Cat's Eye

Cat's Eye; Horror, USA, 1985; D: Lewis Teague, S: James Woods, Robert Hays, Drew Barrymore

Three stories: magnificent smoker Morrison enlists in an Agency that should help him stop his addiction of cigarettes. But the owner of the Agency takes his assignment too seriously and threatens Morrison that he will torture his wife and daughter if he starts smoking again. Morrison tries hard, but still takes a cigarette in a car - immediately afterwards he witnesses how his wife is placed to dance on an electrified floor. He takes his task seriously and quits smoking...Norris, who has a huge debt, sleeps with the wife of the gangster Cressner who punishes him by forcing him to walk on the ledge of a tall building. Still, Norris makes it and kills him...A cat enters a house of a little girl who is afraid of a 5 inch troll in her bedroom, but her parents don't believe her. The troll shows up but the cat eliminates him.

Anthology of 3 horror stories by Stephen King that are loosely connected by a cat which appears in all of them, "Cat's Eye" is considered moderately successful. A few moments of irony are neat, like in the exposition where James Woods' character is watching "Deadzone" on television (evidently, also a King adaptation) or when the automobile "Christine" passes on the screen. The first story with Woods in a dilemma between a cigarette and his life is at moments excellent, but the remaining two deserve maybe just an average grade. Actually, only the last one contains fantasy elements (though the 5 inch troll isn't so terrifying), while the others are more or less just standard thrillers with occasional cheap horror repertoire, while it's also bothersome that the psychological side is avoided. Though, Woods' segment would have been a great little short.

Grade:++