A truly unique madman from the golden era of Hong Kong genre films, onetime Shaw Brothers cinematographer Lam Nai-Choi may be best known today for his instant extreme cult classic Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, but he has plenty of outrageous gems under his belt including The Seventh Curse, Erotic Ghost Story, and Her Vengeance. His last film after retiring from a short directorial career, The Cat lives up to its predecessors as an insane slice of entertainment that goes even further than its premise would indicate -- and it features one of the wildest fight scenes ever filmed, without a human character in sight. It's also sort of a companion film to The Seventh Curse since it's based on another work by author and persona Wisely (a.k.a. Ni Kuang, who sometimes acted as well), played in this particular film by the appropriately named Waise Lee (A Better Tomorrow).

After his neighbor disrupts his sleep in the middle of the night, Li Tung (Lau) investigates some new arrivals in his building including a beautiful young woman (Yip) and a mysterious fluffy black cat. After a macabre discovery, he confers with writer Wisely (Lee), cop Wang (Shaw Brothers vet Kwok), and investigator Pai So (Ng) soon deduce that the girl and cat come from outer space, which is confirmed after witnessing an attempted theft of a mystical octagon and a monstrous surprise at a museum. Guarded by fellow alien Errol (Siu-ming), the cat (whose name turns out to be The General, a la Cat's Eye) proves to be a formidable ally when the sleuths try to send a dog after it. Things escalate quickly as their mutual foe turns to be something much bigger, slimier, and craftier than they could have anticipated.

As delirious as '80s Hong Kong movies come, The Cat seems odd but relatively straightforward in its initial stretch but soon delivers the goods with crazed monster spatter, puppetry effects, cosmic stakes, incendiary firearm attacks, and plenty more. Then there's that junkyard fight scene which is really best watched as cold as possible halfway into the film, after which all bets are off. Pair it with your next viewing of Flow for the best black cat double feature imaginable.

Though it wasn't a hit at the local box office, The Cat built up a bit of a cult following once it hit home video and started to make its way overseas. That included a VHS from Tai Seng, a briefly available VCD from Mega Star, and a 2003 DVD from Fortune Star (apparently from a badly converted PAL master since it runs 84m46s), all with English subtitles. Weirdly, a Japanese filmmaker was brought on to prepare an alternate version swapping out some cast members and elongating the pace of the film, though that version has remained stuck on local VHS. In 2024, an HD restoration of The Cat popped up out of nowhere on The Criterion Channel in the U.S. as part of a feline-themed month, so it was only a matter of time before a Blu-ray finally hit the market. That came to pass in 2025 from 88 Films in the U.S. and U.K., with the 2K scan easily blowing the earlier DVD transfer out of the water in every possible way. Scenes that were dark and muddy before look clear now, and detail and color fidelity are radically improved. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 Cantonese mono track sounds excellent and features improved optional English subtitles.

Frank Djeng provides another extremely informative audio commentary filling in the background of the film's history at Golden Harvest, the parties involved in the screenplay, the circumstances of the Japanese version, the Stephen Chow mania at the box office that took this one down, and lots more. A new interview with writer Gordon Chan (21m47s) covers the origins of the Golden Harvest film with Chua Lam and Alex Cheung, the difficult adaptation process from the novel, the obvious challenges with filming cats (with black cats being rarities in Hong Kong, causing them to dye some when a feline actor would pass away), and his lack of involvement with the production once the current director took over. That elusive Japanese version is also here in SD with optional English subtitles, obviously presented in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 but looking watchable enough for the curious. It's a radical overhaul of the film with a totally different Wisely framing device, a faster jump to the museum scene, and way more chitchat and comic relief; basically the special effects scenes are the only real overlap here. Definitely don't watch this version first, but it's a great addition here and much appreciated. Also included are a 1m58s still gallery and a remastered theatrical trailer best not seen before the film itself. The limited edition comes with an artcard, a rigid slipcase with new art by Sean Longmore, and a 40-page book with essays by Paul Bramhall and Matthew Edwards offering their own overviews and takes on Lam Nai-Choi's career including various genre highlights and the trademarks he brought to bear in this singular blend of horror, sci-fi, and utterly lunacy that still hasn't been duplicated.

88 FILMS (Blu-ray)

Fortune Star (DVD)

Reviewed on August 31, 2025