Stephen King's Cat's Eye
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Movie Reviews of Stephen King's Cat's Eye
Movie Review: Wee Three King's
Summary: 3 Stars
As with most anthology movies, this 1985 flick is rather uneven regarding the quality of the various stories within. Scripted by THE modern horror-meister himself, CAT'S EYE (a.k.a. STEPHEN KING'S CAT'S EYE) features adaptations of two of King's previously published short stories and one original tale, all tied together with a feline-centric wraparound.
The first segment, "Quitter's Inc.," is a dark comedy in which a chronic smoker (James Woods) engages the services of an professional firm to help him break his nasty habit, but he doubts his decision when he learns that the organization's CEO (Alan King) is a former Mob boss who utilizes the "techniques" of his previous profession to "help" current clients. This is definitely the strongest of the three tales.
Segment two, "The Ledge," again involves an underworld kingpin (Kenneth McMillan), this time one who forces his wife's lover (Robert Hays) to engage in a questionable bet. Not as clever nor as interesting as the first story, but not too bad either.
"The General," the final segment of the trio, is about an abnormally intelligent cat who, despite protests from the mother (Candy Clark), "adopts" a family and moves into their rural home. Unbenknownst to the humans, the feline's raison d'etre is to defend the daughter (Drew Barrymore) from the attacks of a wicked woodland troll who has also claimed squatting rights in the home. Definitely the weakest of the three stories--and thematically out of step with the other two--though the animatronics FX for the wee creature are kinda cool.
The final segment is also meant to be the climax of the wraparound, but that might be rather unclear to some viewers. Director Lewis Teague has claimed that the wraparound's prologue was originally longer and made its connection to "The General" much more obvious, but the resulting ambiguity was created by studio-enforced cuts beyond Lewis' control. Pity. The overall movie might have been more cohesive if studio suits had kept their scissors away from the director's and screenwriter's joint vision.
CAT'S EYE is not the best film based on the works of Stephen King, to be sure, but it is still a well-made and entertaining diversion. Jack Cardiff's cinematography is excellent, the editing is top-notch, and the pacing of the stories is good. And director Teague--who earlier directed CUJO (1983), another King adaptation--elicits great performances from most of the cast. Genre buffs, especially fans of writer King, will enjoy spotting all of the self-referential--and often humorously self-deprecating--in-jokes (which include the killer car Christine and a clip from 1983's THE DEAD ZONE, among others). Also watch for the very brief appearance of actor Charles S. Dutton in one of his first screen appearances.
The DVD from Warner seems about as low-budget as the film itself, but it still offers a nice digital transfer of the film in anamorphic widescreen. And unlike a lot of Warner cheapies, there is also an informative feature commentary with director Teague. Well worth amazon.com's VERY reasonable price of admission.
Movie Review: Drew Barrymore in a Stephen King Comedy? Inane, Loopy Fun
Summary: 3 Stars
Drew Barrymore in one of her first starring roles isn't exactly a great invitation to watch a movie, but I bought this anyway because it was apparently adapted from a Stephen King work I had never even heard of. Is it any good? Yes and No. All the best parts have nothing to do with Drew, and quite honestly, she didn't even have much to do in the movie.
To call this a `movie' would be incorrect. Its more of a `collection of vignettes'. The film is divided into three broad sections, and each has nothing to do with the other, except for the fact that one single cat plays the observer in all the segments. The cat `sees' Drew ask him for help in the first scene, and he goes through various situations all trying to find her. The final piece of the movie is when the cat finds Drew and is adopted by her. But not so quick! His destiny is finally revealed. Turns out there is an evil goblin that comes out at night in Drews' room to `take away her soul', and the climax is a hilarious fight between the cat and the goblin. No prizes for guessing who wins.
This is by no stretch of the imagination a `horror' film. With all its' early 1980's `special effects', it borders on camp, and really, its quite watchable. The middle of the film sags (it has nothing to do with the cat, instead its all about one man being tortured by another, by making him hang off the edge of a high-rise building) but I really can't hold it against the makers if this was all in the book that Stephen King wrote. Remind me never to read that book though! Ah yes, the first part of the movie has an inane segment where a mans' wife is forcibly tortured unless he quits smoking (??). This sort of bizarre theme might work if handled differently, but here it becomes satire.
And yes, Drew Barrymore acts terribly and is in the film for maybe ten minutes.
Three Stars. Despite being thoroughly idiotic and dated, this is one of those perfect drunk-night movies where you can point to the screen and laugh out loud with all your friends. Its that hilarious.
Movie Review: 3 Stephen King Tales
Summary: 3 Stars
As far as 1980's horror anthologies go "Cat's Eye" is okay, nowhere near as good as "Creepshow", but better than "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie". The film features 3 adaptations of Stephen King tales, two of which come from "The Night Shift" collection loosely connected by a framing story about a stray cat.
1. - Quitters Inc. This is probably my favorite story found in this collection. James Woods wants to quit smoking, turning to Quitters Inc. to help. Unfortunately Quitters Inc. uses some pretty extreme methods to help folks kick the habit. With a large dose of dark humor, and Alan King as the nefarious head of Quitters Inc. you can't help but chuckle through this first entry.
2. - The Ledge. This is another solid entry as Robert Hays is coerced by his lover's husband to walk around the outside of a casino building when caught trying to run away with the man's wife. There are a few tense moments here or there and it's another fun entry.
3. - The General. This is where the film kind of falls apart for me. Drew Barrymore plays a kid suffering from nightmares and the titular stray cat seems to be the only thing that can make the nightmares stop. This is basically King's version of a "Goosebumps" tale, it's strictly for the 13 and under crowd as there are no scares, and the humor found in the earlier entries disappears too.
The good thing about "Cat's Eye" is that it's a good way to introduce your kids to Stephen King's tales, consider it a horror film for family.
Movie Review: Three By King
Summary: 3 Stars
A cat on the run provides the focus for a trio of tales from Stephen King. The cat finds itself in the city where it sees a vision of a girl asking it for help. Shortly after the cat is grabbed and put in the first story.
The cat finds itself as a test animal at a stop-smoking clinic run by Alan King. The success of the clinic is not based on psychology or diet, but on extortion and torture. The cat manages to get away.
As the cat tries to cross a busy Vegas street, he becomes the subject of a bet and winds up in a penthouse suite were a deadly game is to be played out. James Woods has been having an affair with the penthouse owner's wife. To protect his life he must follow a ledge all the way around the building.
Finally, the cat manages to reach the home of a young Drew Barrymore where he becomes a pet. No sooner does he arrive than we find out the girl is being menaced by a creature that lives in her bedroom wall. Only the cat can save her from the diminutive menace.
While technically an anthology movie, this one works a little better than most. Following the cat through the stories really is an effective way of tying the separate tales together. The third tale is the weakest and that is probably from the lack of a strong acting presence like in the first two stories. But all in all the film works and is entertaining right to the very end scene. Check it out.
Movie Review: Cat's Eye
Summary: 3 Stars
As a child, I watched "Cat's Eye" without blinking. From the opening sequence with the smoker to the ending sequence with the troll, it held my attention for over an hour. As an adult, however, it doesn't do the same. Don't get me wrong...it's still a good flick, but that's exactly what it is -- a flick. It's one you might watch on a rainy afternoon when there's nothing else to do or in the middle of the night when sleep just won't come.
With the opening story, I'm not sure why anyone would want to pick up smoking after watching it. If you knew all of this was going to happen to you and to your family, you'd think twice. The second story is probably the one that will be skipped most often. It's not that it's not good, but you can easily anticipate what's going to happen and how it will end. The last story, however, is the one to watch. The acting in it isn't all that great, but the story line is amazing. I'm not so sure why this story wasn't used to make a full-feature film. Any adult who had nightmares about trolls or monsters will definitely want to keep their feet up off the floor when watching this one!