A rather silly anthology movie featuring three macabre tales about malevolent cats, The Uncanny is a lacklustre affair despite a solid cast (which includes genre greats Ray Milland, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance).
Cushing plays Wilbur Gray, an eccentric author who attempts to convince his sceptical publisher (Milland) that his latest book is not as unbelievable as it sounds. Gray is convinced that cats are not as docile as they seem and that, in fact, they are in control of us. He illustrates his point by telling three bizarre stories from his latest work.
In the first tale, a young woman faces an army of murderous moggies after she bumps off their elderly owner. Story two sees a young girl use witchcraft to get revenge on a spiteful cousin (who has been making life difficult for her and her feline friend, Wellington). And the final tale sees an actor hunted by a killer cat after he murders his wife in order to be with a younger woman.
The movie begins promisingly enough with the first tale managing to be both suspenseful and quite bloody. However, the film ultimately disappoints, with the other stories failing either due to their laughable premises or (in the case of the third) the semi-comedic approach taken in its telling.
The usually reliable Cushing and Pleasance give rather poor performances: Cushing's character is a jittery crackpot and only serves to annoy, whilst Pleasance proves that comedy is not his forté.
I hate to be a sourpuss and make catty remarks, but The Uncanny is definitely NOT the cat's whiskers.
Cushing plays Wilbur Gray, an eccentric author who attempts to convince his sceptical publisher (Milland) that his latest book is not as unbelievable as it sounds. Gray is convinced that cats are not as docile as they seem and that, in fact, they are in control of us. He illustrates his point by telling three bizarre stories from his latest work.
In the first tale, a young woman faces an army of murderous moggies after she bumps off their elderly owner. Story two sees a young girl use witchcraft to get revenge on a spiteful cousin (who has been making life difficult for her and her feline friend, Wellington). And the final tale sees an actor hunted by a killer cat after he murders his wife in order to be with a younger woman.
The movie begins promisingly enough with the first tale managing to be both suspenseful and quite bloody. However, the film ultimately disappoints, with the other stories failing either due to their laughable premises or (in the case of the third) the semi-comedic approach taken in its telling.
The usually reliable Cushing and Pleasance give rather poor performances: Cushing's character is a jittery crackpot and only serves to annoy, whilst Pleasance proves that comedy is not his forté.
I hate to be a sourpuss and make catty remarks, but The Uncanny is definitely NOT the cat's whiskers.