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aka Terrore Nello Spazio. Demon Planet. Planet of Blood. Space Mutants. Terror in Space. The Haunted Planet. The Haunted World. The Outlawed Planet. The Planet of Terror. The Planet of the Damned.
Two spaceships, the Argos and the Galliot are investigating a new planet and decide to land and explore. When the Galliot lands it looses contact with the Argos, which then crashes to the planets surface. When the crew wake they start attacking each other, before coming to their senses. They then find the Galliot, with its crew dead, but before they can bury them all, some of the corpses go missing. They slowly realise that they are not alone and there is the possibility that a race of bodiless aliens are taking over their bodies!
AIP co-produced this film giving them some control over decisions and installed an international cast of actors including American Barry Sullivan and Brazilian Norma Bengell, as the two leads. Bava in turn provided AIP with a wonderfully realised sci-fi, featuring beautiful fog shrouded landscapes, and crews in futuristic leather space suits, belying the low budget nature of the film.
Vic Ajax (Reed Birney) is a nerdish character on his way to the electric chair recounts the events that led him there. It involves a pair of hitmen (Brion James & Paul L Smith) who kill the owner of a security company that Vic works for. Meanwhile Ajax is trying to impress Nancy (Sheree J Wilson) a woman who lives in the building he is a security guard for, but she only has eyes for Ronaldo (Bruce Campbell), an absolute heel. Soon their lives will intertwine when the hitmen notice someone in Vic's building has spotted their actions. A cartoonish and slapstick comedy horror co-written with the Coen Brothers. This merges the comedy of the Coens with the slapstick and horror of Raimi. The over the top gurning and slapstick does wear thin after a while, but this is still an enjoyable film, if watched in the right way.
Cats are being used in experiments to reverse the aging process and Illya (David McCallum) is sent to London to find out who is using the cats. Meanwhile Dr Lancer, a famous scientist, has gone missing and Napoleon (Robert Vaughan) goes to Paris to talk to his daughter. When Dr Lancer reappears looking like his younger self the UNCLE agents realise that their seperate investigations are actually the same and they combine and uncover a plot by women in the fashion industry to develop an anti-aging machine. But THRUSH also have designs on the machine.
The forth enstallment in the Man from UNCLE films, made up of both parts of the TV episodes The Bridge Of Lions Affair makes much more play spoofing the spy genre than in previous films. This is a light hearted spy romp that will entertain, but don't think to deeply.
Betsy (Frances Dee) takes up a job nursing the wife of sugar plantation owner Paul Holland (Tom Conway). Betsy is told that Mrs Holland is a victim of incurable tropical fever which has mentally impaired her, where she can obey simple commands, but is otherwise in a coma type state. Betsy quickly comes to learn that there is trouble in the family, with the brother blaming Paul for the wife's condition. Further trouble comes when Betsy starts falling for Paul and decides the only way to cure Mrs Holland is to use voodoo and takes her to a hounfour, but this only stirs up the locals. A re-working of Jane Eyre under a wonderful exploitation title. The film builds an oppressive atmosphere, you can almost feel the heat of the plantation nights. We watch as the two brothers gradually open up and the mystery of Mrs Holland's illness is revealed to Betsy. A wonderful example of a suggestive horror thriller.
aka Dip bin. Die Bian.
In the 'martial world' a writer attempts to solve a murder mystery. Firstly a printer is killed after agreeing to publish some pages of a diary. Then a clan leader is asked to help the owner of Shum castle, where he says they have been invaded by killer butterflies. The writer and various fighters reach the castle only to find it deserted. So they set out to try and decipher the clues and find out what is happening and who or what is behind all the killing.
Tsui Hark's debut enjoys a big reputation, possibly due to it's unavailability. Upon watching you soon realise that this is a reputation much deserved. The increasingly dark atmosphere draws you into this whodunnit, which is enlivened by some great set piece fight scenes. Rather convoluted at times, this is a film that rewards repeat viewing.
Jason (Keith Michell), returns to his ancestral home to reclaim his birthright, years after being taken away by his mother. But he finds his cousin Thomas (Peter Arne), has taken Jason's lands in his absence, and he isn't going to give up the title without a fight. A sideline that Thomas is the Hellfire Club and he calls on it's members to help prevent Jason taking what is rightfully his.
A run of the mill swashbuckling action adventure is enlivened by a wonderful cameo by Peter Cushing as a lawyer working Jason's case and plenty of sword fights and ladies throwing themselves at Jason gagging for some romance.
An American businessman puts together a team to try and build a rocket to get to the moon, in order to beat the an unnamed foreign power, (clearly the Russians), to it. We follow the preparations and eventual journey. Taking off despite a court order prohibiting them from doing so! Once there the astronauts have to risk the return without knowing if they have enough fuel to get back.
An early example of a colour sci-fi and the only one that features an explanation of rockets and space flight, by Woody Woodpecker! This is a sci-fi that is as factually correct as it could be for the 50's, with very little in the way of fantasy. Though I must admit I lost interest in the plight of the astronauts as there was rather too much technical information and rather too little acting going on.
aka Anger of the Golem. Curse of the Golem.
After a fire at a warehouse, a museum worker Pimm (Roddy McDowall) and his boss find only one item undamaged, a bizarre looking statue. Whilst distracted Pimm's boss dies, and when found the statue is in a slightly different position. Pimm delves into the history of the statue and finds it is the legendary Golem, created by Rabbi Loew in 16th century, is indestructible and prone to killing people.
A modern update of the Golem myth, with McDowall giving a nicely warped performance as a museum curator, who quickly goes power crazy in his pursuit of a young woman (Jill Haworth). Otherwise this is a slow paced horror, building an air of suspense, but taking too long to do so for many used to modern frenetically edited horrors.
Irena Dubrovna (Simone Simon), is a Serbian fashion artist living in New York. She meets and marries Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). But from the off their marriage suffers as she believes she is a victim of an ancient curse that will cause her to turn into a big cat if she has any great emotions like love or jealousy. The couple try to work it out and she even goes to a psychiatrist, but Irena becomes jealous when Oliver is drawn to a female work colleague Alice (Jane Randolph) and confides in her. Alice then starts to notice she is being followed, and finds her clothes shreded, as if by a cat!
A fine example of an intelligent, psycholgical and suspenceful horror, where less is more, and shadows provide our only glimpses of the creature.
Marlo Manners (Mae West), a legendary Hollywood actress, is in London on her honeymoon, having married Sir Michael Barrington (Timothy Dalton), husband number 6. The farce develops as Marlo has to keep ducking out to meet with various ex husbands, and whilest she's at it, solve world peace! All the while also trying to track down a tape of her memoirs that could cause a scandal if heard.
A truly bizarre film, with an 84 year old Mae West still trying to play the sex symbol, which is at once creepy and also compulsive viewing, like a car crash! Whilst mayhem and chaos revolves around her, she seems to be acting in treacle! Every line and move is at half speed. Various actors and musicians pop up in cameo's such as Ringo Starr, George Hamilton, Keith Moon, Tony Curtis, George Raft and Alice Cooper. Watch it as the full on camp delight that it is. Full of unintential laughs. Otherwise you'd sadly be watching a truly awful film on every level, and you wouldn't want to do that would you?
An indispencible concierge (Frankie Howerd), at a large London hotel, inherits some money and upon being told he cannot resign, due to signing a 10 year contract, decides to get himself sacked. He satisfies his life long ambition to live on the French riviera, but finds its not all its cracked up to be and longs to return to London and the hotel. Upon his return he finds the hotel has gone out of business and the only way to get his old job back it to persuade some northern businessmen to invest in the hotel.
A run of the mill comedy, that has its moments. It features a low key performance by Frankie Howerd, (with none of his usual characteristics), surrounded by the great and the good of British comedy, from Alfie Bass to Denis Price and features some acting and a couple of songs by Ruby Murray.
Two struggling song writers (George Cole and Terence Morgan) meet a struggling French singer (Mylene Nicole). They try and flog songs to and she auditions for Ted Heath, they sell nothing, but she gets a job after singing one of their songs. Meanwhile Cole, having been constantly told that his songs need a gimmick, comes up with the idea of playing songs backwards and passing them off as new pieces by an avant garde jazz musician. Morgan reluctantly goes along with the scam and the 'composition' become hugely popular, in an emperors new clothes way. Whilst this is happening Nicole is also making a name for herself as a big band singer. Can they keep up the scam and will Nicole catch on?
Not the greatest film of it's type, but still a bright and breezy British musical in glorious technicolour, that documents a pre rock n roll Britain, obsessed by big bands and crooners.
Johnny Mansell (George Baker) a gambler, turns up at his brother Dave's (Terence Morgan), in order to lay low to avoid some bad lads in London. First he meets his brother's girlfriend Calico (Diana Dors) and finds out his brother is in trouble himself, having dipped into the factory wages to keep his girlfriend in the manner she has become accustomed to. Dave has eight days to replace the money, Calico suggests they steal the wages instead. Johnny is against the idea, prefering to gamble to get the funds. But which way is Dave going to go, and now johnny is here, which brother is Calico going to go for? This is a good atmospheric crime thriller, set "up north" and with suitably blunt northern vowels! George Baker is the cool and calm big brother, with charm to spare. Whilst his brother is all nerves and prone to cracking up at the slightest thing. Then there's Diana Dors, all smoldering sex kitten vamp, very much a diamond in the rough, sparkling in the grim northern industrialness.
aka Terrore Nello Spazio. Demon Planet. Planet of Blood. Space Mutants. Terror in Space. The Haunted Planet. The Haunted World. The Outlawed Planet. The Planet of Terror. The Planet of the Damned.
