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Credits

Director: Lewis Teague Starring: Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Robert Hays, Alan King, Candy Clark Screenplay: Stephen King Country: USA

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Cat's Eye follows a cat, named at various times 'Lucky' and 'The General', who travels around America, like a feline Littlest Hobo, looking for a mysterious ghostly girl who calls for his help and taking part in various tales written by Stephen King.

The first tale, based on King's Quitters Inc. from the Night Shift collection, shows Dick Morrison (James Woods) as a man desperate to quit smoking, who tries a company called Quitters Inc. Quitter Inc. have an interesting way to help you quit smoking, if you smoke once on their program, they electrocute your wife, the cat used as an example of how the 'electrocution room' works; a second time, they electrocute your kids; a third time gets your spouse raped; and a fourth time… well, only 2% of the clients have made it to the fourth time, and it seems they find themselves …well, ventilated. This tale follows Woods on his harrowing journey to quit smoking while under constant stress.

The second tale is based on King's The Ledge, again from Night Shift, and features Robert Hays as a tennis coach, Johnny Norris who is leaving town with a local, well connected gambler's wife. The gambler, Cressner, played by Kenneth McMillan, kidnaps and makes a bet with Hays that if he can circumnavigate the penthouse suite of his building on the thin precarious ledge around it, he is free to leave town with his wife. Is it a fair bet, or just a dangerous one?

The last tale, the deplorable The General, featured in 'Screamplays' (a collection of horror film scripts), sees the cat come to the rescue of the girl, played by Drew Barrymore, whose family is being terrorized by a…wait for it… 9 inch high troll. Ridiculous.

One thing I have to say about this film is the collection of pre-80s names that have been forgotten over the years: the aforementioned Robert Hays and Kenneth McMillan, not to mention others like Alan King, Candy Clark and James Naughton. And let's face it: Drew Barrymore and James Woods have to be a major draw card.

The problem with this film is one that I have had with some others released around this period: it tries too hard to be safe. These three stories could have been real hard hitting, but director Lewis Teague softens them, obviously for a younger market, and turns them into prime time mush that really has no impact at all.

One thing that really irritated me about this film was the fact that it force feeds King down the throat of the viewer. The film opens with the cat running from Cujo, past Christine, and James Woods' character watches The Dead Zone on TV. I am sure that I remember when I first saw this in about 1986 that the young horror fan in me thought the spot-the-King stuff was cool, but as an adult it seems ham-fisted and lame.