THE LEOPARD MAN

THE LEOPARD MAN

I was well aware of producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur’s collaborations in creating two classic vintage horror movies, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE and CAT PEOPLE. But their final joint effort, for me anyway, was a rather lesser known entity called THE LEOPARD MAN. Released in 1943 with a run time of a mere 66 minutes, the movie is now available for the first time on DVD in UK with a digitally restored and re-mastered print by means of the Odeon Entertainment Group.

The movie is set in New Mexico and starts when nightclub act manager Jerry Mannings (Dennis O’Keefe) strikes up a dubious plan to undermine a rival act. He suggests Kiki (Jean Brooks) makes an entrance by leading a borrowed black leopard into the audience just as the sultry castanet playing Clo-Clo (Margo) is in full flow. But the crafty plan backfires. The din of the show unsettles the wild cat who escapes out into the town.

As the police search for the missing beast, a young girl is murdered and naturally the runaway cat takes the blame. But when two further murders occur, the circumstances and evidence suggest the likelihood of the leopard being solely responsible is highly unlikely.

Driven by guilt, Jerry initially turns to the animal’s original owner, a travelling circus act known as Charlie How-Come. He then teams up with animal expert and ex-zoology teacher, Dr. Galbraith (James Bell) and police chief Roblos (Ben Bard). Working together, the men endeavour to reveal the truth behind the malevolent slayings. The superstitious town folk’s panic and paranoia soon gives way to confusion when the dead carcass of the leopard is found. Could the REAL killer only have two legs after all???

I found THE LEOPARD MAN to be a strange little movie. Its style seemed to hop between traditional Horror and an antiquated Noir Thriller. While it could be simply dubbed a murder mystery, the techniques used to forge the story were more in line with a suspenseful horror of the era.

Given such a relatively short runtime, it was interesting to note the method in which a couple of the murders took place. They were preceded with a truly protracted build up, which almost felt like the attention of narrative was being shifted away from the main protagonists. Some typical ‘Lewton trademarks’ were evident when a characters demise were preceded by stretched out scenes of mysterious pursuits.

The murders themselves showed no actual graphic violence but, in the case of the first one particularly, were harrowing all the same. A convoluted scream from behind a door suddenly by silenced along with the sight of blood effortlessly satiating the ridges of the floor tiles was splendidly eerie and intelligently shot. Then there was a victim being inadvertently locked in a creepy cemetery calling out for help. It was a scene steeped in tension that had an inevitable conclusion but was so well constructed the viewer has no alternative but to get immersed in the sheer atmosphere of the sequence.

Unfortunately it meant that these highlights were ultimately undermined by the simplification of the abrupt conclusion. Again bringing the given the relatively stunted run time into play, surely a few more minutes developing the twist of the climax would have elevated this movie from obscurity into horror folklore.

The disc itself offers a very decent blemish and crackle free print in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. If I was to be a little picky though, I would admit to seeing sharper picture quality even with movies from this era. The sound comes in a Dolby Digital Mono format and is more than adequate with no obvious issues.

The menu simply offers the "scene access" option with no other extras.

I believe there is a Region 1 DVD offering this movie but I have read some pretty awful reviews in regards to the print quality.

In summary, Odeon are offering a great looking print of a relatively rare movie at a wallet friendly, budget price.

Review by Marc Lissenburg


 
Released by Odeon Entertainment
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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