9 Must-Watch Anthology Movies Featuring Cats

Love anthology movies? You’re in the right place. Every film in this list features at least one storyline built around a cat. From horror and political allegory to drama and animation, these anthologies prove that feline-centered tales can fit into just about any genre. Whether you’re in the mood for something unsettling, thought-provoking, or heartwarming, you’re bound to find a must-watch pick worth streaming tonight.

Cat’s Eye (1985)

A wandering tabby takes the spotlight in a 1985 horror anthology made up of three connected stories, all linked by a gray cat. 

In the first segment, a man (James Woods) enrolls in a program that uses extreme methods to help him quit smoking. The second story follows a gambler (Robert Hays) caught in a cheating scheme at a hotel. And the third one sees a young girl (Drew Barrymore) battling a sinister troll living in her bedroom.

The movie adapts Stephen King’s short stories “Quitters, Inc.” and “The Ledge” for the first and second segments. King wrote the third one specifically for the film.

🎥 Read more about Cat’s Eye (1985) and its feline star.

📍 Cat’s Eye (1985) is currently available for digital renting/purchase on Amazon Prime Video, or you can get it on Blu-ray.

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The Uncanny (1977)

In this British–Canadian horror anthology, cats aren’t just pets—they’re clever, vengeful creatures with their own agendas. To prove this theory, a writer (Peter Cushing) recounts three separate stories set in different time periods, each involving a cat taking revenge on people driven by greed, jealousy, or malice.

The stories include a scheming cousin plotting for inheritance in 1912 London, an orphaned girl whose black cat protects her from malicious relatives in 1970s Quebec, and a rivalry between actresses in 1930s Hollywood.

🎥 Read more about The Uncanny (1977) and its production.

📍 You can stream The Uncanny (1977) on services such as ScreamBox, FlixFling, Amazon Prime Video, Eternal Family, Midnight Pulp, Troma NOW, Plex, and Fandango at Home. There’s also a great restored Severin edition on both Blu-ray and DVD.

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Heathcliff: The Movie (1986)

A mischievous orange tabby named Heathcliff (voiced by Mel Blanc) takes over in a 1986 compilation of short cartoons. In the main thread, Heathcliff falls for a glamorous cat named Sonja, who’s been sent to charm him as part of a shady inheritance scheme.

While he’s busy trying to impress her (with his usual mix of swagger and chaos), the film cuts away to fantasy sequences and side stories featuring the Catillac Cats and other neighborhood antics.

📍 Heathcliff: The Movie (1986) is currently only available on DVD.

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Catnado (2024)

Think Sharknado  (2013) but with cats — and far more low-budget. Catnado: Tales of Feline Terror is an over-the-top anthology movie in which tornado-like storms unleash spiraling hordes of enraged cats on unsuspecting towns and isolated characters.

Each segment is directed by a different indie filmmaker and takes this absurd premise in wildly unpredictable directions, from desperate survivors battling swarms of clawing felines to surreal vignettes of talking cats demanding tuna in a cellar.

🎥 Read more about Catnado (2024) and its production.

📍 Catnado (2024) is available to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video. You can also stream it for free (with ads) on Tubi TV.

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Ten Years Thailand (2018)

“Catopia” is a component of the Ten Years Thailand omnibus film, where each of the four segments presents the director’s speculative vision of a dystopian Thailand in 2028. It urges critical thinking in a nation governed by generals since a 2014 coup.

It employs more seasoned directors than its predecessor, Ten Years (2015), which depicted a dystopian view of post-handover Hong Kong. While that film brimmed with anger and resistance (and was therefore banned in China), the Thai movie portrays a mood of acquiescence and hopelessness, underscored by an undercurrent of distrust and hostility.

This atmosphere is also present in “Catopia,” the standout segment of the anthology. Here, a man finds himself in a world where he must blend in with a society of human-like cats dressed in suits. These cat creatures symbolize the groupthink prevalent among fragmented political factions in Thailand, reflecting the country’s divide between pro-democracy and pro-dictatorship sentiments. Despite its title suggesting a utopian vision of harmony between humans and cat creatures, the film depicts a much darker reality, addressing real-world issues of prejudice, discrimination, and the pursuit of social justice.

📍 Ten Years Thailand (2018) is currently only available as a region A Blu-ray with English subtitles.

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Follow: Love, Life, Ghent (2015)

This anthology film brings together ten love stories set in the city of Ghent, each directed by a different filmmaker.

The segment “Avalon” by Vincenzo De Jonghe, adapted from the short story “Next to Her,” centers on 84-year-old Maurice (Luc De Ruelle) and his terminally ill wife, Yvonne (Anna-Maria De Schepper). Maurice has cared for her for more than two years, and the emotional strain of caregiving begins to blur the line between compassion and exhaustion, raising the question of whether they can still find tenderness in their marriage.

Their former cat, whom Yvonne still sees wandering through her room, becomes the bridge between them and a way to reconnect with the love they once shared.

The segment later screened independently at festivals and won the Sundance Channel Audience Award in 2016.

A real-life cat named Avalon plays the title role, and the feline actor’s experiences on set are documented in his memoir titled Avalon.

Find out what it was like visiting the set of “Avalon” in Sint-Amandsberg, Belgium.

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Tales From the Darkside: The Movie (1990)

Based on the eponymous TV series created by George Romero, Tales From The Darkside: The Movie taps a similar vein to its cinematic predecessors, such as Creepshow, with three tales of horror bound together by a wraparound story à la Brothers Grimm.

Of the three tales, the sequence of “The Cat From Hell,” which Romero scripted based on a Stephen King short story, is my favorite. It is also the most memorable piece because it will make you think twice the next time you hear someone ask, “Cat got your tongue?”

The premise of “The Cat From Hell” concerns Drogan (William Hickey), a wealthy pharmaceutical tycoon, who hires a hitman named Halston (David Johansen) to dispatch the murderous cat that he believes lives in his mansion and wants to make him pay for drug trials on felines because of their unique central nervous system.

The whole idea is preposterous to Halston until Drogan offers him a ridiculous sum of money to complete the task. Drogan then warns Halston not to underestimate the cat and briefly recounts how it was likely the culprit behind the deaths of the home’s three previous occupants, including Drogan’s sister.

Drogan is sure that he will be the cat’s next victim. He departs and leaves Halston alone to deal with the infernal feline.

A classic case ensues where the hunter soon becomes the hunted, followed by one of the film’s most impressively gruesome sequences from the legendary KNB EFX Group. [Charles M. Kline]

📍 You can rent or buy this horror anthology digitally on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. Shout! Factory also released Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K editions.

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Cartoon Noir (1999)

Cartoon Noir is an animated anthology film that brings together several short stories that echo the look and feel of film noir movies—mystery, crime, moral tension, and dark humor—but told through animation. Each segment has its own visual style and tone, ranging from moody and suspenseful to playful and ironic.

In the segment “The Story of the Cat and the Moon,” directed by Pedro Serrazina, a cat becomes obsessed with the moon and repeatedly tries to reach it, representing a kind of unrequited desire or yearning in a simple, symbolic way.

📍 Cartoon Noir (1999) is currently only available on DVD.

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Two Evil Eyes (1990)

Not a collaboration in the purest sense, Two Evil Eyes features a pair of legendary directors (George A. Romero and Dario Argento) having a go at Edgar Allen Poe, each applying their distinctive styles to a different classic tale. Though the segments do not rank among their best work, this comparatively obscure film is worth checking out, especially “The Black Cat” from Argento.

Romero adapts “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar,” one of Poe’s lesser-known stories. While watchable, it is ultimately plodding. Conversely, Argento puts an interesting modern spin on “The Black Cat.”

Harvey Keitel plays Rod Usher, an alcoholic crime scene photographer tormented by the titular creature brought home by live-in girlfriend Annabel (Madeleine Potter). As his drinking and temper grow worse, he kills the cat—more than once—and eventually Annabel. Rod tries to cover his tracks by sealing the body within the walls of his house and reassuring nosy neighbors she is out of town. But the cat is not done with him.

Despite many character and situational changes, Argento retains the essence and psychological horror of the original short story. He also references other Poe works, such as “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “Berenice.” Even some names allude to other stories and poems.

Being Argento, there is a big emphasis on visual aesthetics, some of which reflect his giallo origins and penchant for grisly murder sequences.

While the questionable special effects related to the cat diffuse the tension at crucial moments, this is a stylish, entertaining adaptation of Poe’s most disturbing tale. [Dave Anderson]

📍 You can watch the Blue Underground restored version of Two Evil Eyes (1990) on Amazon Prime Video or on Blu-ray and 4K. It’s also available on The Roku Channel, Tubi, Vudu, and Apple TV.

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You can read more about several of these movies in the book Meow! Cats in Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Movies.

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