Les Griffes de la peur

A sense of unease encapsulates this movie, from the characters to the cats and the music. The opening credits even have a sinister feel about them with the silhouettes of cats on the prowl. Aunt Danny has a respiratory condition where she has a severe problem with her lungs. Cue the vultures, her nephew Wylie and his friend Kassia plan to make the Aunt change her will so that he gets it instead of her beloved cats. Trouble is Wylie is petrified of cats and when they suddenly reappear at the house he goes into a state of shock.

The 3 leads are all great in this little known horror/thriller but it's the creepy cats that stand out the most.

I saw this film back in India in the early 70s during its second run. I enjoyed it very much at the time and even now, looking back after over 30 years, I am amazed that this movie gets so little publicity. Other films that are less than half as good have long got a DVD release, but very few people seem to know of this one's existence.

All right, it is not a classic but is certainly good for Saturday evening. The plot of a sick, reclusive elderly woman living in a mansion with lots of money is nothing new; nor is the arrival of 'caring' young relatives hoping to find a place in her will. But the presence of some twenty sinister looking CATS seemingly guarding their mistresses' interests certainly adds a diabolical angle. Michael Sarrazin's unnatural phobia of the cats adds to the drama, as does Gayle Hunnicut's murderous nurse. There are some superb scenes like the aforementioned runaway wheelchair and the outstanding Oxygen Tent sequence. I hope someone has the sense to bring this film out on DVD in its original theatrical release format.

This movie was partially re-shot and re-edited for television, and that's the only version that ever turns up. I sure wish the original theatrical version would become available on VHS or DVD. I remember this as being a wonderfully atmospheric, creepy movie. I was shocked the first time I viewed it on TV, because I vividly remembered a climactic scene where Gayle Hunnicutt was descending a big staircase and being chased and overtaken by a virtual sea of cats running around and past her. It was a visually stunning shot. Yet, in the televised version, she was being chased by one (count it) ONE solitary little kitty! It looked ridiculous, and you had to assume she was running based on some intense phobia, which isn't really established earlier in the story. This is a little gem, which deserves being restored to its theatrical release version.

Above average thriller with plenty of twists , turns and a suspenseful finale . A young man (Michael Sarrazin) and his sweetheart (Gayle Hunnicut) scheme to rob the mansion of the man's resentful but wealthy aunt (Eleanor Parker) . However , the eccentric aunt keeps dozens of cats in her home , and the youngster is deathly afraid of cats . Terror that takes you beyond any fear you've ever known!.Terror that tears the screams right out of your throat!

Eye of the Cat (1969) contains twisted mysteries , emotion , thrills, suspense and being compelling and splendidly directed . This is a highly mysterious and cerebral thriller , filled with plot twists , including an unexpected denouement in its ending part . Here the screenwriter of "Psycho" now brings you a tale of terror to test your nerves and it will have you at edge of your seat , that's why it will appeal to thriller/terror genre enthusiasts . From start to finish the complicated intrigue , fast-paced , thrills , and suspense result to be continuous . Hitchcock-style psychological thriller , being surprisingly good and compellingly shot . The original as well entertaining premise is overspread across the movie adding some brief conventional pitfalls . This nice film by producer/director David Lowell Rich was well and professionally made. The main cast is frankly good , Michael Sarrazin as the egoistic young man with dark plans , his gorgeous girlfriend , the wonderful Gayle Hunnicut who plays perfectly his beautiful lover and the bittersweet , sick aunt stunningly performed by veteran Eleanor Parker . Support cast is pretty good such as the newcomer Tim Henry , Linden Chiles and Laurence Naismith . The picture is very well , though sometimes stagy and it has a lot of turns . However , being very entertaining for its successive suspense .

This interesting thriller displays a colorful and luxurious cinematography by prestigious cameraman Russell Metty . Being shot on location in San Francisco, Lafayette Park, Gough and Washington Streets, San Francisco, Sausalito, California . And stirring and suspenseful score by Lalo Schifrin , usual composer in the Sixties , and Clint Eastwood's regular . This mystery murder was stunningly produced by various prestigious producers Leslie Stevens, Bernard Schwartzand Universal Pictures .The motion picture was competently directed by David Lowell Rich , habitual TV director and occasionally for cinema . This under-rated producer and filmmaker of the 1960s and 1970s movies called David Lowell Rich was a prolific television director, an expert at made-for-TV movies in the 1970's and worked briefly at Columbia during the late 50's. Rich directed a lot of TV films and movies, such as : Northeast of Seoul , Bolt , A lovely way to die, Chu Chu and the Philly Flash , School for Girls , The Sex symbol, The Chadwick Family , Runaway , Death Race , Convicted and many others . In the 1960s he directed episodes of several cult TV shows including Mission Impossible , and one episode of The Twilight Zone . In the 1970s he got caught up in the disaster movie craze by putting out atleast five disaster films, four for TV , such as : The Concorde...Airport '79 and Horror At 37,000 Feet (1973) combined a flight disaster with supernatural events and wonderful over-acting from William Shatner, most of them failed at boxoffice . However, all the above films, including The Concorde...Airport '79, are fun to watch and , unlike some other films of the disaster genre, were never tiring . Eye of the Cat (1969) rating : 7/10 . Better than average warlike film . Worthwhile watching . It's an inoffensive diversion that will appeal to psychological thriller fans .

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.