BAGHEETA (1930)

SOURCE: "The Bagheeta" by Val Lewton (Weird Tales, July 1930)

DESCRIPTION: "The heavy jaws gaped open, and the boy could see clearly the long, thick fangs of the beast. Its paws were thrust out stiffly, the claws, cruel as Tartar scimitars, still unsheathed."

NOTES: The Bagheeta or were-leopard lives in Ghizikhan. It is said she is the reincarnation of  virgin who has died from wrongs inflicted upon her by sinful men, and who comes back to prey upon their livestock.

HISTORY: "The Bagheeta" was the source material for the 1942 Simone Simon movie , The Cat People and 1944 sequel. Natasha Kinski recreated the role for the 1982 version.

Simone Simon's two Cat people movies