THE SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961) – Episode 188 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“You mean to tell me that an ordinary domestic cat is terrorizing three grown-ups?” Well, yes. Is that surprising? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Jeff Mohr, and guests Bill Mulligan and Michael Zatz – as they follow the cat everyone worries about in BHP Production’s The Shadow of the Cat (1961). Pssst! It’s really a Hammer Film. Really.

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era
Episode 188 – The Shadow of the Cat (1961)

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ANNOUNCEMENT
Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL
Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era!
Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website.
Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.
https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

A house cat sees her mistress murdered. The cat becomes ferociously bent on revenge while the murderers try to kill her, the only witness.

• Directed by: John Gilling
• Writing Credits: George Baxt
• Production Design by: Bernard Robinson
• Music by: Mikis Theodorakis
• Cinematography by: Arthur Grant (director of photography)
• Selected Cast:
  • André Morell as Walter Venable (as Andre Morell)
  • Barbara Shelley as Beth Venable
  • William Lucas as Jacob Venable
  • Freda Jackson as Clara
  • Conrad Phillips as Michael Latimer
  • Richard Warner as Edgar Venable
  • Vanda Godsell as Louise Venable
  • Alan Wheatley as Inspector Rowles
  • Andrew Crawford as Andrew
  • Kynaston Reeves as The Grandfather
  • Catherine Lacey as Ella Venable
  • Henry Kendall as The Doctor (uncredited)

Even though The Shadow of the Cat (1961) is never identified on screen as a Hammer Film (B.H.P. Productions is credited), it is most definitely Hammer! All the ingredients are there: it’s filmed at Bray Studios, most of the cast and crew are Hammer regulars, and Hammer handles the money management. The one obvious exception is the presence of Hammer’s standard bright red Kensington Gore (the film is shot in black and white). The presence of the wonderful Barbara Shelley and a menacing André Morell seal the deal.

Much to our dismay, Doc and Chad are absent-with-leave. In their stead, Daphne and Jeff are joined by Bill “Cats ’r’ Us” Mulligan and Michael “The Shadow of the” Zatz. Let the feline shenanigans begin!

At the time of this writing, The Shadow of the Cat (1961) is available on physical media as a Blu-ray formatted disc in Scream Factory’s “Universal Horror Collection: Volume 6” along with The Black Castle (1952), Cult of the Cobra (1955), and The Thing Couldn’t Die (1958).

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Daphne – is The Flesh and the Fiends (1960), directed by John Gilling and featuring Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence, George Rose, and Billie Whitelaw. Ah, yes. Burke and Hare strike again!

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