THE UNCANNY (1977)

DIRECTED by Denis Heroux

SCREENPLAY by Michel Parry

STARRING  - Peter Cushing as Wilbur Gray,  Ray Milland as Frank Richards,  Susan Penhaligon as Janet,  Joan Greenwood as Miss Malkin,  Ronald Culver as Wallace,  Simon Williams as Michael,  Donald Pilon as Mr Blake,  Alexandra Stewart as Mrs Blake,  Chloe Franks as Angela Blake,  Katrina Holden Bronsen as Lucy,  Samantha Eggar as Edina Harrington,  Donald Pleasance as Valentine De'ath,  John Vernon as Pomeroy,  Catherine Begin as Medelaine,  Jean LeClerc as Barrington,  Sean McCann as The Inspector.

TAGLINE - THEY PROWL BY NIGHT...LUSTING FOR HUMAN FLESH !

FRAMING STORY - MONTREAL 1977 - Wilbur Gray (Peter Cushing) has just completed his latest book - an expose about the dangers posed by the common house cat. Gray has a meeting with his literary agent Frank Richards (Ray Milland) to explain his reasoning behind his latest work. Gray believes that cats are vastly more intelligent than we give them credit for (he's not wrong) but that they are also evil and pose a danger to mankind. Gray relates three tales of terror to Richards that show the vindictive nature of cats...

And thats your set up for this (very weird) anthology horror movie. How successful it is as a concept depends entirely on whether you find cats scary or not. Considering that probably at least 50 percent of the audience most likely found cats to be absolutely adorable (myself included) its perhaps unsurprising that the film was a box-office flop. However despite it's dubious "fear" credentials it still manages to be a good little horror film.

As expected Cushing is great as the paranoid Gray, he gives a suitably sweaty, nervy and jumpy performance. He's a man constantly looking over his shoulder, waiting to be struck down by the malevolent collective intelligence of sweet looking cuddly moggies. Milland as Richards is bloody awful though. He's not usually a bad actor (he was great in The Man With The X-Ray Eyes) but here he comes over as being really wooden. Its like he's sleepwalking through the role on autopilot. He clearly just can't be bothered - Milland in this film is the very definition of the phrase "phoning it in".

That aside though this a decent enough little set up for the rest of the movie and the tales to come...

STORY # 1 - LONDON 1912

Miss Malkin (Joan Greenwood) is a bedridden elderly spinster, she also happens to be the archetypal "crazy cat lady" - her home is occupied by about 30-40 cats who she treats like her children. She also happens to be extremely wealthy. Her greedy nephew Michael (Simon Williams) realises that Miss Malkin has recently changed her will and cut off his inheritance. He sends his lover Janet (Susan Penhaligon) who also works as Miss Malkin's maid to steal the new will so he can destroy it. The theft of the document goes wrong - Janet is discovered and in a moment of panic she murders Miss Malkin. The cats witness this act and trap Janet in the house so that they can avenge thier owner's death...

This a great little story, well acted by all concerned and actually quite gory and violent in places. Its let down a bit by some scenes where its blatantly obvious that there's somebody off-camera just throwing cats at Susan Penhaligon to simulate them "attacking" her but that was always going to be the case with a story like this. You're DEFINITELY rooting for the cats in this story as the main human characters are both utter shitbags.

STORY # 2 - QUEBEC 1975

A young girl called Lucy (Katrina Holden Bronsen) has recently been orphaned and goes to live with her aunt and uncle - Mr and Mrs Blake (Donald Pilon and Alexandra Stewart) and her spoilt brat of a cousin Angela (Chloe Franks). Lucy's only friend is her small black cat Wellington. However Mrs Blake hates cats and Lucy and Angela are soon at loggerheads. Angela persuades her mum and dad to get rid of Wellington to spite Lucy - which they agree to do. However, little do they know that Lucy's mother was really a witch and that Lucy has inherited her mother's knowledge and powers. Lucy wants her best friend back...so now she's going to have her revenge...

Another good little tale of supernatural vengence. This segment is slightly let down by the child actors. You have to remember this WAS the 70's and kids on film where always a bit iffy back then. The two girls aren't that bad really - just a little bit "stage school" thats all. To be fair to her Chloe Franks does succeed in making Angela EXTREMELY unlikeable, you really do want to see this spoilt little bitch get her just desserts. Once more you're firmly rooting for Wellington the cat (who's really cute by the way) and his owner - the point where they get separated is genuinely sad. Lucy's eventual revenge is very satisfying. Another decent little tale.

STORY # 3 - HOLLYWOOD 1936

Valentine De'ath (Donald Pleasance) is a vain, self obsessed Hollywood horror movie actor. He murders his wife on the set of his latest movie and makes it look like an accident due to a faulty prop. He does this so that his latest lover (and aspiring actress) Edina (Samantha Eggar) can replace her in the lead female role. However he doesn't realise that his dead wife's cat realises what he has done. When Valentine drowns the cat's newborn kittens he crosses the line - the cat wants revenge and the set of a horror movie with all it's various dangerous props and hazards is the perfect place to obtain it...

This is a great story to end on - a very enjoyable black comedy with an hilliarious performance by Pleasance. De'ath is a wonderful creation - obnoxious, pretentious and very, very camp - in a way Pleasance almost seems to be channeling Vincent Price (you could easily imagine him in this role). Eggar is great too as the ditzy and throughly inept Edina. There's lots of scenes of the two acting out performances together on the horror movie they're filming - so what you get is two really good actors playing the roles of two really bad actors hamming it up completely. It's VERY funny to watch. 

There's some amusing dialogue too - the moment where Edina proclaims " Oh V.D. - I love you" being my favourite. The whole story ends with an absolutely brilliant (and very apt) punchline. Great stuff.

EPILOGUE - We return to the framing story. Richards fails to be convinced by Gray's paranoid rantings. Gray leaves, taking his manuscript with him. As he walks down a dark alleyway he is attacked and killed by a group of alley cats. Gray has been silenced and the cats of the world are free to continue with thier plans...

As with the prologue Cushing is good, Milland is terrible. We get more cats being thrown at actors by production staff - this time it's Peter Cushing's turn...

Once again - how "horrific" or "frightening" you'll find this entirely depends on your view of cats. Me ?...I just want to give them all a stroke and a cuddle.

SFX - Splashes of decent gore here and there. When Angela is magically shrunken to the size of a mouse in the second story we get lots of 50's B-movie style back projection effects when she's menaced by the now "giant sized" Wellington...

VIOLENCE  - In the first story Miss Malkin is suffocated to death by Janet putting a pillow over her face. Janet is then attacked by an army of pissed off pusscats and ripped to shreds. The cats then eat the corpse of Miss Malkin (they haven't been fed for a few days) before attacking (and presumably killing) Michael.

In the second story poor old Wellington gets stabbed in the eye by the shrunken Angela when she attacks him with a needle. He doesn't seem too bothered though and he doesn't lose his eye. Lucy stamps on the shrunken Angela like a bug - squashing her flat and leaving a bloody mess on the bottom of her shoe which Angela's mum thinks is spilled red paint.

In the third story - Valentine De'ath's wife is killed by a swinging blade (in true Pit And The Pendulum style) on the set of a gothic horror movie. Valentine drowns some kittens down the toilet (thankfully off-camera). Edina is skewered to death in an iron maiden prop and Valentine is killed by his wife's cat which eats his tongue  - leading to the punchline..."The cat got his tongue".

RATING  - The Uncanny is a fun horror anthology that is a lot better than it's lack of recognition suggests. There really isn't a single bad story here, which considering the fact that you normally get at least one duff story in this type of movie is something of an achievement in itself.

5 killer kitties out of 5. Purrfect. I still don't get the significance of the film's title though...

ART - 

The film's writer Michel Parry also released a book of short horror stories about cats that I think may have inspired this movie...

And finally I leave you with a photo of my own cat - Fred. Who is handsome and smart and only gets slightly violent when riled. He also happens to be my pride and joy.