When Troma picked up Scott Perry's film Catgirls, they released that a film with that bland of a title it wouldn't get very much attention. That's when the Troma Team retitled it to the much more appealing Teenage Catgirls In Heat. Unfortunately, this Texan production isn't as appealing as it's hysterical title sounds.
When a young man named Ralph(Dave Cox) breaks up with his girlfriend, he finds himself fleeing Houston for the smalltown Riverville. Upon arriving, he discovers a crazy cat hunter named Warren(Gary Graves) whom he befriends. Little do they know that the odd cat activity they're seeing, including cats commiting suicide(which is one of the most hysterical scenes of the film, which contains people throwing stuffed kitten at cars and such), is because an Egyptian goddess is turning the area's cats into women that seduce men and kill them! Ralph learns this first hand, when he meets up with a girl named Cleo(Carrie Vanston) who happens to be one of the catgirls.
This film certainly did have potential. Unfortunately, the production didn't take it's self seriously enough to pull it off well. With better cast and direction, this film could've been a fun little b-movie romp, but it comes off as more of a mildly amusing, poorly acted comedy with a few funny lines. The acting ranges from high school drama caliber to Gary Graves's overacting which combines the over-the-top feel of Michael Gross's character in the Tremors series with that of Jim Varney.
The biggest peeve with the film is the overuse of very poorly executed day-for-night shots. Day-for-night is a process where, instead of lighting during the night, a filmmaker can instead put a blue tint over the film and darken the exposure. Unfortunately, EVERY scene at night features this and it's near impossible to see and sometime causes wretched continuity errors.
Okay, maybe I should try focusing a bit on some positive aspects. Since I'm sure you'll be expecting some skin with a title like Teenage Catgirls In Heat, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that there's plenty of naked catgirls. The story is okay and the dialogue actually is quite good, despite the actors' inability to deliver them as such. With the exception of the day-for-night shots, the film has nice photography, further expressing the wackiness of the film and has quite a few funny gags.
Honestly, Teenage Catgirls In Heat feels like a film that could've been very entertaining, but it just seems a bit too silly for it's own good. You might want to check it out if you can find it cheap, but I wouldn't recommend investing too much. Actually, you should definately get the DVD, because Lloyd's intro is one of the funniest I've seen yet!
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
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