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MEOW!
I’m going to start this review referencing a song from 1981. All cats are grey. Sure, it’s a Cure song (and one of their best produced), but the song and the mood it creates works here, too, because The Uncanny, in all its anthology glory, is all about felines and their special abilities over humans. These cats aren’t grey, Mr. Smith, the cats are supernatural!
You might mistake this feature – thanks to its all British cast – of being yet another Amicus production. It’s not, though. The Uncanny is ALL about the success of The Rank Organisation and its sudden re-emergence into film production, thanks to Tony Williams and 1976’s Bugsy Malone.
So, why not do horror?! Directed by Naked Massacre’s Claude Héroux and written by XTRO’s Michael Parry, The Uncanny is a feisty horror movie incorporating three tales of the twisted as cats are looked upon as creatures sent straight from (and by) the devil himself. There will not be any petting of the cats in these stories because if you do, well, damn. The monster becomes YOU. {googleads}
Starring the GREAT Peter Cushing, The Uncanny opens with a strong atmospheric presence as Cushing, staring down at the street below from behind some blinds, looks at a cat that is prowling the grounds below. He soon closes the blinds and, minutes later, hurries out of his house and down a long set of stairs in the street. Cushing plays writer Wilbur Gray and, tucked very carefully under his arms, is a manuscript about cats that he will soon be discussing with his publisher Frank Richards (Ray Milland) and, yeah, it’s all about CATS!
Co-starring Donald Pleasence, Samantha Eggar, Susan Penhaligon, John Vernon, and Alexandra Stewart, this naughty trilogy of tales is all about cats getting the upper hand. And, damn, if there aren’t a lot of those kitties, too. Murders are plotted and acted on and plans are foiled time and time again thanks to the sharp claws of the cats. They inspire and then they attack! Or should I say avenge? Because in the first tale, when their owner is killed, that’s EXACTLY what they do. 
In the second story, an orphan’s cat causes all sorts of needless drama. All the kids are jealous of her connection with her cat. She uses witchcraft to punish those who put an end to her relationship with Wellington, her only friend. The cat wasn’t the problem. It was the demented kids. The third story involves a man (Pleasence) killing his wife, taking a new lover, and his deceased wife’s cat avenging her murder. All stories are haunting and all create a mood that makes you do a double-take at your own cat.
Cat scratch fever! The Uncanny is now available on blu-ray thanks Severin Films and their fine-looking scan from an inter-negative recently discovered in a London vault.
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Severin Films
Available on Blu-ray - May 28, 2019
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: None
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Severin Films goes above and beyond the call of duty here with their new scan of this furr-ocious tale. The NEW transfer of the original film elements for The Uncanny is wonderfully crisp and deeply brooding. It is presented with a full HD resolution. Colors are bold. Shadows run deep and the crisp textures in the walls and in the backgrounds are on point. This is a fabulously intense movie that, rather successfully, makes for one hell of a transformation thanks to the efforts of Severin Films.
Supplements:
Commentary:
- None
Special Features:
Fans of actress Susan Penhaligon get a new interview with her. A trailer is also included.
- The Cat’s Victim: Interview with Actress Susan Penhaligon
- Trailer
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[tab title="Film Details"]
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 89 mins
Director: Denis Héroux
Writer: Michel Parry
Cast: Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, Joan Greenwood
Genre: Horror
Tagline: They prowl by night...lusting for human flesh!.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Wellington? Wellington? Where are you Wellington?"
Theatrical Distributor: CBS (TV) (broadcast premiere)
Official Site:
Release Date:
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 28, 2019
Synopsis: Grisly portmanteau about a paranoid writer (Cushing) who must convince his publisher (Milland) that all cats are unholy fiends based on three tales of kitty carnage.
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