Gayle Hunnicutt descends on Michael Sarrrazin. He's to return to the home of his wealthy aunt, Eleanor Parker, and she'll change her will from leaving it all to the immense clowder of cats that infests her Nob Hill house to him. Then Miss Hunnicutt will kill Miss Parker, and Sarrazin will give her half the money. He approaches the older woman, but insists on having her remove all the cats before he'll set foot in the place; his ailurophobia is so severe it can induce catatonia -- no pun intended on my part, but I suspect it was what gave writer Joseph Stefano the idea for the story. Sarrazin's brother, Tim Henry, is ordered to drive them away in the Rolls.
There's a lot of psychological creepiness going on here; it's made clear in the dialogue that Miss Parker inherited all the money because she was carrying on an affair with the boys' father, which killed their mother through a broken heart. Whether she is their maternal or paternal aunt is never made clear. However, her attachment to Sarrazin also seems to have a sexual component.
All of which is a nasty red herring to distract from what is going on and how the cats keep sneaking back into the house. I had it figured early on, but just from the general shape of these movies. Although it has the look of a Universal TV movie, this never would have gotten past Standards & Practices. There are a few nice points, like Lalo Schifrin's score, and the editing on the opening by J. Terry Williams. In the end, though, it's nothing special, and doesn't seem to make any point beyond rich people are strange. Which is no surprise, really. They can afford to be.
