Uggghhh!!! This might rank as one of the most inappropriate sequels in film history. The original CAT PEOPLE was a moody horror film that was exceptional and super-popular at the box office. This sequel, while retaining most of the original characters, completely re-wrote what had occurred in the first film AND created a very insipid and "inspiring" family film!! This is just wrong and another similar example is if you compare the original WILLARD to its horrid sequel, BEN--where the rats no longer ate people but befriended an annoying little boy who was lonely!! Ugggghhhh!!! In this film, you learn that Irena had NOT turned into a panther and killed people in the first film (even though that IS what happened). Instead, she was mentally ill and she THOUGHT she'd done this before taking her own life (I swear, it did NOT end this way)! To make things worse, while she DOES return, it's not to kill anyone or exact some sort of revenge, but to help a lonely little girl who is Irena's husband's daughter from a new marriage! How schmaltzy and dull! While the acting and production values are good, this is NOT a Val Lewton horror film--more like a "horrible" film in that it is so unlike the original and basically expects the fans of the first film to have amnesia and watch a family movie instead. YUCK!!!
UPDATE: I watched a documentary about Val Lewton (the producer of this film) and according to "Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows(2007)" Lewton did NOT intend for this to be a sequel to "The Cat People". Instead, it was intended as a moody film featuring some of the same people...but not the same characters. As such, it's a MUCH better film....and I'd give it a 6.
UPDATE: I watched a documentary about Val Lewton (the producer of this film) and according to "Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows(2007)" Lewton did NOT intend for this to be a sequel to "The Cat People". Instead, it was intended as a moody film featuring some of the same people...but not the same characters. As such, it's a MUCH better film....and I'd give it a 6.