Meow (2017): A Short Horror Comedy With an Unpredictable Cat
When a lonely city girl takes in a stray cat to keep her company, things get weird fast in this horror short film that proves not every cute feline makes a good roommate.
Meow
Director: Christopher Jopp
Country: USA
What’s Meow About?
During a phone conversation with her mother, a young woman discusses the merits of owning a cat to help her adjust to the loneliness and boredom that coincide with her recent move to a small urban apartment.
Doing so does not seem to be in the cards as it is concurrently discouraged by her mother and explicitly forbidden by her weaselly landlord, who noticed her failure to sign the “no pets” stipulation on her lease agreement.
Later, on a dreary and otherwise indistinct night, violent sounds emanate from the nearby alley.
Samantha steps out to investigate (always an obvious no-brainer for vulnerable women, alone in the dead of night).
After a brief and fruitless search, she returns to discover an amiable and affectionate alley cat atop her coffee table.
Samantha christens the stray with the only moniker it will utter.
Though Samantha immediately makes the humble quarters cozily suitable for Meow, domestic bliss becomes something more grisly and disturbing when she discovers a pizza delivery man fatally attacked with a conspicuous body part lying in the kitty litter.
As more attacks occur in the immediate vicinity and her landlord grows increasingly suspicious, Samantha must solve the gory mystery before it is too late.
Christopher Jopp on Cats, Comedy, and Horror
Writer/producer/director Christopher Jopp connects the legacy of the cat’s image in cinema history to the theme of a young city dweller desperate enough to trust a mysterious animal, subconsciously knowing it may be a killer.
“After turning 30, the paranoia and confusion I felt during that time seemed like fertile ground for a comedic horror story and a chance for me to exercise my filmmaking muscles in a cathartic way.”
A tightly told story that hits all the classic notes while avoiding clichés, Meow is worthwhile viewing, packing in a decent dose of scares, shocks, and thrills.
Well-crafted by Jopp, it also benefits from its commendable performances, including Eleonore Dendy in the lead role of Samantha.
Watch Meow (2017) on YouTube
About the Author
CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON is a writer, filmmaker, and musician in New Jersey who began in film and TV as a camera operator in his late teens. He produced creative and commercial videos as the founder of Smoked Sausage Festival Films and Podium Productions and hosted and produced Princeton in Focus for cable access television. He has written for Cult Reviews, Rare Cult Cinema, Filmfax Magazine, and Western Magazine Digest. He also contributed essays to Vanessa Morgan’s reference guides When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals, Strange Blood: 71 Essays on Offbeat and Underrated Vampires Movies, and Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children. You can find his writings and videos at ChristopherRobinson.info.
Other reviews by Christopher Robinson: The Shadow of the Cat (1961).
If you loved Meow, be sure to check out these other short cat movies.
Discover more horror movies with cats in my book Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies.
That tiny kitty sure inflicted some damage on that landlord. I wonder why women always choose to venture into the alley at night? I was blown away by Samantha’s creative skill in litter box construction. Who would have thought?
Sounds like the classic start to as horror movie that would have me hiding behind the sofa, these can never end well. Thank you for sharing with #pocolo