The Uncanny (1977)

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This British/Canadian production sports an impressive cast but a very weak set of stories. Peter Cushing, cast against type, plays a grizzled half-crazed writer named Wilbur, who takes his latest book to his publisher Richards (Ray Milland). Wilbur specializes in writing about phenomena like UFOs and pyramids, but his new book is about cats. Richards has a cat, a white long hair named Sugar, and this upsets Wilbur. The author has concluded that cats are the tool of the devil, and he tells three stories out of his book to prove his point.

The first story takes place in 1912 London. Old Mrs. Malkin (Joan Greenwood) is close to death, and changes her will, leaving her entire estate to her cats instead of her ne'er-do-well nephew, Michael (Simon Williams). Michael is courting Malkin's put-upon servant Janet (Susan Penhaligon), who decides to tear up Malkin's will, invalidating it. The cats have their revenge.

The second story is set in 1975 Quebec. Lucy (Katrina Holden) has just lost her parents in a plane crash. She and her cat, Wellington, are sent to live with her Aunt Rose (Alexandra Stewart), her uncle, and their spoiled daughter Angela (Chloe Franks). Angela begins tormenting Lucy and the cat, not aware of Lucy's late mother's fascination with witchcraft and black magic. Rose tries to get rid of Wellington, but the cat has its revenge.

The final story takes place in 1936 Hollywood. Valentine De'Ath (Donald Pleasence) kills his wife during the shooting of a horror film. His lover, Edina (Samantha Eggar), is trotted in to replace his wife both on set and at home. The dead wife's cat is still at the house, and the couple tries to get rid of it. The cat has its revenge. Finally, the Wilbur/Richards story wraps up, and the cats have their revenge.

Cat lovers might not appreciate the pets being portrayed as bloodthirsty predators who take revenge. Movie lovers might not appreciate every predictable segment of the film portraying all the cats as bloodthirsty predators who take revenge. The Wilbur/Richards framing segments work because of Milland and Cushing, although the ending is also completely predictable. The London segment is best, but there are too many places where the story should have ended. The second Quebec segment is the worst of the lot. The children are terrible actresses, the dialogue they are given is embarrassing in its ignorance of reality, and it ends with some really terrible special effects. The Hollywood segment tries to go for dark laughs, but there is not too much humor in figuring out the final twist before the cast does. The only laugh? Everyone calls Valentine by his initials- VD. Heroux's direction is standard, not anything special. The musical score is awful, the "wacky" theme in the final segment is grating. Featuring cats as the villains is okay, but making them do the exact same thing in all four stories is a mistake. Do it once, shame on me, do it four times, shame on the film makers.

The cast saves this from being a complete disaster, but in the end, I canny not recommend "The Uncanny."

Stats:
(1977) 89 min. (* *) out of five stars
-Directed by Denis Heroux
-Screenplay by Michel Parry
-Cast: Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, Donald Pleasence, Samantha Eggar, John Vernon, Sean McCann, Joan Greenwood, Simon Williams, Susan Penhaligon, Katrina Holden, Chloe Franks, Roland Culver, Donald Pilon
(Not Rated)- Contains physical violence, gore, some adult situations