kingdom Of the spiders (1977)

"the spiders in this area...have organised themselves into an aggressive army."
Walter Colby (Woody Strode) is an Arizona farmer, whose prize cow dies mysteriously. 'Rack' Hansen (William Shatner) the local vet investigates, and when world renowned arachnologist Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling) turns up, he finds that they have an infestation of deadly spiders to deal with.
Entertainment of a lower caliber, not bad per-say, just not good.

svengali (1931)

"I worship you Svengali, I'l even die for you."
Svengali (John Barrymore) is a musical teacher, and conman, who beguiles his pupils, but when he hypnotizes Trilby (Marian Marsh) into becoming a singing sensation, he incurs the wrath of Billee (Bramwell Fletcher), who loves her.
Masterful portrayal by Barrymore, with the script demanding he move from comical rogue, to evil and callous mastermind. He is perfectly matched by Marsh, who is beautiful and beguiling enough that you believe she could entrance Svengali.

yesterday's enemy (1959)

"This is total war Captain. No quarter asked. No quarter given."
Hammer's attempt at a gritty war drama see's Captain Langford (Stanley Baker) commanding a rag-tag platoon retreating through the Burmese jungle, surrounded on all sides by the Japanese. When they come across what could be some vital information, Langford does whatever he can to extract it, including killing innocent villagers. A decision that has long term ramifications.
Not your standard war film; this is no clean cut us v them, good v evil. Here the British act in similar ways to the Japanese. This is war, and war is anything but nice.

the saint in new york (1939)

"I have an Englishman's aversion to arrest."
The first film adaptation of one of the Leslie Charteris 'Saint' novels, sees Simon Templar (Louis Hayward) take on the crime bosses of New York in his own inimitable style.
Hayward plays the Saint as a cool customer, wise cracking as he kills off the underworld kingpins. Could this be the first Hollywood anti-hero, capable of as dark deeds as those he pursues.

the saint meets the tiger (1943)

"He showed me the door, it's an ordinary kind of door."
Boys own style adventure, Simon Templer (Hugh Sinclair) hunts for a criminal mastermind known only as the Tiger, and a missing million in gold. Along to help are his butler (Wylie Watson) and local hottie Pat (Jean Gillie).
Sinclair plays the Saint as an English gent with a glint of mischief in his eye, in this humourous boys own adventure.

the head (1959)

aka Die Nackte und der Satan. A Head for the Devil. The Screaming Head.
"The price of my genius was madness."
Dr Abel (Michel Simon) is developing organ transfer techniques, and even manages to keep a dog's head alive detached from its body. Dr Ood (Horst Frank) joins Abel's team and spots an opening when Abel has a heart attack. Next thing Abel is headless, unable to do anything but beg for death, and watch as Ood experiments on prettier subjects than a grizzled old Dr.
The standard head in a box routine, enlivened by an ominous atmosphere.

vengeance of the zombies (1973)

aka La rebelión de las muertas.
"We've got to get out of this rotten hole, and we need money."
Elvire Irving (Romy) is in need of spiritual help, as she is troubled by dreams of being attacked by zombies and Satanists. Indian mystic Krisna (Paul Naschy) offers comfort and relaxation at his new country retreat in her ancestral village. Unfortunately its a village with a past, a past that encompasses Witchcraft and zombies!
Funky music with a profound disinclination to relate to what's going on on the screen adds a bizarre twist to this mixed up voodoo flick.

the mummy's hand (1940)

"They fear the wrath of the gods."
Steve Banning (Dick Foran) is an archeologist who stumbles on a tomb, and in excavating it unleashes the mummy (Tom Tyler) upon his team.
Unrelated to the original Mummy series, this tries to reinvigorate the genre, with mixed results.

the mummy's tomb (1942)

"It's just another one of those theme murders."
By now standard story: (quickly recapping events from The Mummy's Hand) sees archeologist Steve Banning (Dick Foran) discovering an Egyptian tomb, and reaping the consequences when the mummy (Lon Chaney Jr.) objects to having his sleep disturbed. Now thirty years on Banning is again confronted by the Mummy he believed destroyed.
Cheap follow-up to The Mummy's Hand, and uses 10 minutes of that plot to pad out the time in this lesser entry to the mummy genre.

the wrecking crew (1969)

"Lay down Mr. Helm, I want to talk to you."
Dean Martin plays Matt Helm, an American photographer, spy and playboy, singing ditties as he works his way through the female cast, which includes Elke Sommer, (a deliciously evil role), and the under-used Sharon Tate, (as an clumsy spy), in this stylish, but ineptly made Bond spoof.

the saint strikes back (1939)

"Under certain conditions I cannot resist being a cad."
When a would be assassin is killed, the Saint (George Sanders) cannot help but get involved. But no one seems to know which side of the law Simon Templar is actually on.
Sanders plays the freelance detective as aloof and quick witted, in this entertaining serial.

the saint takes over (1940)

"They say you can do a lot with a dentist drill these days."
Inspector Fernack (Jonathan Hale) has been framed by a gang of race fixers, but luckily for the detective, the Saint (George Sanders) comes to his aid.
The fifth in the series lacks some of the wit of previous installments, but still has enough to make it an entertaining hour.

the saint's double trouble (1940)

"Long live the saint."
A diamond smuggler leads to some trouble for the saint (George Sanders), as he is the spitting image of Simon Templer, and more than ready to stir up trouble for the Saint.
The fourth installment features Bela Lugosi as "The Partner", but uses him sparingly, making for a lackluster entry in the series.

cypher (2002)

"Are you ready to be a spy Morgan?"
Morgan (Jeremy Northam) is approached by Digicorp to become an industrial spy, but is soon drawn into a web of intrigue by Rita (Lucy Liu), who pulls him out of the brainwashing. This in turn sets into play further intrigues, as Morgan becomes a double agent or is it triple agent?
Initially intriguing film, but quickly becomes a confusing one, as it gets mired along the way and fails to explain what the hell is going on and why?

bug (1975)

"I wonder if they can breed?"
An earthquake unleashes a bug that feeds on carbon, and can start fires in order to create it. Biology Professor James Parmiter (Bradford Dillman) discovers their destructive power and intrigued he starts to investigate the creatures; soon becoming obsessed with them.
Movie that initially follows the standard creature feature path, but flips into Phase IV territory and looses the plot towards the end.