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Mid-2019 is actually the first time I have even heard of the 1991 movie "Strays". Being listed as a horror movie, and with me always having loved cats, of course I had to sit down and watch it as I had the chance.

Now, the word 'horror' might be a bit too much to use about "Strays". It wasn't really particularly scary. Actually, when you step back and look at the storyline, then it is actually a rather silly script and storyline. I mean, a family moving into a house and find themselves terrorized by a pack of stray cats. Sure, it was fun to watch. But realistic? No, not even in the least. Especially since humans are far better equipped for handling themselves against felines, so it made little sense that the cats could cause so much havoc and distress for the family members.

"Strays" was definitely a campy and cheesy horror movie, but that was also what made the movie watchable. It was such an outrageous storyline that you just wanted to keep watching and see what happens next, and see how humans are outwitted by cats. Yeah, so very, very realistic.

The movie actually was surprisingly enjoyable and entertaining for what it turned out to be. But it is hardly a movie that you'll watch more than once. I hadn't heard about it before 2019, and I doubt that I will ever sit down to watch it ever again, as it just didn't have enough material to it to support multiple viewings.

The acting in the movie was adequate, taking into consideration the limitations of the script and storyline.

All in all, a mediocre movie with some watchable value to it, but hardly an outstanding movie in the horror genre.

A divorce attorney(Timothy Busfield)and his wife(Kathleen Quinlan)buy a desolate country home and are terrorized by a pack of wild, angry and hungry cats. Film does have its moments of panic and at times is actually scary. Otherwise pretty bland horror flick. I did enjoy the rainy, thunder filled scenes. The film's highlight for me was sister-in-law Claudia Christian(a real feline threat). Written and co-produced by Shaun Cassidy.

What we have here is effectively a "nature runs amok" flick of the kind that has cheaply filled in the edges of the adventure, sci-fi, and horror genres for decades. The only difference is that the animals representing the antagonistic force of nature in this feature are stray cats; take that as you will. Factor in the picture's nature as a TV movie originally broadcast on the USA Network, and one way or another, we're in for a bit of a ride.

The character writing is quite formulaic; these figures are basically walking clichés. The chief cast assembled to portray them are faces familiar to moviegoers and channel-surfers from the early 90s, as Kathleen Quinlin, Timothy Busfield, and Claudia Christian are readily recognizable. They do their part to ably fill the roles they are given, and we've seen elsewhere what they're capable of, but here they're limited by very straightforward, uncomplicated writing. There are no real surprises in the narrative, and scene writing and dialogue is simply suitable. None of this is outright bad, but it is very ordinary, unremarkable, and all but pedestrian. As a result, what tension, suspense, or thrills we get are more perfunctory than they are visceral and impactful. It's written and shot in the style of a horror-thriller, but only manages to be passingly entertaining and enjoyable at even its most dire moments.

Merely adequate as the craft is in all meaningful ways, these are not even my greatest concern regarding 'Strays.' It's hard not to think that stories like this were not just borne from but also actively contributed to centuries-old misinformed superstitions and beliefs, misplaced fears, and general misunderstanding of felines that still persists today, leading to abuse, neglect, and otherwise animal cruelty. The feral colony at the center of the film is portrayed with a definite lack of realism - organized, consciously malicious, and extraordinarily violent. This movie is the embodiment of not just a phobia, but abject hatred of cats as further cemented in the somewhat bumbling husband and some of his dialogue. A few sparing lines from a veterinarian (William Boyett, another very visible face of film and TV) would seem to stand as a voice of reason ("What we're talking about here is a cat. Get a grip on yourself!"), but fail to achieve balance given the clear, overwhelming thrust of the narrative. I'm honestly a bit taken aback that the observers of the American Humane Society, who according to the credits affirmed that "no animals were harmed or injured," gave a pass on a movie that so concretely demonizes cats.

There are worse things you could watch than this. But it's a frankly common, average TV movie production, and while as a cat lover the very appearance of the felines earns at least a small point of favor, that modicum of worth - and what stimulation we should and would get out of this as a genre piece - is effectively negated by the way the film and its characters treat cats. A strong content warning is necessary for animal cruelty, in general but specifically at the climax, and neglect. There are things about this I want to like, but in my opinion 'Strays' is overall too undistinguished at best, and at worst too dicey and suspect, to truly enjoy.

I've heard of a "wolf pack" (think Nazi U-boats). I've heard of the "Rat Pack" (think Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. etc.). Now we have the "Cat Pack": think gang of furry ferocious crazed felines on a bloodthirsty rampage in some old house out in the middle of nowhere, terrorizing a hapless young family, and you basically have the premise for this movie.

I can't say it's entirely a bad premise, but unfortunately it doesn't come off well in this movie. 'Lame and un-scary' doesn't begin to describe this mess of a film. My overall reaction: much like you'd do with a bad kitty who claws the sofa legs, you want to take a rolled up newspaper and give this movie a good swat on the rear end.

The acting by everyone involved is embarrasing (especially the wife and kid, who, traumatized by cat-induced fear and shock, overplay their overblown reactions so bad that you'd swear you'd seen better acting in your junior high school play). As for Claudia Christian, who later went on to fame and fortune in Babylon 5 as Susan Ivanova, well, the less said the better.

A great theme song for this movie would have been "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads - only with the name and lyrics changed to "Psycho Kitty". Now that would have been a nice touch. Meow. Purrrrrr.

Paul (Timothy Busfield, "Revenge of the Nerds") and Lindsey (Kathleen Quinlan, "Apollo 13") are a big city couple who move to the country, with their adorable daughter Tessa (played by twins Heather and Jessica Lilly) in tow. All seems well at first, but it turns out that the immediate area has a VERY bad feral cat problem. Eventually, this gang of cats start attacking these schmuck humans en masse.

"Strays" is so very, very average. Even in its more suspense-oriented final half hour, it offers little in the way of thrills, although the fiendish felines are clearly as well trained as cats can be. The leader of these cats IS a pretty nasty looking creature. The dopey script is by Shaun Cassidy (yeah, THAT Shaun Cassidy), who also functions as co-producer, and his dialogue is pretty bad overall. His script is plenty predictable; when Paul & Lindsey acquire a dog, one automatically assumes that the poor thing is going to come to a bad end.

The main plus is a supporting performance by super-sexy Claudia Christian ('Babylon 5'). She plays Claire, Lindsey's vampish sister who Paul is representing in a divorce case. Also co-starring is the great character actor William Boyett ("The Hidden"), who's a hoot as a gruff veterinarian. Busfield and Quinlan try to be likeable, but their characters are pretty insipid; these two have been better served in other projects. The twist is that allergy-prone Paul must be the one to figure out how to deal with the problem.

This is NOT for hardcore horror fans. With an extremely minimal body count, and a lack of scares and tension (not to mention gore), this will mostly appeal to viewers who get a kick out of bad movies.

Five out of 10.

Can you see the headline: 'Stray Cats Terrorize Household, Kill Three?' Sounds ludicrous, doesn't it? This movie actually makes a pretty good argument of how it's possible. Stray cats who've been neglected by humans don't fear them and don't like them. They've become feral so when you muscle in on their domain, they get aggressively defensive. Well, maybe not all cats do that. Just the "dominant male cat" and his posse in this movie.

However, the only cat that actually looks scary in this movie is the dominant male - probably a robo-puppet - who appears to be always wet for some reason but still fears water. The others cats are scattered around the house to look like troops but they simply seem like confused cats mewing in protest. It's not hard to see how this movie would fail to be scary. If someone clutching a mess of fur to their chest while writhing about in supposed agony isn't silly enough, what about seeing someone shoot a cat with a water-gun? And do you remember all those thrillers in which they use the tried-and-true but totally manipulative and pointless tactic of having a cat suddenly leap from the dark and make everyone jump? Well this movie finally has a legit reason to use that trick but it doesn't. Sheesh.

Back then, things were more engrossing on the television. Before The Jersey Shore, and those other pop culture "reality" shows. This was pretty anxiety driven, and kept me tense. I liked it. But, I am old and came up with stuff in this format and script. I think if we got back to stuff like this, maybe pigs could stop killing us in the street, and we'd get along better. Cat violence always makes sense... I guess. Also, I accidentally found out that her sister in this is also in "The Hidden". Another great movie.

I'm an ardent cat lover and I did NOT like this film. First off the premise is extremely silly, second cats get a bad enough rap by the jerks in Hollyweird always trying to make dogs so damn great. Cats are sweet, loving, wonderful and many times good mommies to their babies. This movie sucks and it was stupid. I do not recommend at all

Go for it honey, save your daughter from the terrible kitty cat, stuff that vent with those pillows, swing that jug of water with all your might before it's too late! Whoa, this film was so very stupid!!! Some flicks just make you want to roll your eyes and go "Really? That's what you're going with??" And this was a very slightly horror-tinged drama thriller that had one of the most instantly ludicrous premises I ever heard of - no freaking way that could've worked in any movie in a million years, you cannot film cats that way, they are not dogs, they do not do tricks or act a certain way on command, on camera they are only good for being adorable and hilarious! Only the lead cat looked a little scary close up because it had such a grouchy hissing face and was all mangy, in fact it was the spitting image of the famous cat from Pet Sematary, if I didn't know any better I'd say that Church somehow survived his lethal injection and carried on his evil feline ways! Could this movie be an unofficial spin-off?! The film mostly played like a very poor TV drama about a family on the rocks because the wife thought the husband was having an affair with his latest client who is her sister as they were moving into a nice country house - oh and the house had recently become the territory of a psychotic super-Tom!!! The film played it all completely straight and the more it was trying to press that this was meant to be a very scary and serious situation in a legitimate horror movie, it made me want to laugh more! The people are so white-bread, saccharine and boring to look at and listen to including the snivelling annoying little actress of a child, that you'll soon be hoping to see the ravenous cat horde get them all and chew the marrow from their bones! I so could not take it seriously for a moment, it was just too goofy! Its worth at least one watch if you're enticed by the promise of uncovering some obscure movie cheese, and it is quite fun if you watch it only for the great laughs! Me-ouch!! X

OK, let me say first of all that I few things went right with this movie. Its somewhat well acted, and the plot and scenes are generic, but well done. But the thing which ruins the entire basis of the movie is - THEY'RE CATS! Cats can't, therefore don't, kill people. Cujo, he's 250 pound dog, he could rip your leg off and beat you over the head with it. But these are cats, less than 10 lbs. Snap 'em like a Slim Jim I say! God I hate saying this but, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

If you love watching terrible horror films (as I do) this is the one to watch.

It really has no redeeming features except that it is hilarious.

I have seen this film twice and would have watched it more but for some reason it doesn't get shown on TV anymore and I can't find a copy to buy on DVD.

Do not expect to feel scared or nervous while watching this movie as it lacks all the elements that make a horror movie a horror movie. There is no tension, no shocks and no gore.

The acting is terrible, the plot is awful and the effects are ridiculous, it makes you wonder if the people who made it actually watched it before offering it to the general public, but thank god they did.

I just saw this today and it was so ridiculously cheap and silly I had to give it a whole whopping "6". How an 8 lb. cat can knock down a 180 lb. man I will never understand but little details like that just don't seem to matter in this movie. One of my favorite scenes is the artsy little shot of the yellow rubber ducky floating over the edge of the flooded bath tub....oh, the subtle innuendos-Yeah right! Check it out if your'e sittin' around & it comes on the tube...or if you really hate cats. Otherwise don't bother unless you want to give your kids nightmares so they'll stop begging you to keep that adorable little kitty.

Really stupid bad movie. An older woman with a lot of cats is attacked by something that more or less flies at her, apparently a feral cat (we don't see it, only hear it growling). A couple with a young daughter move into the house; the wife's sister is the real estate agent, and she is also a client of the husband, a divorce lawyer. The wife grows jealous of her sister and in fact, her sister does seem to be pretty slutty and controlling.

The daughter is annoying and stupid. The wife is hysterical, somewhat shrewish, and stupid. The husband is fairly stupid too. The cats (evidently the woman's pets now work for the strange black cat that killed her) as a threat are not particularly convincing. More or less, you have to fall down and be knocked unconscious to be seriously hurt by them.

At one point the husband tries to microwave his coffee. The microwave doesn't work because it has a badly frayed power cord. A divorce lawyer who works in the city can't afford to repair the cord or get a new microwave? With a young daughter in the house, you want a frayed wire (not to mention the fire hazard)? They don't even unplug the microwave when it proves unable to microwave when the cable is jiggled. There must be another reason why they don't replace it or unplug it... and there is. There are other elements in the movie that are similarly telegraphed way ahead of time.

The director likes a lot of cat point-of-view shots which gets to be pretty corny, and also likes zooms in on and close-ups of inanimate objects. There are also a couple of false endings at the end, where it seems like the movie should be over, but it keeps going.

This was a terrible movie! Apparently it never occurs to the morons in the movie to just leave the house. Although there wouldn't be a movie if they did just that. The scary cats made my cats look mentally challenged! But I did notice a few boo-boos. The cat at the top of the stairs under the box couldn't figure out how to get the box off of him but later he figured out how to jump through a pane of glass. All in all the movie sucked and I am sure didn't help any of the actors careers. I did notice that one of the twins that played the daughter went on to make "Cybersex Kittens". How ironic.

A couple years ago while in college, my roommate and I were flipping channels before heading off to a history class we were both enrolled in. That day we never made it to class because USA was showing this as its afternoon movie and we became so entertained by the crappiness of this film that we didn't dare leave before seeing the conclusion. You will want to slap Kathleen Quinlan silly for the way she freaks out -- so what, you have some stray cats in your house, she let them in the house in the first place!!! I forget where her husband is during all of this, but other people who come to help and investigate are put out of commission by these violent kitties. One of my favorite scenes is where she goes to look for her "baby" (who is like a 5 year old girl) in the crib and there is nothing but cats to be found and Quinlan freaks out as if they had eaten her ugly daughter. If you are looking for something scary, don't even consider this because the supposed suspense and chills are nonexistent -- but it was good for a laugh and skipping a boring class.

If I could have voted zero on this movie I would. I consider this movie cruelty to cats and cat lovers alike. I couldn't believe that made a thriller about the most cutest of the furry friends domestic animal alive. I guess since they can make dogs vicious they would have to do the same for cats

The idea that lovely beautiful purry cats can be scary.

A part from Claudia Christian and Quinland both very attractive women this movie as nothing to offer, is not scary at all etc... i would pass for better animal killer movies.

On paper, the premise of 'Strays' (a pack of killer cats terrorizing a family in their country home) sounds utterly absurd. Yet, against all odds, weirdly the film manages to be surprisingly watchable. The overall product is far from polished and the 'killer' moggies spend much of their screen time looking more confused than menacing. Occasionally, animatronic stand-ins awkwardly fill in for their scarier scenes.

The special effects are campy at best, but that adds to the charm in a 'so-bad-it's-good' sort of way. Despite the silliness, there's something oddly engaging about 'Strays.' The family drama plays out earnestly enough like something out of a daytime soap, but there isn't too much so it just about manages to keep the viewer invested while the escalating absurdity of the feline menace makes sure it never becomes dull.

It's the kind of film you can't help but chuckle at while still enjoying at the same time, even though the film-makers only seem to have one sound effect for the cats which is used. And used. And used...

This is one of those movies that you watch simply to see how bad it will get. I rate it a 3 out of 10 because I admit I enjoyed making fun of this movie. If you are allergic to cats like I am, you can almost relate to Kathleen Quinlan's panic at her house being surrounded by housecats! Oooh, scary! Is that heavy breathing caused by fear and panic? No, killer cat dander.

There are bad films and then there are films like "Strays". This came on late one night after I had watched something else and I left it on. I kept watching only to make sure someone wasn't playing a prank on me or something and this was actually a real film. I actually thought periodically as I was watching that I fell asleep after the start and dreamed the rest of the movie.

Anyway, so it's about a family that moves into a house that already has a bunch of cats in it and some old woman warns them about it (or something to the effect). Maybe you shouldn't move into the house? Turns out the cats are evil and can kill people by simply jumping on them. There is also the head honcho evil cat that is basically impossible to kill and can claw through doors. So.... yea. I would recommend this movie if you are a fan of bad films because you WILL be laughing at how awful it is. Drink a few beers with your friends when you have nothing else to do and watch this so you can have a few laughs and so you can say you've seen the worst movie ever made (or the worst horror film anyway).

This film was written by Shaun Cassidy, a former Hardy Boy, so there's no questioning the authenticity of the behavioral science behind this film. Cats are evil. The Bible confirms this, as does every cartoon depicting the eternal battle between cats & dogs. Dogs are angels sent from Heaven to hold back the scourge of cats. This film is more of docudrama.

Is it a horror movie? A spoof? Are the movie's creators really trying to rip-off Fatal Attraction? Is this a movie about an alternative universe? I don't know.

All I know is one night I was flipping channels and saw Timothy Busfield wrestling with a soggy kitty puppet and throwing it around his kitchen and had one of the best laughs of my entire life.

I spent the next few years searching for this movie.

When I finally saw it again and watched the whole thing I was bored to tears and irritated by the stupidity of the characters and late 80's "TV movie" budget.

Then I got my money's worth.

I love cats, don't get me wrong, but I find something inherently, cruelly, disturbingly funny about cats being abused in movies (ex: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), and this one tops them all.

See: **cats being flung at windshields**Kathleen Quinlan tossing (fake) cats around like dirty socks after she thinks they're eating her baby**K.Q. in the same scene squeezing a cat up against the wall with the door after it attacks her hateful girl-child. The cat grunts on the soundtrack, and I'm rolling on the couch in paroxysms of laughter**Timothy Busfield in a career-ending wrestling match with a gamey, fur covered puppet. He throws it out the window, chucks it into a microwave and threatens it with electroshock therapy, but it keeps coming back for more, always accompanied by those great stock "cat screech" sound f/x used in comedies.

People who have an unhealthy love of cats as "cute, darling little pets" should stay away, they won't be amused. For the rest of us, who recognize that cats are cute but have claws and fangs for a reason (to kill things with) and think they're kind of weird and creepy even at the best of times, there are some unforgetful laff-out-loud moments.

I'm laughing as I write this, thinking about the last scene. Thank you, Hollywood, for this stupid, stupid movie!!