Cat People 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Cat People 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Because I have a probably problematic sense of humor, I may have been making fun now for quite some time of Lionsgate's frankly weird 4K UHD releases, which often seem random at best and which have further been complicated by either incorrect HDR tags, or in some cases no HDR at all, and often without a previously released 1080 disc included in the package. Shout! Factory on the other hand seems to arguably be taking a bit more logical approach by aiming at least some of its 4K UHD releases at some previous titles where their 1080 versions haven't exactly been acclaimed, which is really kind of commendable. Both Cat People and the title covered under my relatively recent Dog Soldiers 4K Blu-ray review have offered fans shiny news transfers in both 1080 and 2160 taken from the original camera negatives, along with at least a spate of new supplemental items to help sweeten the pot.

Cat People 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc. This is another recent 4K UHD release with an attendant 1080 disc where there doesn't seem to be a standalone 1080 release as of the writing of this review, so this section will address both formats, per some of my other recent reviews.

Cat People is presented in 1080p and 2160p transfers in 1.85:1, which Shout! Factory is touting as being a "new 4K scan from the original camera negative". The first thing that will greet viewers' eyes in both of these presentations is honest to goodness grain, and in fact in the 1080 version in particular, the opening Universal logo is really grainy looking. Both resolutions offer generally very consistent grain fields throughout, and as those who may have read some of my other 4K UHD reviews of shot on film productions may know, I sometimes have an almost Pavlovian response of fear about seeing what grain looks like on 4K UHD discs, but I have to say if anything I found the appearance of the 2160 version to be at least incrementally better than the 1080 version, in terms of a tightly resolved grain field. There are a couple of kind of odd and admittedly very brief exceptions, as in the late sequence with O'Toole out jogging where one scene has an out of focus white statue in the front where grain seems kind of curiously frozen. Both versions offer splendid reproductions of the film's often aggressively filtered (as in color filters) sequences, but kind of interestingly the 2160 presentation struck me as being noticeably darker overall than the 1080 version, though the added luster of Dolby Vision and/or HDR may have helped to support really fine shadow detail in the 2160 version in particular. Detail levels throughout both versions are materially improved from Shout!'s lackluster first 1080 Blu-ray release. There are a few odd moments that to my eyes were more noticeable in the 1080 version than the 2160, including some interior scenes featuring Kinski in the second half of the film that in the 1080 version seem slightly desaturated and grainier. The 2160 version has a slightly cooler look in some of the exterior scenes in particular, some of which have a kind of interesting blue-green undertone that I didn't notice as much in the 1080 version.

Cat People 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cat People reproduces the first 1080 release's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (default track when the disc boots) and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 options, and to my ears there was no discernable difference between these versions and Shout!'s first release, so I'll repeat some of my comments from my original review here. The original stereo track offers decent separations and problem free fidelity, while a good if not overly immersive surround mix does significantly open up Giorgio Moroder's synth heavy score, but there are also good sound and/or foley effects, like the roar of various leopards and a kind of fun "startle" pan when a streetcar suddenly appears late in the film that have been directionally positioned in this new mix. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and fidelity is very good throughout both presentations. Optional English subtitles are available.

Cat People 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As with Shout! Factory's recent 4K UHD release of Dog Soldiers, both the 4K UHD and 1080 discs in this package have some of the same supplements, with some of those supplements having previously been offered on Shout!'s first 1080 release. As seems to be the case with these re- releases (not necessarily just from Shout!), for some inexplicable reason, the timings can be just a second or two different here from the first versions.

1080 Disc

• Interview with Nastassja Kinski (HD; 5:56)


• Interview with Annette O'Toole (HD; 8:25)


• Interview with John Heard (HD; 6:12)


• Interview with Malcolm McDowell (1080p; 7:34)


• Interview with Lynn Lowry (HD; 5:53)


• Interview with Giorgio Moroder (HD; 5:32)


• Interview with Paul Schrader (HD; 9:13)


• An Intimate Portrait by Paul Schrader (HD; 25:23) is an interesting overview of the project with more interview segments with Paul Schrader.


• On the Set with Director Paul Schrader (HD; 10:21) features some fun behind the scenes footage.


• Filmmaker Robert Wise on the Producer of the Original Cat People, Val Lewton (HD; 3:33) is a really sweet if way too short reminiscence from the legendary director.


• Special Make Up Effects (HD; 11:14) features Tom Burman.


• Matte Paintings (HD; 3:10)


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:49) is rather weirdly anamorphically stretched for some reason.


• Photo Gallery (HD; 10:00)


• Production Art (HD; 00:35)


• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Schrader can be accessed under the Setup Menu.

• Audio Commentary with Director Paul Schrader can be accessed under the Setup Menu.

Cat People 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'll be mightily surprised if fans of this interesting if overheated reboot of the venerable Lewton - Tourneur classic won't find this a much more satisfying release than Shout!'s first 1080 at bat (at cat?). Both the 1080 and especially the 2160 presentations offer superior detail and a vastly improved organic appearance, with just a few minor quibbles to consider. Perhaps the improved video actually helped me to enjoy the film more on this viewing, though I still prefer the moodier and less explicit original. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very appealing on this release, and with caveats noted, this new 4K UHD release of Cat People comes Recommended.