The Cat (aka- Cat: Two Eyes That See Death)

Go-hyang-i: Jook-eum-eul Bo-neun Doo Gae-eui Noon (original title)

Cast:Min-Young Park (as So-Yeon) ,Dong-wook Kim, Ye-ron Kim (as creepy kid)

Director:Seung-wook Byeon

Writer:Seung-wook Byeon

At first look…

Tricky to get a feel for a film with such a simple title, but with the alternate title of “Two Eyes That See Death,” I can picture a docile feline who voyeurs a family bloodbath… and then takes a break to lick its paws. I might not have been too far off the mark with this one…

For some reason, fat ladies with cats do not live long in these movies and sure enough, a chubby lady with a cat named Silky (gag me) is found dead at her apartment to kick things off. The ill-named feline moves to the possession of the person who had groomed and taken of the cat before, So-Yeon (played with horror-perfect bulging, wide eyes by Min-Young Park) and more bodies start dropping to the floor.

A spooky girl (played with standard creepy-kid-goodness by Ye-ron Kim) keeps popping her painted face in during these deaths and the connection between spooky kid, creepy cat and a pile of corpses becomes unmistakable. Saying anything more might let the Cat out of the… I just can't finish this sentence.

 

There is something to be said for any film that can deliver spooks, jumps, creative death scenes and still tell a good story all bundled into the same package. I loved the simplicity of this film in that you get to kick back and watch all the classic trimmings of a traditional Asian horror movie and still have to stay until the end to figure out why the hell the girl keeps poking her head into the shadows when somebody kicks the bucket.

Writer/director Seung-wook Byeon puts together a quality film that provides a great death toll, keeps the chills and thrills sneaking up behind you and does it all without all that computer-generated imagery and over-the-top special effects. Some may say that new ground has not been broken with a story and film like this, but I see a triumph over playing out a classic horror tale without using the latest toys and still keeping the spooks strong.

I admit, the title could use… uh, anything but the word Cat. The overall tale may have been succinct and concise, but they didn't have to carry that bare bones ideal into the title. Throw a body part in there- “Cat's Claw” Great- I'm hooked! Ugh… okay, I'll stop griping, but the title could've used an adverb, adjective… hell, a pronoun. Call it “Her Cat” and the mystery alone already kicks in. Okay, okay, I'm done this time. Really.

If you're looking for a thriller with a moving body count that manages to slide in a solid (if not basic) plot that satisfies those horror urges as well as give your eyes a break from all that 3D IMAX CGI SFX, etc… then you need to check this Cat out.

Fun Fact: It also marked the debut of Ye-ron Kim the sister of Sae-ron Kim.