by A.J.
Night 6: Anthology Horror Night
“It was the cat that did it.”
It’s good for a horror anthology to have a theme to keep it on track and tie the stories together, even in a loose way; it makes the collection a more satisfying and cohesive experience. The 1977 horror anthology The Uncanny has perhaps the best possible theme: cats. The legendary Peter Cushing plays an author who is finally ready to reveal his latest book, which will make public how cats are actually intelligent and devious creatures who seek to control and even kill humans. His potential publisher, played by Ray Milland, is very skeptical, so Cushing tells him three stories that will prove the murderous nature of cats. If that sounds silly, that’s because, well, it is. If it sounds like not that much of a stretch because cats are clever and intelligent, that’s because, well, they are. The Uncanny takes full advantage of the unlikely combination of deviousness and cuteness in such a creature. This movie never asks you to take it seriously and thus is quite entertaining.
The first story is set in London in 1912. Joan Greenwood plays the wealthy Ms. Malkin who has cut her nerdowell nephew out of her will and left everything to her cats. Her housemaid, Janet (Susan Penhaligon), overhears this and alerts the nephew, with whom she is having an affair. He tells her to steal the will and Janet complies but is caught and smothers Ms. Malkin. The only witnesses are the cats who are determined on revenge. In Quebec 1975 young Lucy (Katrina Holden Bronson), whose parents recently died, is sent to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. Lucy’s only comfort is her beloved cat Wellington but her aunt can’t wait to get rid of Wellington and Lucy’s books about magic, tarot, and witchcraft. Wellington is sent away to be put down but escapes and returns and for revenge. In the final story, set in Hollywood in 1936, Donald Pleasence stars as Valentine De’ath whose wife tragically dies of an “accident” while on a movie set. He suggests that the production should continue with his mistress, Edina (Samantha Eggar), taking over his late wife’s role. He never paid attention to his wife’s cat, whose name he doesn’t remember, nor is he aware that the cat is actually a female. When he finds that the cat has a litter of newborn kittens, he drowns them in the toilet (off screen). If any cat ever deserved her revenge it is this cat and she gets quite inventive. Neither Cushing’s or Milland’s character seems to realize that the cats in these stories, though murderous, are not actually evil. They only seek revenge after being wronged.
Each of these segments and the interstitials with Cushing and Milland are filled with countless shots of staring cats set to ominous music. The laughs that come when a tiny fake paw darts out and scratches Janet’s hand every time she tries to reach for the will are perhaps unintended but fun. The same goes for shots of the cat in the Hollywood story trotting on the catwalk of the soundstage and chewing through the rope of an overhead light.
The London 1912 story is more of a thriller story. Janet was not able to clean up the crime scene before being attacked by the cats so she cannot answer the door or phone for help and is basically trapped. The Quebec segment is perhaps the weakest. The most shocking revelation of this story should be not that cats understand injustice, but that witchcraft is real. It has a dark joke of an ending that plays like a punchline that doesn’t really work. The third segment has dark humor that works. Pleasence does a great job playing an overly serious hammy actor.
The Uncanny is available to stream for free on Tubi and Plex.
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