Some directors are very visual in their style. Since film is a visual medium, this is usually a good thing. But when the visual aspects overcome the storytelling, the movie suffers. That's the main problem with the film. Looks great, but there's nothing beneath the surface. While the images of Irena sightseeing in New Orleans or her and Oliver enjoying the bayou country are nice, they do nothing to strengthen character or move the story along, so the movie drags from one set piece to another.

And when you get character development, it doesn't make sense. In one scene, Paul is reluctant, physically and emotionally, to engage in sex with a beautiful woman--but in the next scene he is unconcerned when he looks at his post-coital handiwork, the hotel room and the woman violently torn apart. Kinski and McDowell do pretty well with the limited characters they have to work with. They do incorporate cat mannerisms into their performances and McDowell is always good being menacing and generally evil. Kinski does a decent performance as the poor innocent, yet very sexy ingénue, but the rest of the cast is very ordinary. And the director, Schrader, is so concerned with the look of the movie, that he doesn't even have one member of the cast speak in a Cajun or Southern accent, even though the film is set in New Orleans. He couldn't find one person that could affect a simple drawl?

If you are interesting in the making of film or of naked chicks running around in the swamp, Cat People may be of interest, but otherwise don't bother.