Eye Of The Cat (1969)

The nephew (Michael Sarrazin) of a wealthy cat lover (Eleanor Parker) conspires with a woman (Gayle Hunnicutt) to murder his Aunt after she changes her will in his favor. A major impediment is that the nephew has ailurophobia (a fear of cats) and those cats are very loyal to the Aunt. Directed by David Lowell Rich (MADAME X) from an original screenplay by Joseph Stefano (PSYCHO). This piece of horror pulp is sort of like WILLARD (1971) except with cats instead of rats. Stefano's screenplay plays into myths and fears that cat haters have about cats and if you dislike cats, chances are this movie will creep you out. For cat lovers, you might find yourself leaning to the being offended side. I mean we've all read about dogs killing their owners or eating babies but when's the last time you heard about a homicidal cat? That aside, it's rather fun actually and for once, Universal didn't film it on the back lot but went to San Francisco and did location shooting. There's a suitably ominous underscore by Lalo Schifrin. With Tim Henry, Laurence Naismith and Linden Chiles.