Kristiyana Ilieva CS2- book and film review-

The cry of the cat

The cry of the cat is a book, written and published by

R.L. Stine in 1998, that set the start of the multi-book
series titled “Goosebumps Series 2000”. Later that year
the TV series based on the books and carrying the same
name was premiered on live television.

To begin with once you start reading the book you

indulge into the creepy world of R.L. Stine. The peak
moments are so well and explicitly depicted with just the
right words. The story goes on about a girl named Anais
who accidentally runs a cat over with her bike on the way
back home. Ever since that moment the cat named Rip
never stops haunting her. Even though the girl tries to
warn and seek help in her parents and friends, everyone
seems to laugh in her face and not believe what she says.
One day she approaches a house which’s door stays
sinisterly wide open. Anais decides to go in but shortly
afterwards runs away after a formidable and alarming
cry. A few days go by but they surely don’t pass
harmlessly since Rip returns and scratches Anais in the
act of seeking vengeance. Everything ends when Anais’
best friend Mark decides to accompany her to the town’s
pet graveyard. Rip`s supposed owner instructed them to
go there and dig out the cat’s remains and complete a
ritual. Unfortunately Rip scares them away and on their
arrival at the owner’s home they are cornered by a
monstrosity that wants to sacrifice them to the ominous
beast of a cat, just for the sake of getting back her
normal, human appearance. In the nick of time Anais
took a poison that was just at the limit of her reach and
threw it in Rip`s mouth, which led to his 9th and final
death.

Correspondingly the movie is not so far from the

original book. Only this time in the film we observe a girl
and her friend who are stars in a horror movie based on
the book “ The cry of the cat”, however while the girl,
once again named Anais, is riding home she runs over a
cat that eventually begins to follow her around, seeking
revenge. In all words the movie she stars in becomes
reality. After she fails a few of the scenes and keeps
annoying everyone with her pleas for help, that no one
believes, the producer replaces her with a new actress.
Anais`s fear is continuously and repeatedly fueled by the
eeri, half-dead feline that keeps lurking in the dark
corners of every place she ever goes to. After meeting
Rip`s owner she is told to go and dig out his remains at
the local pet`s graveyard where the next scene of the
film is supposed to be shot. Later she returns to the
wicked house after Rip refutes her last attempt and
chance at stopping him. Desperate to find a solution in
order to stop the suffering that she is going through she
reaches for the owner’s help. However the shots are
turned against Anais and the woman tries to sacrifice her
to the cat. An act provoked by despair stops the evil cat
once and for all. Anais` last resort was a tub of poison
that was laying on the tabletop. Rip hasn’t been herd of
ever since that moment.

In conclusion I shall mention that the movie is divided in

two parts that supposedly cover the whole book yet the
stories in both are almost completely different from each
other. First of all the way that little details are described
in the book is diligent in every aspect and I really relished
the time I spent on it. Reading it you submerge yourself
in a completely new world and travel alongside the
characters. Secondly, nonetheless I cannot say the same
about the film. I was left deeply disappointed and let
down after I watched it and saw how they completely
massacred the original idea. I took it in more like a jest.
Probably after reading the book I was left with rather
high expectations and I suppose that I was rubbed the
wrong way by how horrendous the TV recreation is.
Putting everything aside I totally recommend the book to
anyone that enjoys the horror genre and prefers to read
shorter publications. I’d like to read your opinions on
both the film and the book. Have a nice time reading.