After the death of his mother Bruce had spent time in the nut-house, but now he's released and returns back to his wealthy family's estate to find out his once family nurse Susan is now married to his father. Bruce doesn't trust Susan, so doesn't his cat Sampson. Susan is plotting the murder of Bruce's father together with the family chauffeur to inherited the family fortune, but what secrets does Bruce bestow which might just get in the way.
I don't know what to really make of this independent curio as when the end credits started rolling down the screen I was left quite bemused to what had actually transpired. "Cat in a Cage" is such a convoluted jumble (namely the appearance of the dead brother --- as was there some sort of connection with the cat?), that the more you think about what you just saw the less it makes sense and it doesn't lay upon constant twists and turns either. Even devious plotting where plans are set in motion and the idea of playing with the notion that it's all just the figment of the imagination of the slightly disturbed protagonist. Still there's only one real twist, but really it's not much of one because there's no real lead-up or clues to establish it. It's something that just happens. The active story is so ambiguous and inconsistent, as if it was simply made up on the spot where the final resolution is over-the-top and downright baffling. But this is only one of many problems.
The production is considerably flawed and at times unintentionally humorous, but it's strangely engaging where my main curiosity arose from its two female beauties. Sybil Danning and Colleen Camp suckered me in. The voluptuous Danning is purely hypnotic in her bitchy role, but Camp has more of a secondary part which asks little from her. Still she's quite solid. Oh well she does chip in singing the title song. Outside those two (with the possible exception of Frank DeKova), the other performances fall on the flat, uneven side. Bruce Vaughn in the lead comes across as a wet blanket and Mel Novak is quite stiff.
Where I got a laugh from was the plot device involving the cat. This cat wasn't supposed to like the new mistress of the house (Danning) with its constant hissing (blatant soundtrack recording used) and scratching. However the cat looked far from threatening when in action especially when it's attacking Danning's face while she's rolling on the ground holding it to her face. As this is happening Vaughn is on the other side of door laughing crazily. I don't know if it was entirely all in character either. Also there's one sequence which has the cat obviously rubbing itself against Danning in a rather pleasant manner, although I thought the cat couldn't stand her. Certainly no method performance by the cat. Danning's dialogue regarding the feline can become ridiculously hysterical too. These two are simply fighting for the attention. When it tries to be humorous (that is when the police investigation begins with a comical cop) it's lame.
Director Tony Zarindast pretty much throws caution to the wind, in a steadfast if slow going (although it doesn't feel too padded out) and creaky manner. A little bit of style is evident where the atmosphere is generated in an almost Gothic dark house mystery filled with unyielding passion and cunning murder. However some of the night sequences were poorly lit. The overwrought music score was just as confounding as the plot.
"Cat in the Cage" is unusually moody, if mundane and bumpy melodramatic thriller.
I don't know what to really make of this independent curio as when the end credits started rolling down the screen I was left quite bemused to what had actually transpired. "Cat in a Cage" is such a convoluted jumble (namely the appearance of the dead brother --- as was there some sort of connection with the cat?), that the more you think about what you just saw the less it makes sense and it doesn't lay upon constant twists and turns either. Even devious plotting where plans are set in motion and the idea of playing with the notion that it's all just the figment of the imagination of the slightly disturbed protagonist. Still there's only one real twist, but really it's not much of one because there's no real lead-up or clues to establish it. It's something that just happens. The active story is so ambiguous and inconsistent, as if it was simply made up on the spot where the final resolution is over-the-top and downright baffling. But this is only one of many problems.
The production is considerably flawed and at times unintentionally humorous, but it's strangely engaging where my main curiosity arose from its two female beauties. Sybil Danning and Colleen Camp suckered me in. The voluptuous Danning is purely hypnotic in her bitchy role, but Camp has more of a secondary part which asks little from her. Still she's quite solid. Oh well she does chip in singing the title song. Outside those two (with the possible exception of Frank DeKova), the other performances fall on the flat, uneven side. Bruce Vaughn in the lead comes across as a wet blanket and Mel Novak is quite stiff.
Where I got a laugh from was the plot device involving the cat. This cat wasn't supposed to like the new mistress of the house (Danning) with its constant hissing (blatant soundtrack recording used) and scratching. However the cat looked far from threatening when in action especially when it's attacking Danning's face while she's rolling on the ground holding it to her face. As this is happening Vaughn is on the other side of door laughing crazily. I don't know if it was entirely all in character either. Also there's one sequence which has the cat obviously rubbing itself against Danning in a rather pleasant manner, although I thought the cat couldn't stand her. Certainly no method performance by the cat. Danning's dialogue regarding the feline can become ridiculously hysterical too. These two are simply fighting for the attention. When it tries to be humorous (that is when the police investigation begins with a comical cop) it's lame.
Director Tony Zarindast pretty much throws caution to the wind, in a steadfast if slow going (although it doesn't feel too padded out) and creaky manner. A little bit of style is evident where the atmosphere is generated in an almost Gothic dark house mystery filled with unyielding passion and cunning murder. However some of the night sequences were poorly lit. The overwrought music score was just as confounding as the plot.
"Cat in the Cage" is unusually moody, if mundane and bumpy melodramatic thriller.