Todays Key Movie:
Cat’s Eye is Kings second motion picture script (the first being Creepshow which we discussed a weeks back) and is based on three of his short stories. The movie follows a cat as it weaves it’s way between three stories leading him to a young girl in danger (played by a young Drew Barrymore).
The first story’ Quitters Inc’ focuses on a man (played by James Woods) determined to quite smoking. He joins a firm that has a specialty in ending addictions…permanently. Little does he know that their methods are, shall we say, unique? They do have a 98% success rate.
The second segment, ‘The Ledge’, is about a young tennis pro (played by Robert Hayes) who is confronted by the husband of the woman he is sleeping with. The husband, a high roller in vegas, makes the tennis pro a bet. If the tennis pro can make it all the way around the outside of his high rise building on a ledge, the high roller will let him go, no questions asked. If he cant…well…
The final segment brings it all back around to the cat. The cat finds the girl (Barrymore) he needs to save and what he must save her from might just take her breath away…
The movie also has some great cameos from King’s other works…you can see some of those in the trailer at the end of this article.
Why this movie?
As I said before, Horror was king in our household. We watched everything from Poltergeist to American Werewolf In London and many many more. We read Poe and Lovecraft, we celebrated Halloween in a bigger way than Christmas. My father taught me an appreciation for the macabre and this movie certainly fits that genre.
To this day I love watching or reading a good horror story, I’ve even written a few myself. The things in the the dark intrigue and frighten me and that is why I love them. Without recognizing our monsters, how would we recognize ourselves?
How did this translate to real life?
This movie specifically, nothing.
It was just one movie in a long line of horror films that lead me to my love of the genre. Because of these films I would later discover writers such as Bentley Little, Clive Barker and F. Paul Wilson. I would even eventually get to meet Paul through a mutual friend and have the pleasure of his company at dinner a few times. Something my past self would never believe would happen in multiple lifetimes.
It’s movies like this that helped lead me to do the the things I have done. To not fear the unknown and move forward no matter what. I guess you can say they helped me find my driving force. In many ways, my love of horror is one of the reasons I am here talking with you here now.
Okay, you like this film, but is it really a ‘good film’?
It’s not a masterpiece in any way but it is a good piece for its time. It’s well produced B+ or A- film at best. It’s more akin to a Ray Bradbury Theater or Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode collection than a real ‘movie’ and that is what makes it worthwhile. The production quality is solid and the acting is pretty decent. Nothing Oscar worthy, but not cringe worthy either. I really enjoyed it and I think you will too. It is Stephen King at his finest in simple storytelling, nothing too scary but plenty of twists and turns.
OK, where do I get this movie?
This is one of those that is pretty readily available. You’ll likely run across it in a bargin bin on bluray for around $10. You can also find it available digitally just about anywhere. King’s movies tend to get released in every format known to man.
In case you don’t want to search, you can grab one here from Best Buy HERE for $8-$10 on Blu Ray.
And as usual, here’s the Theatrical Trailer. It’s pretty great. Special note, they erroneously claim that this movie is King’s first screenplay when, as stated above, Creepshow was in fact it.
Thanks for reading, many more key movies to come. If you would like to read others in this series of posts please check out my previous entries with The Last Starfighter and Willow. And, as always, please feel free to comment below and share your experiences with these movies as well. If you just happend by, tell me what you think!
Thanks for reading!
Late To The Game 11/1/17
Late to the Game Blog 
This was a pretty fun movie, I really liked some of the cameos from other King movies that appeared like Christine. Not every story was as good, but I especially liked the first part with James Woods. Wonderful review as always 😊
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