Cat People is a 1982 horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, and John Heard. The film co-stars Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, and features small parts for Ed Begley, Jr. and John Larroquette. Jerry Bruckheimer served as executive producer, Alan Ormsby was the screenwriter, whose script was loosely based on the story by DeWitt Bodeen, the screenwriter for the acclaimed 1942 original. Giorgio Moroder composed the film's score, including the theme song which features lyrics and vocals by David Bowie.

Taglines

• An erotic fantasy about the animal in us all.
• They are more than lovers... But they're about to become less than human.

Plot

Irena Gallier (Natassia Kinski), a waifish young woman, meets her older brother Paul (Malcolm McDowell), a minister, in New Orleans. It is the first time they have met since their animal trainer-parents died, and Irena was sent to a series of foster homes. Paul's Creole housekeeper Female (pronounced feh-MAH-leh) (Ruby Dee) helps Irena settle into her brother's home, but Paul himself disappears. Cut to a fleabag motel where a blasé prostitute finds an angry black panther instead of a client. After mauling the hooker, the cat is captured by the police... and by a team of zoologists: Oliver Yates (John Heard), Alice Perrin (Annette O'Toole), and Joe Creigh (Ed Begley, Jr.).