THE reviews are in for the Cats movie and despite a glittering cast, including Dame Judi Dench, James Corden, Idris Elba and Taylor Swift, it does not make for pleasant reading for all those involved. But it’s far from the first time a blockbuster has been monstered by the critics.

How bad are the reviews?

In a word, horrendous. The Telegraph’s film critic, Robbie Collin, said simply that the $100 million movie is a “mesmerisingly ugly fiasco that makes you feel like your brain is being eaten by a parasite”.

In the Guardian, it’s no better, with the reviewer saying. “the queasy fears prompted by one of the most disturbing movie trailers ever seen are realised” in what is a “jaw-dropping feline folly”.

And others agree?

The Boston Globe reviewer wrote, "My eyes are burning”, while Vanity Fair branded Cats, “an ugly stray who smells bad and should not be invited into your home”.

So it’s a box office flop?

Who knows yet? It’s just out this weekend and there are surely ardent fans of the live stage version of the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber extravaganza who may venture out to see director Tom Hooper’s feline film, as well as devoted fans of pop star Swift desperate to see her on screen as Bombalurina.

But the outlook is grim?

It’ll be hard to bounce back from the wall-to-wall scathing critiques on both sides of the Atlantic. Empire magazine said: “Our brain will never comprehend it. It’s jarring from the first minute and remains jarring until the last, while Variety summed it up by saying: “Nine may not be enough lives for some of the stars to live down their involvement in this…”

It’s not the first film to fall on hard reviews?

On paper, 1986’s Absolute Beginners, the musical about London life in the 1950s, starring David Bowie and Patsy Kensit, was destined for success, but was instead, panned by critics. The Guardian said it was “an over budget turkey of huge proportions”, and it was accused of destroying the UK movie business at the time.

Isn’t that a tad extreme?

The director, Julien Temple, later recalled: “Legend has it that this was the film that destroyed the British film industry. I had a strange reaction – it was a very dark place, a breakdown, generated by the horror of losing control of the film, and the response to it”.

But it is a bit of a cult classic now?

Martin Scorsese said it is one of his top 10 movies

The biggest box office flop ever?

Cutthroat Island made the Guinness Book of World Records as, “the biggest financial disaster in all of movie history”. The 1995 film, starring Geena Davis, bankrupted the studio that made it.

What now for Cats?

It may come down to making money on the music charts – Jennifer Hudson sings the standout track, Memory, while Swift has already been Golden Globe nominated for her original song with Lloyd Webber, Beautiful Ghosts.

MAUREEN SUGDEN