smokescreen (1964)

"It makes things very difficult if there's no body."
A car careens off the White Cliffs of Dover and Roper (Peter Vaughan), an insurance investigator, is sent to investigate. A number of suspects pop up, from the man himself, (as he had only recently taken out the policy), his wife (Yvonne Romain), (who would benefit), the business partner (Gerald Flood), (who has financial troubles), and even the insurance salesman (John Carson), (as he is attracted to the man's wife).
Its no Double Indemnity but its still an entertaining detective thriller. Vaughn plays a wonderful character, who works his way through every scam he can to penny pinch and fiddle expenses, whilst playing detective.

the golden disc (1958)

AKA The Inbetween Age.
"Why should they listen to our records, then go somewhere else to buy them."
Joan Farmer (Mary Steele) is a young woman who dreams of a singing career, but in the meantime she helps out her aunt who has just bought a coffee bar. With a couple of friends, Harry (Lee Patterson) and Terry (Terry Dene) they turn it into the trendiest place to be. Then her aunt has the bright idea of selling records alongside the coffee, and not just anyone's discs, but their own. Step forward Terry who proves a hit with the kids, but can they survive the cut-throat businessmen in the music industry?
A charmingly low budget look at the coffee bar scene of late 50's Britain, of the 'lets put on a show right here' type. Despite everything this is a fascinating look at a Britain on the cusp of a revolution where the coffee bars where just the start. First came Jazz, then skiffle, and rock n roll. It all led to a explosion that was to become the Beatles and the swinging sixties. Here we see the first faltering steps towards that new dawn, this truly was the inbetween age.

queen of outer space (1958)

"Why don't you girls knock off all this Gestapo stuff and try to be a little friendly."
Capt. Patterson (Eric Fleming) and his crew are on a routine trip to Earth's space station when it is destroyed by a ray from deep in outer space. They are then targeted and to avoid it end up crashing onto Venus. Despite everything they learned at school Venus is very much like earth, only populared by miniskirted beauty queens who are ruled over by Queen Yllana (Laurie Mitchell). She intends to take over Earth, but they are helped by an anti-war faction led by scientist Talleah (Zsa Zsa Gabor) as they try to stop her.
Like much of this production everything, from the costumes to the plot is recycled from other films, in this entertainingly campy sci-fi. You'll gasp as the giant spider attacks, and you'll puzzle over Zsa Zsa Gabor's acting style, which has only one look - haughty, no matter what the situation!

mesa of lost women (1953)

AKA Attack of the Spider Women.
"What a dump."
A couple are found wandering in the desert and when rescued they tell their story in flashback. They tell the tale of Arana (Jackie Coogan), a scientist living on a Mexican Mesa, who had a goal of creating a master race using spider venom. Injecting humans, the women develop regenerative powers, the men become dwarves and the spiders grow enormous and develop superhuman intelligence! Arana invites Dr. Masterson (Harmon Stevens) to see his experiments, but is drugged by Arana, turning him into a simpleton. Masterson escapes and hijacks a plane and its passenger, but unfortunately for everyone the plane has to land on Arana's mesa!
A very low budget sci-fi, that entertains more for the daftness of the plot and the low rent acting than the confusing screenplay.

from beyond the grave (1973)

AKA Creatures. Creatures from Beyond the Grave. Tales from Beyond the Grave. Tales from the Beyond. The Undead.
"You know damn well you don't live here, your place is hell."
Portmanteau piece linked by Peter Cushing as a sinister antiques seller. It tells four stories of people who have tried to cheat him in some way. The stories include "The Gate Crasher", where David Warner frees an evil enity from an antique mirror, "An Act of Kindness" featuring Donald Pleasence and Diana Dors, "The Elemental", has Ian Carmichael tormented by a vicious sprite, and "The Door", where an antique door houses a malevolent spirit.
As with all anthologies some stories are better than others, but overall this is a well acted series of horrors.

the blood beast terror (1968)

AKA Blood Beast from Hell. The Deathshead Vampire. The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood.
"What are we going to tell 'em? They'll never believe this at the yard."
Detective Quennell (Peter Cushing) is investigating the mysterious death of a young student and approaches Dr. Carl Mallinger (Robert Flemyng), the students tutor to help. Unfortunately Mallinger knows more about the death than he's letting on, and how is his daughter Clare (Wanda Ventham) involved?
Another Hammeresque Victorian horror, which despite its fine cast, doesn't live up to the billing. Mildly diverting but nothing more than that.

a bullet for the general (1967)

AKA El chuncho, quien sabe?
"Don't buy bread with that money, hombre! Buy dynamite!"
Bill Tate (Lou Castel) is aboard a train held up by El Chuncho (Gian Maria Volonté) and his bandits. He helps them steal arms from a train to sell the weapons to the revolutionary general Elias (Jaime Fernández). El Chuncho takes a liking to the gringo and allow him to tag along, but what is Tate's motive for joining them?
A dark take on the Mexican revolution, which deals with issues of trust, betrayal, the pursuit of money, idiology and war. Meanwhile also delivering with lots of action wrapped around some fascinating characters including Klaus Kinski as a gun toting bible quoting revolutionary and Martine Beswick as a hard as nails bandit.

the black cat (1981)

AKA Gatto Nero.
"Cats take orders from no one."
A small English village and a Scotland Yard detective Inspector Gormley (Dave Warbeck) is sent to investigate the disappearance of a young couple. He soon finds that there has been a number of bizzare accidents in the village, accidents that continue to happen. Along with a crime scene photographer, Jill Travers (Mimsy Farmer), the detective begins to suspect the involvement of Robert Miles (Patrick Magee), a local psychic. Then Jill notices a number of the victims have scratches on them, much as if they had been attacked by a cat!
An atmospheric horror film where Fulci tries to funnel the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe, rather than his usual gorefests.

the ghoul (1975)

AKA Night of the Ghoul. The Thing in the Attic.
"Please release me from my vow."
A couple taking part in a cross country car race breakdown on some moors. They split up and she ends up at the house of Dr Lawrence (Peter Cushing). He seems intent on keeping her there, but what could be out there that frightens the Dr so? When the couple never make it to the finish of the race, Geoffrey (Ian McCulloch) and Angela (Alexandra Bastedo) come looking for them.
Atmospheric, Hammeresque horror, that is pervaded with an air of sadness that gives an original twist to an essentially ordinary horror. This along with the fine performances by Cushing and John Hurt lift it above most within the genre.

daughters of darkness (1971)

Les lèvres rouges. Blood on the Lips. Erzebeth. The Promise of Red Lips. The Red Lips. The Redness of the Lips. Children of the Night.
"Love is stronger than death... even than life."
A couple honeymoon at a chic but deserted seaside hotel. The newlyweds, Stefan (John Karlen) and Valarie (Danielle Ouimet), quickly become involved in an obsessive relationship with Elizabeth Bathory (Delphine Seyrig), an Hungarian Countess, and her secretary, Ilona (Andrea Rau), who are also staying at the hotel. Meanwhile the corpses of young woman begin to turn up in the town, all drained of their blood...
A visually stunning take on the Countess Dracula story, which slowly unveils itself through a number of artistic, and often erotic, dreamlike set pieces, with a finesse that belies its budget.

the blob (1958)

"Wow, a real piece of sky!"
A meteor lands in the outskirts of a small mid-western town and is found by an old man. He takes the scientific route of poking it with a stick and the blob ouses out intent on absorbing anything that gets in its path. Thus the latest alien take over attempt begins and its up to Steve Andrews (Steve McQueen) a teenager with an interest in astronomy to conquer it, before it takes over the town, then the world! But how can he when none of the authorities believe him.
A typical 50's sci-fi enlivened by the presence of McQueen. It never takes itself too seriously and entertains more than most in this genre. And how can you argue against it when it has a title theme co-written by Burt Bacharach!