night mail (1936)

"letters for the rich, letters for the poor..."
Directors Watt and Wright, produce a visual poem, to complement the audio written by WH Auden, highlighting the work of the mail train from London to Scotland. A tour de force in the documentary realm.

the pizza miracle (2010)

aka the madonna of the eels. La Madonna delle Anguille.
"You don't care do you."
A young man has a vision and looses his ability to fish for eels, and thus his livelihood. Cut to Daniel (Matt Berry) debating with his dead father about the story, and his dedication to pizza making.
Funny and Poignant treatise on relationships.

day of the fight (1951)

"Before a fight there's always that last look in the mirror. Time to wonder what it will reflect tomorrow."
Documentary that follows middleweight boxer Walter Cartier, on the day of his bout with middleweight Bobby James.
Based on Kubrick's 'prizefighter' pictorial for Look Magazine, this has the look of a photographer's eye.

the flying padre (1951)

"There's no brass band here, no cheering crowds, no newspaper men clamoring for a headline - just an ambulance driver, an anxious mother, a sick baby and their priest."
Documentary charting two days in the life of a New Mexican parish priest. Nothing interesting here, apart from it being an early insight into the work of Stanley Kubrick, who would go onto bigger and better things.

black hooker (1974)

aka Street Sisters. Black Mama, Don't Leave Go My Hand.
"it's not my responsibility."
A young boy (Teddy Quinn) grows up estranged from his hooker mother, unloved. As an adult (Durey Mason) he finds nothing but disappointment,compounded when he meets his mother (Sandra Alexandra) appealing for help.
Strange entry into the Blacksploitation canon, being more of a rural melodrama, marketed as blackspoitation. Whatever it is, it's overwrought and stilted.

psycho beach party (2000)

"Don't give me no sass, it was a gass."
Florence Forrest (Lauren Ambrose) becomes 'Chicklet' when she begins hanging around on the beach with the surfers, but at times she becomes Ann, her sexually aggressive alter ego. To complicate things a series of murders are occurring, could it be that Ann could be involved?
Spoof of 60's Beach Party/Gidget surfing movies, with a dash of horror. Likeable film, that satirizes these films without malice.

son of paleface (1952)

"This sounds like an intellectual joint."
Junior Potter (Bob Hope), is the titular son, who arrives in Sawbuck Pass to claim his inheritance. Unfortunately there isn't any, and the whole town is owed money by his father and expects to be paid. He then finds more trouble in the shape of Mike (Jane Russell), the head of a gang of outlaws, but help is on hand though with Marshal Roy Barton (Roy Rogers).
A fine follow up to The Paleface.

amazonia: the catherine miles story (1985)

aka Cannibal Holocaust 2: The Catherine Miles Story. Forest Slave. White Slave. Schiave bianche: violenza in Amazzonia.
"whatever you enjoy it." A young woman (Elvire Audray) relives her story in court, of how she endured the sight of her parents being slaughtered, and being captured by headhunters and taken into the Amazonian forest.
Standard cannibal exploitation fare, naked women, gore and lots of animals cruelty.

cherry falls (2000)

"I need to ask you a personnel question."
A killer is offing the pupils of a high school, seemingly based on their being virgins. This knowledge is announced to the parents by the sheriff (Michael Biehn) , and when this gets out to the students, they decide to organise a sex party to eliminate themselves from the killers focus. At the same time the sheriff's daughter Jody (Brittany Murphy) decides to investigate, and stumbles on a 27 year old secret...
A post modern twist on the stalk and slash, that cuts to the chase pretty damn quick, and is still essentially an enjoyable horror, but what lifts it above others of the genre is not its supposed satirical take, but the presence of Britney Murphy.

the paleface (1948)

"Keep traveling."
Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) goes undercover to find who has been selling rifles to the Indians, along the way she hitches up with innocent dupe Peter Potter (Bob Hope) as part of her cover.
Russell provides the gun slinging action, whilst Hope provides the fish out of water comedy. And both prove to be fine at it.

mr. moto's last warning (1939)

"Moto, I'm beginning to believe all the stories I've heard about you."
Some international agents are planning to blow up a French ship off Egypt, in order to blame the British and precipitate a world war.
A fine end and unexpected to the series, as a Japanese hero was unwanted once WWII got underway.

battle creek brawl (1980)

aka the big brawl.
"
Jerry (Jackie Chan), a young Asian American is forced to participate in a brutal street-fight competition.
Jackie's first attempt to break America unfortunately lacked his usual stunt team, and comedy, turning this into a run of the mill actioner, following which Jackie wandered back to Hong Kong.

the house of fear (1945)

aka Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear.
"Stick with us, we'll make you a detective yet!"
Holmes & Watson (Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce) investigate a case where a number of deaths are preceded by the victims receiving an envelope of orange pips.
One of the strongest of the universal Holmes films, providing a fine mystery at a rattling pace.

mary millington's striptease extravagansa (1981)

"They've sunk a lot of money into this place, we're all going digging for it later."
David Sullivan again exploits his connection to Mary Millington by tacking her name onto this film of a striptease competition, which is compared by comedian Bernie Winters.
Inept in every way, this demeans the word sexploitation.

hobson's choice (1954)

"Good head for business your daughter..."
Henry Hobson (Charles Laughton), a widower, runs a successful bootmaker's shop, and three disgruntled daughters, as he is determined none will marry, and leave him to fend for himself. But Hobson comes up against an immoveable object, in daughter Maggie (Brenda de Banzie). For Maggie has found Will Mossop (John Mills), the best leather worker in Salford, and has a plan to make her father allow her marriage.
A class production all round, from the script, through direction and especially the acting. All combine to make it a delight to watch the story unfold.

response (1974)

Introduced with a caption that notes that what we are about to see is an 8mm short film of Mary Millington that was sold in sex shops and mail order. What we get is a woman fantasizing about Mary whilst making out with a man.
Standard British 70's soft-core, bought for the promise of something the film would never deliver.

face to face (1967)

aka Faccia a faccia.
"I want to ride with you."
History teacher Brad Fletcher (Gian Maria Volonté), moves west for the sake of his health and meets outlaw Solomon 'Beauregard' Bennet (Tomas Milian). Fascinated by Bennet's way of life Fletcher quickly becomes involved, bringing his book smarts to the gangs activities. Unfortunately one of the gang is actually a Pinkerton man (William Berger), determined to disrupt their best laid plans.
Entertaining western that concentrates on the moral conflicts of the two major characters, (whilst still throwing in lots of action), where one becomes more civilized, the other falling prey to his more bestial instincts.

the white room (1989)

"This is what the KLF are all about..."
King Boy D and Rockman Rock decide to journey to the dusty Spanish plains in search of the white room.
The KLF, awash with money and time on their hands, decide to spend it making a road movie, for no other reason than that they could. If you enjoy their mix of ambient and house, then this is a diverting wallpaper to the music, otherwise there is little to hold your attention. Unreleased and unfinished, this is another milestone in the mythologizing of the Justified and Ancients.

playbirds (1978)

aka David Sullivan's The Playbirds. The Playbird Murders.
"Pornography is the heroin of the soul and people must be protected from it."
David Sullivan manages to rope in a number of familiar faces, (including Dudley Sutton), into this crime drama; a starring vehicle for Mary Millington. She gets to show off her bad acting, and a lot more, as she plays a police officer who goes undercover in the world of porn, to find a killer.
As usual Sullivan manages to produce an unsexy, and stilted drama, that could only make money in the sexually repressed British cinema of the 70's.