the spider woman (1944)

"She won't hurt ya!"
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) comes face to face with a devilish foe, the spider woman (Gale Sondergaard), and it's a close run thing as to who will come out alive from the encounter.
A fine turn by Sondergaard, gives this thriller the lift it needs.

calculated risk (1963)

"We've covered it all. Nothing can go wrong."
Kip (John Rutland) leaves prison and already has a job in mind. All he needs is a few hundred quid to fund it. Enter Steve (William Lucas), who rapidly takes over, and plans it meticulously...
Engaging small time drama, but one that lacks any really tension.

mimic (1997)

"Mr funny shoes."
Dr Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) develops a genetically modified bug to kill a virulent strain of roach carrying a deadly disease. Unfortunately the Judas bug, as it is called, manages to develop in ways unforeseen by its creator.
Fine suspense filled horror, that makes good uses of dark places.

halloween 5: revenge of michael (1989)

"You sense something don't you?"
All the main characters from ep 4 are back. Now Jamie (Danielle Harris) has been rendered mute by her exposure to Michael, but it has also given her a psychic link to his psychotic mind...
The amiable chap with the knife again stalks and slashes, and we watch ever more jaded.

halloween 4: the return of michael myers (1988)

"I don't want anyone to have to live through that night again."
Michael Myers is back, having escaped from the asylum...again! This time he turns his attention to Jamie (Danielle Harris) & Rachel (Ellie Cornell), and again only Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) stands in his way.
By this point we know what to expect, and this delivers a no frills version of the stalk and slash.

alien autopsy (2006)

"I can't deal with another one of your fantastic lies."
Ray Santilli (Declan Donnelly) is a wheeler dealer, who is offered the deal of a lifetime, when he stumbles on film of an alien autopsy in Roswell. Unfortunately he needs £30,000 to buy it, and strikes a deal with a local gangster, who fronts him the money. Even more unfortunately once he buys the film he finds out that it is deteriorating and unwatchable. In the hole for £30,000 to a violent gangster, with nothing to show for it. His only way out is to recreate the film...but will anyone buy the scam?
Amiable comedy vehicle for the Geordie duo, that never truly captures the imagination.

the sandwich man (1966)

aka That Swinging City.
"It'll cost you a bob!"
Episodic comedy, which follows Horace Quilby (Michael Bentine), whose job is walk the streets with a sandwich-board. Whilst on the job, he meets up with many strange characters inhabitng the streets of London.
The great and the good of British comedy all turn out, (from Diana Dors to Terry-Thomas), to do a turn, in this sentimental and often quite unfunny comedy. What it does capture is the look of London just as it started to swing. More of a historical document than anything else.

she's a punk rocker uk (2012)

"It seemed to be very provocative and threatening."
A documentary produced by a member of Rubella Ballet, which tries to address the vital position of women within the punk movement. With no money, Zillah has managed to pull together an informative documentary, featuring the reminiscences of some major players at the time, from Poly Styrene, Vi Subversa, Gaye Black, Julie Burchill and Caroline Comb amongst many others.