The Cat (Limited Edition) [Blu-ray]
(Gloria Yip, Waise Lee, Christine Ng, Yuk-San Cheung, Liang Chiang, et al / Blu-ray / NR / (1991) 2025 / 88 Films)
Overview: A cat from outer space teams up with a young alien girl and her knight, along with a novelist named Wisely, to fight an alien that possesses people.
An adaptation of the novel Old Cat, by Ni Kuang. A cat from outer space teams up with a young alien girl and her knight, along with an adventure novelist named Wisely, to fight a murderous alien that possesses people.
What follows is an over-the-top combination of body-swap delirium that leans more toward a Hong Kong adaptation of The Hidden than The Cat from Outer Space, but with touches of The Thing, Spaced Invaders, and Aliens! The Cat is an overlooked gem from the golden age of the VHS trading underground, completely remastered and packed with extras.
Blu-ray Verdict: From the team that brought us the outrageous prison drama STORY OF RICKY comes an equally bizarre science-fiction movie. Oh, and it isn’t ashamed to borrow ideas from sources as diverse as CALTIKI, THE TERMINATOR, THE BLOB and THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT. The result is certainly lively and - if you’re in the right frame of mind - quite entertaining.
The story concerns three visitors from another solar system whose mission on earth is to destroy the star-killer"=, an amorphous Lovecraftian creature that absorbs and can re-animate its human victims. The trio is seeking two relics displayed in terrestrial museums. When joined together, the relics create an amplification device for a ray beamed from their home planet. Bathed in the amplified ray, one of the visitors - a black cat called The General - will be powerful enough to vanquish the monster.
The film’s main attractions are its comely female cast members and some over-the-top action sequences. These include a junk yard battle between The General and a huge black mastiff that just have to be seen to be believed. There are also some quite graphic horror scenes, but the poor quality of the make-up effects mutes their impact.
Although it never attains the quality of the films it emulates, THE CAT is sufficiently fast paced enough to hold our attention even while we laugh at its absurdities. That all said, The Cat is HIGHLY recommended late night viewing!
Limited Edition Special Features:
LIMITED EDITION RIGID SLIP CASE WITH NEW ARTWORK BY SEAN LONGMORE
LIMITED EDITION 40 PAGE PERFECT BOUND BOOK
LIMITED EDITION PREMIUM ARTCARD
BRAND NEW 2K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE
REMASTERED ORIGINAL CANTONESE MONOAURAL SOUNDTRACK
NEWLY TRANSLATED ENGLISH SUBTITLES
AUDIO COMMENTARY BY FRANK DJENG (NY ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL)
BRAND NEW FILM INTERVIEW WITH WRITER GORDON CHAN
IMAGE GALLERY
Official Trailer
Official Purchase Link
www.88-films.myshopify.com