The Uncanny

Plot synopsis:
In 1977, in Montreal, writer Wilbur Gray (Peter Cushing) visits his publisher Frank Richards (Ray Milland) to discuss his new book about cats. Wilbur believes that felines are supernatural creatures, and that they are the devil in disguise. Wilbur tells three tales to illustrate his thoughts:
In 1912, in London, Miss Malkin (Joan Greenwood) is a wealthy woman who rewrites her will leaving her fortune to her cats rather than to her nephew Michael (Simon Williams). Her maid Janet (Susan Penhaligon), also mistress of Michael, steals one copy of the will from the lawyer's briefcase and tries to destroy the original copy which is kept in the safe. When Miss Malkin sees her attempt, Janet kills her. The cats avenge Miss Malkin.
In 1975, in the Province of Quebec, the orphan Lucy (Katrina Holden) comes to live with her aunt Mrs. Blake (Alexandra Stewart), her husband (Donald Pilon), and her cousin Angela (Chloe Franks) after the death of her parents in a plane crash. Lucy brings her only friend, the cat Wellington, but her mean cousin forces her parents to get rid of Wellington. Lucy uses her mother's book of witchcraft to avenge Wellington.
In 1936, in Hollywood, the actor Valentine De'ath (Donald Pleasence) replaces the blade of a fake pendulum to kill his actress wife (Catherine Bégin), and give his young mistress and aspiring actress (Samantha Eggar) a chance. The cat of his wife avenges her.

Tags: revenge, murder

Review:
Oh, and there is a cat in it, but it doesn't do a lot, and seems pretty amiable really.Third story stars Donald Pleasence as a creepy little git, and is introduced by Cushing handing his publisher a stock photo from "You Only Live Twice" (Pleasence as Blofeld holding his fluffy white cat), which will probably amuse somebody.
Cushing's now gone into nervous overdrive, wringing his hands and exclaiming "It was the cat that did it!" A story set in 1930s Hollywood in which real devices of medieval torture are used on the actors (with the hilarious, yet seriously-delivered, "explanation" from a detective that goes "Well sir, there seems to have been a little mix up in your props department..."), it's all rather dull with yet more dodgy accents and, at one point, some misplaced slapstick and comedy music.
Not even fun in a sort of "So bad it's good," way, "The Uncanny" is a dull, listless and at times thoroughly unpleasant little film that is best avoided - and Cushing's only in it for about 10 minutes, so it's not even worth watching for him.
An anthology containing three tales used by a writer (played by Peter Cushing) in an attempt to warn people that cats are the real rulers of the world.
The second story is based around the daughter of a witch who comes to live with an adopted family, complete with her late mother's black cat.
In 1977, in Montreal, the scared writer Wilbur Gray (Peter Cushing) visits his publisher Frank Richards (Ray Milland) to disclose his new book about the evilness of cats.
Wilbur tells three tales to illustrate his thoughts.In 1912, in London, Miss Malkin (Joan Greenwood) is a wealthy woman that rewrites her will leaving her fortune to her cats rather than to her nephew Michael (Simon Williams).
When Miss Malkin sees her attempt, Janet kills her and the cats revenge Miss Malkin.In 1975, in the Province of Quebec, the orphan Lucy (Katrina Holden) comes to live with her aunt Mrs. Blake (Alexandra Stewart), her husband and her cuisine Angela (Chloe Frank) after the death of her parents in a plane crash.
Lucy uses the witchcraft book of her mother to revenge Wellington.In 1936, in Hollywood, the actor Valentine Death (Donald Pleasence) replaces the blade of a fake pendulum to kill his wife and also actress and give a chance to his young mistress and aspirant actress.
The cat of his wife revenges her.In spite of having great names, such as Ray Milland, Peter Cushing, Samantha Eggar and Donald Pleasence among others, the lead story of the afraid writer and his publisher is very weak and silly.
In this horror anthology, a writer (Peter Cushing) attempts to prove to his sceptical publisher that cats are really menacing supernatural beings by relating three stories of feline terror.
Cushing, as usual, was delightful in his role as the seemingly paranoid writer Wilbur Gray, but his rather short screen time meant that the gauntlet would fall to the rest of the cast who, with the exception of a select few performers which most notably included Donald Pleasance, were never able to perform to the standards required to make the lengthy segments enjoyable.
The following segment, set in Canada, tells the story of young Lucy (Katrina Holden, who would never work in film again) who goes to live with relatives after the death of her parents.
Her only friend, a black cat named Wellington, is the subject of unwanted attention and maltreatment from the jealous Angela (Chloe Frank, who previously appeared in the far superior horror anthology The House that Dripped Blood').
Virtually the entire segment seems incongruous to the rest of the film, and while some additions to the story seem to fit the theme when considered at face value, the ludicrous nature of the tale is little but damaging to the movie.
The Uncanny' is far from a great movie, but it has enough redeeming features to make the film enjoyable for one watch.
Replete with endless shots of disinterested moggies (presumably being teased by an out-of-shot toy mouse) and fluorescent red paint (supposed to be blood), 'The Uncanny' is a tedious dud.Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence are fabulous actors notable for giving their best to even the most irredeemable of projects.
In the tradition of the omnibus horror movie, the Uncanny begins with a framing sequence that sees a seemingly eccentric writer (Peter Cushing) petitioning his publisher to consider his most latest manuscript which foretells a feline conspiracy to rule the world.The first episode relates the story of a sickly Victorian women who chooses not to bequeath her estate to her ungrateful, high-living nephew, but to her beloved family of cats.
If you are not in either group I would suggest staying away from this film, because you may find more faults with the film than I did.The story is about an author named Wilbur (Peter Cushing in really a great role) who visits a publisher named Frank Richards (Ray Milland) to see if his stories about cats can be published.
It really was wonderful for me to see Peter Cushing so nervous all the time.The first story is about a dotty old rich lady (Joan Greenwood) who owns a thousands cats and her will.
The third and final story is about an actor with a wonderful name in Valentine De'ath (Donald Pleasance in a nice hammy performance) whose wife dies on set only to be replaced by a younger woman named Edina (Samantha Eggar) who Valentine's got the hots for.
All this, plus a wraparound featuring Peter Cushing.Many people rate this film low because of its campiness and the less-than-usual acting from Cushing (who plays a crackpot writer named Wilbur Gray).
But there's a feel to this film that makes it enjoyable nonetheless, a guilty pleasure that you would watch with your friends late at night while your parents are in another room.And sure, the blood is unrealistic, the gore is cleverly shown too quickly to notice (cats have a tendency to devour human flesh in this film, just like in real life).
there are dozens of great cat titles that would have been better.) Why cast Cushing or Pleasance in a subpar film?
Although quite amusing in parts due to the bad special effects this film was still very entertaining (in a good way) and I actually enjoyed the second story the most.Was a shame that Peter Cushing didn't have larger role.Interesting to see themes of witchcraft/magic being brought into a film about evil cats, although the blood did look very fake, as did the scene with the older girl fighting the cat.Definately a good film for cat lovers!
The Uncanny features Peter Cushing in yet another effortlessly good performance as an author who champions the theory that cats are out of to bump off mankind.
Good cast totally wasted in a sometimes chilling but generally flat omnibus type film.Peter Cushing appears in the overly familiar guise of an earnest and nervous author who has stumbled onto the little-known secret that cats are evil and in fact rule the world.
Most interesting story was the second one, in which a teenaged girl named Angela picks on her cousin Lucy, rubbing in how short she is and sending her cat, Wellington, to the pound.
The film is about cats, cats that get revenge.The story of Miss Malkin is quite good.
The cat will have your tongue in the end.Now the parts with Peter Cushing and Ray Milland are actually the best part of the film because it's interesting what happens with the two men, the evidence and the book.Worth watching if you like horror, cats and a good starring cast.
A rather silly anthology movie featuring three macabre tales about malevolent cats, The Uncanny is a lacklustre affair despite a solid cast (which includes genre greats Ray Milland, Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasance).Cushing plays Wilbur Gray, an eccentric author who attempts to convince his sceptical publisher (Milland) that his latest book is not as unbelievable as it sounds.
However, the film ultimately disappoints, with the other stories failing either due to their laughable premises or (in the case of the third) the semi-comedic approach taken in its telling.The usually reliable Cushing and Pleasance give rather poor performances: Cushing's character is a jittery crackpot and only serves to annoy, whilst Pleasance proves that comedy is not his forté.I hate to be a sourpuss and make catty remarks, but The Uncanny is definitely NOT the cat's whiskers..
Cats are no strangers to horror movies and literature.Edgar Allen Poe's legendary novel "The Black Cat" proves me right.Cats suddenly leap out of dustbins and closets to scare us silly."The Uncanny" is an old school horror anthology about cats.It consists of three stories linked to the main story of Wilbur Gray(Peter Cushing)is trying to convince his publisher and besotted owner of a cat that cats are actually evil and set to take over the world.The first story consists of cats exacting revenge for their former mistress.It's eerie and gruesome.The second story is about a young witch and her cat.The last story involves a cat and another killed owner.All stories are unbelievable and tongue-in-cheek with few stomach-churning scenes of horror.A fun horror anthology to watch.8 out of 10..
The wraparound story concerns a paranoid writer, played by the great Peter Cushing, who has come to believe that cats are the devil in disguise and secretly rule over humans.
Wilbur Gray,(Peter Cushing) an author on strange phenomenon, visits his publisher Frank Richards(Ray Milland) to show him his new manuscript about evil killer cats.
The second tale is about an orphaned girl Lucy, who has to go and live with her aunt in Canada, there she is treated badly by her cousin, her aunt doesn't want her cat in the house either, Lucy believing her mother was a witch proceeds to cast some spells on her erstwhile enemies.
The final tale is of a Shakepearian actor Valentine De'ath,(Donald Pleasance) whose wife is accidentally killed on set of his new film, he suggests her stand in(And his lover) as a replacement.
This Canadian/British production imitates the Amicus anthology formula – emerging to be lesser than most of their films that I've seen, though not too bad in itself (it has a great title and a splendid cast, but the premise is rather silly).Peter Cushing and Ray Milland appear in the linking story as an author and his proposed publisher respectively; the former suffers from a phobia of cats and has accumulated a series of cases which demonstrates the evil nature of felines and their inherent hatred of mankind.
Unluckily for Cushing, Milland is fond of cats – but he's willing to hear him out and, so, three stories are played out for our consideration.The first has a period setting: wealthy old recluse Joan Greenwood has decided to alter her will and leave her fortune to the assortment of feline pets in her house rather than to her no-good nephew.
The second episode turns out to be easily the least of the lot, and is overlong into the bargain: an orphaned girl goes to live with her aunt's family, incurring the wrath of older cousin Chloe Franks because she has brought along a black cat (the former was never allowed to have a pet, since mother Alexandra Stewart is a stickler for tidiness).
The three stories over, Cushing leaves Milland's house with the promise that he'll sleep over the idea of publishing his work; however, his cat has other plans and duly hypnotizes its master into burning the manuscript!
**SPOILERS** Collection of cat tales that's backed with a load of police and scientific evidence to vouch for their authenticity by Wilber Gray, Peter Cushing, the person who's telling them that proves beyond a doubt that it's actually the members of the feline family or cats, not humans, that are the true masters of the world.Wanting to get his theory of cat domination published before he himself in done in by the vengeful and destructive felines Gray goes to book publisher Frank Richards, Ray Milland.
Gray wants Richards to to put his evidence, in the form of a book, into the stores to warn the public of this very imminent danger before it's too late for mankind to resist the coming cat takeover.The sorties that Gray tells Richards, backed up with a bulging file of newspaper clippings and police and medical reports, are really not at all that convincing to Richards that has to do with people who crossed cats, or their owners, getting their comeuppances with the kiddies doing a number on them.The first cat tale has to do with a lousy and good-for-nothing nephew Michael, Simon Williams, who together with his girlfriend Janet, Susan Pehaligon,who works as a maid at his aunts mansion planing to get their hands on his ailing aunts Miss.
The cat back for revenge ends up doing, to the now cut down to size big bully, what he does best, OUCH!The third and final story that Gray tells Richards has to do with Hollywood horror star Valentine De'ath, Donald Pleasence,who has his actress wife, Renee Girard, accidentally, on purpose, killed during the filming of his latest horror movie.
Donald Pleasence hams it up in the third tale, which has probably the weakest story of the bunch.THE UNCANNY is a mildly fun film, worth watching if you're not expecting too much, and if you like the work of some respected actors.
Eye Of The Cat (1969) finds a bunch of cats ganging up on the scheming nephew of old Aunt Danny, who's threatening to leave her fortune to a cat's home.Yet among this particular sub-genre, The Uncanny (which shamelessly plunders the plots from those two movies) stands head and twitching tail as one of the stupidest films of the lot.In present-day Montreal, nervy writer Gray, whose previous works on UFOs and the secrets of the pyramids have apparently set the literary world abuzz, reckons he's cracked a trio of unsolved murder cases.
Lucy (Holden), whose parents have died in a plane crash, is sent to live with her snooty aunt and brat cousin Angela (Franks), whose idea of fun is to buzz her with a remote-controlled plane, jeering "You haven't got a mummy, you haven't got a daddy, you haven't got anybody!" Using black magic, Lucy shrinks Angela to the size of a mouse; a tasty treat for her cat Wellington.In the final story, set in Hollywood 1936, B-Movie star Valentine De'ath (Pleasence - the best thing in this by miles) murders his wife with a medieval pendulum and casts his adulterous lover Edina in her place for his new picture.
Sure, the acting isn't great (apart from the always fantastic Peter Cushing), the storyline is questionable (although I always love any horror film involving cats) and the gore effects look rather bland, fake and dated.
You can have fun watching a bad film.The storyline is that an author (Peter Cushing), who writes about such things as alien conspiracy theories, is trying to convince his cat-loving publisher to publish a book on how cats have been responsible for murders all around the world.
The story takes place on the set of a medieval horror film, so the death sequences involve pendulums, Iron Maidens, etc.
The second tale, also a doozy, has a child in mourning, named Lucy, with a black cat named Wellington, whose parents died in an airplane crash, having to go live with a wretched cousin, Angela, and Uncle and Auntie Blake.
Pleasence doesn't even attempt to hold back and I think the role is all the better for it in this case.Seeing Cushing at the mercy of ferocious alleycats that sense him as a danger to them (his author is someone who wants to call mankind's attention to how evil and menacing they really are, having done so in the past regarding Ancient Egypt and UFOs) at the end, his appropriate nervous nature and paranoia in the mere presence of publisher Ray Milland's pet white cat, is reason enough to check out "The Uncanny", even if the idea of cats as the ultimate predatory beasts leaves you rolling your eyes in disbelief and not taking the movie all that seriously.
After the opening credits set against paintings of cats we are informed that we are in 'Montreal - Present Day' as author Wilbur Gray (Peter Cushing) prepares for a meeting with his publisher Frank Richards (Ray Milland) at his house.
Frank isn't keen on the idea so Wilbur tells Frank some extracts form his book...The first story is set in 'London 1912' & begins as an elderly lady named Miss Malkin (Joan Greenwood) makes a new will with her lawyer Mr. Wallace (Roland Culver) that leaves her entire fortune to her cats & not her Nephew Micheal (Simon Williams).
However things don't go as planned as Miss Malkin's large collection of cats seek revenge...The second story is set in 'Quebec Province 1975' & begins as a young girl named Lucy (Katrina Holden) is driven to her Aunt (Alexandra Stewart) & Uncle's (Donald Pilon) house where she is to live after her parents were killed in a plane crash.
Eventually Lucy decides she has had enough & with the help of a little black magic has her revenge...The third story is set in 'Hollywood 1936' & begins as an actress named Madeleine (Catherine Begin) is 'accidently' killed on the set of her latest horror film entitled 'Dungeon of Horror'.
One thing I would say though is the constant cat theme grew a little old by the end & is maybe another reason why I didn't like the third story that much.
The Uncanny feature's a great cast, Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, Susan Penhaligon, Donald Pleasence, Samantha Eggar, John Vernon & Alexandra Stewart which means there's no problems in the acting department as far as I'm concerned Pleasence apart of course, in fact the cast is probably better than the film deserves.