Cat's Eye (1985)

Stephen King is known for his horror stories. But he can also produce dark humor in his stories as well. We have characters from his past films: "Cujo" and "Christine". What were they doing on the East Coast? But it wasn't a story about them. They were just cameos. The story all revolves around a cat. After it gets away from that vicious St. Bernard, it goes from Wilmington, NC to New York. It's first encounter involved a man (James Woods) trying to quit smoking. The cat was used as a guinea pig for shock treatment. "Quitters, Inc." was a very effective but controversial quitting treatment place. They get people to quit smoking, but they go through extremes with it. His tempting urge to smoke comes around, and he is watched. Even though they forgive him for that slip up,the results are effective. The result is for you to find out next. Then there's "The Ledge". This one was very silly and unentertaining. The result of that one fell a little flat for me. Then the last one focused on the cat. He is named "General" by Amanda(Drew Barrymore). Her mother protests his presence. The main reason is the parakeet, Polly. That night, a malevolent troll appears in Amanda's room. Kills Polly, and stabs General since he couldn't outwit him. Wrongfully blamed for Polly's death, the mother sends it to the shelter to be put down. But the father wasn't positive about General doing such a deed. When the troll returns, General escaped and races back to the house to save Amanda, and stop the creature. The parents were able to break open the door after General sends the troll to its death by box fan. The little girl let's her mom know that General is a hero. Both parents were in disbelief after they see the mangled pieces of the malevolent creature. The father asked if he had any friends. The reward for General was a fish on a silver platter. Some good parts, some silly parts, it was a fun movie to watch. At the end, I think it was touching. General did replace Polly, that's a lot of heart. I think it is perfect for Stephen King fans. And it's a great rainy day movie as well. A keeper it is. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Omnibus of three stories by Stephen King, weirdly connected together by a cat. King wrote screenplay for the movie. First two parts are adaptations of his earlier short stories, while third is original story written for the movie. First two stories are realistic, one dark humorous and other very tense, while third reminds a bit of Gremlins. James Woods and Alan King play great roles in first story, while star of the third one is once again ten years old Drew Barrymore, who plays leading role in King's previous movie. Underrated gem of 80's and one of the best King adaptations I saw so far.9/10

The adventures of a runaway cat trying to find its young owner link three stories together.The Good Stor(ies): Quitter's, Inc-At the request of friends and family, a man goes to Quitter's, Inc., a special group run by a strange doctor that encourages people to quit smoking through violent force. Warned of severe consequences if caught smoking, grave consequences are in store for his family and loved ones. As he gets further along in his treatment, the harder it gets for him to keep his promise. This is one of the better stories. Every minute of this bizarre yet surprising story inspires an interesting paranoiac atmosphere, but it is exaggerated to an extent, where a spy hides in a dresser and awaits the moment when he will smoke, another fakes jogging in front of his house, and a few others, but it's the paranoia set in that make them work well. There is a single sequence where, at a party, hallucinates giant ambulatory cigarettes to the accompaniment of The Police's "Every Breath You Take, "a song so perfectly suited it could have virtually been written for the film, as faces become distorted and changed to the point that an extreme amount of joy is had through the goofy nature of their appearances. There's a particularly thrilling sequence of events that starts with him crumbling in his car while stuck in traffic, the whole time wondering if he's being spied on throughout his trek. The only part that doesn't work is why would an important firm offer its clientèle the opportunity to torture, rape and kill, while risking getting caught? This aspect is not covered and it is a question to be asked as it seems like a risky proposition. Otherwise, this was a good entry.The General-Finding its long-lost home, a young girl is reunited with her runaway cat, much to her parents' disappointment. While sleeping with her cat, she is soon attacked by a strange troll and the cat leaps to her defense, but the resulting damage is blamed on the cat and is giving away. Racing back, it engages in an intense struggle with the creature for its owner's life. This isn't that bad, and did have some really nice moments. The troll effects are well pulled-off as it looks realistic while also giving it a creepy appearance, as it steals many of the best moments when it attacks its victim while sitting on its chest, a marvelous trick that comes off wonderfully. The climactic showdown is the natural highlight, as it's a nice, long dragged-out fight without getting repetitive or ridiculous, and the foregone conclusion is satisfying. The only thing that doesn't work in this is that the special don't always work. Most of the matte shots are obviously matte shots, as the halo around the objects is painfully apparent and no attempt is made to hide them. It's not enough to lower the rating, but it's still a distracting problem.The Bad Stor(ies): The Ledge-After his affair has been discovered, the cheater is approached by her husband and is offered a deal to save his life. If he can walk around the ledge surrounding his high-rise apartment building, he'll let him go with his wife. Reluctantly agreeing, he sets out on the quest, unaware of the traps he has set to knock him off before he reaches his goal. This does manage to provide the little bit of gore, as we get some bloody bird pecks, a severed head and some gunshots. This almost manages to work because of its simplicity and originality. The camera angles, for the most part, put in perspective the man and pit that wants to swallow him. It's a daunting enough task and he's tempted to fall because of the wind that attacks him and the pigeons who smash his ankle, but when the husband is going out of his way to make him fall by putting traps along his way by spraying him with a fire hose and popping out of nowhere with a loud horn, it's a little intense at times. However, this is ruined by the repetitive nature of the events. It's not that different from any section, as he goes out and then the guy pops up with a trap. After a while, it gets numbing and no matter how suspenseful it is, after the first few traps seen it's acceptable to miss this one with no harm done at all.Rated PG-13: Violence, mild Language and mild animal cruelty.

Cat's Eye is a series of three short stories with the only connection between the three of them is a tabby. The first, and best, short story starred James Woods. He played a husband and father trying to quit smoking. He unwillingly signed up for treatment at a company that uses "radical" techniques to help people quit smoking. Imagine if Don Corleone managed a smoking cessation program. It was a novel concept and a good bit.The second short story starred Robert Hays who is probably best known as Ted Striker from Airplane. He played Johnny Norris, a washed up tennis player who was attempting to run off with another man's wife. This was probably the weaker of the three stories but the intrigue was brought on by the man giving Johnny a bettor's chance to have money, the girl and his freedom.The third and last story starred Drew Barrymore. Yes, Drew Barrymore starred in her second Stephen King written project. Barrymore had to have been the Dakota Fanning of the 80's. She plays a little girl that suffers from nightmares of a monster trying to take her life. The cat, she named General, helped rid her of her problem.Cat's Eye was a decent movie. It is another display of Stephen King's creativity. With three short stories it is all go. In other words, there is little time for character development or meaningless dialog. From the opening credits you are thrust right into the conflict with a resolution not too far behind.