[KING'S CORNER] The Cat from Hell (1990)

The Cat from Hell (Tales from the Darkside) - King's Corner Review

Welcome to King's Corner. A recurring series of reviews based on the film and TV adaptations of Stephen King's novels and collections, reviewed and released in order of the original source material publishing date.

Director: John Harrison

Starring: David Johansen, Alice Drummond, William Hickey, Mark Margolis, Dolores Sutton

Written by: George A. Romero

Produced by: Mitchell Gallin, Richard P. Rubinstein

Cinematography by: Robert Draper

Original Score by: Chaz Jankel

Synopsis:

A filthy rich, wheelchair-bound old man hires a hitman to kill … a cat. A cat which he believes is evil.

Thoughts:

If you were to do an image search of the term “Stephen King cats” online you won’t be met with a horrific AI generated image of the author’s face on the body of Mr. Mistoffelees but of him smiling with a content feline on his lap. His work as a writer paints them as having supernatural or near mystical qualities in how they act like a guardian between our world and another. Perhaps the most well known cat from any of his works is Church who tries to warn the Creed family that “sometimes dead is better” in 'Pet Sematary'. In the anthology film 'Cat’s Eye' General acts as a protector to his owner Amanda from a troll who tries to steal her breath as she sleeps. In 'Doctor Sleep' Azzie acts like a harbinger of death in a hospice as they would sit with a patient in their final moments before they shed their mortal coil. They aren’t all saints though as the title of the adaptation I am looking at in this edition of King’s Corner suggests. 

The story has a long publication history. The first 500 words of it were published in Cavalier magazine in March 1977 as part of a competition where readers had to finish the story and the winning entry would be published in June of the same year. This inspiration for the contest came from the fiction editor of the magazine, Nye Willden. He sent King a picture of a cat hissing asking King to write a story based on it for the contest. He agreed to it and liked writing the story so much he finished his version which was published alongside the competition winner. Over the years it has been featured in books such as 'Tales of Unknown Horror', 'Year's Finest Fantasy', 'Magicats!' and 'Twists of the Tale: An Anthology of Cat Horror' before being added to King’s story collection 'Just After Sunset' in 2008. It is a simple (and bizarre) story of a hitman who is tasked with killing a cat but he soon finds out he has got more than he bargained for with this job. 

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The story was initially slated to be adapted for a segment of 'Creepshow 2' but budget constraints meant that plans to film it were scrapped. The popularity of George A. Romero’s anthology television series 'Tales From The Darkside' led to a film version of the show that included adaptations of stories like Arthur Conan Doyle’s 'Lot No. 249' and 'Women of the Snow' (titled Lover's Vow here) from Kwaidan. Romero already had a script of 'The Cat From Hell' so he slotted it in here. King’s relationship with the property through the adaptation of 'The Word Processor Of The Gods' and the script he penned for the episode 'Sorry, Right Number' made the decision of including 'The Cat From Hell' in the movie an easy one. 

The wrap-around of the film is a take on the tale of Hansel and Gretal where a kidnapped boy called Timmy (Matthew Lawrence) is trying to talk his way out of being cooked by Betty (Debbie Harry) a witch hiding in plain sight in the suburbs. He reads her three stories from an old book called Tales from the Darkside with 'The Cat From Hell' serving as the second of the three. 

The segment begins with a hitman known as Halston (David Johansen) who meets the elderly owner of a pharmaceutical company, Drogan (William Hickey) at his old mansion to discuss a job. From the beginning director, John Harrison establishes some noirish stylistic choices with the way the old mansion is lit with the sound echoing down the empty hallways and how shadows are cast across the room adding a lot of atmosphere to the segment. A lot of credit has to go to the production team but cinematographer Robert Draper does a great job with the use of blue filters for the flashback sequences showing the bias in Drogan’s memory as he recants it to Halston. 

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Drogan explains that he believes that the cat is to blame for the death of his sister, friend and butler even though from an outside perspective they seem like coincidental accidents. It makes you think early on that these are the ramblings of an old man addicted to his own experimental drugs. It's a nice touch from Romero’s script that makes you think twice until the inevitable showdown between Halston and the cat. There is also some sort of commentary to be found in it about the cruel nature of animal testing but Romero sidelines it to be more playful. 

The battle of wills between the two is one of the best parts of the segment with Halston gradually unravelling as the cat gets the upper hand on him. It is very much like the story 'Battleground' where a hitman faces off against a locker box of green army men, but the way in which the cat toys with Halston adds a different layer to proceedings. This works as well as it does due to Johansen’s performance which becomes increasingly unhinged as the story progresses. He morphs from a calm assured individual (with a bit of an ego) to someone who is increasingly losing their nerve and Johansen plays this in an over the top manner that fits the escalation in the strangeness of his situation buying into Drogan’s story. 

It culminates in a gruesome manner with one of the most memorable deaths in any King adaptation as the cat digs its way into Halston’s mouth and into his stomach killing him. At times the effects in the build up to this scene are hokey in a charming way but not in this grand finale with the ultimate payoff. In the scene Drogan returns to his mansion to find Halston dead on the hallway floor. He notices his stomach is moving and what follows is an incredible and disgusting practical effect as the cat emerges from his mouth. The shock of this sight causes Drogan to die from a heart attack which is the icing on the cake for this delightfully fiendish tale. 

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'The Cat from Hell' is very much a story where King lets his hair down and goes hog wild with his love of EC Comics. The adaptation understands this completely and Harrison directs it in a highly stylised manner following Romero’s script, which is a very faithful adaptation of the story. It is a great piece of escalatory storytelling and plays a part in helping you understand how this along with the other two stories in this film form the basis for what can be considered to be the “real” 'Creepshow 3'. 

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

-Joseph McElroy