Cat's Eye (1985)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Kitty Corner

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

I recently re-watched Lewis Teague's Cat's Eye on the Criterion Channel and my reaction was pretty much the same as it was when I first saw it back in the 1980s. The first two stories, based on Stephen King's "Quitters, Inc." and "The Ledge" from his masterful Night Shift collection, are solid. The third, written specifically for the film by King, isn't. "Quitters, Inc." has James Woods, perfectly cast as a nervous smoker who is desperate to quit. He signs up with the title agency, who claim they have a 100% success rate. The reason is because, every time a client sneaks a smoke, bad things happen to his family. And they are watching. "The Ledge" has Robert Hayes as a tennis pro who is having an affair with a mob boss's wife. The boss (a maniacal Kenneth McMillan) kidnaps him and makes him a bet: if he can walk all the way around the building on the ledge, he will divorce his wife. If not, he will be arrested for drug possession. Finally we have "General," in which a stray cat (who appears in all three stories) tries to protect Drew Barrymore from an invading troll. Even though it's pretty "meh," it's still kind of charming. Overall the good parts of this anthology outweigh the bad, and it's worth seeing.