THE BAGHEETA (1930) by Val Lewton
THE BAGHEETA (1930) by Val Lewton
SOURCE: "The Bagheeta" (Weird Tales, July 1930 ) by Val Lewton
DESCRIPTION: "It is a were-beast, they said, half lepoard and half woman, the reincarnation of a virgin who has died from wrongs inflicted upon her by sinful men, and who comes again to the world so that she may prey upon the flocks of the sinful. Only a pure youth, one who has lain clean and alone, can hope to slay the mystic beast. he must ride out against the bagheeta with only a sword at his side and a prayer to King God upon his lips. The Bagheeta, so the women said, will change at his coming into a beautiful woman and attempt to coerce him into an embrace. if she is successful, if the youth kisses her, his life is forfeited.Changing again into a black leopard, the Bagheeta will tear him limb from limb. But, if he remains steadfast in his purity, then surely will he slay the beast."
PLOT: Kolya, a n armorer's assitant living in the Caucas Mountains, is selected to slay the Bagheeta because he is a young man pure of heart (a virgin). He gets advice from Davil, a singer, who killed a Bagheeta in his youth and by the vetran hunter, Rif'khas, who says the Bagheeta is just a panther. Kolya goes into the forest alone and slays the creature with a sword, finding it to be a lepoard after all. He realizes he won't gain any acclaim if he tells the truth and chooses to lie like Davil did before him.
WEREWOLF FACTS: The Bagheeta in the legend is related to a ghost or spectre in that it was once a wrongfully slain virgin girl.
INTERESTING FACTS: Val Lewton would later re-work this matrial for the two successful films, The Cat People (1942) and The Curse of the Cat People (1944). The 1982 re-make kept little of the original material except the connection between sex and transformation.
