The Leopard Man (1943)
The Leopard Man (1943)
8.5/10
The Leopard Man, credited by some as the first film to introduce elements of what would become widely known as the slasher pic, is decades ahead of its time, proving once again that the Val Lewton-Jacques Tourneur team were innovative in their use of lighting, sound, plot structure and depiction of then unaddressed themes. While not considered quite as relevant as the more typically praised Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie, this is an underrated gem that only further highlights the fascination that RKO and their consistent risk taking provide.
The structure of the plot was heavily recreated from the book the film is based on, Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich. Instead of sticking with the main characters, who if we had to pick would be publicity agent Jerry Manning (Dennis O’Keefe), his girlfriend client Kiki (Jean Brooks)and a rival dancer named Clo-Clo (Margo), the film floats around to the lives of the victims allowing the atmosphere to prevail. The plot is paper thin which is a compliment in this case. Jerry thinks Kiki needs to make a big impression in their stop to New Mexico, so to compete with local dancer Clo-Clo, Jerry suggests that she enters with a tame leopard. Clo-Clo in an act of jealousy purposely scares the leopard away allowing it to escape. Soon, there are murders in the town as people start dying with everyone assuming the leopard is the cause due to claw marks and hairs at the scene. Soon though, Jerry suspects that a human is doing the killings using the leopard escape as an excuse. Jerry and Kiki attempt to find the culprit in order to save the town from any more sorrow and to absolve their own self guilt.
While Jerry, Kiki and Clo-Clo stand as protagonists, the film does not have a conventional structure. It spends a lot of time with its victims and in the moments and interactions they have before death. It wavers between characters, wandering back to Jerry and Kiki every once in a while to see how they are doing. Clo-Clo is the character that links everyone together. She is less of a character and more of a symbol for fate. She briefly makes an appearance in the lives of the victims. A fortune teller friend consistently attempts to read her fortune, every time coming up with the Ace card which makes her reshuffle citing a mistake in her own methods. While there is a continuing story in the progression of Jerry’s guilt and efforts to find the killer, the thin plot allows for this structure in which the characters can breathe but most importantly atmosphere can prevail.
Val Lewton and Jacques Tourneur are now known for their innovations in lighting, sound and atmosphere which are on full display in the first murder scene which is one of the most memorable scenes in a classic Hollywood horror film and as good as anything in Cat People. A young girl is forced to get cornmeal late at night from her mother. She locks her daughter out and tells her she cannot come back in until she gets the cornmeal. The young girl, Teresa, sets off for the food and her reluctance only grows as she makes her way back. The sequence is, as well as the entire film, devoid of a soundtrack. Horror films, like many other genres, overuse score and many subpar horror films depend far too much on music to provide scare moments. The Leopard Man employs silence and natural sound motifs to extract tension from the viewer and it works. At the end of the sequence, Teresa makes her way to the door of her house. The mother and brother are shown as we only hear Teresa’s screams and the banging of the door. Her screams suddenly stop and as the mother frantically attempts to unlock the door, blood slowly seeps under as they realize she is dead. It is a masterful sequence that more than holds up 70 years later.
The film, which loosely follows the structure of the eventual slasher film, also established very early on the gender roles that the subgenre would assume. Women are victims and the audience is the spectator and involuntary voyeur. Unlike most slasher films, the film at least attempts to establish these characters and place them in a context to instill sympathy as opposed to the women simply being voyeuristic props.
The Leopard Man also addresses the psychosexual yearnings of the serial killer and while it is completely simplified, by the end remaining acknowledged but not addressed it is still a brave step to take in an age when very few films outside of, most famously, M, were addressing the idea of the “uncontrollable” urge to kill. Unfortunately the film finds a way to avoid the subject almost as soon as it is brought up. While it could have gone a bit farther in linking sex and murder in a way that avoided controversy, it still was taking a risk by suggesting something that most other films of the time, especially Hollywood films, were not exploring.
The Leopard Man often gets skimmed over in relation to Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie. Along with another underrated Lewton gem The Body Snatcher, The Leopard Man is a risk taking, atmospherically effective and unconventionally structured horror film from RKO. It is well worth seeking out, especially since the Val Lewton collections release as in its short running time, manages to linger longer than once would expect.
Horrorphile
Cat People is one of my favourite horror movies.
Great review btw.
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Horrorphile
Film & TV on DVD
This one has been impossible to see for so long. Thanks for the review which reminded me to check it out.
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JohnDoe - Thanks! I hope you enjoy it whenever you get to see it!