Now I can finally throw away my battered old VHS copy (yes, it’s that old) and enjoy this crisp new transfer of one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Despite credits to the contrary, everyone knows that SHADOW OF THE CAT is a Hammer film in all but name (the wardrobe mistress is Molly Arbuthnot so how could it not be), shot at Bray Studios in 1960. Rather than an overt horror film, it is essentially an “old dark house” mystery, a genre popular from the 1920s through the early 1940s.
As such it is loaded with atmospheric photography, solid performances from a number of Hammer regulars and some choice, overripe dialogue especially from Freda Jackson. SHADOW marks the first of several films that director John Gilling would make for Hammer in the the first half of the 1960s. He had just come from the seriously atmospheric and surprisingly vicious FLESH & THE FIENDS (about Burke & Hare) which had been made for Robert S. Baker & Monty Berman. The two movies couldn’t be further apart in tone but they were clearly made by the same director.
As mentioned earlier the performances are quite enjoyable especially Andre Morell as the increasingly paranoid husband and Freda Jackson who positively dines upon the scenery just as she did in BRIDES OF DRACULA. Barbara Shelley looks great as always but really isn’t given that much to do especially if you’ve seen CAT GIRL. A lot of people complain about the cat as not being sinister enough but it’s rather nice that it isn’t a black cat for a change. Gilling’s distorted “cat’s eye view” is meager but effective.
The biggest problem I have is with Mikis Theodorakis’ score which is either overbearing or inappropriately playful and ineffective anyway you look at it (can this really be the man who would give us the dynamic Z film score years later?). A great film? Hardly. It’s not even a good film a lot of the time but it is entertaining which, I’m sure, is all its producers wanted it to be. Hard to believe it was released on a double bill with the Oliver Reed CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF. I do miss the old double bills. They were almost always entertaining and they certainly gave you your money’s worth.
The Capsule Critic 