dr jekyll and sister hyde (1971)

Dr Jekyll decides the secret to prolonging life is female hormones with drastic consequences for himself, his 'sister' and the young female population of Whitechapel. An interesting mix of Stephenson's classic novel, the Jack the Ripper and Burke and Hare stories. This definitely gets more interesting when Martine Beswick pops up as Mrs Hyde.

blood from the mummys tomb (1971)

Instead of a crusty old mummy, we have Valerie Leon dressed in nothing much at all. The evil priestess Tera possesses the body of Margaret (Valerie Leon), as she tries to reunite her soul with her body.
This is more of a suspense thriller, rather then a horror, that unfortunately lacks a real sense of suspense. But it still manages to entertain, possibly due to Valerie's lack of clothing!

lady snowblood (1973)

aka Blood Snow. Lady Snowblood: Blizzard from the Netherworld. Snow of Blood.
Film based on the manga of the same name, about a woman born for one thing, revenge. This is the film that Quentin Tarantino based much of Kill Bill around, and even borrowed the theme song to make his homage complete. And who's to blame him as this is a stylish and stylized story.

lust for a vampire (1971)

aka Love For A Vampire. To Love A Vampire.
The second of the Karnstein trilogy after the Vampire Lovers, and where Hammer continued to up the sex to keep people interested in their product. Richard Lestrange (Michael Johnson) is a travelling author who stumbles upon a finishing school for young ladies and falls for the new pupil, Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard). Unfortunately for him and the other pupils Mircalla is really the revived Carmilla Karnstein and she has a love of young women as well as blood.
Campy good fun with sex, blood and vampires, though admittedly not one of Hammer's best.

teenagers from outer space (1959)

aka The Gargon Terror.

A crew of spacemen teens, (looking nearer 30 than 18), arrive on Earth, searching for a planet suitable to raise their herds of Gargons, huge creatures who look suspiciously like lobsters. Trouble really starts for them when one rebels and runs away to hook up with a local teenage girl.
If you like your sci-fi featuring no special effects whatsoever and acting straight from the George Lucas school, then this is for you.

frankenstein (1910)

aka Edison's Frankenstein.
A bit of history now, the first ever horror film. A curio in many ways with the story inevitably being changed to fit the fifteen minute running time. One of those changes concerns the creation of the monster. The creation scene, which takes much of the films duration, owes more to alchemy than science. And instead of the monster exacting revenge on Frankenstein, it seems to be more a reflection of Frankenstein's mind, disappearing with his reflection being replaced by Frankenstein's.

shogun assassin (1980)

Shogun Assassin was edited and compiled from the first two Lone Wolf and Cub films, for an American audience. This version is narrated by the child, Daigoro, and tells of how the Shogun tries to kill the titular Samurai, but only succeeds in killing his wife. Itto seeking revenge becomes a Ronin, a lone wolf, wandering Japan as a hired assassin with his child, chased by the Shogun's men.
This results in almost wall to wall fighting, with over the top blood spraying from every concieveable body part. Some dislike this, prefering the original Lone Wolf films. Me I like them all. Lone Wolf is inevitably more complex and requres more time and effort, but Shogun Assassin is great for a quick fix. Added to this is the throbbing synth theme, that I love, and I'm not the only one: the Wu-Tang Clan obviously enjoyed it as well, as did Quentin Tarantino.

tokyo drifter (1966)

aka Tôkyô nagaremono. The Man From Tokyo.
When a yakuza boss goes straight, so does Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari). But leaving the gangster life is not so easy, and a rival gang make life difficult. Tetsu gives up everything he loves to save his boss, becoming the Tokyo Drifter, but he finds he cannot run away from his problems, and has to return for one last showdown.
Full of wonderful set pieces, all to a wonderfully mournful theme tune. Director Seijun Suzuki as usual forgets plot in his pursuit of his singular visual style, producing a cool free-jazz gangster flick. Tetsuya Watari remains the only man to look cool in a powder blue suit.