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Dr Forrester (Gene Barry), a physicist, spots a meteorite crashing to earth whilst on holiday and investigates. There he meets Sylvia (Ann Robinson), but the site is too hot to go near. When they leave we see the meteorite is actually a spacecraft, which kills the men still there. There follows an colossal battle with the army for the fate of not just America, but the earth. As mass panic sets in, Forrrester and Slyvia manage to flee to Los Angeles. All seems lost as the martians sweep all before them, as they await the end (in the most obvious of places, a church), but just before dawn the approaching Martians falter. When Forrester investigate he realises the martian is dying, of a common cold, an infection that the Martians have no resistance to.
A classic of 50's Sci-fi, in this adaption of the H G Wells novel, replacing the satire on class with a religious theme and updating it from 19th century London to 50's California. Knocks spots off the recent remake.
"Why should you be afraid to die, your soul has been dead for a long time."
Prince Prospero (Vincent Price), leads a dissolute life, toying with the peasants under his control for the delight of his courtiers and other landed gentry. Whilst his lands are wracked with a plague called the red death he invites the nobility to shelter in his castle, and plans a masqued ball to amuse them. During this celebration to Satan he has arranged to initiate a peasant girl Francesca (Jane Asher), whom he has kidnapped and taken a shine to. Meanwhile his mistress Juliana (Hazel Court) decides to please him by initiating herself as a satanist. But is Satan as all powerful as Prospero thinks, and can he defeat the red death?
Gloriously vivid redrawing of the Edgar Alan Poe story and possibly Roger Corman's finest hour. There is hardly a foot wrong with this, everything from the look, feel, pacing and acting are spot on.
Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), relates how he comes to be on death row, awaiting the guillotine. We flashback to Victor as a young man when he employs a tutor, Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart). Paul becomes a friend and co-scientist in their experiments which eventually lead to the resurrection of dead tissue. But Paul draws the line at grave robbing and quits. At this moment Victors cousin Elizabeth (Hazel Court) comes to live with them, with plans to marry Victor. Paul tries to warn her off, but when it is obvious that she is staying, he decides to try and protect her. Meanwhile Victor is locked in his lab successfully re-animating a grotesque being (Christopher Lee). A creature none to happy to be alive and all too eager to show everyone. It's bound to end in trouble...
This was the film that launched the Hammer horror style upon the world, gory, and sexy (for the time), adaptions of famous horrors. All in vivid colour! An historic film, and more importantly an enjoyable film for lovers of gothic horror and it has my favourite ever creature make up.
aka Death Wheelers Are... Psycho Maniacs. The Death Wheelers. The Frog. The Living Dead.
A motor cycle gang aptly called the Living Dead find out a route to eternal life. Tom Latham (Nicky Henson) leads the gang of misfits and finds out through his mother (Beryl Reid) how to really become the living dead. Once he achieves this goal, he convinces most of the rest of the gang to follow him. Thus they are free to terrorise the town, free in the knowledge they can never die again. Unfortunately things don't quite go to plan and Tom's girlfriend has second thoughts about it all as does his mother.
A great British horror, featuring witchcraft, horror and the right level of tongue in cheek humour. Cheap and cheerful in all the right ways.
A wealthy, eccentric woman is dying of emphysema and has decided to leave all her money to her cats. Kassia (Gayle Hunnicutt), the woman's hairdresser, learns of this and hatches a plot to rob her before she dies. To do so she finds and involves Wylie (Michael Sarrazin), the woman's estranged nephew. Unfortunately the one spoke in the wheel is that the aunts dozens of cats, as Wylie is terrified of cats. To appease him the aunt decides to get rid of the cats, having the younger nephew dump them far away. But obviously, given the name of the film, the cat's aren't going to take this lying down.
The film is a little slow to start, whilst it sets out the premise, but from Wylie's entry back in the house it ably builds suspense on a number of occasions, in this Hitchcockesque thriller with a twist.
aka Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution. Dick Tracy on Mars.
Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine), an American private-eye posing as a journalist, travels to Alphaville, a futuristic city on another planet. He has a variety of tasks to perform whilst there; to find a missing agent, catch or kill the creator of alphaville and destroy the computer controlling Alphaville. To do this Caution enlists the assistance of Natacha Von Braun (Anna Karina), one of the computers programmers and the daughter of Von Braun, the mad scientist creator of Alphaville that Eddie is tasked to kill.
A spoof of American film noir detectives, this French New Wave film was shot without special effects in bleak modern Paris. It places the familiar hard bitten detective in unfamiliar surroundings and spends long swaths of the film on existential talk. A classic if you can take all the theorising.
aka Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie.
A languid and virtually plot-less view of the lives of three respectable upper middle class couples. We watch as they try to host dinner parties, the men do business (we see one, an ambassador, using his diplomatic status to traffic cocaine) and the women lunch. All is done in a very precise way, demanded by the etiquette each situation demands. Into this outwardly normal lifestyle we follow them as various often trivial problems occur to prevent their enjoyment and characters dream within dream sequences which enliven the film.
This is a complex and ever changing fog of often meaningless events, that get more and more surreal as the film progresses, for example a siren can cover an important speech for no apparent reason. The comedy sometimes comes from these surreal events but often from the characters interaction and their hypocracy. A film that in 1972 was a biting satire has become slightly blunted with age, I don't know anyone who now views such people as our betters as was the case. Even so, it's still a great piece of film making and a joy to watch as it throws out the rulebook for structure, cinematography and events as the director redesigns film law.
Otto (Emilo Estevez) is a 'suburban white punk', working dead end jobs, frustrated with his lot in life, when he is one day tricked into delivering a car for a repo man. Initially resentful, he's pushed to join them when he finds out his parents have donated his college fund to a televangelist. He's subsequently taken under the wing of Bud (Harry Dean Stanton), who trains Otto in the code of the repo man. Meanwhile across town a man is driving a Chevy Malibu around with some interesting cargo in the boot, stolen from a government lab. Otto and the other repo men try to track the car down when it is listed for reposession with a huge price tag. Intertwined with this Otto keeps bumping into an old friend, who has taken to robbing stores. Unfortunately it's usually whilst he's robbing them!
A true original, part sci-fi, part comedy and chock full of swipes at everything from scientology to reaganomics and even product placement. It also touches on the punk lifestyle of LA at that moment, and makes great use of it within the soundtrack. A classic cult film of it's time, that has aged well. Not for everyone's taste, but certainly mine. Just remember, 'the life of a repo man is always intense'.
Dr Kronen (Ludwig Donath), a nazi scientist on the run is being used by THRUSH agent Louis Strago (Jack Pallance) to use heavy water to divert the Gulf stream. Thus making Greenland into a tropical paradise, whilst also plunging other areas into the depths of winter. UNCLE agents Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) are soon on the case trying to stop the plot. Unfortunately for Solo he gets sidetracked when he's forced into a shotgun wedding to a Sicilian girl (Leticia Roman) that he has dishonoured and ends up being chased by her mobster uncles when he skips the ceremony.
In this Man from UNCLE off shoot, (made from combining the two parter 'The Concrete Overcoat Affair' from season three of the series), they manage to meld the elements of comedy and thrills to produce a well rounded film. Aided by the fact that it features a wonderfully devilish baddy in Janet Leigh as Miss Diketon, who seems to get a sexual kick out of toying with and killing people.
The army are conducting training in radiation detection when a fissure opens up in the ground and a radioactive explosion occurs. Dr Royston (Dean Jagger) a scientist specialising in atomic energy is called in to investigate. Later that night a child dies of radiation poisoning whilst playing in the nearby woods. Various other people then start coming down with the same symptoms. Dr Royston starts to believe that an unknown and amorphous radioactive entity is wandering the area, feeding off whatever radioactive energy it can. Obviously the army is less inclined to believe this and prefer to just concrete over the fissure, and just as obviously, this doesn't work! But if Dr Royston is right, how do you destroy something that feeds on energy?
A low key, realistic, and sometimes suspenseful horror, tapping into the fear the public had about radioactivity. Following hammer's success with Quatermass they rushed out this. They had wanted it to be another Quatermass, but Kneale refused permission for his character. So Quatermass became Royston. Comic relief throughout is provided by various soldiers left to guard the fissure, most notably a young Anthony Newley in full cheeky cockney mode and his mate played by Ian MacNaughton, who went on to produce and direct Monty Python.
Count Adrian (Des Roberts) has escaped communist Romania and now runs a Hollywood bar, where he lurks in the background in full cape outfit, arching his eyebrows. Whilst doing so he spots Angelica (Claudia Barron) and determines she will become his next bride. We then follow him as he tries various wooing techniques that usually involve biting her. Subsequently she visits her doctor, complaining of tiredness. He helpfully suggests that her boyfriend should be less passionate when he spots the tell tale fang marks on her neck!
This is long on talk, short on action or any kind of mood at all. A very flat movie, full of unintentionally funny moments, and lots of green and red lighting in lieu of any kind of mood, tension, editing or a decent script. I did learn one thing from this film: never use a Tiger as a guard dog, they are useless! This falls into the realm of the so bad its bad film and thus a good cure for insomnia if you need one!
aka The Five Daughters Affair. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Five Daughters Affair. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Karate Killers.
UNCLE agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin (Robert Vaughn and David McCallum) have to track down a secret formula for extracting gold from sea water, that has been divided into four parts and hidden around the world. The scientist that developed it has been killed, but not before he gave four of his daughters a part of the formula. As usual THRUSH are also after it and send their agent Randolph (Herbert Lom) to make sure they are the one's to get it.
Another light spy thriller from the Man from UNCLE, this time combining the two parts of The Five Daughters Affair episodes from season three. This one is star packed, featuring Joan Crawford, Curd Jurgens, Terry-Thomas, Jill Ireland, Telly Savalas and Herbert Lom. This is a more serious thriller than other in the series, less tongue in cheek, but it still retains the sense of fun, mainly due to the 60's groove they have. It also features a pop-syke song by Every Mother's Son, rather than the usual UNCLE theme.
Mr Alexander (Rip Torn), is a billionaire who wants to be the next Alexander The Great. To achieve this he plans to perpetrate the world's biggest crimes, and break all ten commandments at the same time. One such crime sees him come to the attention of UNCLE, and they send in Solo and Kuryakin (Robert Vaughn and David McCallum), when he steals a chemical weapon. Making life more complicated is Alexander's estranged wife (Dorothy Provine) who is also chasing her husband. The third spin off film in their eight film run. This movie is made from the "The Alexander The Greater Affair", from season two of The Man From UNCLE and features Yvonne Craig as Waverley's niece. Basically its much of the same - another light spy story, that doesn't take things too seriously, but doesn't play it for laughs either.
Brenda (Rita Tushingham), plain and meek, and the flamboyant Yvonne (Lynn Redgrave), move from their northern town to London in search of fame and fortune. Mostly due to Yvonne's misguided belief that she is switched on and happening. A belief that she believes confirmed when Tom Wabe (Michael York) the famous photographer takes her photo whilst walking down Carnaby Street. Unfortunately for Yvonne it's so Tom can show how not to look. Brenda takes exception to this, but Tom decides to promote Brenda as the newest face of fashion. Meanwhile Yvonne tries another attempt at fame, making a pop song, despite not being able to sing. A kitchy, camp and comic look at swinging London, with the bonus of Lynn Redgrave singing 'I'm So young' which sums up the times in three short minutes! What sets this apart from many other buddy comedies is the setting; In the right place at the right time, thus giving us a great time capsule view of the heart of London that was swinging, surrounded by the grime, grey streets that was the rest of Britain. What's not to like. I defy you to watch this and not want to be there!
The last few years in the life of Rasputin, following his rise to court physician and religious adviser to his assassination. We open with Rasputin (Christopher Lee) curing an innkeepers wife, getting drunk, attempting to rape his daugher and then fighting his way back to the monastery. This is obviously not our standard monk! Obviously the abbot isn't too happy with Rasputins behaviour and throws him out, someone suggests he try his luck in St Petersburg, so away he goes. There he worms his way into the affections of one of the Czarina's ladies in waiting (Barbara Shelley), and from there he starts to influence the Czarina. But whilst he makes allies of the women of court, the men are not so easy, and soon fear he has undue control over the Tzars household and plot to take him out of the picture. Don't look here for historical accuracy, the film concentrates on Rasputin, his charisma and extraordinarily hypnotic power. Centered on a great performance by Christopher Lee. Without this the film would be a standard Hammer costumed drama, but Lee has the look and feel of Rasputin as he glowers and growls his way through an otherwise standard Hammer.
Dr Forrester (Gene Barry), a physicist, spots a meteorite crashing to earth whilst on holiday and investigates. There he meets Sylvia (Ann Robinson), but the site is too hot to go near. When they leave we see the meteorite is actually a spacecraft, which kills the men still there. There follows an colossal battle with the army for the fate of not just America, but the earth. As mass panic sets in, Forrrester and Slyvia manage to flee to Los Angeles. All seems lost as the martians sweep all before them, as they await the end (in the most obvious of places, a church), but just before dawn the approaching Martians falter. When Forrester investigate he realises the martian is dying, of a common cold, an infection that the Martians have no resistance to.
