'Cats' trailer hitting nerve online

FILE - The Neil Simon Theater, where the Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway musical 'Cats' is playing. The upcoming movie, CATS, by Universal Studios is based on the musical. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

The official trailer for the movie version of the Broadway musical CATS has struck a nerve in people who say they feel it's strange and even 'nightmarish.'

Released Thursday, reaction has been mixed to watching Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, James Corden, Dame Judi Dentch and others transformed into cats.

In the movie, the felines attend a ball and dance before they decide which will live or die.

Comments on the Universal Studios YouTube page have included:

"finally a horror movie that is so scary that the trailer sends chills down my spine"- Joru

"I'm going to have nightmares now after seeing this." -Alyssa Serwinski

"Is anyone else getting chills down their spine ?" - Ivan G310

People on Twitter and Instagram reacted similarly.

"The most terrifying piece for me is that all the cats have human teeth."

 

"This is not a cat. This isn't even hunan. This is an abomination."

Me watching the #CatsMovie trailer

The movie hits theaters December 20, 2019.