the awakening (1980)

aka The Wakening.
"I've forgotten how lovely she was."
Archeologist Matthew Corbeck (Charlton Heston) discovers the long lost tomb of an Egyptian queen. Eighteen years later he returns to Cairo and discovers his daughter (Stephanie Zimbalist) may be possessed by the spirit of that monarch. Can he bring himself to kill his daughter to save mankind from her wraith?
A well made film, dragged down by its slow and methodical pacing, and unfortunately the shockingly violent deaths that occure do not enliven it enough. Loosely based on the Bram Stoker novel 'The Jewel of Seven Stars'.

bloodbath at the house of death (1984)

"Somebody is trying to scare us."
A number of scientists and paranormal investigators including Dr Mandeville (Kenny Everett) and Dr Coyle (Pamela Stephenson) arrive at Headstone Manor, on the anniversary of a mass murder there. They have been brought together to investigate some unexplained radioactivity in the area, and soon get caught up with a satanic cult lead by the Sinister Man (Vincent Price).
A spoof that takes in aliens, satanic practices and ghosts along its muddy and unfunny path, unless you favour infrequent, over the top and rather obvious jokes that is.

are you being served? (1977)

"Is that your age or your bust measurement?"
The staff of Grace Brothers department store go on a holiday to the Costa Plonka and end up in the middle of a revolution.
The British sit-com spin-off, which proves the age old adage, that what you can put up with for half an hour on television, makes for a lousy ninety minutes sat in the cinema! The stock xenophobia, letchery and gay jokes abound, making you realise just how unfunny Britain in the 70's could be.

man about the house (1974)

"Look you can't just buy people off."
A property developer is buying up all the houses in the street in order to demolish them and put up an office block. Mildred Roper (Yootha Joyce) and the flat mates, Robin (Richard O'Sullivan), Chrissy (Paula Wilcox) and Jo (Sally Thomsett) are set against it, but George Roper (Brian Murphy) can only think of the money...
Lacking the fluidity and charisma of the TV series, this is none the less a passable comedy, from an obviously less pc age, and features cameo's from some Thames TV stars of the time including Spike Milligan.

warlords of atlantis (1978)

AKA Warlords of the Deep.
"A city. A city in the middle of the Atlantic ocean?"
A team of scientists on the hunt for Atlantis are attacked by a giant octopus, which drags the team to the bottom of the sea. There they find an alien race running a civilisation based on slavery. The group are put to work, but they soon plot to escape and return to the surface.
A rip roaring adventure featuring the ever reliable Doug McClure. Boys own stuff, that will never earn any awards, (what with the wooden acting and the cheap effects), but it entertains in a good honest way - what more can you ask for.

scars of dracula (1970)

Dracula is back from the undead again. Simon Carlson stumbles upon the village living in fear whilst looking for his brother, who has disappeared. The locals throw him out of the tavern so Simon heads to the castle to see if they know where his brother may have got to.
In this the sixth Hammer Dracula we have the vampire moving closer to the original creature that Bram Stoker dreamed up, with much more to do than snarl, (as was most often the case in previous incarnations). Dracula is also more obviously sadistic and violent than is usually the case, stabbing to death a female vampire and branding his servant with notable glee. While this version of Dracula is a revelation, the film is let down by it's obvious cheapness. Though don't let that put you off, sure the bats are obviously rubbish, but the film is rather better than that. Not the best Dracula, but not the worst either. A good solid Gothic horror.

the horror of frankenstein (1970)

Ralph Bates is Victor Frankenstein, a descendant of the infamous, Baron Von Frankenstein, who follows in the Barons footsteps creating his own monster.
Instead of straight up Gothic horror, hammer decided to re-work the genre creating a more comic drama, with tongue firmly in it's cheek. Some don't take to the comedy elements, but I rather like this twist to the tale, and some of the characters such as Dennis Price's graverobber, add an extra dimension to the film.