“I DO IT FOR KICKS – AND I PLAN TO GET SOME!”
Now how can you not LOVE a movie that has a goal like that! Welcome to the world of the “Psycho Cat!”
“Confessions Of A Psycho Cat!”
If someone ever asked you, “hey, how wacky and offbeat WERE those early sexploitation movies anyway?” – well, here is your answer – take a look at this trailer:
What a classic piece of exploitation! Here’s the plot: A deranged, wealthy woman offers $100,000 to three men if they can stay alive for 24 hours in Manhattan, and then hunts them down. Here are the three losers as they wait in a room filled with dead, stuffed animals…
The “Raging Bull” Himself!
Boxer Jake LaMotta – yes, the “Raging Bull” himself – plays one of the three men who accept the bet – and he does a pretty good job in the movie!
LaMotta plays a washed-up wrestler, who accepts the Psycho Cat’s challenge, shouting at her:
“You don’t have a chance. I get in close, I’ll break you in half!”
Each of the three men wait for a notification that their “hunt” has begun, and then the “Psycho Cat” proceeds to stalk them through the city of New York, which allows for a lot of interesting b-roll from that era…as one of them tries to hide out in Central Park…
Two Movies For The Price Of One!
One of the unique aspects of “Confessions Of A Psycho Cat” is the “two movies in one” aspect of the film – it is a straightforward thriller, as each of the three men is hunted down by the crazed psycho cat…
But the film also has lengthy orgy scenes, all from a “party” that one of our victims shows up at – but for the most part, the nude scenes have nothing to do with the rest of the film…it was clearly a way to force nudity and sexual situations into the movie…and the film goes back to the party over and over again to show people making out and disrobing…
Another way this “two movies in one” shows itself again is in a bizarre sequence involving Jake LaMotta, as he sits in his apartment waiting for the “psycho cat” to arrive…
After making a phone call, he begins to argue with someone – it turns out to be this woman, who is shown supposedly sitting on a bed in the same room…
But here’s the thing: LaMotta and the woman are NEVER shown in the same shot – and after sitting like this on the bed for a moment, she takes her top off and delivers this classic sexploitation monologue:
“What you bring me up here for anyway? All you’re doing is reading that silly little paper. I came up here to have some fun. What’s the matter? Don’t you like me? (Takes off bra and examines her breasts) I never had any complaints before. Can’t you tell I’m a girl? I think I look pretty good. I think you’re putting me down. I’m sexy and that’s what I came up here for…sex!”
And then she makes out with the mirror! It’s a truly bizarre sequence, and after french kissing the mirror for a minute – topless the entire time – she storms out of the room, never seen in the same frame as LaMotta, so clearly this nude scene was filmed afterwards to add more nudity and sexual situations to the film!
“What Secrets Are Harbored Within The Sinister Highways Of The Mind?”
As Something Weird describes it: “With twisted violence, macabre humor, and lots of gratuitous skin (it was apparently shot as a straight horror film with the nude scenes added a year or two later), CONFESSIONS OF A PSYCHO CAT is a delirious, out-of-its-mind instant cult classic!”
And they are right in every way!
A Mind-Blowing Spanish Matador Battle!
You need more proof that this is a “sexploitation classic?” Well, here is one last moment to savor: the ultimate battle between “Psycho Cat” and “Raging Bull!”
Yes, “Psycho Cat” dresses like a toreador to come after “Raging Bull” La Motta in a bizarre action sequence that encapsulates everything that makes “Psycho Cat” exploitation at its best!”
Kudos once again to Something Weird Video – thanks for keeping cult cinema alive! And, to read about the man who founded this company, here is my appreciation of the late Mike Vraney:
