Greatest Movie of All Time of the Week: Curse of the Cat People!

Spoilers for Cat People entailed.

Last time we checked in with Oliver (S.F. Guy) and Alice (Jane Randolph), they were fighting for their lives against the ambiguous feline menace of Irena (Simone Simon). Years later they're married, confirming, somewhat hilariously, her worst fears. But has Irena returned as a spooky ghost to haunt their autistic daughter? Despite the title, this surprising sequel isn't so much a retread of the original's classic-horror atmospherics as a charming, redemptive coda with a wholesome festive vibe, its horror elements played even subtler and relegated to the merest frisson until they resurface in key scenes. Yes, Curse is the first and last horror sequel to shift gears into Christmaskino.

"Happy holidays" sayers on even more suicide watch than usual.

But as the movie opens, Oliver and Alice are troubled over their daughter Amy's (Ann Carter) apparent fantasy life. Amy daydreams, posts letters in a hollow tree, hangs out with a weird old lady and her live-in carer daughter, and, most disconcertingly of all, announces that she has a new friend, who turns out to be Irena. Is she an imaginary friend, a real benign spirit, or a vengeful ghost posing as Casper to lure Amy to her doom?

Sorry WitchTERF4968, under Project 2025 all women will be required to wear these fairytale gowns with the long drooping wizard sleeves. I don't make the rules!

Of course, to answer would be to spoil. Perhaps because it veered so far from the perfectly judged horror template of its rightly esteemed predecessor, Curse was a commercial flop and remains largely unknown. But if you've exhausted your oh-so-nontraditional Christmas movie fare with Die Hard and Batman Returns, and if you followed my orders and watched the original this Halloween, Curse might be the seasonal gem to see you through your Christmas evening. Either that or revisit The Mothman Prophecies. Maybe make it a double bill.