Genres: Horror, Thriller
Director: Greydon Clark
Not Rated
Runtime: 90 min
Reviewer Ranking 7.5/10
Movie Review by: Eric Kamps
What does a wealthy business, a handful of college kids on spring break, and a cat carrying a demon inside of itself have in common? They all end up on a boat in The Uninvited. This forgotten gem of the 80’s is a true case of a movie being so bad that it’s good.
The movie begins with a pair of scientists (one of which is played by director Greydon Clark) examining an X-ray of a cat. Right before they dissect the cat, it escapes and is pursued by the lab’s security guards. Right before the guards catch the cat, it vomits up a demon monster which kills all the guards.
After this point, the cat is forgotten about and the story focuses on two college girls looking for a hotel room and who meet a Wall Street millionaire. After this, the story focuses back on millionaires’ backhanded business practices and then goes back to the girls. Then it switches back to the cat, then back to the girls, and finally they all end up trapped on a boat.
The audio for this film seems like almost an afterthought, being that at some points, it does not match the characters’ mouths, it sounds like it was recorded in a wind tunnel, and it sometimes just doesn’t make sense. For example, in a scene where a pickup truck crashes, the same sound for a window breaking is repeated a least a dozen times. Also, the cat only has one meow sound that is repeated hundreds of times.
The gore and effects are where the film really shines. The main cat creature changes sizes from shot to shot. At one point the puppeteer’s hand is visible working the monster, so the only redeeming factor about the monster is its novelty. I mean, it’s a demon monster living inside a cat that erupts through the cat’s mouth to kill people, and if that’s not enough, the monster’s bite causes the victim to produce so much blood they pop. Not joking. The smart character (i.e. the guy with glasses) figures this out using a sextant as a microscope. So every time this monster makes an appearance you are sure to smile or laugh.
Acting varies in degrees of terribleness, with the exception of Walter (Alex Cord, Varsity Blues, Fire from Below), who delivers a strangely good performance as the rich business man. Also, 80’s legend George Kennedy (The Delta Force, Creepshow 2) plays Mike Harvey as best as anyone could. The rest of the acting is terrible at best; however, terrible acting can be very entertaining when doing battle with a demon cat monster.
In closing, this is a bad movie. If you are looking for that deep, intense, thought-provoking survival story, this is not it. Rather, it’s a cheeseball story splattered in buckets (yes buckets) of blood about a poor misunderstood cat carrying the spawn of Satan in its bowels. I loved every second of it, from the bad dialog to the ridiculous amounts of blood. This is what a B horror film should be.
