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Cat People uses the idea of the dangerous, lust-driven female to subvert our idea of a sexual predator. Typically men are seen as the predators, making advances on chaste women push them away. But when Irena runs into Dr. Judd shortly after attacking Alice and he attempts to seduce her, the roles are reversed. Dr. Judd may seem like a sexual predator here, but we now know that by inciting her lust he will be turning himself into the prey. And he is truly predatory in the way he approaches her and kisses her, but he is the one who is attacked, as their kiss once against transforms her into a Cat Woman. Attempting to defend himself with a sword, Dr. Judd is unable to fend off the ferocious panther, and is killed. This reinforces the notion of the woman whose sexuality drives her to madness and violence, destroying anybody who gets in her way.

Not surprisingly, Christianity is presented in the film as both the antithesis of the Cat People and a way to defeat them. Irena explains to Oliver that the Cat People first came into existence when her ancestors denounced Christianity and gave in to their most abject desires, including worshipping false idols. It was the Christian King John who was able to defeat them and save what was left of the village. This idea fits very neatly into the belief that Christianity represents proper moral values and that those who fall from it become base, monstrous creatures steeped in depravity.

Many monsters and demons, especially those associated with the sin of lust, are seen as combatting Christian values, and often symbolic Christian tools can be used as weapons against them. When Irena is confronted by her Serbian “sister” she crosses herself in response, clearly understanding that Christianity could be her only salvation. Later, when Irena has transformed into a Cat Woman, she endeavors to attack Oliver and Alice, but when Oliver holds up a cross she is rendered powerless, unable to get close to them, and she flees.

Eventually Irena is destroyed by her own curse and killed by the evil that she is drawn to. After attempting to kill Oliver and Alice, Irena goes back to the zoo and unlocks the door to the panther's cage. The panther charges out and pounces on her, killing her, before running off. Irena feared the animal inside of her, fought to subdue it or keep it at bay, yet was drawn to it, drawn as much to the lust inside of herself as she was to the panther at the zoo. And when she could not fight any longer, both the inner and outer manifestations of evil become her undoing.

Cat People presents the idea that some women have this evil inside of them, this lust, anger, and jealousy, that can turn them into vicious, uncontrollable animals who will destroy any man they desire and any woman who gets in their way. The dangerous woman who consumes men is a common trope in many genres, but horror films allow her to take a more literal form by turning her into an actual monster, an alien, a demon, or a wild animal. Cat People was one of the forerunners of this story trope, providing a guidebook that combined misogyny, xenophobia, and the upholding of Christian values as its key ingredients, and set the tone for horror films for years to come.

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