Cat People

Paul Schrader's remake pulses with sensual imagery and Giorgio Moroder's hypnotic synth score.

Irene Gallier (Nastassja Kinski) arrives in New Orleans to reconnect with her estranged brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell), the two having grown up apart in foster homes. Paul is a strange figure – devoted to his church, watched over by a mysterious Creole housekeeper, and given to disappearing at night. Around the same time, a black panther begins terrorising the city, its appearances uncannily linked to Paul's absences. Wandering alone one evening, Irene finds herself pulled towards the city zoo and the wild cat enclosure, where she meets Oliver (John Heard), the zoo's curator. An attraction forms. But that night, Paul confronts Irene with advances that expose a dark and shocking curse threaded through their bloodline.

Curator's note
Maintaining elements of the 1942 original – famous for what it implied rather than showed – Schrader pushes further into frank nudity, gory horror and psychosexual territory. One critic memorably called it a gory fashion spread. Layered throughout is Giorgio Moroder's captivating score, blending ambient, pop-rock and electronic textures, and David Bowie's iconic theme, Cat People (Putting Out Fire).