The Uncanny (1977): A Horror Anthology Film About Feline Retribution

In Denis Héroux’s anthology film The Uncanny (1977), a writer claims cats secretly control humanity and backs it up with three stories that suggest he might be right.

From the producing team of Milton Subotsky (purveyor of those omnipresent omnibuses cranked out by Amicus in the early 1970s) and Claude Héroux (the man behind such Canuck-horror efforts as Visiting Hours and Of Unknown Origin, as well as David Cronenberg’s The Brood, Scanners, and Videodrome) comes a tolerable triptych of terror tales… or should we say tails?

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Plot Summary

Frantic scribbler Wilbur (Peter Cushing) appears at the door of publisher Frank Richard (Ray Milland) with his latest literary effort: a treatise on how the world is secretly ruled by—wait for it—cats. He unspools several yarns (or balls thereof) as “evidence,” all of which are entertaining enough and all, like the fuzzball that digs its claws into your lap, teeter on overstaying their welcome.

Segment 1: London 1912

First up is “London 1912,” wherein duplicitous maid Janet (Susan Penhaligon, the capable star of Patrick, Pete Walker’s The Confessional, the Doug McLure dinosaur pic The Land That Time Forgot, as well as 1977’s Count Dracula starring Louis Jourdan) is out to steal her crazy cat lady employer’s Miss Malkin (Joan Greenwood, veteran of numerous classic Ealing comedies, such as The Man in the White Suit, Kind Hearts and Coronets, and Whisky Galore!) revised will—the one that leaves everything to the cats, naturally, as opposed to Janet’s boyfriend aka Miss Malkin’s layabout nephew Michael (Simon Williams). Snuffing the old hag with a pillow puts the purring ones on red alert. Janet finds herself trapped in the dwindling larder with much snarling outside and the food stores quickly drying up.

Whereas the following two episodes feature a single cat as their centerpiece, director Héroux kicks things off with a veritable avalanche of mewing beasties. So many cats, and an equal amount of zooms and (non) reaction shots as they stare blithely at Janet’s chicanery. Until, that is, she punches their meal ticket, after which they start flying through the air at her, with much fake blood, hissing, and racing around the set. 

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In a featured interview on Severin Films’ 2019 Blu-ray release, Haligon remembers the production team smearing her with cat food so that her feline co-stars would pay attention to her, and it is clear that most of the “attacks” are precipitated by some off-screen stagehand tossing them in the human star’s general direction.

On that note, veteran cinematographer Harry Waxman (whose venerable genre credits include lensing The Wicker Man, Vampyres, Twisted Nerve, and several Hammer efforts) reportedly voiced concerns over how the animals were treated on set and threatened to depart the production.

Segment 2: Quebec Province 1975

“Quebec Province 1975” sees sad little orphan girl Lucy (Katrina Holden Bronson, the adopted daughter of Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland) and her furry friend “Wellington” going to live with some perfectly awful foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Blake (Alexandra Stewart, Donald Pilon), and their perfectly beastly daughter, Angela (Chloe Frank), the latter of whom spends her time antagonizing the newest member of the family with taunts of, “You don’t have a Mummy and Daddy. You don’t have anyone…” Nice, right?

Someone should have informed the sassy blonde that young Lucy is a sassy brunette witch with spells from hell she ain’t afraid to tell. Someone should have also provided special effects man Michael Abrechtsen (Death Ship, Murder by Decree) with some less-dodgy rear-projection effects to work with, but I am sure he was doing his best with the meager funds Subotsky was doling out.

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Segment 3: Hollywood 1936

Finally, we come to our final chapter, “Hollywood 1936,” which is about hambone Valentine De’ath (Donald Pleasence) killing his harridan bride Madeleine so he can slip Edina Hamilton (Samantha Eggar) into his latest picture.

The problem is, she is awful. The other issue is that her cat, Scat, is still lurking about the set, causing lighting fixtures to fall, support ropes to slip, and iron maidens to slam shut at the most inopportune moments.

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Pleasence is entertaining enough, but Eggar displays a distinct lack of comic timing (as well as a peculiar accent that wavers between an affected Uh-Merican flatness and her native lilting British).

It is a long, unfunny haul, waiting to get to director Pomeroy’s (John Vernon) inevitable—but choice—final line: “Cat got your tongue?” (Vernon and Eggar would share the screen six years later in another Canadian effort, the underrated 1983 slasher Curtains.)

The Team Behind The Uncanny

Director Denis Héroux

Director Héroux, brother of producer Claude, enjoyed more success in the boardrooms vs. the set, overseeing such productions as Atlantic City (1980), Quest for Fire (1981), and The Park is Mine (1985). Admittedly, he was saddled with a bit of a handicap attempting to make a chiller from a lot of filler.

Screenwriter Michel Parry

Michel Parry’s (whose only other credit of note is writing the screen story for 1982’s Xtro) script is egregiously padded, something which the portmanteau-shilling Subotsky should have known a little something about. (Considering Amicus’ anthologies used to burn through four or even five stories in 90 minutes, one can only imagine Uncle Miltie checking his watch.) The opening and closing snippets of poetry—one from Ted Hughes, the other from Giles Lytton Strachey—seem to be stretching for a sense of legitimacy instead of leaning headlong into the loony premise posited by Cushing’s character. 

Actors Peter Cushing and Ray Milland

Speaking of the horror icon, Cushing had just wrapped his scenes for Star Wars (1977) when he showed up for this bit of tomfoolery. Always the pro, he earnestly delivers such juicy lines as, “We let them prowl about just as they please. Hardly noticing them. And, all the time, they’re watching us. Spying on us. Making sure that we behave.” He goes on, claiming to have, “… evidence from all over the world, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that cats have been exploiting the human race for centuries. We think we’re the masters and they’re merely pets, but we’re wrong. They are the masters. […] It’s a strange thing. Years ago, people used to believe a cat was the devil in disguise. I’m beginning to believe they were right.” 

His screen partner Milland, no stranger to schlock himself (Frogs, The Thing with Two Heads) and miles from his Oscar-winning turn in The Lost Weekend (1945), does his best to keep a straight face, right up to the nicely twisted payoff. 

A Final Bit of Trivia

One final bit of trivia… Apparently, The Uncanny was the sixth feature produced by Subotsky with a character named “Maitland” (in this case Mrs. Maitland, played by Renee Girard in the middle segment). The others are Guy Rolfe in And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973), Ian Hendry in Tales from the Crypt (1972), Robin Parkinson in They Came from Beyond Space (1967), Peter Cushing in The Skull (1965), and Tom Naylor in The City of the Dead (aka Horror Hotel, 1960).

Where to Watch The Uncanny (1977)

Severin Films released a Blu-ray of The Uncanny packed with interviews and bonus material.

The film also streams on Amazon Prime Video.

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About the author

AARON CHRISTENSEN (aka “Dr. AC”) is a Chicago-based actor, writer, personal trainer, and self-defense instructor. He has viewed and reviewed over 4,000 (and counting) fright flick titles for his popular blog, podcast, and YouTube Channel, HORROR 101 with Dr. AC.

Aaron is the editor of the critically acclaimed guidebooks HORROR 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies and HIDDEN HORROR: A Celebration of 101 Underrated and Overlooked Fright Flicks (winner of the 2013 Rondo Hatton Award). He is also a founding member of WildClaw Theatre, Chicago’s only horror-centric theater.

In addition to serving on the writing staff of HorrorHound magazine from 2009-2015, he has contributed to Rue Morgue, Fangoria, Evilspeak, Famous Monsters of Filmland, and Vanessa Morgan’s compendiums, When Animals Attack, Strange Blood, Evil Seeds, and Meow!

Other movie reviews by Aaron Christensen:

You can read more about The Uncanny (1977) in the books Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies and Evil Seeds: The Ultimate Movie Guide to Villainous Children.

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