Genre Character of the Week: Amy Reed

A few weeks back my friend Ron loaned me a DVD box set called The Val Lewton Horror Collection, which contained nine films produced by the man in the 1940's which were all low on budget, but high on atmosphere and story. After watching the first film, The Cat People, I was really excited to see its sequel, The Curse of the Cat People, as the first one did a great job of creeping me out. Although the sequel was not anything like I expected, (for example, there are no cat people), it did contain my genre character of the week Amy Reed (pictured left).

Here's the thing, the sequel keeps two of the leads from the first film, and basically transports them from a horror film into a psychological drama focusing on their young daughter. To call this film a sequel is really stretching the meaning of the term, but they are reprising their roles from the first film, so I guess I cant' complain too much.

Now happily married, the couple have a young imaginative daughter named Amy who is often lost in her own daydreams. Amy is just this enchanting little girl who seems entirely off in her own world. After a disastrous birthday party (she forgot to invite her friends), Amy makes up an imaginary friend and her parents freak out.

Here's what I like about Amy - she's honest. She wants to have friends, she's a sweet kid. Played incredibly by Ann Carter (I haven't been this impressed with a little kid actor in a horror since I first saw Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense), you can't help but fall in love with her character and hope she will get the friends she truly deserves.

In the end this film was nothing like I expected, but it ended up being so much better than I could have imagined. Seriously, give this film a try if you have the opportunity.