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| YEAR OF RELEASE: 1943 Rating: **** |
An alternative title for THE LEOPARD MAN produced by b-movie guru Val
Lewton and directed by his stock suspense master Jacques Tourneur could
be called DOORS THAT DON'T OPEN ON TIME, but that would be a spoiler in
itself within this turnaround of their most well-known
collaboration and ultimately superior CAT PEOPLE, only this underrated gem purrs a bit smoother, is less character-driven and is a tad spookier, more ominous and far more often...
The first two victims
of a black leopard... rented by desperate nightclub promoter Dennis O'Keefe for singer Jean Brooks that escaped because of a practical joke from a jealous castanet-clicking samba dancer Margo... are not just unlucky, but, in random circumstances, one locked outside, the other inside, they each die because of some lazy stooge who either takes their time or refuses opening up, no matter how much the shadowed soon-to-be-victims scream following well-paced setups that often override the quick turnout (implied deaths).. This is far more Body Count Horror than Fantasy Noir yet there's a combination of
each: the dark-lit, shadowy, investigative element combined with a Gothic and lurking,
creature-feature template that's deeper than the norm, based on superstitious
and forbidding black magic and taking itself extremely serious in the
process: without, that is, being melodramatic or pretentious.
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First victim Margaret Landry from THE LEOPARD MAN
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| First victim Margaret Landry from THE LEOPARD MAN |
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| Jean Brooks from THE LEOPARD MAN |
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Jean Brooks from THE LEOPARD MAN with Dennis O'Keefe & Dynamite
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| Jean Brooks from THE LEOPARD MAN with Dynamite |
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| Dennis O'Keefe from THE LEOPARD MAN |
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| Third victim Margo as Clo-Clo from THE LEOPARD MAN |
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Second victim Tuulikki Paananen in THE LEOPARD MAN
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