the sweeney (2012)

aka The Crime.
"Is your problem with me or the job?"
Old style copper Jack Regan (Ray Winstone) runs a team in the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad, that is until his heavy handed approach ends up with him falling foul of internal affairs. So it falls to his second in command George Carter (Ben Drew), and commander Frank Haskins (Damian Lewis) to get him out of prison, and back on the street to nab the villains.
Revival of the popular TV series, noted for its gritty realism, which continues with this, though played with a heavier hand. This is a pity, because in many ways this is a great little film, that looses credibility due to overplaying the hard man routine, and some serious plot holes.

sailor beware (1956)

aka Panic In The Parlor.
"You've got to do as I tell you."
Battle-axe Emma Hornett (Peggy Mount) dominates her family including daughter Shirley (Shirley Eaton), who is about to marry young sailor Albert (Ronald Lewis). Albert and his best man Carnoustie (Gordon Jackson) stay with the Hornetts following the stag night, and is put off the idea of married life as a consequence. Can the family bring Albert round to the idea of?
Hugely popular at the time, this typical mother-in-law comedy has paled with time. British, Comedy, Gordon Parry,

the smashing bird i used to know (1969)

aka Hell House Girls. House of Unclaimed Women. School for Unclaimed Girls.
"That girl has nothing in this world but guilt."
Traumatised by witnessing her father's death, Nicki (Madeleine Hinde) is further disturbed when her mother's wide-boy boyfriend (Patrick Mower) tries to rape her. Stabbing him puts him off, but lands her in reform school for her trouble. There she comes under the influence of the usual bullies and lesbians, (including Maureen Lipman and Lesley-Anne Down), and eventually runs away and turns to Peter (Dennis Waterman) for help.
The title suggests a swinging sixties mod number, what we get is an exploitation flick about a troubled teenager and her turmoil.

i went down (1997)

"This is what I need you to do to make it right."
Ex-con Git (Peter McDonald) saves a friend from a punishment beating by some local mobsters. Unfortunately this gets him in trouble with mobster Tom French (Tony Doyle). To repay the debt Git is sent to Cork with Bunny Kelly (Brendan Gleeson), to locate Frank Grogan (Peter Caffrey), and deliver him to Tom's acquaintances. But Git knows he's in too deep, but how is he going to deal with it?
Well made thriller, that works due to the central performances of Gleeson and McDonald.

i've got a horse (1966)

aka Wonderful Day.
"He's not got a name, just a number, just like a convict."
Billy Fury whilst appearing in a summer season show manages to buy a horse. But now he's got it, what's he going to do with it?
Larry Parnes, having made Tommy Steele into a mainstream household name, tries the same with 50's rocker Billy Fury. Thus we have the animal loving Fury petting children and singing soft shoe love songs, and predictably we end up with a pleasant, though no more than that, film that had already been outpaced by the Beatles films.

the case of the scorpion's tail (1971)

aka La coda dello scorpione. Tail of the Scorpion.
"My skills don't regard the dead, they regard the living."
When a plane explodes with Lisa Baumer's husband on board, the insurance company dealing with his substantial life insurance bring in Peter Lynch (Geroge Hilton) to investigate. Did Mrs. Baumer (Ida Galli) plant the bomb with an accomplice, and if so who?
A complex, convoluted and gripping plot, aided by a great score and the appearance of Anita Strindberg as an investigative reporter.

blackie the pirate (1971)

aka Il corsaro nero.
"It's a secret!"
When it is revealed that there is a shipment of gold coming his direction, Blackie the pirate (Terence Hill) sets out to make it his, with the help of Don Pedro (George Martin). But news of the treasure comes to the attention of other pirates, who are just as determined to purloin it. But luck is on Blackie's side when he buys a prisoner from a raid that turns out to be the wife of the local Viceroy (Silvia Monti)?
Rip roaring high seas adventure made for a fraction of the cost of Johnny Depp's make up bill on Pirates of the Caribbean.

heights of danger (1953)

"Gosh I'm late."
John Burton (Basil Appleby) runs a small garage in an English village. Unfortunately it's not making money and one of his children comes up with the idea of winning a mountain rally on the continent for the prize money. But standing in their way is Croudson (Jack Melford), the owner of a chain of garages, who is determined to buy Burton's garage, and will stop at nothing to prevent Burton from winning.
Made by the British Pathe Documentary Unit as a showcase for the MG TD sports car, this is a 'jolly hockey sticks' type drama, focusing on the children and the adventures they have. They certainly don't make them like this any more.

the twonky (1953)

"A twonky is something that you do not know what it is."
Carolyn West (Janet Warren) has to visit her sister, and gets a new TV set installed to keep her husband, college professor Kerry (Hans Conried), company whilst she is away. He immediately notices that the set is alive (well he is a college professor)! Especially when is proves intent on regulating his daily life.
A cautionary tale about how television can (and was) taking over people's lives, in the form of an interesting and quirky comedy.

ip man 2 (2010)

aka Yip Man 2.
"Injuries are inevitable in friendly fights."
The continuing story of Ip man (Donnie Yen), sees him move to Hong Kong and his attempts to establish a Wing Chun martial arts school, despite opposition from the existing schools led by Hong Zhen Nan (Sammo Hung).
Whilst not as gripping as the first episode, this is still a classic in the making, although a flawed one, spinning a fair amount of fiction into the biopic.

the pit and the pendulum (1991)

"Stand witness to the work of the holy inquisition."
Spanish inquisitor Torquemada (Lance Hendrickson), takes a fancy to Maria (Rona De Ricci), and being a sadist decides to treat her to some of his most fiendish tortures.
Well made, perhaps too well made, version of the Poe tale, as my only problem was the cleanness of everything, it needed to look darker, more menacing and dirtier.

the grip of the strangler (1958)

aka The Haunted Strangler. Strangle Hold.
"I want his whole history investigated."
A writer, James Rankin (Boris Karloff), re-opens the case of 'the Haymarket Strangler'. Was the man hanged as the strangler really an innocent victim of injustice? Rankin believes that a Dr. Tennent, a surgeon who had since disappeared, was much more likely to be the murderer, and sets out to prove it.
Interesting twisting of the Jekyll and Hyde story. British, Horror, Robert Day,