Cat's Eye (1985 film)

Infobox_Film
name = Cat's Eye


caption = Theatrical poster
amg_id = 1:8607
imdb_id = 0088889
writer = Stephen King
starring = Drew Barrymore
James Woods
Alan King
Robert Hays
Kenneth McMillan
Candy Clark
James Naughton
director = Lewis Teague
producer = Dino De Laurentiis
Martha Schumacher
music = Alan Silvestri
cinematography = Jack Cardiff
editing = Scott Conrad
distributor = flagicon|USA Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
flagicon|Earth De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
released = April 12, 1985
runtime = 94 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $7,000,000

"Cat's Eye" (also known as "Stephen King's Cat's Eye") is a 1985 horror film directed by Lewis Teague and written by Stephen King. It is based on three of King's short stories, "The Ledge", "Quitters, Inc.", and "The General" (the first two appeared in his "Night Shift" story collection).

Plot introduction

The film consists of three stories linked together by a cat as he wanders the city, seeking out a little girl (Drew Barrymore) in order to save her from a supernatural danger. As he searches, the cat plays minor roles in the first two stories, witnessing some bizarre events: a smoker (James Woods) who is cured of his nicotine addiction by a Mafia-style organization; and a neglected wife's lover (Robert Hays) forced by her jealous husband to play a deadly game on the ledge of a tall building. (The segments are based on "Quitters, Inc." and "The Ledge" respectively, short stories found in King's collection "Night Shift").

In the final story, the cat has a bigger part to play. He finally finds the girl, who welcomes him and names him 'General'. Unfortunately, General soon runs afoul of her cat-hating mother, who treacherously sends him to the local animal shelter to be put to sleep. Undaunted, the cat escapes and returns to the girl, where he confronts a miniature troll who wishes to steal her breath. After a mighty struggle, General saves the girl's life by toppling the troll into a large fan. After the father finds irrefutable evidence of the troll's existence (its dismembered arm), the girl's mother finally accepts the cat, and all ends well.

Movie notes

*This was Barrymore's second film based on King's writing; she had previously appeared in "Firestarter" in 1984: both De Laurentiis productions, filmed in Wilmington NC.

*The film contains some references to other Stephen King works, namely The Dead Zone, Cujo, Christine, and Pet Sematary (at the start, Cujo, the dog from the film of the same name, chases the cat and, during the chase, is almost run over by Christine, the car from the movie of the same name).

*The film makes extensive use of a Police song "Every Breath You Take." Since the original version was too expensive for this low-budget production, a cover was used instead.
*Frank Welker played both the voices of General the Cat "and" the Troll.
* The screenplay for "The General" is included in the book Screamplays, edited by Richard Chizmar and Martin H. Greenberg.

Awards

The film was nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film in 1987. Drew Barrymore was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Starring Performance by a Young Actress in a Motion Picture in 1986.

"Cat's Eye" in popular culture

*The device of a cat linking short stories in the horror movie genre originated with the 1932 German horror film Unheimliche Geschichten produced by Gabriel Pascal.

*The comic strip Garfield once featured a segment where the titular feline found himself in Capitol City with a Barbie doll, alluding to a scene where the film's cat finds himself in an identical situation.

ee also

*1980s in film
*1985 in film
*List of Stephen King films

External links

*imdb title|id=0088889|title=Cat's Eye
* [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:8607 All Movie Guide entry for "Cat's Eye"]