The Leopard Man

(1943)**1/2

More creepiness from the 40s. The setting is New Mexico. During a traveling burlesque show of sorts, a leopard used in the act escapes and races off into the night. As the police search for the missing animal, bodies start to show up, apparently mauled by the animal. Kiki, the burlesque performer who was using the leopard in her act, and her agent set out to aid the police in the leopard’s recapture. As the corpses are examined, Kiki’s agent begins to suspect that the killings were not that of the suspected leopard, but of an individual.

Stylish, dark, and foreboding, The Leopard Man ultimately becomes a who-dun-it. Although the director give us obvious red herrings, the revelation at the end still came as a surprise to me. In addition, one of the killings is a standout. As a young girl is pursued in the streets at night, she reaches her home and bangs on the front door in vain. Her mother, who had locked the door earlier, is having difficulty unlocking it. As her mother feverishly works on the lock, the screaming from outside stops. In the silence that follows we see a stream of blood flow into the room from underneath the door. This must’ve been quite graphic at the time and it’s akin to the psycho shower sequence in its potency.