Blu-Ray Review: THE CAT (1991)

THE CAT

Directed by:  Ngai Choi Lam

Distributed by:  88 FILMS and MVD Entertainment

One of my favorite types of reviews I do are of films I have never seen or even heard of.  Such was this case with the beautiful box set from 88 Films of Ngai Choi Lam's (Simon Nam) 1991 epic alien horror film, THE CAT.    I was a huge fan of Lam's other film from the same year, RIKI-OH:  THE STORY OF RICKY.    I'm not sure how I missed the release of THE CAT, but if you were a fan of the craziness of RIKI-OH, you will be huge fan of this one as well. 

Let's start by giving you the "plot" of this film, taken from the 88 Films website:

From Lam Nai-Choi, who made unhinged masterpieces The Seventh Curse and Riki-Oh: The Story Of Ricky, comes a film that, somehow, manages to be EVEN MADDER. An evil blob-like extraterrestrial has come to earth with nefarious intentions. Luckily some good aliens are on its trail: a man, a woman, and – of course – their fluffy black cat. 

With wonderful pre-CGI special effects (i.e. rubber galore) and some truly bonkers action (watch out for that cat!), The Cat is part horror, part sci-fi and all WTF? The sane and rational folks at 88 Films are proud to present your new favourite crazy movie.

 Now I put "plot" in quotations, because the film's story is all over the place, and to be honest, there were times when I had no clue what was going on.  Now normally you would think that was a bad thing, but in this instance it really didn't matter.   Even though I might not have been sure exactly was going on story wise on screen, what was happening was crazy, bloody, weird, and even hilarious at some points. 

 Made in the early 1990's, CGI was not a thing, so you get all practical effects here which is an awesome thing for sure!   The alien creature itself is a huge blob like thing with bristles or something on it.  It can grab people and basically infuse them into it's body.   An Alien girl and her friend, along with their alien cat team up and come to earth to battle the alien being.    Some notable scenes are people being devoured by the alien, having their skin completely eaten off their bones.   There is some great blood and gore in this film, even if some does look pretty fake by today's standards.   The best scene in the film (in my opinion), is a kung fu battle between the alien cat and a huge dog.  This is a fight scene that must be seen to be believed, and made me laugh out loud at times!

 This is an extremely fun film that I highly recommend.  This new release from 88 Films comes in a beautiful box set with the Blu-ray, poster card, and a small paperback book containing a look at the filmography of the director.   The box these items come in is a very thick, sturdy box, and then has a slipcase over that to protect it.   Fans of physical media, like myself, will love the presentation of this film.   The film itself also looks amazing, as it's presented in a new 2K Restoration from the original film negative.  88 Films spared no expense on this amazing release.   

 THE CAT will be available 9/23/25 from 88 Films and MVD Entertainment.   The blu-ray set includes the following Special Features:

*  Limited Edition rigid slip sase with new artwork by Sean Longmore

*  Limited Edition 40 page perfect bound book

*  Limited Edition premium art card

*  Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative

*  Remastered original Cantonese monoaural soundtrack

*  Newly translated English subtitles

*  Audio commentary by Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)

*  Brand new film interview with writer Gordon Chan 

*  Image gallary

CLICK HERE to pre-order the Blu-ray