AIP are best known for their Italian co-productions but from time to time they picked up an English film, including this low budget horror flick. It's a cheerful rip off of Cat People, starring Barbara Shelley as a newly-married woman who is called to her ancestral home and informed she’s bound to suffer from a curse – she’ll turn into a leopard. People start being killed as if by leopards; Shelley’s convinced it’s her. Just like in Cat People there’s a psychiatrist character – only here he’s a goodie (very dull). There’s also a girl that the main lead wants to kill so she can have her man, a climax where the creature comes alive.
A bit racy in spots – Shelley gets out of bed and we see her bare back (this is repeated later in hospital). Shelley gives a good performance – she’s pretty, flashing a lot of shoulders, and handles a difficult part well. Some effective moments – windswept mansions, dark alley ways, tormented Shelley - but not really any great shakes and a long way from a hidden classic.
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