Irena Gallier [Natassia Kinski] was raised by adoptive parents and is, for the first
time since childhood, meeting her older brother Paul. Paul [Malcolm McDowell] lives alone in
New Orleans with only his housekeeper Female (Fee-MAL-ee) [Ruby Dee] to look after
him. Irena and Paul are descended from a line of 'cat people,' people who
turn into panthers after mating and who must then kill in order to take
human form again.
Irena knows nothing about this side of her ancestry. She is still a
virgin, so she has no idea what sex will do to her. On the other hand,
Paul has been living with this knowledge for years and has worked out a
system whereby he uses hookers as his prey. In fact, on Irena's first
night in New Orleans, Paul arranges for a hooker. Unfortunately (for Paul)
but fortunately (for the hooker), the hooker escapes with her life and
Paul is left in his panther form, trapped in a motel room. Curator Oliver
Yates [John Heard] and his assistants, Alice Perrin [Annette O'Toole] and Joe Creigh [Ed Begley Jr], from the New Orleans Zoo, are called to capture the critter and put him behind bars.
With Paul gone, Irena decides to spend her first full day in New
Orleans by seeing the sights. First, a taxi ride through the French
Quarter; then a stop at the zoo where she is fascinated by the new
panther, so fascinated that she is still there sketching him 1-1/2 hours
after the zoo has closed. When Oliver startles Irena, she drops her sketch
pad and runs for the trees, winding up on top of one. Oliver coaxes her
down. After noticing that Irena feels excessively warm, Oliver takes her
inside and puts a cool cloth on her forehead. Thinking her exhaustion
might be due to hunger, they decide to get something to eat. During the
dinner conversation, Oliver learns that Irena is looking for a job and
hires her to work in the zoo's gift shop.
Irena's first day on the job is memorable. Alice introduces herself
to Irena, and the two get lunch. A strange woman calls Irena 'mi hermana'
(my sister). That afternoon, Irena sees Joe killed when his arm is ripped
off by the new panther. By the time Oliver gets back with his gun,
however, the panther has disappeared. When Irena gets home that evening,
Paul returns, but he no longer seems so brotherly. He tries to get Irena
to have sex with him, telling her that he's the only one who can touch her
and she's the only one who can touch him. Irena knows only that she is
attracted to Oliver and wants nothing to do with having sex with her
brother, so she runs off.
While running in the street, Irena flags down a policecar, but they
find no one chasing her. However, when the policedog begins going nuts,
they do a search of the area. The policedog leads them to Paul's basement
where they find a cage, chains, and parts of several bodies. A check on
Paul Gallier shows that he's been in and out of mental institutions since
the age of 10, when his parents killed themselves. They were circus
performers, and Paul grew up around big cats. Thinking that Paul might
have been the one keeping the escaped panther, they call the Zoo. Oliver
and Alice come over. It is the policeman's opinion that Paul meant to kill
Irena, so he suggests that she find someplace else to live. Oliver offers
her a place to stay with him.
Irena is becoming more and more troubled. As if the stuff with Paul
wasn't bad enough, one night she finds herself running on all fours after
a rabbit. It's also becoming apparent to her that she is falling in love
with Oliver, and he with her, but she tells him that she cannot make love
to him. Alice is also in love with Oliver, and this is evoking feelings of
rivalry in Irena.
A week goes by, and the search for the escaped panther has proven
fruitless. In the meantime, Paul has murdered another girl. He feels that
he can no longer go on like this. He crashes through Irena's bedroom
window one night and, once more, tries to have sex with her. It's the only
way they can live, he explains, just as their parents, who were also
brother and sister, lived together as husband and wife. Irena refuses and
stabs him with a piece of broken windowglass. Paul turns into a panther.
When Oliver comes home, Alice in tow, he is attacked by the panther. Alice
gets the shotgun and shoots it. When Oliver autopsies the panther, he is
horrified to see a human hand in its stomach, after which the entire
panther spontaneously disintegrates.
Alice is out jogging. It's getting late, and she stops at the gym for
a quick swim and change of clothes. As she is getting undressed, she hears
a growl. Afraid, Alice jumps into the pool. Suddenly, the lights go out
and the growling gets louder. Alice begins to scream. When the lights are
turned back on, Irena is standing there. The receptionist hands Alice her
robe, only to find that it is torn into shreds.
Alice calls Oliver to warn him of her experience, but Oliver is too
charmed by Irena, who has just returned and is taking off her clothes,
letting him know that she is ready to make love. Afterwards, she turns
into a panther, but she leaves before she can harm Oliver. She is spotted
near the bridge. SWAT teams have been called to corner the panther. Oliver
and Alice arrive. All of these capturers, but the panther gets away.
Oliver goes looking for Irena. He finds her in human form because she
has killed. Irena begs Oliver to kill her. Oliver refuses, so Irena asks
him to free her by making love once more. 'I want to live with my own,'
she says. Oliver binds her arms and makes love to her.
Epilogue: Oliver stops at the new panther's cage. He reaches through the bars
and strokes her neck. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl]
