Moving into the thriller genre and away from the ghouls and vamps, we find the 1961 Hammer classic the Shadow of the Cat.
Ella Venable (Catherine Lacey) is several things; rich, old, a little obsessed with her black cat Tabitha, and thanks to her butler Andrew (Andrew Crawford) quite dead. Andrew, along with Ella's husband Walter (Andre Morell) and the maid Clara (Freda Jackson), bury the body at a remote end of the estate. The three killers congratulate themselves and why shouldn't they? The estate is vast, no one expects to see Ella again, in fact the only witness to the deed was Tabitha and she shouldn't be a problem, should she?
A few days later police Inspector Rowles (Alan Wheatley) and local newsman Michael Latimer (Conrad Philips) pay a visit to the Venable estate and officially mark Ella as missing. Rowles suspects foul play, but as it is he can't prove it. Walter married Ella for her money, he knows, but he can't connect that to murder. So with Ella dead Walter should get the home and cash, right?
Not quite; in her current will Ella leaves everything to Walter, true, but the first (and real, Rowles suspects) draft made it a point not to leave Walter with a single shilling. So naturally Walter is motivated to find the proper will. The only catch is Tabitha. The cat seems to be taking the old woman's murder rather personal and makes it a mission to torment all three. Searching in the basement ends with Walter having a heart attack thanks to the cat.
Bedridden, Walter is forced to summon the rest of the family. First his niece Beth (Barbara Shelly), who Ella loved the most (and may have left her estate to), followed by his nephew Jacob (William Lucas) and his brother Edgar (Richard Wagner) and his wife Louise (Vanda Godsell). The last three are as sneaky as him and he promises them a share in the estate if they can find the original will and kill the cat.
Beth is shocked by this, as she's only known Tabitha as a sweet pussycat. The rest of the family doesn't mind killing the feline though, but Tabitha is a bit more resourceful than your average house cat. She proves this by drowning Andrew.
With the killers in a full panic, can Tabitha avenge her mistress's death and save Beth before time runs out?
A pretty neat little thriller and great atmosphere. The scenes shot from Tabitha's perspective are a bit wonky, but still a neat effect.
A few days later police Inspector Rowles (Alan Wheatley) and local newsman Michael Latimer (Conrad Philips) pay a visit to the Venable estate and officially mark Ella as missing. Rowles suspects foul play, but as it is he can't prove it. Walter married Ella for her money, he knows, but he can't connect that to murder. So with Ella dead Walter should get the home and cash, right?
Not quite; in her current will Ella leaves everything to Walter, true, but the first (and real, Rowles suspects) draft made it a point not to leave Walter with a single shilling. So naturally Walter is motivated to find the proper will. The only catch is Tabitha. The cat seems to be taking the old woman's murder rather personal and makes it a mission to torment all three. Searching in the basement ends with Walter having a heart attack thanks to the cat.
Bedridden, Walter is forced to summon the rest of the family. First his niece Beth (Barbara Shelly), who Ella loved the most (and may have left her estate to), followed by his nephew Jacob (William Lucas) and his brother Edgar (Richard Wagner) and his wife Louise (Vanda Godsell). The last three are as sneaky as him and he promises them a share in the estate if they can find the original will and kill the cat.
Beth is shocked by this, as she's only known Tabitha as a sweet pussycat. The rest of the family doesn't mind killing the feline though, but Tabitha is a bit more resourceful than your average house cat. She proves this by drowning Andrew.
With the killers in a full panic, can Tabitha avenge her mistress's death and save Beth before time runs out?
A pretty neat little thriller and great atmosphere. The scenes shot from Tabitha's perspective are a bit wonky, but still a neat effect.
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