Practical Mayhem, Interstellar Mischief, Zero Brakes

Read Time:5 Minute, 45 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
The Cat (Lo mau)
–

Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Action
Year Released: 1991, 1992, 88 Films Blu-ray 2025
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director(s): Lam Nai-Choi (Ngai Choi Lam)
Writer(s): Gordon Chan, Hing-Ka Chan, Ni Kuang (from the novel Old Cat)
Cast: Gloria Yip, Waise Lee, Christine Ng, Lau Siu-Ming, Phillip Kwok, Ni Kuang
Where to Watch: available November 25, 2025, pre-order your copy here: www.88-films.myshopify.com, www.mvdshop.com, or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: There are movies you just watch, and then there are movies you simply surrender to. THE CAT is the latter. Lam Nai-Choi’s cult oddity barrels forward with a confidence that dares you to keep up: a goo-monster antagonist, body-possession, a tag-team of good-guy extraterrestrials… and, yes, a black cat who throws down like a stunt professional. It reads like a dare on paper and plays like a dare on screen, marrying Hong Kong action with creature-feature messiness and the elastic logic of pulp sci-fi. If that sounds like a lot, it is—and that excess is exactly the point.

Adapted from Ni Kuang’s novel Old Cat and nested in the author’s Wisely universe, the film reimagines its adventure novelist hero (played here by Waise Lee) as a bemused participant in a war between interstellar forces that have chosen Earth as their arena. On the side of good: a stoic elder, a young alien woman, and the titular feline, whose calm, green-eyed poise becomes a recurring punchline whenever chaos breaks loose. On the side of bad: a parasite that alternates between inhabiting humans and revealing its glistening, tentacled, proudly artificial true form. Those practical effects are the movie’s non-negotiable signature—rubbery, slimy, and tactile in the way modern CG rarely is. They sell the handmade conviction of the era and the filmmaking culture that embraced experimentation over polish.

Lam keeps staging inventive set-pieces that escalate from odd to outrageous. The film treats the feline as a real combatant, cutting and blocking the action like a straight-faced martial-arts beatdown—only the fighters have paws and sharp teeth. It’s ridiculous, it’s gutsy, and it works because the movie refuses to flinch. That’s the core appeal here: the refusal to second-guess a wild idea.

Gloria Yip, Waise Lee, and Christine Ng give the madness a human framing. Yip’s presence leans into wide-eyed sincerity, a tonal counterweight to the cartoonish carnage. Lee’s Wisely, more observer than mastermind, anchors scenes by reacting like a grounded adult trying to make sense of the senseless. Ng contributes style and fortitude. No one is chasing realism; they’re honoring the heightened texture of a comic-book adventure, and that’s an honesty for a film about alien cat guardians and slime abominations.

The 2K restoration only helps with its focus on practical effects; this is the kind of film that benefits from sharper presentation, because the effects are proud of their seams. You see the wires, and you cheer anyway. The props, the stop-motion flourishes, the puppetry: they’re not barriers to immersion but the very invitation—proof that a crew showed up and built a universe with foam, wires, latex, and nerve.

Of course, the same qualities that fuel the film’s cult stature also limit its broader appeal. The plot is all over the place. Motivation often amounts to “because the next set-piece needs to happen.” Scenes can skid from inspired to incoherent, and dialogue sometimes functions like connective tissue pasted in after the fact. While the tone blend—deadpan action, creature horror, winking comedy—mostly gels, there are stretches where the momentum sags as the script tries to shove exposition into a framework that isn’t built for it.

Lam Nai-Choi doesn’t apologize for prioritizing sensation; he finds inventive ways to keep your brain delighted even when the story stumbles. The Wisely mythos becomes a sandbox for mixing genres at will. One minute it’s cops-and-robbers with weird weapons, the next it’s a hallway stalker sequence, and then we’re back to interstellar doom. The mix is uneven, but when it clicks, it’s exactly the kind of cinematic delirium that made the '90s Hong Kong scene feel limitless.

If I were guiding a modern audience into THE CAT, I’d frame it as a midnight movie with a mean streak and a generous imagination. Let the logic wash over you, root for the cat like it’s the lead in any film, and savor the commitment to craft. This is the kind of title that benefits from an upgraded release and contextual extras, such as commentary tracks, interviews, and galleries that spotlight how the tricks were accomplished, who was responsible for the work, and why it was worthwhile.

As a time capsule, THE CAT hits like a live wire. It captures a corner of cinema where audacity outranked caution, where practical effects were a point of pride, and where whiplash wasn’t a mistake—it was the style. If you come for a coherent thriller, you’ll be baffled. If you come for a carnival of invention that refuses to blink, you’ll walk away grinning.

Bonus Materials:
BRAND NEW 2K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE
REMASTERED ORIGINAL CANTONESE MONO AURAL SOUNDTRACK
NEWLY TRANSLATED ENGLISH SUBTITLES
AUDIO COMMENTARY BY FRANK DJENG (NY ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL)
BRAND NEW FILM INTERVIEW WITH WRITER GORDON CHAN
IMAGE GALLERY

Please visit https://linktr.ee/overlyhonestr for more reviews.

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.

I’m always happy to hear from my readers; please don't hesitate to say hello or send me any questions about movies.

[photo courtesy of 88 FILMS, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]

DISCLAIMER:
At Overly Honest Movie Reviews, we value honesty and transparency. Occasionally, we receive complimentary items for review, including DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, Vinyl Records, Books, and more. We assure you that these arrangements do not influence our reviews, as we are committed to providing unbiased and sincere evaluations. We aim to help you make informed entertainment choices regardless of our relationship with distributors or producers.

Amazon Affiliate Links:
Additionally, this site contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may receive a commission. This affiliate arrangement does not affect our commitment to honest reviews and helps support our site. We appreciate your trust and support in navigating these links.