A rather tepid anthology film, CAT'S EYE is a pastiche of leftover Stephen King notions, connected by a ubiquitous cat that ominously appears to set off each tale.
The first and best story concerns chain-smoker James Woods, who enrolls in the "Quitter's Inc." stop-smoking program run by doctor Alan King. Unfortunately, the cure is quite sadistic and requires that the smoker's poor wife, Mary D'Arcy, be locked in a room with an electrified floor. If her husband lapses, she pays the price.
Episode No. 2 is set in Atlantic City, where a brutal gambler, Kenneth McMillan, who knows that his wife has been sleeping with a Robert Hays,forces Hays into a bet. He must climb out of a window 20 stories high and manipulate his body along a six-inch ledge to circumnavigate the building; if he does so, he wins the gambler's money and wife.
The final story takes place in Wilmington, North Carolina, where a young girl, Drew Barrymore, is being terrorized by a miniature troll. The whole picture was the ill-conceived notion of mogul Dino De Laurentiis. Screenwriter Stephen King thought the cat angle a poor way to connect the tales. Director Lewis Teague (ALLIGATOR) does a workmanlike job here, and also good are James Woods's performance in the first episode and the special-effects work--particularly in the troll story. leave a comment