The Uncanny

The Uncanny is known as an anthology film. Within the same film, there are three different stories held together by the presence of cats. It opens in Montreal when writer Wilbur Gray (Peter Cushing) visits his publisher Frank Richards (Ray Milland) to discuss his new book about cats. Gray believes cats are supernatural creatures, the devil in disguise. He tells three tales to illustrate his thoughts:
– The first is set in London in 1912 and centres on Miss Malkin, a wealthy woman who rewrites her will leaving her fortune to her cats rather than to her nephew Michael. Her maid Janet, also the mistress of Michael, steals one copy of the will from the lawyer’s briefcase and tries to destroy the original copy which is kept in the safe. When Miss Malkin sees her attempt, Janet kills her. The cats avenge Miss Malkin’s death.
– In 1975, in the Province of Quebec, the orphan Lucy comes to live with her aunt Mrs. Blake, her husband, and her cousin Angela after the death of her parents in a plane crash. Lucy brings her only friend, the cat Wellington, but her mean cousin forces her parents to get rid of Wellington. Lucy uses her mother’s book of witchcraft to avenge Wellington.
– And in 1936, in Hollywood, the actor Valentine De’ath (Donald Pleasence) replaces the blade of a fake pendulum to kill his actress wife, and give his young mistress and aspiring actress Edina a chance. His wife’s cat avenges her death.

The British poster for The Uncanny was scanned from an original in the Northernstars Collection.
Production began in Montreal on November 16, 1976.