Obviously inspired by Jacques Tourneur's classic Cat People, this British horror stars Barbara Shelley as Leonora, who is summoned to the home of her uncle, where she is told that she is to inherit the family curse: at night, her spirit will enter the body of a leopard and kill. At first she is convinced that her uncle is mad, but after he is killed by the escaped leopard he once kept in his home, she begins to feel uncontrollable animalistic urges, and commands the big cat to fatally attack her unfaithful husband Richard (Jack May).
Convinced that Leonora is losing her grip on reality, psychiatrist Brian (Robert Ayres), an old flame, takes the woman to London for treatment in a sanitarium. After a few days, he checks her into a hotel and arranges for her to spend the day with his wife Dorothy (Kay Callard); however, Leonora is still in love with Brian, and plans to get rid of Dorothy the same way she dealt with Richard.
Much of this film is told in an ambiguous manner, director Alfred Shaughnessy showing the viewer the prowling beast but at the same time suggesting the distinct possibility that the leopard is all in Leonora's mind, a product of her worsening mental state. Of course, this is a horror film, so come the ending, it is made abundantly clear that the curse is very real and that Leonora is indeed supernaturally connected to the killer cat. The final act, in which Dorothy is stalked down dark London streets by Leonora and the leopard is suitably tense, but owes a lot to Cat People: if you're a fan of Tourneur's film, then this one will definitely be worth your time, if only to contrast and compare.
Convinced that Leonora is losing her grip on reality, psychiatrist Brian (Robert Ayres), an old flame, takes the woman to London for treatment in a sanitarium. After a few days, he checks her into a hotel and arranges for her to spend the day with his wife Dorothy (Kay Callard); however, Leonora is still in love with Brian, and plans to get rid of Dorothy the same way she dealt with Richard.
Much of this film is told in an ambiguous manner, director Alfred Shaughnessy showing the viewer the prowling beast but at the same time suggesting the distinct possibility that the leopard is all in Leonora's mind, a product of her worsening mental state. Of course, this is a horror film, so come the ending, it is made abundantly clear that the curse is very real and that Leonora is indeed supernaturally connected to the killer cat. The final act, in which Dorothy is stalked down dark London streets by Leonora and the leopard is suitably tense, but owes a lot to Cat People: if you're a fan of Tourneur's film, then this one will definitely be worth your time, if only to contrast and compare.