The Leopard Man (1943)

The Leopard Man  is a horror movie directed by Jacques Tourneur based on the book Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich. The film is one of the first American movies to attempt even a remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer (although that term wasn't in use at the time).
The film stars Dennis O'Keefe
The story, set in New Mexico, begins as Jerry Manning hires a leopard as a publicity stunt for his night-club performing girlfriend, Kiki. Her rival at the club, Clo-Clo, not wanting to be upstaged, startles the animal and it escapes the club into the dark night. Soon people are being found mauled to death. Manning and his girlfriend, guilty about the monster they unleashed, try to help hunt down the giant cat. A particularly haunting scene involves a young girl who, on returning from an errand to a local store for corn meal, is mauled by the cat after her mother won't let her in the house. Upon hearing the screams, the mother clamors to open the door as dark blood seeps under the door.

The film was made on a budget of $150,000.
The same black leopard (named "Dynamite"), used in Cat People, another Val Lewton-produced film, was brought back for this film.





Critics;
Most reviews of the film are positive, while noting that it is less challenging or thematically dense than the other Lewton/Tourneur films such as Cat People.

TV Guide's review of the film praises the low budget effort: "this film, along with Lewton and Tourneur's other collaborations, proves once again that money is not the most essential element in good filmmaking. Robert de Grasse's gorgeously fluid camerawork creates the absolutely chilling mood of this film."

Turner Classic Movies review of the film also notes the $150,000-budgeted film looked more expensive on screen: "Much credit for the Lewton/Tourneur successes is owed to the talented craftsmen of RKO -- under the guidance of cinematographer Robert de Grasse and art directors Albert D'Agostino and Walter Keller -- who were adept at transforming cheap underlit sets into the stuff of nightmares, where every darkened nook housed a potential menace."