spoiler dark and creepy film base on the cornell wollrich novel black alibi about a leopard on the loose in the desert and town of new mexico . with deep and disturbing psychological overtone that strike more fear in the heart of those in the movie and audience then the big cat itself . publicity agent jerry manning and dennis okeefe and try to spice up his client kiki walker and jean brook and nightclub act get her a black leopard from a local carnival to upstage her rival at the club spanish dancer clo clo and margo . on the first night of kiki act with the big cat the leopard get startle by an angry clo clo who put her hand clickers almost in it face . the noise make the cat break away from kiki a it disappear into the night . with the local police as well a the town people look for the escaped black leopard it later cross the path of young teresa guadalupe who outside go to the store to get corn meal for her mother to make dinner . terrify with fear at the sight of the almost demonic look black cat teresa drop the bag of corn meal that she have and run for her life with the leopard hot on her tail . get to her house her mother doesn not let poor teresa in because she do not have the corn meal and think that her story about her be chase by a big cat be just an excuse for her to let her in the house . a moment later there a terrifying scream and then all be eerily quiet . realize that something be terribly wrong teresa mother run to open the door she see a stream of blood ooze under it and the cat kill little teresa . terrify movie that play with one nerve like a violinist pay with the string of his violin . with sound and shadow instead of special effect and really pack a wallop by do it . there three scene in the movie where someone be kill include the one with teresa and everyone of them bring the tension to such a hight where your nerve be at the point of break down . you just can not wait for the nerve rack scene to finally end where at the same time the director of the movie and jacques tourneur and keep you totally in the dark to what happen off screen . tourneur direction show how the mind can be easily trick and manipulate by an imaginative film maker with nothing more then light sound and shadow . and thus bring far more shock and jolt to his audience back in 1943 then what the best state of the art special effect can do in a movie today . even though leopard man touch upon a lot of psychological aspect of the human and as well a animal and mind it pre date the movie spellbound which many consider the first major hollywood film about the subject by two year . the film dark and eerie end in the darken new mexican desert amid a black hooded precession to commemorate the 17th century slaughter of the town original inhabitant and by the spanish conquistador and be one of the most creepy sight i have ever see in a movie .