Juggernaut (1936)

I will sit through anything with Boris Karloff in at least once, but with some films, once is more than enough.

Set in the Côte d’Azure, Juggernaut sees him playing a doctor, desperate for funds to complete experiment into cure a form of paralysis who gets caught up in a plot by a scheming heiress to murder her husband.

Despite Karloff playing a murderous scientist, Juggernaut is not a horror film, but a crime melodrama, and not a very good one at that. The story isn't always clear, the script is overly talky, the acting poor (even Karloff) and the film itself is badly directed, with poorly framed shots sometimes held for several minutes.

It's also a completely misleading title, covering a dreary affair with no momentum that fizzles out long before the end.

The Monkey's Paw (1948)

The Monkey's Paw, the famous tale of being careful what you wish for has been adapted many times and in many mediums. This low budget adaption sticks to the basic premise of the supernatural short story by author W. W. Jacobs, with an elderly couple wanting to use a magical wish granting monkey paw to undo a recent tragedy.

For the most part the film is slow, creaky, woodenly acted and indifferently shot and edited, making the running time feel a lot longer than it is. 

However, it comes to life in the last ten minutes, and as the story moves towards an inexorable conclusion, the atmosphere becomes creepy and the plight of the couple genuinely tragic.