|
|
|
|
Cat’s Eye is a anthology with all three stories written by American novelist
screenwriter Stephen King. Two of the three short published stories are actually taken
from his Night Shift collection. All three stories do have one particular thing in
common, which is a wandering cat named General (the title of the last story) who is
trying to find his way back home.
The first story is called Quitters, Inc. and is about a smoking addict named Dick
Morrison (James Woods), who goes to an agency called 'Quitters Incorporated' (which
is run by the mafia), to see Dr. Donatti (Alan King) who has a very unique/successful
way of getting people to quit smoking. Morrison who is willing to try anything to stop
quit smoking soon realises that Dr. Donatti methods are cruel and sadistic. If caught
smoking, shallow graves are already in store for his family and loved ones. As Morrison
tries to kick his habit by going cold turkey, Dr. Donatti places spies at Morrisons every
whereabouts to watch his every move waiting for him have a puff.
Next you have The Ledge, this story is about a ex-tennis pro Johnny Norris (Robert
Hays) who is kidnapped and brought back to a penthouse apartment to be confronted
for having a affair with the wife of a mobster named Cressner (Kenneth McMillan), a
man who loves to gamble. Norris is offered a deal he cannot refuse, which he has to
walk around the five-inch ledge of his high-rise building. If he survives the walk, he
can leave.
And the final story is called The General, which is probably the best one of them all.
This story is about an adventurous cat who is secretly adopted and named General by a
little girl named Amanda (played by a very young 9yr old Drew Barrymore), but her
cautious mother who strongly believes that “cats steal little girls' breaths when they
are asleep” is not allowed to have the cat, but unknowingly to the family a tiny troll
who lives in the wall of Amanda’s bedroom is actually attempting to steal the girl's
breath.
|
| |
|
|
Presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with 16:9 enhancement. The picture cleans up rather
well with a solid transfer which the print looks good, but the visuals aren't as sharp as I
expected. I do think the picture detail is fairly decent, but given the age of the film I
guess we can take it easy on the visuals.
|
| |
|
|
The audio option was quite good, with more presence than I expected. The vocals
sound crystal clear on high levels throughout, so no concerns there. This disc only
comes in a 2.0 Dolby Digital option, as well as Portuguese subtitles. Plus the score that
was done by Alan Silvestri, nowadays sounds rather cheesy.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
Sadly no extras are presented on this release.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
When Stephen King had his first novel Carrie published back in 1973, King ended up
making a huge name for himself throughout America. As this talented horror fiction
writer sent cold shivers up the spines of his fans with his books, director Brian De
Palma, wanted to bring to life his first novel Carrie by making it in to a movie. Which
shortly after began the epic era of Stephen King where just about every novel or short
story was soon bought to life and soon marketed directly to VHS.
Now I have never picked up a Stephen King novel in my life, though I keep on getting
told the same thing by other King fan readers that many of his films are no way near as
good as his novels. So it’s very hard for me to comment about many of his novels
which have been turned into a film. Though over the years I have watched my fair
share of King films, and one thing that I did pick up on was that Cat’s Eye which
surprisingly does contains some references to other Stephen King films. For example
the beginning of the film as the cat is being chased by a dog named Cujo, which was
another King film that director Lewis Teague, directed two years prior to Cat‘s Eye.
Also the car that nearly ran over the dog was in fact the same car used in Christine
later in 1983.
With only of a budget of $7,000,000us, Cat’s Eye contains a song "Every Breath You
Take” preformed by the band Police. With budget restraints, director Lewis Teague
wasn’t able to use the original cover so he settled for a cover band to play the original
song.
It’s sad that Cat’s Eye had never really made much of a cult status, like The Shinning,
Salem’s Lot or even Carrie to name a few, despise the A list of well known actors who
appeared in the film. Thanks to Madman Entertainment Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye has
finally been re-released back onto DVD in Australia. It’s definitely well worth the
viewing for all you King film fans, who are wanting to re-watch this old VHS classic
once again.
|
|
