Contemporary Hollywood seems obsessed with franchising sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots and although our short-term memories have led us to believe this is a new phenomenon, it is actually as old as Hollywood itself. Back in the day before home video the only way to find a new audience for an old movie was to remake it; when sound was introduced all the major studios remade their largest box-office hits as “talkies”. At times remakes can work; they are elegantly updated to find a new audience. Other times we get The Incredible Hulk, which was nothing above a piece of loud shit and an embarrassment to the career of a great actor. But sometimes we get something completely new; this was the case with Cat People (1942) and Cat People (1982). Made forty years apart from each other these movies could not be more different from each other and yet they explore the same themes of irrational fear and sexual repression, in their own way. And are equally effective, once again, each in their own way.
