Crap I've watched on Netflix - part 6

Just to be different, I decided to watch some of the old black and white horror films on Netflix thinking that they couldn't be any worse than the modern handycam nasties which I detest so much. I was wrong.


The Catman of Paris (1946)

"When author Charles Regnier (Carl Esmond) returns to Paris with a best-selling book that criticizes the government, he's tormented by frequent blackouts. After a mysterious cat-like creature slaughters people close to him, Charles is suspected of murder. Charles fears that he is the beast, but his paramour, Marie (Lenore Aubert), and best friend, Henry (Douglass Dumbrille), believe he's innocent... until the creature begins to stalk Marie."

What the hell was this supposed to be? I thought it was going to be something like "The Wolf Man" (which it was to a certain extent) but it was all talk and no action. There was a black cat in it quite a lot but the Catman himself was only revealed in the last couple of minutes and was a total disappointment.


A Place of One's Own (1945)

"When married and old Henry (James Mason) and Emilie (Barbara Mullen) Smedhurst take possession of a dilapidated house, really strange things start to occur. After young Annette Allenby (Margaret Lockwood) arrives to keep Emilie company, death seems almost certain - but for who? The soul of a dead girl who once lived there takes over Annette's mind, leading her to insanity and to reveal the home's tragic history."

There are some things which are too bizarre for words and seeing James Mason play an old man about 30 years before he really was one threw me right out of the film. The dialogue and acting were also so dated that I started adding my own double entendres to try and keep myself awake. I didn't succeed and fell asleep quite profoundly. I have no idea how this ghost story ended and don't even care.

Jennifer (1953)

"This spooky thriller stars Ida Lupino as Agnes Langley, who is hired to serve as the live-in caretaker of an eerie mansion after the previous occupant, Jennifer, disappears. Agnes becomes obsessed with Jennifer's fate, which she may soon share. As she investigates unusual occurrences around the house, Agnes finds herself falling for store owner Jim Hollis (Howard Duff), but then becomes suspicious that he may have had a hand in Jennifer's probable demise."

The fact that this isn't even available on VHS or DVD should tell you something. What started out as a potential ghost story, with Ida Lupino playing a similar part to Julie Harris' Nell in "The Haunting" (1963), eventually turned into a mystery thriller and I lost interest. I forced myself to watch it all the way through but can't even remember how it ended. I think it numbed my brain with boredom.


I know that I usually watch five of these crappy movies in a row for this series of posts but I just couldn't handle any more films from over half a century ago. If I'm ever feeling this masochistic again, I have all the Mill Creek packs to torture myself with.