SHADOW OF THE CAT
UK, 1961, 79 minutes, Black and white.
Conrad Phillips, Barbara Shelley, Andre Morell, Catherine Lacey, Freda Jackson.
Directed by John Gilling.
Shadow of the Cat is a brief horror film. It is considered as one of the Hammer Studios classics. It is different from their regular Frankenstein and Dracula films – but creates great atmosphere.
It takes a familiar story, the old woman who is murdered by her relatives for her money but whose cat wreaks revenge on the greedy relatives.
Barbara Shelley and Andre Morell lead the relatives in the quest for the money. However, director John Gilling (Plague of the Zombies, The Reptile) creates great black and white atmosphere with the menace of the cat and its attack on the relatives. This is a horror film for those who are aficionados of the genre.
1. What is the main impact of horror films? Why do audiences enjoy them so much? The fantasy, the excitement? The morbid overtones of horror films?
2. How succesful a horror film was this? The recreation of the period atmoshere in detail? The black and white photography?
3. How succesful was this film as a murder thriller? Its use of the conventions of the murder/thriller?
4. Audience response to the opening of the film? The atmosphere of the house, curiosity about Ella? Sharing her fear? The brutality and mystery of her death?
5. How central was the cat? The focus on the cat's eyes? The technique of elongating the focus to show what the cat saw? Audience identification with the cat, watching the murder, frightening the murderers? Audience anticipation of the movements of the cat? Horror at the cat's vengeance? Techniques of the cat's frightening the people to death? The thematic significance of the title?
6. How were the characters subordinate to the cat? Walter and his greed? His style of behaviour? His response to the cat? His defiance, his fear, his death? The fear and brutality of Andrew and Clara? Clara's hysterics? The family and the quest to murder the cat? Their brutal deaths? The contrast with death and their ability to handle the cat as a pet? Michael as the hero investigating the murders? The police and their attitudes?
7. How conventional were all the characters; hero and heroine, villain, villainous family and servants, conventional police? How convincing were the for this kind of film?
8. How contrived were the deaths? Audience anticipation of then? The enjoyment of these deaths and their anticipation?
9. On what values of good and evil do such films work? Presuppositions in the audience about judging who is good and who is evil? The way the good characters were filmed, the evil e1Jaracters?
10. Was this a successful horror thriller?
