The Black Entertainment Network
Starring: Leon, Regina Taylor
Directed by: Neema Barnette

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: John (Leon), an artist, and his wife Willy (Regina Taylor) move into a dilapidated home on an island, not realizing that a vengeful spirit named Arabella (Cynda Williams) has her eye on John.

Featured Feline: At the beginning of the film we see a long-haired calico cat running through a steamy scene.

The cat is then seen in a carrier in a car.

The cat, whose name is Spider, belongs to John and Willy and moves into the new house with them. Spider is seen both indoors and outdoors on several occasions.

Spider, whose sex is never clarified although one would assume she is female because of her calico coloring and red / pink collar, seems to sense the malevolent spirit in the house.

Willy is seen holding, carrying and petting the cat throughout the film.

At one point Spider senses something is wrong and sees the ghost Arabella put out the fire on the gas heater.

Spider runs out of the room and the door closes behind her. Willy wakes up to the smell of gas and Spider scratches at the door from the outside, sensing something is wrong.

Spider is seen a couple more times after this but her presence decreases as the film goes on.

Eventually Spider is seen again in the carrier in the car when Willy returns to the home. As Willy enters the home, she is holding the carrier. Just in case it is not clear that the cat is in the carrier (which it probably isn’t in this shot), Spider’s name is prominently displayed on the side.

Kitty Carnage Warning!  Unfortunately during the final showdown when the ghost is at its worst, Willy finds Spider the cat dead on her bed with his or her throat slashed. According to the Animal Humane Association the film production obtained a formerly euthanised cat to use in the scene, smearing fake blood on its neck. It’s a sore disappointment for a cat character who was seen so much throughout the film to be taken out so needlessly for shock value. The fact that a real deceased cat was used, while not an unknown practice, only makes the moment more deplorable.

Final Mewsings: Dead cats deserve more respect.

Many thanks to Nick Wale for letting us know about the cat in this movie!

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