Legend of the Cat Monster (1998) Reibyo densetsu | Region-Free (Blu-Ray) | English Subtitles

Title: Legend of the Cat Monster (1983)

Alternate Title: 麗猫伝説 / Reibyō densetsu

Genre: Drama / Fantasy / Horror

Plot Synopsis
A legendary actress, long presumed dead, is discovered residing in an isolated mansion. A struggling screenwriter is hired to pen her comeback film, and moves in to begin the project. As writing progresses and the two share the house, reality begins to twist: the actress appears unaged, illusions grow, and the boundary between dreams, memory, image, and life starts to crumble, revealing that nothing is quite as it seems.

Cast and Crew

• Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

• Writers: Chiho Katsura

• Cast:

  • Takako Irie as Akiko Ryūzōji

  • Wakaba Irie as Young Akiko / Daughter version

  • Akira Emoto as Ryohei Shimura

  • Jun Fubuki as Ryōko

  • Toru Minegishi as Tachihara

IMDb Link: Legend of the Cat Monster (1983)

Reviews from Letterboxd

1. Lou (rhymes with wow!) – ★★★★☆
   “I wish that all made-for-TV supernatural meta melodramas could be/look this good. It’s obvious that Obayashi is working within budgetary constraints here, but he still managed to deliver something visually interesting and lovely. What a legend!”

2. pratt360 – ★★★★★
   “Fantasy eating away at the living. The fabrications and conceits of the heart laying stake in flesh. A poison nostalgia that yearns for the company of lovers that never were and never could be rendering the truest manifestations of love in the liminal spaces between lands, in the contours of spaces ill-defined.”

3. Kaleb – ★★★½
   “The alternate title to this is “Legend of the Beautiful Ghost Cat” which I prefer. The best name however is “Japanese Sunset Boulevard Where 75mins in Shit Gets Bonkers”. I can’t believe this was a TV movie, a Tuesday TV movie at that. Well actually the score is quite TV although beautiful and elevated at points. Akiko’s theme is especially good. A synth comes out of nowhere at 31:30. It’s also far too beautiful looking to believe it was made for TV. One of my favorite shots is after Mizumori smacks Ryohei so hard in the face with a bouquet of roses that he bleeds. It then does this haphazard jump cutting on a zoom of the roses laying on…”

4. Tim – ★★★½
   “Akiko is an ICON. Obayashi Sunset Boulevard ish – made for TV so it’s fun to imagine “what if.” Even still, last 30 minutes or so manages to pack in a solid amount of weird, creepy, and/or a little something for the freaks and includes some spectacular imagery.”

5. Chris Freiberg – ★★★½
   “The title is sort of a Val Lewton-esque bait-and-switch where there is technically maybe a monster but the real monstrosity and the general topic is obsession, tied to the self-referential trope of films as dreams. The breaking into chapters is neat, but having such frequent breaks (23) made the film seem contradictorily digestible and really long. Being a ghost story, the climax felt like it had some similarity to House.”

Meta Description:
An entrancing blend of nostalgia, fantasy, and horror from director Nobuhiko Obayashi: a screenwriter’s retreat to write a comeback film uncovers illusions, longing, and a haunting reflection on the power of cinema.