Director: Lam Ngai-Choi (a.k.a. Lam Ngai Kai)
Screenplay: Gordon Chan, Chan Hing-ka
Based on a Novel by: Ni Kuang
Starring: Waise Lee, Gloria Yip, Christine Ng, Philip Kwok, Lau Siu-Ming, Lawrence Lau
Country: Hong Kong
Running Time: 89 min
Year: 1991
BBFC Certificate: 18
The Wisely Series is a hugely popular series of Chinese-language adventure-science fiction stories written by the Hong Kong author Ni Kuang. 156 books were written in the series (145 by Ni Kuang, the rest by others with his permission) between 1963 and 2004.
With its popularity in Hong Kong and the wealth of stories within the series, it’s no surprise that it was adapted into numerous comics, radio dramas, TV series and films over the years.
The first cinematic adaptation of a Wisely novel was Lam Ngai-Choi’s 1986 film The Seventh Curse. This wasn’t a big financial success, despite the popularity of the source material. However, that didn’t stop Lam Ngai-Choi from mining the Wisely novels once again to make The Cat in 1991 (based on the ‘Old Cat’ novel).
Being a big fan of Lam Ngai-Choi’s The Seventh Curse, as well as his ludicrously violent manga adaptation Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, I’ve been desperate to see The Cat and, thankfully, 88 Films have come to the rescue by releasing the film on Blu-ray. I got hold of a copy and my thoughts follow.
The Cat opens by showing how Li Tung’s (Lawrence Lau) quiet life is disturbed by his unusual new upstairs neighbours. They soon move out under suspicious circumstances, leaving behind bloodied newspapers and what appear to be cat organs. The police dismiss his discovery, but Tung’s dinner companion, adventure novelist Wisely (Waise Lee), suspects something strange is afoot.
Meanwhile, the neighbours, who consist of a mysterious girl (Gloria Yip), her feline companion, and a ‘knight’ named Errol (Lau Siu-ming), steal an ancient octagonal artifact from a museum, pursued by a monstrous, fungus-like alien known as the “star killer.” Wisely begins investigating, only to uncover that the girl and her cat – whom she calls the General – are extraterrestrials searching for two octagons that can destroy the monster and allow them to return home.
As the alien creature possesses a police inspector and wreaks havoc, the General demonstrates powers far beyond those of an ordinary cat, battling police, guard dogs, and the star killer itself.
I didn’t find The Cat quite as wildly entertaining as The Seventh Curse or The Story of Ricky, but that might largely be to do with me having watched those during a pair of ‘Weekends of Trash’ with my friends, rather than on my own in a bleary-eyed state of mid-week tiredness, as I did The Cat. This later Wisely adaptation is still a hell of a lot of fun and it certainly shares many similar qualities with its predecessors.
For one, it has plenty of gooey practical gore and creature effects. The weird fungus monster, in particular, is a sight to behold. The carnage it reaps in a number of big set pieces is most impressive.
The cat effects are enjoyably old-school too. It may not always look particularly realistic, but seeing the alien feline busting crazy moves on its enemies is highly amusing.
It sounds like the shoot was problematic with special effect supervisors getting fired for animal cruelty and even the original director, Alex Cheung, leaving the project before Lam Nai-Choi took over. However, whilst the film is as mad as a bag of spiders, it does seem to have a fairly cohesive vision.
There’s even a little social commentary if you want to look for it. There are a couple of direct references to the upcoming (at the time) handover of Hong Kong to China, and the uncertainty of what was going to happen in the region is reflected in the film. This is more apparent in the first act, where the film is more mysterious and intriguing, before all hell breaks loose further into the story.
Visually, the film is impressive too, with nice use of light and colour, as well as some dynamic camera movement and a couple of John Woo inspired slow-motion shoot-outs.
Overall then, whilst I’m not sure The Cat quite reaches the heights of the other two Lam Ngai-Choi films I’ve seen, it’s not far off. The film is another wacky, effects-laden, gory treat from the director, who sadly never made another film following this, having left the industry entirely.
Film: 
The Cat is out on 1st September on region A&B Blu-Ray, released by 88 Films (pre-order it here). It looks fantastic, with a sharp, detailed picture and rich tones and colours. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed. Only the original Cantonese mono audio track is available (I’m not sure it ever received an English dub) but this is robust.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Limited edition rigid slip case with new artwork by Sean Longmore
– Limited edition 40-page perfect-bound book
– Limited edition premium artcard
– Brand new 2k restoration from the original negative of the Hong Kong theatrical cut
– Japanese cut of the film (SD – 97 minutes)
– Remastered original Cantonese monoaural soundtrack
– Newly translated English subtitles
– Audio commentary by Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
– Brand new film interview with writer Gordon Chan
– Image gallery
Probably the most notable extra included on the disc is the 97-minute Japanese cut of the film. Sourced from what looks like a VHS copy, it doesn’t look great but it’s a valuable relic. From what I gathered from Frank Djeng’s commentary, the Japanese version had a different star and director. It shares some material with the Hong Kong version, most notably the creature effects sequences and some other scenes without Wisely, but the Japanese director shot totally new sequences to include the different lead and build quite a different story. A few Japanese crew members were involved in the production as a whole too. I must admit, I haven’t had the time to sit and watch this alternative cut all the way through, but it sounds intriguing and is not just a case of a version containing a few trims or extended scenes.
Frank Djeng provides a commentary over the Hong Kong cut. As usual, it’s dense with background information on the film and its makers. He also talks about the differences between the film and its source novel. It’s a vital addition to the disc.
There’s also an interview with screenwriter Gordon Chan about the film. He’s honest about some of the problems faced. It’s an illuminating piece.
I wasn’t supplied with the booklet to comment on that.
So, 88 Films have done a stellar job with The Cat. Fans of The Seventh Curse and other wild East-Asian genre movies will love it.
Disc/package:
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