5 must-see classic Halloween films you have to watch before the 31st

Cat People (1942)

There are several prominent horror directors early in the development of film, but only one prominent horror producer. Val Lewton was known for making movies on the cheap but filled with symbolism and multi-layered context. Oftentimes, he’d simply be given a title by the studio and asked to write a story around it.

Cat People is a story with so many meanings that books have been written to deconstruct it. Irina (Simone Simon) is a Serbian immigrant to the United States who falls in love with average American, Oliver (Kent Smith). The two quickly marry but Irina reveals there can’t be physical love between them due to an old Serbian curse involving witches and a group of condemned women who turn into cat people.

Cat People has been interpreted in countless ways: from the 1940s fear of immigrants to questions of lesbianism. It’s a remarkably dense film for being about a woman becoming a cat. To his credit, Lewton fills the movie with all manner of scares, particularly what’s now known as the “Lewton bus,” wherein in a loud noise and appearance of something comes out of nowhere. Think of it as the 1940s jump scare.

How to watch: You can rent Cat People now on Amazon, iTunes and other movie-renting platforms.