The Cat is the holy grail of Cult Film for any and all Cult Film Fans. We search and search for these types of WTF style films that need to be seen to be believed. No stranger to the type of wild, unpredictable films, director Lam Nai-Choi’s filmography includes The Seventh Curse, Erotic Ghost Story, and Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. The Cat is every bit the masterwork as those deep dives into cinematic lunacy.
There isn’t a good way to describe the plot of The Cat without sounding like you are suffering from a terrible case of CTE. It’s that kind of wild, “huh” type of plot that only makes sense as you watch it unfold. Even then, the fact that you’re watching a cat as a cat who’s actually an alien lifeform bounty hunting another alien lifeform still is hard to let sink in. Yes, there are hints of The Hidden (another great sci-fi cult classic), but the Jack Sholder-directed film doesn’t go to the delirious dizzying heights The Cat does.
Part of the charm of the entire film is how deathly serious the film takes everything down to the centerpiece of the film, a dog versus cat fight scene. Though when I say “dog versus cat,” it is unlike anything you’ve seen before. Sure, a big-budget film like Cats & Dogs has a massive budget, but The Cat has an insane sense of internal logic at play that outshines that film or any other that showcases a similar scene. It’s the go for broke; I don’t give a f**k attitude that The Cat displays that separates it. The same one that is so omnipresent in Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky and The Seventh Curse.
One could review point by point of what makes The Cat so strange and compulsively watchable, but that would be to take some of the power of the film from it. Part of the charm of the movie is the sense of unexpectedness that lurks around every corner of this film’s brisk 87-minute runtime. If you have seen any of director Lam Nai-Choi’s filmography, you know exactly the kind of night you’re in form. If you haven’t. Buckle up for a wild rollercoaster ride of a film. The Cat is the perfect entry point into this unique director’s career.
The Transfer
The Cat is presented here from an all-new 2K restoration from the original negative and looks absolutely stunning. That restoration is due in large part to Fortune Star’s work, but the work here from 88 Films to bring this to Blu-ray should be discounted. There isn’t a scratch, blemish, or speck of dirt throughout the runtime of the film. The razor-sharp image is near flawless. Fans of the film will be pleased by the presentation that puts the prior iterations of the film on home video to shame.
The Extras
They include the following;
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
Japanese Cut [SD] with English Subtitles
Brand New Film Interview with Writer Gordon Chan
Image Gallery
Trailer
The all-new audio commentary by Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) opens with his credentials before diving into the film. Some of the details include the literal translation of the titles and alternate titles both of the HK version and the Japanese version; the release, and the box office success of the film; the books these are based on – including some personal asides about procuring these novels by Djeng; a history of sci-fi novelist Ni Kuang and some of the work that was adapted to TV and Film; how this novel The Old Cat was first published and other adaptations before and after; a discussion of lead actor Corey Yip who portrays the alien girl in the film; a discussion of the lack of use of Sync Sound in most HK Production but here it was used in a few instances during the production; the personal and professional history of novelist Ni Kuang; a discussion of the professional and personal history of director Lam Nai-Choi; a discussion of the infamous cat vs dog fight scene that’s the centerpiece of the film; the lack of a presence of sci-fi in HK and why that is culturally; the work of the very prolific (having written credited and uncredited of 500 scripts) screenwriter of Ni Kuang; the differences between the film version and the novel; a larger discussion of the Japanese version and how it came about, the film itself, the adaptation, the cast and crew from the production, and much more; a larger discussion of the cultural norms that appear in the film; a larger discussion of the historical context in which the film takes place in; a larger discussion of the various locations the production used; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open you’ll want to write some of the films down; and much more.
Japanese Cut [SD] with English Subtitles (97:00) – re-titled Monster Wars for the Japanese market this just isn’t a new cut but an entirely different film. They literally keep the special FX sequences and set pieces and have changed literally everything else for the Japanese market, recasting and rewriting the film whole cloth. The result is an erratic mishmash of editing for a market and trying to match things (terribly) gone bad. This is a case study in making the wrong choices at every turn when it comes to “cutting” a film you buy. Again, this isn’t a different cut; this is an entirely different movie with different actors cast in the lead roles, resulting in a film that is more infuriating than it is entertaining. Especially if one has already seen the perfection that is The Cat. If one is interested in this film, please do listen to Frank Djeng’s excellent commentary to hear more details about how this came about and more details on this odd production. In Japanese with English Subtitles.
Brand New Film Interview with Writer Gordon Chan (21:47) – in this all-new interview with the writer of The Cat, the interview begins with how he became involved with writing the film. Chan goes on to discuss how he was mentored by director Chua Lam/Alex Cheung during his early days at Shaw Brothers; the difficulty in adapting the novel he faced; the differences that he faced with director Lam Nai-Choi with his screenplay; working with the other screenwriters on the project and everyone’s particular method of writing and how different they were; the difficulty of the production from a cat perspective – even a few deaths; the focus of the script changing from the focus in the novel; a few details on the Japanese version that was filmed at the same time and the HK version; and much more. In Cantonese with English subtitles.
Image Gallery (1:58) – the image gallery consists of approximately 24 still frames from the film that play automatically with the score from the film in the background.
Trailer (4:23) – It should be noted that this trailer ruins the film’s biggest set piece. If you don’t want some of the most gonzo moments of the film ruined for you, please wait until after to watch this trailer. In Cantonese with English Subtitles
The Final Thought
88 Films continues to distinguish itself as a unique label with releases like The Cat. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
The Cat is a sci-fi action film unlike anything you’ve ever seen. New to Blu-ray from 88 Films.
The Film
The Cat is the holy grail of Cult Film for any and all Cult Film Fans. We search and search for these types of WTF style films that need to be seen to be believed. No stranger to the type of wild, unpredictable films, director Lam Nai-Choi’s filmography includes The Seventh Curse, Erotic Ghost Story, and Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. The Cat is every bit the masterwork as those deep dives into cinematic lunacy.
There isn’t a good way to describe the plot of The Cat without sounding like you are suffering from a terrible case of CTE. It’s that kind of wild, “huh” type of plot that only makes sense as you watch it unfold. Even then, the fact that you’re watching a cat as a cat who’s actually an alien lifeform bounty hunting another alien lifeform still is hard to let sink in. Yes, there are hints of The Hidden (another great sci-fi cult classic), but the Jack Sholder-directed film doesn’t go to the delirious dizzying heights The Cat does.
Part of the charm of the entire film is how deathly serious the film takes everything down to the centerpiece of the film, a dog versus cat fight scene. Though when I say “dog versus cat,” it is unlike anything you’ve seen before. Sure, a big-budget film like Cats & Dogs has a massive budget, but The Cat has an insane sense of internal logic at play that outshines that film or any other that showcases a similar scene. It’s the go for broke; I don’t give a f**k attitude that The Cat displays that separates it. The same one that is so omnipresent in Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky and The Seventh Curse.
One could review point by point of what makes The Cat so strange and compulsively watchable, but that would be to take some of the power of the film from it. Part of the charm of the movie is the sense of unexpectedness that lurks around every corner of this film’s brisk 87-minute runtime. If you have seen any of director Lam Nai-Choi’s filmography, you know exactly the kind of night you’re in form. If you haven’t. Buckle up for a wild rollercoaster ride of a film. The Cat is the perfect entry point into this unique director’s career.
The Transfer
The Cat is presented here from an all-new 2K restoration from the original negative and looks absolutely stunning. That restoration is due in large part to Fortune Star’s work, but the work here from 88 Films to bring this to Blu-ray should be discounted. There isn’t a scratch, blemish, or speck of dirt throughout the runtime of the film. The razor-sharp image is near flawless. Fans of the film will be pleased by the presentation that puts the prior iterations of the film on home video to shame.
The Extras
They include the following;
The all-new audio commentary by Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) opens with his credentials before diving into the film. Some of the details include the literal translation of the titles and alternate titles both of the HK version and the Japanese version; the release, and the box office success of the film; the books these are based on – including some personal asides about procuring these novels by Djeng; a history of sci-fi novelist Ni Kuang and some of the work that was adapted to TV and Film; how this novel The Old Cat was first published and other adaptations before and after; a discussion of lead actor Corey Yip who portrays the alien girl in the film; a discussion of the lack of use of Sync Sound in most HK Production but here it was used in a few instances during the production; the personal and professional history of novelist Ni Kuang; a discussion of the professional and personal history of director Lam Nai-Choi; a discussion of the infamous cat vs dog fight scene that’s the centerpiece of the film; the lack of a presence of sci-fi in HK and why that is culturally; the work of the very prolific (having written credited and uncredited of 500 scripts) screenwriter of Ni Kuang; the differences between the film version and the novel; a larger discussion of the Japanese version and how it came about, the film itself, the adaptation, the cast and crew from the production, and much more; a larger discussion of the cultural norms that appear in the film; a larger discussion of the historical context in which the film takes place in; a larger discussion of the various locations the production used; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open you’ll want to write some of the films down; and much more.
Japanese Cut [SD] with English Subtitles (97:00) – re-titled Monster Wars for the Japanese market this just isn’t a new cut but an entirely different film. They literally keep the special FX sequences and set pieces and have changed literally everything else for the Japanese market, recasting and rewriting the film whole cloth. The result is an erratic mishmash of editing for a market and trying to match things (terribly) gone bad. This is a case study in making the wrong choices at every turn when it comes to “cutting” a film you buy. Again, this isn’t a different cut; this is an entirely different movie with different actors cast in the lead roles, resulting in a film that is more infuriating than it is entertaining. Especially if one has already seen the perfection that is The Cat. If one is interested in this film, please do listen to Frank Djeng’s excellent commentary to hear more details about how this came about and more details on this odd production. In Japanese with English Subtitles.
Brand New Film Interview with Writer Gordon Chan (21:47) – in this all-new interview with the writer of The Cat, the interview begins with how he became involved with writing the film. Chan goes on to discuss how he was mentored by director Chua Lam/Alex Cheung during his early days at Shaw Brothers; the difficulty in adapting the novel he faced; the differences that he faced with director Lam Nai-Choi with his screenplay; working with the other screenwriters on the project and everyone’s particular method of writing and how different they were; the difficulty of the production from a cat perspective – even a few deaths; the focus of the script changing from the focus in the novel; a few details on the Japanese version that was filmed at the same time and the HK version; and much more. In Cantonese with English subtitles.
Image Gallery (1:58) – the image gallery consists of approximately 24 still frames from the film that play automatically with the score from the film in the background.
Trailer (4:23) – It should be noted that this trailer ruins the film’s biggest set piece. If you don’t want some of the most gonzo moments of the film ruined for you, please wait until after to watch this trailer. In Cantonese with English Subtitles
The Final Thought
88 Films continues to distinguish itself as a unique label with releases like The Cat. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
88 Films’ Blu-ray Edition of The Cat is out November 25th
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