It’s pretty astonishing how “Lily C.A.T.” manages to be such a blatant copy of some classic eighties films, and yet still comes out looking pretty shiny when all is said and done. The 1987 science fiction deep space horror film heavily borrows (or rips off, depending on how kind you are) material from the likes of Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror film “Alien,” as well as John Carpenter’s 1981 masterpiece “The Thing” with even the crew brandishing flame throwers to ward off the monster. It’s a prerequisite for a movie that pretty much has fun with its premise, delivering so much in such a short time.
The year is 2264. The Syncam Corporation has sent the Saldes and its crew of 13 (and 1 cat) out into deep space to explore the potential of a newfound planet 20 years away. Soon after they awaken from their stasis, however, things are happening one after another. First, the crew learns that two of the crew are not who they claim to be. Then, one by one, crew members die suddenly. Then, the ship begins to turn against them. And as if it couldn’t get any worse, they find another mess on their hands and it is ugly. What was supposed to be a simple exploratory mission has become a struggle for survival in the depths of space.
Despite being only an hour in length, “Lily C.A.T.,” written and directed by Hisayuki Toriumi, manages to excel as a decent mix of science fiction and horror. It takes all these derivative elements and turns it in to this pretty fun stew that is tough to resist. Even going in to it knowing what it pulls, I had a good time with “Lily C.A.T.” as it builds on the desolate, grim tone very well. The whole ordeal in “Lily C.A.T.” is hopeless from the outset, and nothing ever seems to go right for the Saldes crew. There’s some interesting whodunit mystery as crew members turn up dead, and the survivors can never seem to come to an agreement on who or what are committing these murders.
We also follow a random cat and see through its eyes quite often leading us in to the potential that the cat is the culprit and watching everyone turn on each other for survival. This amounts to some sharp paranoia and suspense, as the film never really makes it too obvious who or what is committing these acts. One caveat of “Lily C.A.T.” is the character Nancy, who is just downright grating on the nerves. She does literally nothing but whine, and chase after her cats. Even knowing that two crew members might be runaway criminals, and there might be an alien stowaway on board, she puts herself and her crew at risk constantly.
Nevertheless, the monster designs from Yoshitaka Amano (obviously a fan of Rob Bottin) and character designs from Yasuomi Umetsu are pretty dazzling, and I enjoyed how Amano kind of met us halfway. The monster on board is a fun mix of the amorphous Thing and Xenomorphs, and it helps in adding to the experience. Not to mention there are some gruesome moments, including a scene involving a rusted vent. “Lily C.A.T.” is a very good sci-fi horror hybrid, and in the realm of “Alien” knock offs, this is top tier.