samhill5215 Having just seen this film for the second time in some years I felt I needed to come to its defense in view of the poor ratings it has received on IMDb. Moreover I can't help but compare it to "Rebel Without a Cause" which I also recently saw again. Released nine years apart they both deal with the same subject, disaffected youth. They also both reflect their times. Whereas "Rebel" dances around young angst, "Kitten" is more honest about it, although nowhere near as raw as it would have been done today. In "Rebel" the kids are troubled but still seek comfort from their parents, in "Kitten" they're nihilistic, rebellious, disdainful of their parents' values. "Kitten" is edgy, mean, gritty. Its poverty-row production probably helped in that respect. The limited sets added to the sense of claustrophobia, the fear of exposing a dangerous secret in the open. And the references to the finality of the atom bomb add to the general sense of despair.I found the acting competent if not outstanding. All protagonists had their highs and lows and overall they acquitted themselves rather well, even John Forsythe who does tend to be one-dimensional. I even think that may have worked in his favor playing a conflicted middle-aged man whose estranged wife is away, suddenly being confronted with a sexually charged dynamo. It seems such a man would be on the introverted side. And his suspicious attitude hinted at something sinister. After all, if he had nothing to hide, wouldn't he have reached out for help? He had plenty of opportunities but wasted them all, to the very end, when Ann-Margret walks back to the car and takes away his car keys.One final note: Audrey Dalton had the most thankless part. She had not even one single line, no screen time at all. We only get to see her in a photo soon to be vandalized. And when Forsythe goes to buy size seven clothes for Ann-Margret we are told that Dalton's character would never fit in them. That's rather unkind because I think she's actually smaller than Ann-Margret. So to top it all off she has to suffer the indignity of being called fat, or at least big, and she doesn't get the chance to show us otherwise. Then again maybe that's just it, she doesn't have any screen time because the whole clothes scene wouldn't fit in.

Rogziel A teenage girl flees through the night, obviously trying to escape someone. She breaks into an apparently deserted home looking for shelter, only for the owner--a politician whose family just so happens to be away for the weekend--to return in the morning. The man, David, takes pity on the girl (who calls herself Jody) after she tells him she was on the run from a rapist, and he gives her a new dress, money, and a ride to the bus station. The good Samaritan later discovers the truth about Jody--she's on the run from the police for setting fire to her detention center. He comes home only to find that Jody has returned, and is nastier and crazier than he could have imagined. Threatening to cry rape if David doesn't hide her and heed her demands, Jody invites her juvenile delinquent friends, the drunk Ron and the homicidal Buck, to David's pad for a party. Then things quickly spin out of control...KITTEN WITH A WHIP is an enjoyable piece of 60s cheese that is more fun and interesting than it has any right to be. Despite its strong beginning, however, the final act of the film feels rushed and contrived; for example, while in a sketchy part of Tijuana, David has to narrowly escape not only Buck and Ron, but also his socialite friends, who just happen to be on that Tijuana street that very night. Not likely. The film also suffers from what Roger Ebert would call "idiot moments", as later plot developments depend on David trusting Jody and letting her get close to him when any other sane person would abandon the little psycho at the clearest available chance.On the plus side, the titular "kitten" Ann Margaret gives a solid performance as the disturbed Jody, acting like an innocent damsel in distress in one scene and literally unleashing her claws on anyone who provokes her in the next. Sometimes she very nearly crosses the line into overacting, but still manages to be convincing in her role. The stoic John Forscythe is an excellent foil for the unpredictable anti-heroine, though his character's lapses in good judgment will make the audience groan.KITTEN WITH A WHIP was featured on MST3K, the show renowned for making fun of b-movies. As amusing as that episode was, KITTEN WITH A WHIP stands out as one of the most competent and watchable movies aired on the program, enjoyable in its own right.

eightpnt8 Ann Margaret and John Forsythe star in this turgid little sleazefest about an incredibly naive and trusting candidate for the Senate who becomes embroiled with hot little teenage psychopath, Ann. Ann is at the height of her sex appeal here and a little more flesh in some of the ensuing scenes wouldn't have hurt this flick's watchability. In the end it all gets to be a little too much to take. Forsythe's character is so unbelievably stupid that he gets irritating really quick. On top of that his acting in this flick seems to be mostly comprised of not reacting to the inanity that's unfolding all around him. This leaves Mz. Margaret free to just chew up the scenery with a way-over-the-top performance as the twisted title character. The end results are a lot like the first "Batman" movie which featured Michael Keaton's deadpan Bruce Wayne against Jack Nicholson's hammy-to-the-tenth-power rendition of The Joker. It really didn't work too well there either. You end up wishing somebody would resucitate Forsythe and slip Ann a sedative in a good strong martini. The plot goes from promising to just plain unbelievable in about 80 minutes and by that time it's piled coincidence upon coincidence so unconvincingly that you're glad to just see the whole thing end. A lurid little pot boiler with a contrived happy ending, watch it for giggles, like i did.

thrillerclub The title says it all! A whip is not always a lash... the whip in the title of this cult movie favorite refers to the many ways and means sociopathic sex kitten Jody (Ann-Margaret) dominates and lashes out at everyone in her path. At one point she yanks and tugs the phone cord while the candidate for Senator (John Forsythe) is on the horn to his wife trying to act like nothing's the matter! Cmon, that length of wire is definitely a whip -in Jody's hands! Then later Jody flings a cocktail into the scratchmarks she's inflicted on Forsythe. She's whipping him back and forth, he just wants her to leave without any guilt or scandal- and she uses this over him at any given moment, not sparing herself, as her own guilt and confusion whips her from self-loathing to frenzied party animal in stacatto snaps - I find this movie full of innuendo, black humor, Hitchcockian situations, it's a guilty pleasure! The music is often reminiscent of Pete Rugolo's THRILLER TV soundtrack, and indeed, the director Douglas Heyes directed many of THRILLER's best episodes, including "The Cheaters" I give this two twisted thumbs up. Don't miss it!