The Leopard Man (1943)

Directed by Jacques Tourneur. Starring Dennis O’Keefe, Jean Brooks, Margo, Abner Biberman, James Bell, Margaret Landry, Tuulikki Paananen, Isabel Jewell, Marguerite Sylva, Richard Martin.

At a glance, it may seem like producer Val Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur are simply cashing in on the popularity of 1942’s Cat People with another low-key, feline-oriented chiller, but the title is misleading. A series of brutal slayings take place in a small city in New Mexico after a leopard escapes during a nightclub act stunt; is the big cat responsible, or is something even more horrifying afoot? Slow-build suspense sequences are solid, making excellent use of shadow-cloaked “imagined” terrors and spine-tingling sound effects (the echo of castanets may inspire Pavlovian dread in suggestible viewers). Same goes for the atmospheric art direction and graceful photography. Only the finale falls short, letting a minor character deal the fateful hand. Structurally-audacious screenplay by Ardel Wray and Edward Dein, inspired by a Cornell Woolrich story (“Black Alibi”). Worth noting that the runaway black leopard, named Dynamite, also appeared in Cat People.

79/100