will probably enjoy this little chiller more than most, as there are numerous in-jokes during the course of the film, including an appearance by a very Cujo-like St. Bernard and a very Christine-like 1958 Plymouth Fury. 

The first story deals with a married man, Dick Morrison signing up for a smoking prevention course where the methods employed by the organization are stringent, to say the least.  If Dick is caught smoking by one of the firm's many spies, his wife or child will be abducted and brought in to the main office for some "shock therapy", while Dick only watches.  The second story has a wealthy man wagering with his wife's lover his life if he can walk completely around on the narrow ledge of his high-rise penthouse once.  The film's final story, a King original called "The General", sees a breath-stealing goblin on the make to snatch the life essence from the young girl (Barrymore) of the house, while the stray cat she is enamored of tries valiantly to help her.

As with most anthology films, the quality varies depending on the story, and on your tolerance and interest in them.  The first chapter, "Quitter's Inc", is perhaps the least satisfying, primarily because the set-up of the film is the only good aspect, while the implausibility factor just about does in the rather silly plot.  It seems a great expense for this organization to employ a variety of spies to monitor one man around the clock, particularly since it seems they have more than one client.  The second story, "The Ledge", picks things up with an interesting, and funny, story that, while somewhat predictable, is enjoyable.  In terms of overall enjoyment, it's probably the best of the three, although it seems many critics differ on this. The third story, "The General", is more of a classic horror romp, with lots of special effects and scares. It's not a very strong story, but the action does keep it exciting, with a particularly gory ending to it that is memorably funny for being so cruel. 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Directed by Lewis Teague
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Martha Schumacher
Written by Stephen King
Starring Drew Barrymore
James Woods
Alan King
Kenneth McMillan
Music by Alan Silvestri
Distributed by MGM
Release date(s) April 12, 1985
Running time 94 Minutes
Language English
Budget $7,000,000

 

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