Here's one I have had lurking in the recesses of my mind, always creeping me out. NO ONE, not even my movie-loving, quote-spouting brother has been able to place this flick.
I remember going to the drive-in as a kid (we went in the summer on weekends). This would have been in the 2nd half of the 70s or very early 80s. The movie bit that is stuck in my head involves some guy, a hermit or something, who lives alone in some far-off place, like an abandoned castle or something. Some young guy goes to see him or stumbles upon him, and they old guy there has dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of cats living in and around his old place.
That's it. That is the nugget that has haunted my mind all these years. What was the freaky cat-loving dude DOING all alone out there? Why was the kid going to see him?
Help me!
Aunt John SEZ: Wings, what you have described sounds like a scene out of my day-to-day life with unrepentant cat fancier Unkle Lancifer and the fur ball covered floors of Kindertrauma Castle. Have you been peeking through our windows? That said, I am interested in knowing what this movie is… any guesses, dear readers?
UNK SEZ: Hold up there, not so fast A.J.. This sounds very much like a film that our beloved Tenebrous Kate reviewed a little while back called NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS! Wings do us a favor and check out Kate's awesome review HERE and let us know if that is not the elusive film you're hunting down. It sounds like a match to me! If it IS the correct film, than it just goes to prove my pet theory that everything a horror fan could possibly be searching for can usually be found at LOVE TRAIN FOR THE TENEBROUS EMPIRE!
Aunt John SEZ: NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS? Wait a minute, didn't I just see clip of that movie over at CARRIE WHITE BURNS IN HELL? Better check that out too!
STATUS: SOLVED! NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS (see comments)
Hi! This probably isn't the movie you're looking for but, It made me think of a movie a I'd seen when I was four years old. It was called "The Eye Of The Cat". It came out in 1969. From what little I can remember the plot was this guy with a cat phobia decides he's going to murder his aunt for her money but of course, what's she got all over her house? By the dozens? I don't think I have to tell you guys. The film doesn't seem to be available in any format, and my search for anything on Youtube just got me a catfight (girls) from the same film. Anyways probably not what you're looking for but I'd thought I'd mention it.
I cannot believe it! You found it! This HAS to be the movie. The young guy I remember must be the dude collecting the heads, and the old guy must be his manservant. And he lives in an old monastery!
Why would my parents take us to see this? I have to wonder. And I also have to wonder, seeing as how I was only 1 in 1972, if this was THE movie that set my brain onto it's horror-loving destiny!
Thank you Aunt John & Unkle! You don't know the good works you are doing for the tortured minds of the masses! Much appreciated!
Wings
Well, with a title like NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS your parents thought they were bringing you to some cutsie-pooh DISNEY-type flick!
Like so many other people who visit your site once they realized what the movie was REALLY about your mother probably coiled in horror and told your Dad she thought you should all leave and your Dad probably snarled "Oh no! I already paid to see it! We're WATCHIN' it!"
Even though NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS was made in '72 it didn't make it to the U.S until Nov. '74 (Imdb) back in those days, especially with drive-ins and double features, a flick like that could bounce around for a while even switching titles several times. It could be very possible that you caught it later than 74 as well and under a different name.
…according to Imdb it was also shown as BLOOD FEAST.
And yet this mystery remains unsolved….
I think the fact that we all somehow were on a Night Of A Thousand Cats tip is a sign of The Rapture.
I have totally adopted Spaghetti Cat as Awesomeness' new mascot. That little fucker rules harder than Fuad Ramses!
Criminy Kraffft! I post a hundred hyperlinks a day and I can never get them right when posting a comment on Kindertrauma! What gives?!
I fixed it Mr. C.
I don't want to be the one to rain on the NIGHT OF A THOUSAND CATS parade, but it may be, just possibly, that Wings is thinking of the scene in Dario Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE where Tony Musante tracks down a reclusive artist who lives alone in a boarded up castle-like villa with a whole gaggle of cats, whom he doesn't allow outside. Added below is a link to the clip on YouTube. If I'm right, then you're very welcome. If I'm wrong, then I'll buy a horse, move to the mountains, and stop bothering people.
OR… could it be this?
I love cats, although they aren't very scary in movies. I did see an episode of Darkroom (anyone remember that show?) with the hot guy who played Cavanaugh in Porky's who is being hounded (ha!) by this cat. It's not super-great, but the dubbing of the cat screams and hisses are REALLY disturbing. Therefore, it screwed me up (and I only saw it a month ago! I'ma wimp!)…
Must see this movie… must see…
EVERYTHING? Maybe not everything, but I try to do my best to keep my readers informed on matters relating to rapey half-mans-half-animals, nekkid nuns, and death by cats :) Still–I'll accept the plug (ooerr), and know that I'm quarter-past-delighted to have assisted in solving this mystery.
Seeing my name in the same post as Spaghetti Cat has got me all kinds of starry-eyed. I watched that clip on "The Soup" the other night and I hadn't laughed that hard in… well, since the last time I checked in at Kindertrauma, anyway!
Oh why haven't I added Tenebrous Kate to my daily reading schedule? This WILL be rectified IMMEDIATELY!
This has nothing to do with nothing but I thought I'd just throw two titles in the ring for all you I-Hate-Cats/ Cats-Freak-Me-Out-People:
TWO EVIL EYES
and TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: THE MOVIE
I guess we could also count CATS EYE, but that cat was more of a hero than a villain.
Mr. Canacorn–because you're going ALL CAPS in your passion for meeeee, I'll be sure leave the crypt door open just for you, cupcake 😉
Wow – Lots of comments! I checked out the Argento flick on YouTube, and I don't think that is the movie. So far, The Night of a Thousand Cats seems to be the movie I recall. And seeing as how it could have even been 74 or later, it makes even more sense.
Thank you to everyone for working on this one, it is appreciated!
Wings