The summary and note for this entry were completed with participation from the AFI Academic Network. Summary and note were written by participant Christy Turner, a student at Oregon State University, with Jon Lewis as academic advisor.

A 1 Apr 1981 Var news item announced that director Paul Schrader was set to remake the 1942 horror film Cat People (see entry) for Universal Pictures and principal photography was scheduled to begin 30 Mar 1981 in New Orleans, LA. Interior scenes would be filmed in Los Angeles, CA. As noted in Var, the 1942 version of Cat People marked the first film in an RKO Pictures series and “an unrelated sequel,” The Curse of the Cat People, was released by RKO in 1944 (see entry).
       Var noted that Schrader “reworked” the plot of the 1942 picture, but he does not receive writing credit in the remake. Schrader also made significant changes to Alan Ormsby’s script, according to a 7 Jun 1981 LAT article, including the addition of a prologue, the expansion of the character “Paul Gallier,” which re-envisioned his role as a minister, the inclusion of an incest scene, and further modifications to distinguish the ending of the film from its precursor. However, Ormsby told LAT that several of the changes Schrader claimed to have instigated himself were already in Ormsby's treatment and early versions of the script.
       Var reported that Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell and John Hurt were set to star, but Hurt does not appear in the film. Although Kinski commonly spells her first name “Nastassja,” she is credited as “Nastassia” in the picture. On 3 Apr 1981, DV stated that filming began 6 Apr 1981 in Los Angeles and John Heard was listed as a lead. DV noted that the project, which was budgeted at $10 million, was initiated five years earlier by producer Charles Fries. The film was scripted and scheduled for production in Canada, but Fries was unable to secure his first choice for the female lead, Raquel Welch, and filming did not get underway at that time. A 29 Jul 1980 HR news item reported that Bo Derek was attached to the project.
       Production partners Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky disputed the origination of the Cat People remake in a 1981 New York Supreme Court lawsuit. In his 10 Aug 1981 letter to the DV editor, Rosenberg contended that he initiated the project with Fries, but Subotsky responded in a 19 Aug 1981 Var letter to the editor that he came up with the idea in 1963 and spent years urging Rosenberg to obtain the rights to the original film. Although Rosenberg stated that he was not involved in the remake as a co-producer, Subotsky claimed that Rosenberg held a “50-50” stake in the film with Fries and argued that he was contractually entitled to profits from the picture because he initially brought the project to his former partner. A 5 Aug 1975 HR news item announced that Rosenberg and Fries had partnered to develop the film as a 3-D presentation. Rosenberg is not credited in the film.
       According to the 3 Apr 1981 DV article, Universal Pictures purchased the property in 1975 and although French director Robert Vadim was interested, it remained in limbo until Universal recruited Schrader and executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who had recently worked together on American Gigolo (1980, see entry) for Paramount Pictures. Director of photography John Bailey and visual consultant Ferdinando Scarfiotti also worked on American Gigolo. Cat People was scheduled for a sixty-two day shooting schedule and planned to move from Los Angeles to New Orleans on 25 Apr 1981.
       A 20 May 1981 Var news item announced that principal photography was set to wrap in New Orleans on 22 May 1981 after a month-long shoot, and the production was returning to Los Angeles for another month. Var noted the budget increased to $12 million. A 4 Apr 1982 LAT article reported that the total cost of the film was $13.5 million, not including $5-7 million for promotional materials, and it marked the first high budget film in Schrader’s career as a director. Schrader told LAT that the picture was also a departure from his previous work because it was “based on magic and myth and written by someone else,” but after completing American Gigolo he found that he had “nothing to say.” Schrader added that “Cat People was the tonic I needed to revitalize” and despite the film’s commerciality, it was a necessary step in order “to retain the freedom to work slightly out of banal conventions” on other projects. According to Schrader, his focus in the film was not sexual exploitation but rather the “repression, mischanneling… [of] sexual myths and codes” and their visual representation. He told LAT that in comparison to scenic filming, the picture’s dialogue was shot “only one day in five” during principal photography. Schrader noted that he wanted to include the production text “A film by Paul Schrader and Ferdinando Scarfiotti” because of his close collaboration with the visual consultant and the significance of the picture’s imagery, but the Writers Guild of America would not permit a “dual-possessive credit” because it might “set a dangerous precedent.” Schrader also stated that Universal was not confident about his selection of Kinski because there “was no assurance about her bankability,” but he insisted on casting her.
       The film was released to mixed reviews.
       The end credits include the following acknowledgements: “’Top Cat’ footage courtesy of Hanna Barbera Productions, Inc. and Worldvision Enterprises, Inc.; Poetry selection taken from Dante’s ‘Vita Nuova’; Animals in natural habitats were filmed on location at the Audubon Zoological Garden, New Orleans. All caged exhibits were filmed at Universal Studios; Special thanks to the Louisiana Film Commission for their cooperation in the making of this film.