7.10.13

steaming (1985)

"It's wonderful coming here."
Violet (Diana Dors) presides over a municipal steam baths, and the variety of people and their problems, that come through the door. From the ever in debt Josie (Patti Love), to the high flying executive Sarah (Sarah Miles), and her friend (Vanessa Redgrave), whose husband has just left her. Then Violet's world crumbles, as she is told they are closing the baths.
Often betraying its background as a play, this is none the less a riveting drama, that features a subdued performance from Diana Dors in her last role.

konga (1961)

aka I Was a Teenage Gorilla.
"I have trained cells to perform miracles..."
Returning from a year in Africa, Dr Decker (Michael Gough) brings with him the secret of growing plants and animals to a gigantic size, including a chimp that he has brought back with him. Nothing will get in the way of his scientific endeavors, which added to his obsession with student Sandra Banks (Claire Gordon), brings out his killer streak.
A cheesy horror, with the per-requisite man in gorilla suit, add in pop-star Jess Conrad, and you have a great drive-in b movie.

good-time girl (1948)

"What do you want?"
Lyla (Diana Dors) is a 15 year old, who is picked up by the police whilst running away from home. A social worker tries to persuade her to go back by relating the story of another girl who had recently run away. Gwen (Jean Kent) fleeing an abusive father runs away to London and falls in with some wrong-un's, is fitted up for something she didn't do, and ends up in an approved school. There she learns a lot, unfortunately none of it will do her any good, and she's soon on the run...
Star packed cautionary drama, of a girl with high ambitions and low friends, and her decent into the criminal underworld. A good start to Diana Dors film career, in this entertaining thriller.

strippers vs werewolves (2012)

"Go out there and rub yourself up against some customers."
When lap-dancer Justice (Adele Silva) unknowingly kills a gangland boss, who happens to be a werewolf, she puts all the club's employees in danger, as his gang, or should that be pack, seek retribution.
Simple plot, well made, with copious gore but let down by a poor script, acting and special effects.

the unholy four (1969)

aka Ciakmull - L'uomo della vendetta. Chuck Moll.
"Your name is Chuck Mule, and folks round here are scared to death of you."
When a bank is robbed, the local asylum is burnt down, but not before four of its inmates escape. The four, (including Woody Strode and George Eastman) head to another town, but one, Tommy (Leonard Mann), an amnesiac, seems to be recognised by people, who seem scared of him. Who is he? And why are people so intimidated by his face?
Entertaining western, which mixes humour into this revenge thriller.

the replacement killers (1998)

"Along the way I developed a problem watching you die."
Hitman John Lee (Yun-Fat Chow) hits a snag with his chosen career, his conscience starts to bother him. So much so that he declines to kill a detective (Michael Rooker) when he finds out he has a child. A bit of a problem, when that is your job. His bosses are not pleased, and John attempts to flee, seeking out a forger (Mira Sorvino) to obtain papers for China, but they find themselves caught between the crime boss (Kenneth Tsang), his replacement killers, and the detective (Michael Rooker).
Frenetic thriller, that follows the Hong Kong cinema's style over substance rule of thumb.

the crimes of the black cat (1972)

aka Seven Shawls of Yellow Silk. Sette scialli di seta gialla.
"Do you want me to detail our activities for the evening?"
Blind pianist Peter Oliver (Anthony Steffen) overhears part of a conversation whilst waiting for his girlfriend. He subsequently receives a note saying she was leaving him. So when she is found dead, he is the first to be questioned. Peter then replays the overheard conversation, believing it may give him a clue to the murderer.
A mix of a number of other film plot lines, done in an understated way, allow for a fine build up to the inevitable, but shocking, crescendo.

sexploration (1975)

aka Girl From Starship Venus. The Sexplorer. Diary of a Space Virgin.
"I have an interest for everything."
An exploratory spacecraft lands in the heart of Soho London, and one crew member (Monika Ringwald) is sent out to survey this strange world, and the people in it. Being 70's soho, sex is not far away, and the explorer soon gets involved in a variety of situations as she tries to find out how these human's tick!
A mildly interesting film, due more to its views of seventies London, than anything in the script.