Cat People
The producer Val Lewton produced an astoundingly beautiful, mature series of low-budget horror films in the 1940s, the best of which may well be Jacques Tourneur's tragic Cat People. A mysterious young Russian artist with a bit of a panther fixation falls in love with an ordinary guy. But she's afflicted with a strange malady that causes her to undergo a transformation in the throes of strong emotion—one that threatens the lives of the people around her. A masterful drama of sexual repression, shot in silky, delicious chiaroscuro.
