Eye of the Cat (1969)

Absolutely brilliant

A lot of fun.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

***SPOILERS*** Terrifying film set in San Francisco literately about this cat-house that as hoards of feral cats lead by an orange tabby protecting their master the bed ridden and suffering from emphysema Aunt Danny, Eleanor Parker, from her greedy and murderous relatives that are out to do her in an gets their hands on her millions. Headed by Aunt Danny's cat hater, and he has good reasons to, nephew Wylie, Michael Sarrazin,who together with his girlfriend Kassia, Gayle Hunnicutt, plan to get Aunt Danny to leave her fortune to Wylie and write her beloved cats, that are in the hundreds, out of her will.There's also Wylie brother or is it his cousin-I'm not quit sure- Luke, Tim Henry, who also want's to get his hands on Aunt Danny's money but feels that murdering her isn't the right way to do it. He just feels that the old bag doesn't have much time to live anyway with almost 3/4 or her lungs destroyed and is more then willing to wait it out. It's Luke who somehow gets all the cats, over 100 of them, in his car and drives out into the country letting them loose. But somehow their leader known as "Top Cat" the orange tabby stayed behind to protect his master Aunt Danny from Wylie and Kassia's plans to do her in.***SPOILERS*** It's when Wylie was struck numb by "Top Cat" popping up on him or on his bed that Kassia went out on her own to do in Aunt Danny only to be stopped by a hoard of cats, the ones that Luke seemed to have gotten rid of, led by "Top Cat" showing up to stop her. Trying to escape from the what seemed like the ferocious man eating cats Kassia ended up falling to her death after slipping off a 20 feet ladder by losing her footing on it. the shocking ending had Wylie-whom we thought was killed and eaten by the cats-show up and come clean with his so-called fear of cats in that he in fact used them to do his bidding for him. In having them get rid of both Kassia and Luke by keeping them from shearing Aunt Danny's money with him!

I finally got to see this late sixties thriller. I love films that reflect those times. "Eye of the Cat" is like "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" set in swinging San Fransisco, with the old lady in a wheel chair in the old style mansion and the young beautiful people out to get her.The plot does not deliver, though. There's no suspense since the plot is confusing and the characters actions do not make sense. The plot twist can be seen a mile a way. It's odd that they filmed the movie when the plot really isn't that good. The main characters fear of cats is never frightening and almost silly! It's too bad "Eye of the Cat" is too unbelievable and predictable because the premise seemed promising with such appealing actors. Tim Henry as the repressed younger brother is quite good. The best thing with this movie is gorgeous Gayle Hunnicut who always was drop dead beautiful in her films. She was hot for a while then she seemed to disappear from films. Too bad, she could have been a star. She was involved with David Hemmings at the time which may account for her mix of American and British accents. The camera doesn't do her justice here as she seems to stand a lot in the shadows, but there is almost enough views of her in fab sixties outfits!

"Eye of the Cat" is an engaging thriller if you can overlook the stilted dialogue, the gaping holes in logic, some clumsy direction and just surrender to its cozy atmosphere. In scenic San Francisco, we meet several characters driven by greed, all of who will stop at nothing to get their share of a wealthy old lady's fortune. The action plays out in her hilltop home that's full of cats. If that sounds intriguing to you, then you're in for a treat. Among the main characters, Gayle Hunnicutt is the standout. Not just for her supermodel looks (big hair, short skirts) but for her expert portrayal of a cold, calculating opportunist. When she says to Michael Sarrazin "I'm not afraid of anything.", we tend to believe her. Hunnicutt should have become a bigger star; the right part just didn't come along, as it did for fellow Universal contract player Katherine Ross. Michael Sarrazin on the other hand, had a good shot at stardom, costarring with the likes of Jane Fonda and Barbra Streisand in hit movies, but as this film demonstrates, his acting ability is sorely limited and he's devoid of any real charisma. Even the totally unknown Tim Henry, who plays his brother, radiates more appeal. It's good to see old pro Eleanor Parker hamming it up as the object of everyone's bad intentions. She gets her star turn in the stranded wheelchair scene. Screenwriter Joseph Stefano (who also wrote "Psycho") created a Hitchcockian premise here without being derivative of the master. There are two versions of this film, one slightly less violent for airing on television (with a lot fewer cats), and neither version is available on DVD. A real shame, for this is nice, intelligent fun.

Joseph Stefano (who wrote the script for PSYCHO), is responsible for this script which is fine until about mid-point when the story starts to fall apart. He drops the theme of terrifying cats for awhile and then has them emerge once more just for the rather hokey climax.But it's stylishly done. You can feel Brian dePalma's influence on director David Lowell Rich right from the opening montage of cat stalkers against colorful backgrounds. There's a stately elegance to the home of the rich wheelchair bound widow (ELEANOR PARKER), a home where she is presumably being protected by numerous felines roaming around freely. She needs protecting. Seems her hairdresser (GAYLE HUNNICUTT) is scheming with Parker's nephew to kill the woman and get a hold of her inheritance which she threatens to leave to the cats unless she is able to locate her missing nephew.It's a good little thriller with some edge of the chair moments that grip the audience, but none of it seems too plausible with stilted dialog and overly melodramatic moments that seem terribly contrived.For suspense and the compensation of watching Eleanor Parker in one of her latter day roles, it's probably worth viewing. Just don't expect anything on the level of PSYCHO.