The Spine No. Column: Vinegar Syndrome Labs 0003 ‘The Cat Creeps’ (1946) BD
Welcome to the Spine No. Column, a review series that will examine a uniquely branded collection from a distribution company or boutique label by exploring each individual release and evaluating Package Design, Curator’s Choice, and Disc Specs in order to conclude with a qualifying Collection Grade of one of the following: Peak Criteria, Set Standard, For Completest Only or Buyers Lament.
On review for today is Vinegar Syndrome’s bluray release of The Cat Creeps (1946) under their Vinegar Syndrome Labs line.
This is the third and final VSL title that I blind bought initially. Although, I am still interested in the line, I haven’t been compelled to continue picking up from this line past the Universal Studio releases. I mean, I do believe the Universal Studios titles were a smart way to start things off, because it does give off a sense that their catalog was expanding with some class. And although I do find a few of the titles they have added to their collection to be interesting, I’m not sure that the recent stock they are including in to the line have been enticing enough to push me into delving further into the collection, as of yet. But I am enjoying what I have seen so far so I think I may pursue it still, only it will be at a later date.
As for The Cat Creeps, I knew very little about this title other than that it perhaps fell within the ‘cat centered horror film’ genre, which is a genre I’m not opposed to. Whether it be a black cat that causes madness or people turning into cats or even just when a movie uses a cat as a narrative device to tie an anthology together, I think there’s a lot of fun to mine there.
Okay, so let’s get into the Package Design.
Package Design
So I find that this package may pair well with “Flesh and Fantasy” and maybe not so much with “Curucu, Beast of the Amazon”, but that’s only because “Flesh” and “Creeps” both seem to play up the horror aspects of their covers and their fonts are both similarly on the bottom of their covers. “Creeps”, like all VSL titles, has the glossiness over the font and over the cat figure that looks very nice. The slipcover art design has a very movie poster feel that I do like and the same goes for the back art.
As far as accessibility it is the same standard clear case that have been established with the previous two releases. This also has reversible art that looks fairly fine, although I do prefer the slipcover image. Interestingly enough the disc art matches the reversible cover art and not the slipcovers. Not sure why that is but it’s cool.
Curation Choice
So far we’ve gone through a couple of genres with a bit of weird, a bit of horror and a bit of goofy in all of these releases, which is what the VSL is all about; trying to offer up titles that carry all those elements within their mystique. We’ve had Jungle Adventure with a fabled monster, a mystery anthology with crime and romance mixed in, and now we get this who-done-it crime mystery featuring a sleuth helping feline.
As far as my experience watching this I guess I wasn’t that into the plot, it has one of those mile a minute talking heroes that is constantly firing exposition throughout and I was just having trouble tracking it all. It’s probably something I would be willing to give another try because I did think the way everything concludes is pretty charming and something cat lovers would definitely appreciate.
So what are the elements that make up a VSL title? Based on their mission statement they are looking for weird, rare and unusual or unexpected from them. Is it weird? A ‘who-done-it’ type mystery centered on the illusion that a cat could point out the perpetrator, yeah, that’s weird. Is it rare? It is certainly a title that has slipped through the cracks and was not on my radar by any means. The director is a bit of a workman type based on their filmography, the actors are also unknown to me. This is the first of these where I am fully trusting the curation of the line to present me with a film of unknown quality, so that checks. Is it an unexpected output from them? I would say yeah because it’s a bit cutesier than what I’d imagine they would normally put out.
Overall, I wasn’t that impressed with the feature film itself, but I am willing to give it the benefit of another try because the VSL has given me two worthwhile titles already. I think the VSL brand is doing its job and giving some due spotlight on lesser appreciated movies and I think this release is a fine example of that and I think that’s a good thing.
Alright, now let’s paw into the extras and see if they add any more value to the release.
Disc Specs
Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm dupe negative
Brand new commentary track with film historian/authors Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby
“Feline Frights” – author and critic Kim Newman discusses cats and classic horror
English SDH Subtitles
(Just wanted to make a note here that although the main menu does not show a Chapters Menu page, the feature film is actually broken up into chapters which are accessible on the main page as “Reels” 1/2/3/4/5/6.)
You would think that this release had the bare bones of the lot, I mean it doesn’t even have a trailer or still gallery, but what it does have is two worthwhile features that I really liked a lot.
First I watched Kim Newman talk about cat based horror movies leading up to and a bit after “The Cat Creeps” era, for 17 minutes and let me tell you that was a great feature. I love hearing someone enthusiastically tracking the ups and downs and ins and outs of a genre, and even more so when its Kim Newman laying down the knowledge. I’m glad to see he found his way into all of these releases in one way or another. I mean if I can’t have him on the commentary this is the next best thing.
As for the commentary track, we get Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby and straight off the bat I’m getting some useful information putting into context this movie and where it could fall into my collection. I hadn’t thought of it but I have a Universal Horror section that includes a box set for the Grade A horror titles (such as Dracula, Frankenstein etc), and then the lesser known titles that were released (The Black Cat, The Night Key, The Jungle Woman, etc.) that I have as part of that Shout Factory Universal Horror box sets. This title might go well there because as Lyons and Rigby share in the commentary that this film was one of the last gasps of Universal attempting that type of horror during that era. Which kind of explains the thread bareness of the film.
Its tidbits and informative discussions like that that make these tracks so worthwhile for me. So I have to say both these features do elevate my appreciation of the film.
Collection Grade
Alright, the time has come to rate this release using my four tier grading system of Peak Criteria, Set Standard, For Completest Only, and Buyers Lament, where does this release fall?
My overall feeling about this release is that although I’m not the biggest fan of this movie per se, I feel it might grow on me if I gave it another chance. I definitely did not find it to be a waste. The brand of VSL is what is elevating things for me here and also the features carried within. For my particular collection I believe there would be a place for it outside of the VSL line but I think it’s most appropriately positioned in this collection.
Ultimately where I rate this release is For Completest Only.
While I think it’s a good release and is elevated by the features provided, I do not feel strongly enough to say that it fits all criteria for what the VSL line should offer, but I commend VS for shedding light on least loved films like this one, that surely would’ve slipped through the cracks of film history had they not brought attention to it.
Okay, that’s all for this week’s review.
Tune in next week February 10th 2025, when I conclude my look into this VS sub-collection with my Vinegar Syndrome Labs Checkpoint 0001 post.
