Cat, The (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Mar 27, 2026
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Lam Nai-ChoiRelease Date(s)
1991 (November 25, 2025)Studio(s)
Golden Harvest Productions (88 Films)- Film/Program Grade: C+
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: A-
Review
Cinematographer Lam Nai-Choi aka Lam Ngai Kai directed a series of wildly entertaining action, horror, erotic, and science fiction-oriented films in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s. Two of his most popular were Erotic Ghost Story and Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, but one of his more gonzo efforts came in 1992, which turned out to be his final film before his retirement. The Cat, which was based upon the novel Old Cat, itself a part of the Chinese-language Wisely Series by Ni Kuang, is also known by a number of other titles: Lo mau, Lao mao, Wei si li zhi lao mao, The 1000 Years Cat, Wisely’s Old Cat, Nine Lives, and Karaté Cat. Regardless of what you call it, it’s one of those projects that defies not only expectations, but the various genres that it encapsulates.
In the story, novelist Wisely (Waise Lee) recounts the events of a deadly alien lifeform recently coming to Earth and attempting to take it over. He becomes involved when police inspector Wang Chieh-Mei (Philip Kwok) is investigating a report of a citizen, Li Tung (Lawrence Lau), who has been complaining about a noisy next-door neighbor, subsequently finding the bloody remains of a cat in an empty apartment. Wisely soon tracks down the suspicious former occupants, a young girl (Gloria Yip), an older man (Lau Siu-ming), and a very much alive cat known as “The General,” all of whom turn out to be aliens from the another world who are meant to destroy the deadly alien monster and return home. Meanwhile, the monster is taking possession of humans and attempting to hunt them all down, especially “The General.” Other cast members include Christine Ng, Ni Kuang himself, and Chua Lam.
You’d be completely forgiven after initial watch of The Cat and not being able to keep with the plot. Indeed, it’s bonkers from beginning to end, never failing to find new ways of totally throwing you off guard. Two highlighted moments include an intensely freakish special effects sequence in which the fungus-like alien monster with electricity running through its pink shape kills and inhabits the bodies of several policemen. The other is a show-stopping series of events in which an oversized dog named Lao Pu has a knock-down, drag-out encounter with The General in a junkyard. While some of it was filmed with the real animals, there’s also a mix of puppets and stop-motion thrown in for key moments. At one point, The General even tricks Lao Pu into running through an electrified fence, whereupon Wisely appears and finds The General’s severed tail, leading him further into the plot. It’s a mini-masterpiece of a sequence, and while it’s not entirely clear if either animal was harmed or mistreated during the making of it, it’s the most memorable point in the film.
Obviously, fans of monster movies and over-the-top cinema need only apply here. The Cat is definitely an experience, and your enjoyment of it will depend upon whether or not you’ve read the source material, which the film builds upon rather than adapts directly, or whether you’re willing to go with its outrageousness waiting at every turn. It’s a confusing movie on a first watch, to say the least, but worth it for the special effects and fantastically over-caffeinated moments.
The Cat was shot by cinematographer Mak Hoi-Man on 35mm film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. 88 Films brings the film to Blu-ray with a new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, authored by MJMultimedia Ltd, and encoded to a dual-layered BD-50 disc. It’s an excellent-looking master that’s very organic with a bitrate primarily sitting in the 30 to 40Mbps range. Everything resolves well with a mild layer of film grain, while saturation is limited to mostly reds, blues, and greens. The perfectly-tuned contrast allows for very deep blacks with abundant levels of detail in the shadows. Since this is a film that takes place mostly at night or in the darkness, this is definitely an attribute. The overall presentation is stable with only minor speckling, leaving very little room for complaint.
Audio is included in Cantonese 2.0 mono LPCM with optional English subtitles, newly-translated for this release. It’s a clean and satisfactory track that offers the score some fidelity within the confines of a split-channel aural experience from a single audio source, though the Cantonese dubbing is fairly limited and narrow. On the other hand, other elements such as atmospherics and natural hiss, have plenty of presence in the audio. In other words, a solid mono experience.
The Limited Edition 88 Films Blu-ray release of The Cat, part of their 88 Asia Collection, sits in a clear Amaray case with a double-sided inner sleeve, featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore on one side and the original poster artwork on the reverse. Alongside it is a double-sided art card with the same artwork options and a 40-page booklet containing cast and crew information, the essays “That Cat Is Dangerous”: A Retrospective Look at the Filmography of Lam Nai-Choi by Paul Bramhall and Body Horror: The Warped Cinema of Lam Nai-Choi by Matthew Edwards, and special thanks. Everything is housed in a rigid slipcase with a slipcover, both featuring Sean Longmore’s artwork. Unfortunately, the Limited Edition is now sold out, but a standard edition is readily available sans the poster, booklet, case, and slipcover, but containing the same disc-based extras, which are as follows:
- Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng
- Japanese Cut with English Subtitles (Upscaled SD – 97:00)
- Writing The Cat: Interview with Director Gordon Chan (HD – 21:47)
- Stills Gallery (HD – 22 in all – 1:58)
- Trailer (HD – 4:23)
First up is an audio commentary with Frank Djeng, co-programmer and interpreter for the New York Asian Film Festival, and co-producer of the documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce, among his many other distinguished titles and works. He takes us through the various adaptations of the Wisely Series and makes comparisons between the novel and the film. He also speaks about the careers of those involved with the production, and discusses some of the differences between the Hong Kong and Japanese versions. Some cultural context is provided for local food and drink, as well. It’s an extremely thorough track, as is Frank Djeng’s usual style.
Next is the film’s Japanese Cut, presented in standard definition, in 2.0 mono Dolby Digital with English Subtitles. It’s a substantially different version of the film, completely re-arranged editorially with a number of newly-filmed scenes, characters, and actors, dropping some from the Hong Kong version altogether. There’s also additional special effects moments and plot points, but by and large, it’s more of a dialogue and mystery-driven plot than the chaos seen in the Hong Kong cut. Your mileage will definitely vary on which is the more entertaining version.
Writing The Cat features an interview with Gordon Chan, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay. It’s essentially a Q&A of sorts as an offscreen interviewer questions Chan on various topics, including how he became involved with the film, the pros and cons of adapting novels, working with Ni Kuang, collaborating with Chan Hing-ka, embellishing upon and changing things from the book, dealing with anxiety as part of the film’s theme, his involvement during filming, his knowledge of the two versions of the film, why horror and science fiction aren’t popular in Hong Kong, his feelings about Lam Nai-Choi and his filmography being popular outside of Hong Kong, and his final thoughts on the experience. Last is a Stills Gallery containing 22 images of production photos and artwork for this release, as well as a “trailer,” which is more of a series of clips.
88 Films has been dipping into a number of Hong Kong and Japanese films and giving them excellent treatment on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD, and The Cat is no different. Though the Limited Edition is out of print, the standard edition is still a fine disc to pick up for fans of Lam Nai-Choi and his brand of loony, but no less entertaining, cinema.
- Tim Salmons
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