17.12.11

terror house (1972)


aka Terror at Red Wolf Inn.
"A butcher's work is never done."
A college student (Linda Gillen) wins a vacation to the quiet Red Wolf Inn, and is soon whisked off, (before she can even tell anyone), to the guest house. There she meets the two other guests, and finds the place is a dream, a beautiful location and wonderful food, but she starts to feel uneasy when one of the guests suddenly vanishes, and why are the owners so reluctant to let anyone into their meat locker.
A delicious little black comedy.

source code (2011)


"Out here the clocks only move in one direction."
Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man aboard a Chicago bound train. Though his confusion he discovers he's on a mission to find the bomber about to blow up the train. One of his major problems is that he only has eight minutes to do so, his advantage is everytime he fails, he can be sent back to start again...
Although initially convoluted, this serves to slowly draw you in and grip you.

food of the gods (1976)


"That's what your husband brought us out her for?"
Islanders are feeding their livestock a growth suppliment, but unfortunately the wildlife, including the rats have developed a taste for it, and for humans...
An Eco-horror loosely based on a H.G. Wells novel. Whilst Gordon takes it all seriously, once you see the toy rat heads you wont.

15.12.11

colossus the forbin project (1970)


aka The Day the World Changed Hands. Colossus. The Forbin Project.
"It has no emotions, knows no fear or hate..."
Dr Forbin (Eric Braeden) develops an artificially intelligent supercomputer to oversee the United States nuclear deterent, but once activated it soon reveals that it is going to follow its own agenda rather than that of its creators.
An overlooked view into a frighening future, where computers realise that they are better placed to make decisions about the human condition that we are...

the mole people (1956)

"In archaeology all things are possible."
A party of archaeologists led by Dr. Roger Bentley (John Agar) stumble on a 5000 year old civilization living beneath the earth. To survive they keep humanoid like mole men as their slaves, but can God fearing Americans stand by whilst they witness cruelty being metered out to the Mole men?
Not one of their better creature feature's, but still an entertaining enough flick from Universal.

carry on up the khyber (1968)


"Fakir! Off!"
India during the British Raj and the Khazi of Kalabar (Kenneth Williams) wants his country back from the British. All that is stopping him is Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond (Sid James) and his "skirted-devils", the kilted Third Foot and Mouth regiment.
Featuring all the usual gang, this is one of the better of the long running series, with the jokes coming thick and fast.

7 faces of dr lao (1964)


"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
A small western town dominated by Clint Stark (Arthur O'Connell) gets a visit from the mysterious Dr. Lau (Tony Randall), who changes the town's citizens forever when they view his mysterious circus of mythical beasts.
A pleasant fantasy adventure.

aeon flux (2005)


"I have to end it."
2415: A dystopian future where Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron) is a resistance fighter to overthrow the government. When she is a sent to kill the Chairman, she soon realises that there is something not quite right with the situation...
An incredibly good looking film, but one that is more style than substance and betrays its origins as a cartoon, lacking a certain humour that should be inherent in this sort of action/adventure.

14.12.11

five golden dragons (1967)


"There are times that I could kill you."
A crime syndicate called the five golden dragons plans on meeting up in Hong Kong. Blundering American tourist Bob Mitchell (Robert Cummings) stumbles on their existance and gets embroiled with Commander Sanders (Rupert Davies) in finding out who they are and ending their reign of terror.
A thriller that never grips and basically wastes the talent on show.

the beast of yucca flats (1961)


aka Girl Madness. The Atomic Monster: The Beast of Yucca Flats.
"Always on the prowl. Looking for something or somebody to kill. Quench the killer's thirst."
A defecting Soviet scientist (Tor Johnson) is chased onto Yucca Flats, and tragically hit by a nuclear explosion. This turns him into a raging monster who goes on a killing spree.
Fantastically narrated mess by Coleman Francis.

the undead (1957)


"Though art the author of the piece and Satan is the critic."
A pair of psychic researchers hynotise their test subject (Pamela Duncan), sending her back in time. She finds herself in medieval England about to be executed for being a witch, something she is anxious to avoid. One person, Pendragon (Richard Garland), tries to help her, but is hindered by Livia (Allison Hayes), who wishes to keep him to herself and whom happens to be a real witch.
An interesting and entertaining cheapy, produced it is said in six days.

robot monster (1953)


aka Monster From Mars. Monster From The Moon.
"Roy's dead and there is nothing to be done."
An evil alien called Ro-Man has taken over and killed all but five people on the earth, the survivors being the family of scientist (John Mylong) and his young assistant. All are immune to Ro-Man's death ray as a side effect to an antibiotic serum developed by the professor. Can the family not only survive, but also defeat the onslaught of Ro-Man. Not if they just wander around the countryside oblivious to the menace they wont!
Confusing and infuriatingly full of plot holes, but still manages to entertain, often for all the wrong reasons.

13.12.11

circus of fear (1966)


aka Circus of Terror.
"Careful how you speak to me, it could be most expensive."
An armed robbery goes wrong and a guard is killed. Some of the loot ends up being stashed in a travelling circus where it waits to be picked up by the gangs mysterious boss. The police start honing in on the money whilst various circus performers including Gregor (Christopher Lee), and Natasha (Suzy Kendall) get involved for various reasons. Meanwhile Manfred (Klaus Kinski) hovers around the circus looking ominous...
Interesting drama, full of lots of red herrings along the way.

the man who turned to stone (1957)


"Don't be a fool, that won't help."
Dr. Murdock (Victor Jory) and his followers are immortal, but have to siphon off the life forces of young female prisoners in order to stay so. When a secretary in the prison, Carol Adams (Charlotte Austin), becomes curious about prisoner deaths, and starts to compile a report on them she finds out more than she bargained for.
B movie fodder that passes the time, but no more.

the strange world of coffin joe (1968)


aka O Estranho Mundo de Zé do Caixão.
"What is nothing?"
A film made up of three episodes, the Dollmaker, Perversion, and Ideology. The first follows the burglary on a dollmakers house, where we find out how he achieves the lifelike eyes in his toys. Perversion is the tale of a young man's obsession with a beautiful and unobtainable woman, and how far his obsession will take him. Finally we have a tale about Professor Odez who invites a TV journalist home to prove the existance of love.
Marins grim, grusome and gory take on the horror anthology, where he throws in everything from rape, to cannibalism, and necrophilia, via a smattering of S & M.

tonight lets all make love in london (1967)


"Once you've ceased to be a pupil, then you have ceased."
A visual exploration of swinging London via the general public, as well as movers and shakers in the film and music scene. So up pops Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Michael Caine and Julie Christie amongst others to expound on free love, radical politics and being young and care free.
Captures the vacariousness of youth and the London scene at that time, in an uneven and disjointed piece, which in itself shows how fractured life seemed to be at the time, as people expoused peace and revolution in the same breath.

sabateur (1942)


"Here come the wolves."
An aircraft engineer (Robert Cummings) is wrongly accused of being a sabateur after a factory fire kills his best friend. To prove his innocence he goes on the run in order to find the real culprits. This being Hitchcock the innocent man gets a female companion, in the form of Priscilla Lane to tag along and convince of his innocence.
Hitchcock produces an entertaining thriller chock full of symbolism as we find out what America was fighting for via some down home wisdom.

12.12.11

humanoid (1979)


"So you have come to battle me at last, princely hero."
The evil Graal (Ivan Rassimov), with Lady Agatha (Barbara Bach), tries to usurp power from his brother to rule the planet Metropolis with the help of the mad scientist Dr Kraspin (Arthur Kennedy), who has developed a treatment that turns people into the perfect soldier. A chemical he has tested on Golob (Richard Kiel). Can Golob help Barbara (Corinne Clery) and Nick (Leonard Mann) to stop this evil cabal.
A prime example of the exploitation film. Taking elements of recently successful movies, stitching them together as cheaply as possible, and creating something that should fool enough people to part with their money. A cheap, cheerful, bad, but watchable film.