The Cat, les griffes de l'enfer

To be perfectly honest, this feels like a hard sell. I love cats more than my own life; that's what drew me in to 'The cat,' or 'Goyang-i: Jug-eum-eulboneun dugaeuinun' - and when all is said and done it may be the best thing the movie has going for it. At the same time, there's a lot of imagery of dead animals, or animal cruelty or neglect, and there's a lingering question in my mind as to how some scenes were filmed. Cats don't growl, hiss, or pin their ears back out of fear or agitation without provocation; I can only hope instances of cats in this state were simply very advanced CGI, and not the result of abuse to capture a shot. The line of text "no cats were harmed in the making of this film," that begins the end credits, isn't sufficiently reassuring.

Equally troubling, and arguably more substantially, much more so than not this feels like a very conventional and unremarkable horror flick. We get jump scares, grotesque makeup work, creepy and unnatural presences or movement, sometimes questionable special effects, and a protagonist with a troubled past and a personality trait that puts her at a disadvantage. As I watched I kept hoping for something to leap out and be more grabbing and deserving of my attention, but I'm sad to say this just doesn't really make a big impression.

Sure, 'The cat' is well made. The direction is fine, and lighting, cinematography, sound design, shot composition, acting (in purely common genre roles), sound design, blood and gore, and so on. The writing is broadly serviceable. Only - excise the further feline factor, and there's nothing about this to let it stand out in a crowd. There's no meaningful suspense, or thrills, or fright, and the best this feature can actually inspire is mild unease. Love them or hate them, horror movies should elicit a visceral reaction from audiences, or heightened feelings. 'The cat' does not. So what, then, is its worth?

There may be one thing: I do quite like the core of the plot, the underpinnings of the course of events that are revealed in the last third or so of the runtime. While protagonist So-yeon's anxieties fit too neatly into the course of events, feeling contrived, there are some good ideas here. Why, though played off with a very different tone, there's a similar theme to outstanding 1977 horror anthology 'The uncanny.' 'The cat' could have been a suitably compelling horror-thriller as it presents, with a terribly sad, tragic beat at its center. But it's clear that from every angle the production was geared toward being a straightforward fear factory, and in that capacity it's just too ordinary to work.

This isn't outright bad. There was definite potential. Yet as a horror film it's just too common to be noteworthy, let alone frightful as is intended, and though it's the emphasis of the story, the animal cruelty on display is far too prevalent and graphic to sit well with me. I don't altogether dislike 'The cat,' but it doesn't succeed in its goal, and is too unsavory to otherwise enjoy.

Not truly bad. Not really recommendable.

Well I see there are only 2 other comments before mine, one that praises the movie like it is written by a 12 years old and one a little more serious, but maybe too hard nevertheless. "The cat" starts out nicely, a fast first murder, followed by mystery, decent jump scares and then sadly it hits rock bottom: the so called twist is practically delivered in the second half of the movie, way before its ending.

After it, you get some second hand special effects, the tension is beginning to wear off and if you think there is nothing else that can go wrong, well you find out the reason for all those murders: AND DEAR GOD HAVE I EVER SEEN A DUMBER REASON??

So if I am to agree with one, I'll find myself next to DICK STEEL after all, maybe a few steps further, cause I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Final idea: you could do a lot worse than this one, but I guess you could do much better also! Your risk!

Taking on a strange Persian cat, a troubled woman begins to find that the series of strange events surrounding her and her friends is related to a mysterious cat that she sold in a pet shop and must find the cause of the events before they succumb to its power.

This one wasn't all that bad of an effort. What this one really gets right is the rather enjoyable and overly impressive amount of accidental deaths featured here which really signify her being haunted. The fact that this one pretty early on features the idea that the woman is tormented, there's a great deal of fun to be had here with the changeover in the animals' behavior around her from the way the cats suddenly begin to cower away in fear and start viciously hissing at her which is quite nicely established here by being such a change of pace compared to previous interactions she's had with the animals that it becomes worthy of mention. Other great stuff includes the work of the ghosts in how they're targeting others around her, which includes some rather fun times with the initial elevator encounter that starts it all to the rather freaky sequence in the bedroom of the ghost emerging from the closet which becomes part of the big payoff at the hospital that is rather good. Given that the majority of this is carried off with the police investigation which brings about a lot of great stuff as well from the discovery of the elevator victims' fate to the individual hauntings threatening the different officers involved who are brought onto the case who suffer some really brutal fates themselves. From being trapped in the elevator shaft to finding themselves face-to- face with the ghost in the basement furnace and the one detective coming across the girl alone in the storage room, there's plenty of solid scares to work off of while still maintaining a solid enough mystery that needs to be investigated themselves which is a nice enough story. Going alongside this with the rather creepy ghost with the blackened skin and utterly creepy cat eyes the film does have a lot to really like here even if it does have a few flaws. The film's biggest issue is the fact that this one is so utterly played out and repetitive in it's dishing out of scares that it really feels way too familiar quite easily. This one really falls on the trapped character alone in a room only to find themselves beset by loud noises or startling light and then meeting up with the killer ghost which sounds decent enough for the most part if it didn't run through a vast majority of these tricks elsewhere. These scenes are a rather troubling rehash of a lot of genre efforts and it doesn't do a whole lot of interesting things with these tactics to really stand out. The last flaw here is the rather troubling reasons why the girl ends up with the cat in the first place as there's no real logical reason why they place the cat in her possession when she's unrelated to her and had no connection at all other than grooming the animal so it's pretty contrived how the murders here actually get started. Otherwise, this one was quite decent.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language, children-in-jeopardy and strong animal abuse.

There was a time when everybody was looking forward for the new South-Korean horror or Japanese flick or Eastern horror. We all remembered how The Grudge and The Ring did showed us something new. But of course after a while you have seen it all. And I am a bit fed up with that genre. It's always the same, some creepy white faced girl coming out of the dark with black eyes and weird movements. Here it's the same story only the girl has short black hair instead of long hair and has cat eyes instead of the black eyes.

The originality was the fact that they used real cats all over this flick and that must have been a hell of a time to shoot. But it clocked in way too long. There wasn't that much going on and it really never was that scary after all. It was even low on gore or blood.

I guess I must have seen too many of these kind of flicks that I have seen enough. Sadly I didn't enjoyed it. Watch it for the cats alone but don't be bothered by the story.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Story 2/5 Effects 2/5 Comedy 0/5

Why do I rate The Cat so highly? In no way is this the scariest film I have ever watched, nor is it the greatest. But the acting, coupled with the feature's ability to blend great emotional depth, alongside developed characterization, a mesmerizing plot and a spooky atmosphere, make this a film that certainly ought to be experienced.

Slightly similar to the Grudge and Dark Water, the title of the film should have been pluralized, because there sure are a lot of puddy cats that occupy the feature. So-yeon (Min-Young Park) works at Kitty N Puppy, a pet store that not only sells animals, but is dedicated to the grooming and cleaning of our four legged friends.

Suffering the affects of claustrophobia after experiencing a childhood trauma, So-yeon goes out of her way to ensure her life is free of the obstacles that heighten her condition. The fear she often feels is well articulated on screen, and is further accentuated through the terror that begins to haunt her so.

After Silky, a cat So-yeon recently pampered inexplicably dies, the cat finds herself temporarily without a home. Her friend, Jun-seok (Dong-wook Kim), a police officer investigating the peculiar death, asks her to take Silky in for the time being. Immediately after So-yeon agrees, she finds herself plagued by nightmares, and whilst awake sees images of a little girl.

Unlike stereotypical Asian horror, the ghost of the young girl is not equipped with a head of hair in need of immediate trimming. Rather, what separates her from other ghosts are her unique cat eyes, and even when she is hiding in the darkness, those eyes of hers, so bright and haunting, are clearly visible, and add to the feeling of being watched. This is further implied by the camera, which is occasionally from the perspective of the girl herself. The way the ghost is portrayed, and how she can unexpectedly jump out at the audience is excellently developed, providing a good number of jump scares.

When So-yeon's friend Bo-hee (Da-eun Sin), alongside other people who encounter cats they bring into their lives, begin to witness the ghost as well, it becomes clear that she is no illusion. When people's lives begin to be put in jeopardy, So-yeon discovers she is going to have to combat her own fears if it means uncovering the truth behind the ghost, and the connection with the cats.

Unlike other horror films, where deaths are often the same, though there is more than one occasion when a body is contorted in terrifying fear, other times the deaths are quite surprising, with some combined originality. Though it becomes predictable to know when a character will die, it is how, that will always keep your interest.

Though the Cat is not the most terrifying feature ever encountered, despite the effective ambiance, what audiences will occasionally find most shocking is the treatment cats receive when in the care of animal shelters and other such accommodations. The lacking dignity and humility provided to the cats really hits home about the cruelty that takes place behind closed doors, and one scene, when a cat is put to sleep, the look of terror upon the poor animal's face is wretchedly heartbreaking. In this sense, The Cat is a film that requires viewing, if not for the story or character relationships, then for the brutal honesty of the environments cats are often forced to endure.

The Cat is bound to keep you on edge from the opening credits, through to the final scene, the tension and mystery surrounding the plot been pivotal to the success of the movie. The emotional depth is as equally satisfactory, and by the film's conclusion, you will want to curl up next to your kitten and give them a great big hug.