The Catman of Paris

This is a middling to fair movie, gamely cashing in on the popular 1940s passion for Wolfman and Cat People creature films. Lame, but it limped along anyway.

Spine-chilling horror and suspense it has little of, but be fair! When you stack this film up against other non-Val Lewton movies or non-Brit films, (think DEAD OF NIGHT) it's okay for what it attempts. The director was probably a studio hack given the task of making something cheap using standing sets and on-hand costumes to fill the double bill and not run much more than an hour, thus clearing the seats for the A picture.

Workmanlike is he best that can be said about it. A good monster, wasted.

Anticipation ran high for me in the pre-home taping/DVD days when indie TV stations surrounding the SF Bay put this in their late-night viewing logs in the papers. My appetite for it was whetted by a photo spread in Monster World or maybe FAmous Monsters, showing Bob Wilke down in a makeup chair with a week's whiskers, getting on the fingernails and greasepaint and hair and full catty dentures. He looked great as the monster. His eyes were always cat-like and a bright shiny green anyway. Recall him as the first mate to Captain Nemo (James Mason) in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA?

Robert J. Wilke made his career primarily playing villains in Westerns and was always a solid on screen presence. More of the Catman and less palaver was called for. It would be a better film, but I liked it for what little it achieved in moments of unease and threatening shadows.

And whomever id the makeup was an ace at greasepaint and direct work, without much in the way of prosthesis.

DB Jones, Mountain View, CA

A brutal, bloody murder occurs in Paris, with the victim was apparently clawed to pieces. The police refuse to believe that a monster is at work, instead focusing their attention on famous author Charles Regnier (Carl Esmond), who has recently arrived in the city.

Regnier seems to have a motive, and the subject matter of his latest book is a bit too coincidental for the cops. In addition, Regnier has begun to suffer from strange blackouts, rendering him unable to remember his actions or whereabouts.

When another mutilation takes place, the authorities are certain they have their man.

CATMAN OF PARIS is an atmospheric horror film. The use of a black cat slinking around, as well as Regnier's blackout sequences are eerily effective. There's a restaurant fight scene that's also memorable. Esmond plays his desperate role convincingly, and there's a nice, twisty finale to boot!...

The basic plot for The Catman of Paris wouldn't win any awards for originality: it sees controversial author Charles Regnier (Carl Esmond) arriving back in Paris just as people start to turn up dead, scratched to ribbons, as though by a large cat. Suffering from memory loss at the same time as the murders, Charles begins to believe that he is responsible, and the police would just love to pin the blame on him, his latest book having upset the French government. All the evidence does seem to indicate that Charles is the killer, but beautiful Marie Audet (Lenore Aubert) believes otherwise.

It's not very hard to work out who is the real villain, but the supernatural revelation at the end isn't so easy to predict: a crackpot's theory that the killer is capable of transmutation, turning into a half-human/half cat, turns out to be on the money, leading to an entertaining finale featuring the furry, fanged feline/man. Also adding to the fun is a rousing fist fight between Charles and four men in a restaurant, and a high-speed horse and carriage chase scene in which the police are incredibly trigger happy, shooting wildly at the three passengers in the carriage in front.

Are mysterious killings in Paris of 1896 the work of man or monster?

The best thing I can say about this film is that it has an awesomely choreographed fight in a restaurant, with plenty of flips and tables breaking. The waiter getting knocked over with a full tray (even though there are no customers, so who is the food for?).

Hard to say if this is a horror film. Netflix seems to think so, and I guess the idea of a half-man, half-cat killing people is sort of horror. But it is really pretty tame. We could say it is an early serial killer film with a population getting terrorized, but whether or not it is horror is just a tough call.

This warrants a second viewing.

There is a scene in this film when "Marie" (Leonor Aubert) is in a coach, terrified, with the protagonist in this Jekyllian style thriller. She is shouting, pleading, imploring with this person - who transmorphs into a deadly cat - for him not to kill her. When she calls out for him to "say something to me" the entire cinema - maybe 50 people, all simultaneously called out "miaow". It was really an achievement of coordination and comedy timing that far surpassed anything creative being seen on the screen as this rather dreary murder mystery rubbed along. Carl Esmond is "Regnier", a successful novelist who discovers that his book is going to be censored. When the archivist carrying papers to the censor is found dead - mauled - he is suspected and off we trot on the most benign of mysteries that lacks just about everything - except, perhaps, an alluring eeriness of late 19th century Paris. The writing, directing and acting are wholly adequate, but the thing lacks any sense of menace or thrill - and at times it is little better than a darkly lit romance with a well telegraphed twist.