Cats. We love them around here at B&S About Movies, as Becca moved in with two cats, Elvis and Lola, to join Sam’s boys, Norris and Anderson. So we often look for movies that star cats. We could list lots of kid-friendly films, but we’d rather find some strange movies that just happen to have cats in a featured role.

1. Clovis from Sleepwalkers: There have been many cats who have been in films. But Clovis is one of the few that I can think of that is an official police cat. And definitely the only one who assembles an army of cats to avenge his dead human and decimate an incestuous union of vampiric creatures.

2. General from Cat’s Eye: General moves the entire story of this film, from being captured by mafia guys who can get you to stop smoking to running along the ledge of a building and battling an evil creature that steals the breath of little girls. The end of this movie, where he’s finally asleep and secure in a home of his own, warms my heart.

3. Jones in Alien: Sure, that xenomorph wipes out every human but Ripley, but Jones (also called Jonesy, but we know he prefers his proper name) easily survives (and even shows up in Aliens, staying behind on Earth). In the novelization of the first film, there are even chapters from his point of view.

4. Church from Pet Sematary: Ever had a cat completely lose his or her mind and slice your puny human flesh to ribbons in an act of pure feline madness? Church was prone to do things like that even before he was brought back to evil life by a Native American burial plot. Once he returns, everyone pays.

5. Rufus in Reanimator: What is it with dead cats coming back as evil? But check out this amazing Rufus sticker from the amazing folks at Cavity Colors!

6. The black cat in Fulci’s The Black Cat: This is one black cat that gets it done. If by gets it done you mean casually lead humans to their doom and go to war with his human owner. Bonus Fulci points for another cat, this time the one that lives inside his insane and eye-damaged obsessed skull in Cat in the Brain.

Image from the wonderful site http://www.cinemacats.com

7. The killer cat from Uninvited: A cat that escapes from a government lab that somehow has another creature living inside it that ends up killing George Kennedy and messing up a drug-fuelled cruise caper. Oh man — this movie! Of course Vinegar Syndrome is re-releasing this!

8. All of the cats in Eye of the Cat: Old ladies love their cats. And guess what — cats love their old ladies. Everyone tries to take Aunt Danny’s money, but the cats? They got her back. This somewhat lost film was finally re-released by Shout! Factory.

9. The cats in The Uncanny: This post-Amicus portmanteau is all about Peter Cushing’s book on cats, who he feels are Satan in fur. Look, any movie where Samantha Eggar is Donald Pleasence’s mistress is getting watched in this house.

10. Claude in Black Christmas: I have a theory about Claude. He’s totally annoyed at having to live with sorority girls, so he’s decided to work with the killer. He even shows us his complicity by licking the plastic bag that was used to murder Clare!

Honorable meows go to Blanche the blood spitting cat from the Japanese film House, the homeless cats that menace Timothy Busfield and Kathleen Quinlan in the made for TV Strays, the cat in Tomb of Ligeia, the human/cat hybrids of the Cat People series of films, Satan in Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and the black cat in The Legend of Hell House.

There’s a great site that you should check out, Horror Cats, which has featured over 400 cat appearances in horror movies and television.

Which cat is your favorite? Did we miss one? Let us know!