‘Strays’ – Revisiting the 1991 TV Horror Movie for International Cat Day

Counterprogramming during the holidays has led to some odd moments in horror history. For instance, it was in 1991, and a week before Christmas, when USA Network aired Strays. There on an otherwise average Wednesday in mid-December, the cable channel unleashed its killer kitty flick. So not only was the latest World Premiere Movie—USA’s way of saying “made for TV”—a welcome break in the scheduled festivities, it was a surprise gift for fans of Animal Horror.

Directed by John McPherson and written by Shaun Cassidy—yes, that Shaun Cassidy—Strays centers on a city-to-country family that is dangerously close to becoming human scratching posts. The cast included Timothy Busfield, who was fresh off the series thirtysomething, and Kathleen Quinlan, who had led another USA horror telefilm called Trapped. And joining them was Claudia Christian, who would later go on to star in Babylon 5.

However, perhaps more famous than anyone in the two-legged cast were the main feline actors; Monty, an intimidating British Shorthair, played Church in the original Pet Sematary adaptation, and Chinchilla Persian SH III was already a household face, thanks to her popular Fancy Feast commercials.

As most Americans watched Seinfeld, Jake and the Fatman, or Doogie Howser, M.D. that same evening, the more adventurous channel surfers tuned in for Strays. Of course, there were a few reruns before the month even ended, and MCA/Universal released the movie on home video the next year. Nevertheless, anyone who caught the premiere of Strays was in for a show; it was destined to be brought up the next day at school or work. “Hey, did you catch that stupid movie on cable last night? The one where the cat sprung from the microwave?”

Indeed, the battle between the Jarrett family and a bunch of hairball makers was so entertaining that nothing made since then, in the subgenre of Cat Horror, has come up to scratch.

Cats were no stranger to horror before Strays showed up. Eye of the Cat, Night of 1000 Cats, The Uncanny, The Black Cat, Uninvited, and Tales from the Darkside: The Movie are just several movies that showcased insidious housecats. Less common was a horror movie that depicted felines as the hero; Cat’s Eye purrs alone, unless you count Hocus Pocus as horror. Meanwhile, the namesakes of Strays would be viewed as tame, due to the limitations of television. There is also the fact that the movie’s celluloid ancestors include a monstrous mutant at sea, and a cat so wicked and crafty that he killed a first-rate hitman. On the contrary, and defying your expectations, Strays scrounges up some a small but decent amount of terror once the movie’s fangs come out in the third act.

Before getting to the end, which is worth the wait, Strays ponders the parallels between its humans and cat characters. And while the emphasis would surely be on the endangered family, you start to wonder what’s up with Claire (Christian). It turns out that the divorcing realtor, the sister of Quinlan’s character Lindsey, has more in common with the creatures she’s forcing out of their home than she realizes. Claire is at risk of being displaced herself, and she’s scratching and clawing to keep some semblance of her old life intact. The domestic situation gets messy with Claire around, namely when she oversteps with Paul (Busfield), also her divorce lawyer; she makes a very bold and visible play for her sister’s husband. Refreshingly, that flagrant pass is denied, but it doesn’t matter. The damage is done storywise and Claire’s fate is sealed. This movie has the pawprints of “kill the homewrecker” all over it.

That desire to flee the big city and plant oneself in a smaller and seemingly safer area is met with the standard response in horror; soon enough, a threat more terrifying and bizarre than urban unrest shows its ugly face. Strays doesn’t appear to be saying the problems that urged Lindsey and Paul to relocate would be the same wherever they go—the calls aren’t exactly coming from inside the house—only because they seem fine as a couple before Claire disrupted things. Then again, Lindsey’s lack of shock when she watched Claire lay a big fat, lasts-longer-than-it-should kiss on Paul’s mouth suggests a certain kind of history between the sisters. The movie then confirms that impression as it brings up Claire’s spotty romantic record.

The turf war between man and cat finally picks up speed after teasing you with a repairman’s unnoticed death, as well as the targeted (but not fatal) removal of the family dog. Paul fingered cats as the culprit all along, but his theory is shot down by one skeptical veterinarian. Add in Claire’s troublemaking, and Strays dots its ‘i’s and crosses its ‘t’s when needing to lower the characters’ odds of survival. That emotional rift between Paul and Lindsey, while forced, at least makes you feel a bit more invested in their wellbeing.

A huge plus about Strays is its use of real cats and practical effects, including artificial models created by Jim and Debi Boulden. Funnily enough, the two worked on the aforementioned movie Uninvited. Anyway, the creature stunts aren’t as daring as you would want, but the sight of flesh-and-blood cats swarming a child’s crib—with the child still in it—is unsettling from a parent’s perspective. Quinlan conveys that specific sort of dread with believability as she staves off one hissing cat after another, all while waiting for her character’s husband to get home during a thunderstorm. And once Paul does enter the fray, Strays fully marks its territory as a cheesy creature-feature. The no-longer doghoused patriarch goes toe to toe with the ringleader of the feral cat gang, and in something of a nod to Jaws 2, fries his oncoming opponent to a crisp.

It’s a shame that Strays didn’t get a chance to be made for the big screen and be seen by a wider audience. Less censorship could have made the cats even more daunting and their actions more gruesome. Even still, what we have here shouldn’t be overlooked. Yes, it’s a concept that’s handled so seriously that it becomes rather funny, but the director and his actors were admirable in their efforts. They really leaned in and made the most out of a silly idea. And honestly, that’s all you can ask for with a movie like Strays.

Strays is available on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.

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