A great story from a great storyteller, "The Leopard Man" has all the earmarks of a Tourneur film. He creates tension and suspense without allowing it on screen - all the dread and horror is in the mind of the viewer. This, of course, is diametrically opposed to the way horror is portrayed in movies nowadays, which is to drench the screen with buckets of blood and gore.
This is a Val Lewton low budget picture, Lewton being the man who could produce quality films at bargain prices for RKO. He chose Dennis O'Keefe as the hero of the piece, one of Hollywood's most unsung and underrated actors. O'Keefe had not yet hit his stride as a top 'B' film actor, and "Raw Deal" and "Woman On The Run" were yet to come. Good support comes from Margo, Isabel Jewell, and James Bell, one of the most recognizable faces in movies and on TV.
The only flaw in this picture is the weak ending, which dropped my rating from an eight to a seven. Can't have everything, I guess, but this picture comes very close. That came with "Out Of The Past", several years later, which to my mind is the best Noir film ever made.