If horror masters from Edgar Allan Poe to Stephen King have taught us anything, it is this: Cats are no damn good. A compelling piece of supporting evidence is The Uncanny, a feline-themed triptych from Milton Subotsky, a producer who specialized in the horror anthology (with 1972’s Tales from the Crypt being perhaps the most enduring example).
In present-day Montreal, fidgety author Wilbur Grey (Peter Cushing, The House That Dripped Blood) shares the details of his latest book to his publisher (Ray Milland, Terror in the Wax Museum), who expresses misgivings about its commercial prospects — after all, who would believe that adorable kitty cats are actually vessels of unbridled evil? In an attempt to change his host’s tune, the pussyphobic Grey shares three such cases, all helmed by Naked Massacre’s Denis Héroux, in his final film as director.
First up, in pre-WWI London, a miserable crone (Joan Greenwood, 1961’s Mysterious Island) excludes her ungrateful cad of a nephew (Simon Williams, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu) from her new will, instead leaving the entirety of her estate to her cats. Electrified with a nasty wit, this segment entrances viewers, thus positioning The Uncanny from the start as a veritable buffet of horror and suspense.
Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from there. In 1970s Quebec, the middle story about a tween girl (Chloe Franks, Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?) being mean to her little sister (Katrina Holden, Death Wish 4: The Crackdown) is a patience-trier further hampered by the goofiest of effects. Slightly better is the trio’s closer, set in Hollywood’s Golden Age, with cats causing chaos on the set of a motion picture starring Valentine De’ath (Donald Pleasence, The Monster Club) and his lover (a slinky Samantha Eggar, Curtains). It ends with a joke that also appears to be its raison d’etre, as if screenwriter Michel Parry (Xtro) started there and worked backward. —Rod Lott