SOURCE: "Val Lewton's Cat People," in Cinefantastique, Vol. 12, No. 4, May-June, 1982, pp. 23-7.

In the following essay, Turner describes the production history of Cat People.

The great days of the horror film had become wistful memories. By the early '40s only an occasional worth-while chiller emerged from the morass the genre had become. And these few films served only to keep alive the hope that a successor to James Whale and Tod Browning would herald a rebirth.

Finally, a new master of horror did appear. A man who opened new directions for the horror genre by purposely going against the established grain, throwing out the old, stale conventions, and producing something new. From producer Vladimar (Val) Lewton's first picture, Cat People, he started a small renaissance that breathed new life into the stagnant pond that horror films had become, bringing with him a cadre of talented men whose...