Alyssa Black (Aly200) Who knew that a story about a cat solving a series of brutal murders could be so engrossing? Germany entered this controversial thriller into the animation game that has become the country's own masterpiece, earning global praise. Its fame has even surpassed the literary source novel it was based upon.Francis is a house-cat who has just moved to a new neighborhood with his magazine writer owner and stumbles into a murder mystery that involves scientific experimentation, a feline cult and a bloody body count as he gets closer to the truth. Aided by a colorful cast of diverse characters from the wise-cracking deformed Bluebeard (Bleubart in German), the blind, gentle and wise Felicity (Felicitas in German) to the fatherly figure-like and all- knowing Pascal, Francis comes to learn that the truth is stranger and more horrifying than he could have known. Our leading feline is a simple cat who must become a hero in extraordinary circumstances. Francis is naive yet intelligent despite little knowledge of the film's events prior to his introduction. His voice is what guides us through the story as we see everything from his perspective, allowing us access into his mind when Francis begins to experience nightmares so horrible that it pushes the limit of what should be seen. Francis is also flawed as he gives in to temptations that could cost him his life or the answers to the murders, but in the end the hero does prevail thanks to his resourcefulness, razor-sharp wit and fierce combat skills.The violence is graphic and unyielding as the bloody aftermath is not shielded from the viewer. We never actually see the crimes occur, but are given details in some instances that would make one's stomach twist and turn. The carnage is spine-chilling as the murders grow more gruesome in the film's short run-time (I won't divulge here for the sake of not offending my readers). Best not to see this on a full stomach or if you are squeamish.The narrative takes many twists and turns as the mystery is slowly unraveled. By the time the killer's identity is revealed, the tension is so thick that the air could be cut with knives and still the adrenaline pumps through the veins. Even as the fiery and brutal final battle takes place, you can't look away as the hero and killer face off in the most epic cat- fight since "The Lion King (ironically released the same year as "Felidae")". It is only over when blood is spilled, but there is a bittersweet final word of advice that wraps up the film with a bow but not in a condescending way.If you are brave enough, give this little gem a watch but be prepared for one hell of a ride.

PeachHamBeach (Weary Sigh....Spoilers) I'm unable to comprehend the fact that the majority of viewers of this film give nothing less than perhaps a 6-8 out of 10. I finally watched it. I am a cat lover. I'll get that fact out of the way right now. I am also pushing middle age (46 this October), so by no means am I a kid, alright? I thought this was a crock of excrement. And it really didn't have to be. It could have been SO many things. THE PLAGUE DOGS? THAT is a compassionate statement against the evils of humans using, enslaving, exploiting, torturing and murdering animals. They wanted to make a movie about cats and have it be realistic with some disturbing content? It could have been a historical account of the evolution of cats, from their glory in ancient Egypt to their persecution during the ages of superstition to present day.I'm not opposed to "adult animated" flicks. I rode my first dragon at the age of 12 when I watched WATERSHIP DOWN and THE SECRET OF NIMH for the first times. And both of those movies fascinate me to this day. I just re-watched the bunnies the other day and they still hold up. John Hurt rocks! I am not a prude. I write erotica, and as a matter of fact, I found the kitty style scene LOL funny, especially when they both...um...finish...and yell out, "Aw yeah!" Besides, what do you SEE? No boobies or man-bits, right? The sex was so much less offensive to me than the other content. I found it hilarious that some reviewers have praised the gore and violent images but said the mating scene went "a bit too far." Not even some of the gruesome imagery or nightmarish visions that Francis had were so horrid that they bothered me. At least not the nightmares. We'll go further on that in a moment. OK so what's my problem? My problems are multiple with this film: First and most obvious, is that unless Francis suddenly changed his name to Freddy Kreuger, there's no way he could EVISCERATE Pascal/Claud, with ONE swipe of his claws. It is ABSOLUTELY LUDICROUS that a cat's guts will spill out everywhere, and that you can see his rib cage, AND THAT HE IS STILL TALKING! I love and respect cats, and I find them clever, personable, even trainable in some cases, but a cat "learning" to type on a computer by watching a human? A cat keeping a DATABASE of all the cats in the neighbourhood? JUST HOW MUCH DOES THIS "FILM NOIR" THINK IT CAN INSULT MY INTELLIGENCE? I wish I was allowed to cuss on IMDb because I have a few choice words. It is an understatement to say that this movie is an inconsistent spazz. It can't decide what to do with itself. It wants to be a murder mystery, a horror, a eugenics sci- fi...WHAT?! A super-intelligent cat who made a premeditated decision to kill a human, then constructs a plan to "breed out" all inferior cats, and take cats back to their "roots"? Give me a break!As if we didn't have enough crazy to contend with, a completely different character is a cat "preacher" who leads some cult of cats who worship some deceased legend. These felines gather in honour of their diety and yell out, "Hallelujah!" and some of them commit suicide by throwing themselves into some electrical shock device...And I thought the Jonestown and Heaven's Gate people were nuts. Yet a couple more characters are supposed cats depicted in idiotic fashion. One of them, Kong (how original) looks more like a mutant bulldog, his lower jaw hanging way past his upper. And pray tell, are the "neutered" cats INTENTIONALLY drawn to look like inbred, cross- eyed psychos? What is this film trying to say to everyone? That spaying/neutering is "immoral"? Believe you me, I've had psychos TELL me that! I poop you not!I had no problem with the plot. New cat moves into neighborhood, meets a gruff neighbor cat named Bluebeard. Francis appoints himself the neighborhood "Sherlock" and interviews different cats, has some horrific visions, learns about Darwinism, meets a seductive but odd looking cat who tells him that her kind are a breed both "old and new". Intriguing stuff, honestly, but the execution of this story is FAIL. It's like 2 films I like (WATERSHIP DOWN and NIMH) got together and this mutant child came out. This movie was trying so hard to be "dark, twisted, gory, adult," etc. It was so transparent how "cool and edgy" the film was trying to be, using a few cuss words and clumsy dark humour. I'm not an idiot. I know when there is a sincere use of gore to tell a story and when gore is being used purely for shock value. And why a gruesome decapitation of the sweetest, most likable character in the movie??? Cats might be clever and independent and retain some feral qualities even in their lives with humans, but cats don't type, don't read, don't spell, and don't concoct elaborate plans to conquer or destroy humans, they don't go around "murdering" because someone "knows too much".

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Felidae" is (as you may have guessed from its title) a film centered around cats, but it's not an animated film for children as it is basically a crime thriller with some similarities to the likes of "Watership Down". It's bloody, we see dead cats, a religious cult, there's talk about colon cancer and also a massive fire almost at the end. The movie is from over 20 years ago and features quite some great names in the cast. Tukur, Adorf, Brandauer, Schneider and Ochsenknecht should be known to those with an interest in German cinema. And it also includes Wolfgang Hess, the German voice of Bud Spencer. Always a joy for me to listen to, especially as the cat that he voiced also had Spencer's physical appearance, not his kindheartedness though. The male cat Francis moves into a new home with his owner (or I should say "tin opener") and quickly acts as a detective when several cats (in heat) in the neighborhood get brutally murdered. It gets personal when Felicitas is killed right after he met her. All the cats reminded me really of humans at times, not only because they were speaking, but also because of the characterizations and character traits they possessed. Also when they get into comparing the victims' races, it is almost like a real crime movie with human actors. It's a pretty short movie, runs only for 75 minutes without closing credits. The novel it is based on and the script come from Akif Pirinçci ("The Door") and as I saw him in a recent talk show, the final developments made me think quite a bit in terms of the main antagonist cat obviously possessing a Nazi-like attitude. The film's director is Michael Schaack. You may have heard about his "Werner" movie work or "The Little A**hole", which also features Helge Schneider.All in all, I did enjoy this film. The animation is fine and I also liked how the cats were randomly scratching their furs while talking. Also the crows representing danger were nicely included. However, I have to say there are a couple flaws too mostly near the end. I was a bit underwhelmed by the motive and the solution to the murders, but it's not so bad that it destroys everything before. I did not like the final quote about animals and humans coexisting in peace as this is really not what this film is about. It's about cats coexisting in peace with other cats, or humans with humans if you see it metaphorically. And how did out hero manage to kill the main antagonist and all the other victims before were not able to do so? Everything before that is good though (especially the tension as you did not know if cats or humans were the killers) and that's why I recommend watching this film.

Donald F What a peculiar film. Its a cartoon mostly with cats, but I'd never show it to a child. It samples many X-rated themes: cults, sex, homosexuality, violence, castration. But its played perfectly straight. Its a mystery, with elements of horror and science fiction. Its a unique movie. My closest comparisons would be Watership Down and The Plague Dogs.Its alright. For a lesser-known German animation, the animation is surprisingly well-done and fitting. I think the English dub is pretty good, too. Sadly, noir movies that focus on mystery alone don't work well for me. There's no character arc, and the revelation is bizarre enough to scratch my head, sane enough for me to shrug it off. Its an interesting sit, though. And not in a so-bad-its-good fashion. I'd lightly recommend it if it interests you, although I don't think its as good as others say.