A New Decade! A New Year! Movies Watched In 2020

Dinah is a famous model and actress who is getting tired of life in the limelight and wants to take a break. While shooting a commercial spot for meat, she meets Steve, a stuntman. Dinah and Steve hit it off and decide to head to an island to get away from it all with Steve's friends in tow.

This movie is a kind of spiritual successor to the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night with with John Boorman directing this movie in a documentary-like style following The Dave Clark Five on a kind of road trip as they work for an advertising company selling meat. It doesn't sound very exciting and it really isn't, as the singers don't have really anything in the way of screen presence and their dialogue is constantly stilted and more than a little annoying. The saving grace is the presence of real actors in support which includes Ronald Lacey and Clive Swift. The tone of the movie changes from being a bit surreal at the start to more downbeat especially in the 2nd half. Still, this didn't really interest me at all and I found it rather tedious. I'm sure this movie has its fans though.

A group of crooks plan a heist to steal twenty million Australian dollars from a Security Firm counting house.

A flop upon it's release and not that widely known, this is a gritty and violent Aussie crime drama based on two real-life robberies that occurred in Sydney during the summer of 1970. Its hardboiled feel is established very quickly in the opening scenes. The majority of the characters the viewer is introduced to is corrupt and basically there is no 'good guy' in the movie at all. The violence on show is graphic and impactful and one of the most memorable elements of the movie is particularly during the final shootout that occurs inside the garage of the armour car company. The cast which includes Terence Donovan all perform well in their dark roles. I'm not sure why this movie is largely ignored but it's well written, has a great cast and is directed competently by Bruce Beresford who would go on to make the brilliant Breaker Morant. Definitely one to seek out.

A journalist is framed for the murder of a rival and has to prove his innocence, whatever the cost.

A fairly entertaining b-movie quickie. It's based on a novel by Julian Symonds using office politics as it's starting point which then turns into a murder mystery. Paul Carpenter along with Hazel Court has to find the people that could prove he is innocent but every time he comes across their corpse. One good thing about this movie is you don't have a clue who the real killer is until the end and the reason why he killed started killing. For a thriller, there's not that many thrills to be had. The cast are just OK in their roles. It makes for a good 66 min time waster that's all.

Magazine editor Valerie Carr lives in London with her two daughters Jan, aged seventeen, and Poppet, thirteen. When Jan is invited to a party at the Savoy, she meets dashing young Tony Ward Black. Attracted to the daring young man, she rejects Mark, a young farmer who is in love with her. But it soon becomes apparent to everyone but Jan that neither Tony’s fortune nor even his name may be his own, and her association with him will lead her into delinquency and danger.

Reportedly made as a British response to Rebel Without a Cause, this is a very good teenage angst flick though it doesn't come close to the greatness of James Dean's breakout movie. It tries to tell the story of a mother trying to deal with her teenage daughter’s descent into delinquency. This was Sylvia Syms' big screen debut and she is superb as the pretty young protagonist, who’s torn between a desire to remain her mother’s “good” eldest daughter, and her itch to explore a walk on the wild side. Anna Neagle is also very good as the mother trying to find out what has happened to her daughter. The plot becomes needlessly melodramatic in its final third, as Neagle and Syms are provided with further opportunities to explore their complicated mother-daughter dynamic. I found it a disgrace during the court scenes when the judge blames the mother for the daughter's behaviour! Other performers include a bit part role for Wilfrid Hyde-White (who calls a memo a 'meemo') and a blink or you'll miss it cameo from Arthur Mullard as a club bouncer. Overall, although not outstanding, it is still an enjoyable drama.

An artist grows distant from his new wife as an irrational horror of premature burial consumes him.

An oddly dull and slow movie that has some fine gothic atmosphere and great sets (foggy graveyards and forests) but feels flat, and doesn't make an effective use of its source material. Ray Milland was an interesting choice to play the lead and tries his best with the script. I'm sure someone like Vincent Price would have performed better in the role though. The biggest problem with the movie is that you know from the start that Milland's character is going to be buried alive so it's just a matter of waiting for the event to occur. It's an alright movie with a lot of filling time in my opinion.

A technician brings a frozen specimen of the original Blob back from the North Pole. When his wife accidentally defrosts the thing, it terrorizes the populace, including the local hippies, kittens, and bowlers.

A silly sequel to 1950's cult classic features more intergalactic gelatin terrorising the residents of a small town. It's a goofy and unpretentious movie that is willing to poke fun at itself. Burgess Meredith and director Larry Hagman (the only thing he directed) have bizarre cameos as drunk hippies who fall victim to the creature! The blob effects are good, probably one of the highlights of this movie. It's not exactly that great a movie but it's not unwatchable either. If you're a fan of the original, you might want to take a look at this one.

Successful soccer player Rod Turner spirals into drunken self-pity until he develops a friendship with an inspirational orphan and a beautiful singer. Learning from them what truly matters in life, Rod regroups and returns to form.

A fairly good sports drama movie about a one-time superstar ravaged by age and drinking who is determined to give it a go one last time to resurrect his career. For the most part, this movie is fine but it is disrupted by some bloody musical interludes featuring Paul Nicholas and Suzanne Somers as a successful pop duo who also happen to own a football club. Most of these songs are performed at nearly full length and are absolutely dreadful. Ian McShane gives a good performance as the down and out football player who frequently butts head with his football club manager played by Adam Faith due to some previous history between them. Naturally it all ends on a predictable triumph and redemption for McShane's character. This movie isn't special or anything but it's watchable enough if you're after an obscure British sports movie to see.

Florence Nightingale is a young woman who is drawn towards a career in nursing. Traveling to Turkey during the Crimean War, Florence gains a reputation for being devoted to the care of wounded soldiers and for pioneering higher standards for sanitary hospital conditions.

This movie chronicles the life of a young 19th-century Englishwoman who would transform how the sick and wounded would be cared for. I wouldn't say it's a historically accurate depiction of her life during the Crimean War but it does show what she managed to achieve during her time in Turkey. Anna Neagle gives a very good performance as Florence and is very suited to the role. It's astonishing the bureaucracy and red tape that Florence has to go through just to get medical supplies to her hospital. Elsewhere, there is a decent performance to be had from Michael Wilding in his part as Sidney Herbert, the Secretary of War who is the only one wanting to give Florence assistance. Overall, this is a very decent biographical drama with a good script, acting and excellent directing from Herbert Wilcox.

A new student at a British public school forms a secret society centered around cooking and midnight feasting with other school misfits and outcasts.

A delightful movie which I'd never heard of before about the nature and importance of friendship and of course food! I've never been to boarding school so I can't relate to the cruelty and camaraderie of life inside. The story of the "Scoffer's Club" is wonderful to watch as they sneak about the school after dark to go to the kitchen to cook up something nice to eat. The cast is fantastic with Christopher Lee who plays a menacing Latin teacher. You'll also see Robert Hardy as the headmaster and Lisa Faulkner as Miss Charlotte. The young cast also do very well. The movie has got a lot of heart, focusing primarily on father-child relationships. All in all, a movie that's worth seeking out. I really enjoyed it a lot.

Wonder Woman comes into conflict with businessman Max Lord during the Cold War in the 1980's and finds a formidable foe by the name of the Cheetah.

The first Wonder Woman movie was a breath of fresh air into the stale superhero genre but sadly all that hard work has been pushed aside in this crap sequel. It is an absolute mess. The story makes no sense and even for a superhero movie plumbs the depths of incredulity. The first 11 minutes are completely pointless apart from maybe stretching the running time. The movie was unnecessary long, boring and had cheesy scenes. The cast didn't do that well either with Gal Gadot coming across as wooden. Really disappointed this movie turned out the way it did.

A young woman’s plans to propose to her girlfriend while at her family’s annual holiday party are upended when she discovers her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents.

A terrible comedy. With a cast involving Dan Levy, Aubrey Plaza, and Kristen Stewart I had hopes this might be a cheesy Christmas movie that happens to have two women in a relationship. It is dreadfully unfunny and it displayed nothing but toxic behaviour/relationships, over-the-top dialogue, and nonsensical interactions for the majority of the story. The movie could've somewhat redeemed itself but it instead offered a one-dimension happy ending that tried to tie every negative aspect of these people's lives into a pretty bow. The ending lacked depth, ignored highly problematic behaviour, and provided a resolution that was both phony and undeserved. Keep clear of this wreck.

Atouk becomes a leader of the group of misfit cavemen. Disgraced and cast out of his tribe for lusting after Lana, the mate of the tribe’s head muscle man, Atouk stumbles along gathering other misfits and learning a bit about the world outside of his cave. Eventually he and friends Lar, and Tala learn the secrets of fire, cooked meat, and how to defend themselves.

I wasn't expecting this movie to be quite as funny as it was. It's a very silly spoof on prehistoric life and is not means to be accurate in historical detail. Some of the gags are really hilarious. Ringo Starr is great as the unlikely hero Atouk and his wife at the time, Barbara Bach plays the sexy prehistoric temptress wonderfully. Shelley Long and Dennis Quaid are early in their careers in this movie and give a good account of themselves. If you're after a great comedy which will guarantee to make you laugh, then you can't go wrong with this one.

A group of women involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement hatched a plan to invade the stage and disrupt the live broadcast at the 1970 Miss World competition in London, resulting in overnight fame for the newly-formed organisation.

This drama/comedy movie is based on a real story where women activists went against the old rules of the fashion world. The movie is told in two different stories. In one story, you see the women activists planning how to sabotage the beauty pageant to share their message with the world that women should not just be seen as sexual objects. On the other side of the movie you can see the story of model candidates and how they prepare for the beauty pageant. It shows how much work and time they have spent to have a chance of winning the beauty pageant. By telling the story in this way, you get a good view of both sides. Keira Knightley is excellent in the lead role of the movie. It's nice to see her character change from a neat lady who follows the rules to a more rebellious female activist throughout the story. The supporting cast which includes Jessie Buckley, Rhys Ifans and Greg Kinnear are also great. An enjoyable movie on the whole.

As a child, Ed accidentally kills his mother when one of his father's hunting rifles goes off. Years later and with his father barely speaking to him, he gets a phone call from him to lock up his beach house. With his friends in tow, Ed goes to spend a few days at the beach house but soon afterwards, some of his friends goes missing.

Everything about this 80's slasher is cliched. The only thing that really stands up on its own are some of the violent and inventive deaths which includes hook impalement, chainsaw slashing and pitchfork plunging. Yet, they do not make up for some of the problems with this movie such as some comedic overtones which is so out of place and an upbeat theme song. The cast are good in their roles with Jack Chatham suitably creepy as the deranged father with a grudge on his shoulder for his son. I can only recommend this movie for gorehounds who wants to see the nasty deaths than anybody else.

A troop of British soldiers are out in the jungle to record jungle noises and troop noises in the jungle so that the recordings can be played back by other troops to divert the enemy to their whereabouts. As they progress to what they think is closer to the base camp they find themselves farther and farther from radio range until the only channel they can get clearly is that of a Japanese broadcast.

This movie is adapted from a stage play. Some of the early scenes do have a very stagey quality to them, accentuated by some of the acting and dialogue, but that aspect becomes less pronounced, or at least less important, as the story progresses. The main thrust of the movie is the way pressure and extreme circumstances can change men, how their true characters are revealed by unexpected developments especially when they capture a lone Japanese scout. The first half of the movie allows the viewer to form an opinion of the characters. I really disliked the mouthy cockney Bamforth who enjoys rubbing the rest of the platoon up the wrong way. However, as the story moves into the second half and the men's survival is threatened, those perceptions of the characters are altered. All of the cast perform well which includes Richard Todd and Lawrence Harvey who allegedly didn't like each other on the movie set. In the end, this is an interesting movie on how pressure can affect an individual in war.

A rookie cop inadvertently captures the murder of a young drug dealer on her body cam. After realising that the murder was committed by corrupt cops, she teams up with the one person from her community who is willing to help her as she tries to escape both the criminals out for revenge and the police who are desperate to destroy the incriminating footage.

Given what has happened in the U.S this year with the George Floyd murder, this movie perfectly captures the corruption of the police - something that mainstream America still tries to deny. The movie doesn't question the nature of policing except for a couple of lines and the evil cops are portrayed as a few bad apples. Still, if you like mid-budget action thrillers this movie is for you. The heroes are likable, the villains are very unlikable and there are some genuinely suspenseful scenes on show. Naomi Harris is great as the female cop on the run. Tyrese Gibson also gives a good account of himself as well. Overall, a movie which has a message about a relevant issue of today. Go watch.

Scientists at a secret underground complex have found a way to travel to another dimension. Three dimension-travellers are the first to go through the gate – but are soon attacked by something that interrupts the communication with Earth. This creature uses the gate to travel back to the underground complex.

A terrible rip-off of Aliens with a base under siege from a salivating creature that picks off the people working at the secret complex one by one. This movie has nothing whatsoever to do with the first Xtro movie - it's basically a sequel in name only. This movie just has too many failings to be be entertaining, even in a bad way. The monster looks okay though it copies a lot of the Xenomorph creature. As for the cast - poor old Jan-Michael Vincent. He not only seems like he does not wish to be in the movie, he also seems to slur his lines at times (slightly drunk perhaps?). I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone.

A coven of devil-worshiping priests living in New York City search for victims for their sacrificial ceremonies.

A pure late-80's trash-gold, with a completely nonsensical and laughably incoherent plot, tacky make-up effects, gratuitous nudity and a whole lot of gibberish about Satan. The script of this movie is wonderfully incompetent and aimlessly skips from one theme onto the other without any form of continuity such as a devoted nun going undercover in the cult by order of the Catholic Church. She is basically forgotten about until the climax. There's no atmosphere of suspense whatsoever and even the whole devil-worshiping concept seems redundant. They're just a posse of bloodthirsty priests craving to cut open voluptuous young girls. There's fairly little gore until the climax arrives and that reddish puppet with horns, supposedly representing Lucifer is just plain laughable. It's watchable in a bad movie sort of way if you want to give it a go.

In Norway a military plane crashes under mysterious circumstances: in his last message the pilot reported many lights falling from the sky. NATO wants to play down the incident, but the famous TV moderator George Abbot and the no less persistent journalist Milker sense a sensational story about UFOs and start snooping around in the area with help of pilot “Bird” McNamara.

This movie throws in every imaginable UFO cliche in the book from lights in the sky, cattle mutilation and experimentation by aliens on humans in this dreadful movie. It's like a really bad X-Files episode. It's a bit of a shame as the first half of the movie is rather good but I've no idea what happened during the second half to make it turgid and boring with a useless conclusion. Darlanne Fluegel is good as the eye candy but that's about it for the cast who are simply awful. Unfortunately, this movie is not worth wasting time on.

A female terrorist is critically injured during a commando raid on their compound. She is is taken to a top-secret research institute, where she is turned into a lethal cyborg and programmed to hunt down the members of her own terrorist group. However, during her first mission her programming malfunctions and she turns on her creators with her new mission to hunt and kill them all.

A shameless cash in on Robocop. What seems like an action-packed romp with a mechanically enhanced Sandahl Bergman ends up mostly focused on Robert Ginty for at least half of the movie, before Bergman finally turns bad and goes hunting for her creators. There are a couple of moments which are pretty cool with plenty of gun battles and explosions. The ending on the military base isn't that good to be honest and the way the cyborg is taken out is poor. Sandahl Bergman does look good as the bad ass cyborg and Robert Ginty is OK as the hero. The movie isn't really eventful enough to make it memorable. Once seen and it's instantly forgettable.

A lonely German boy's world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.

What a brilliant WWII satire/drama this is. An absurd amount of passion and heart put into a movie that shouldn’t work at all but miraculously does. Something no filmmaker besides director Taika Waititi could pull off in this way. Only he could take one of the most gruesome periods in human history and find both humour and beauty in its telling. Besides the many instances of poignancy and incisiveness, this movie is equally packed with witty dialogue and humorous interludes which make you laugh out loud. The two young leads in Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie are just superb. Their comedic timing, range and overall performances are amazing. They do have excellent support from the director himself who plays Adolf Hitler and Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson. The soundtrack is also fantastic. Definitely a movie I would recommend to everybody to go and see.

A news reporter and his helper investigate war veterans that have been murdered on July 10th on 3 consecutive years and find it is linked to a court martial that took place after the end of the war.

A pleasant enough B-movie which is snappy enough not to allow the viewer to become bored with proceedings and which is blessed some charming performances from a decent cast. Terence Fisher directs and while he can't disguise the limitations of the budget, he gets the most out of the material. There's a small cameo role for Arthur Lowe. All in all, not an essential Terence Fisher movie by any means, there's nothing much of substance but it makes for a passable watch.

It’s Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn’t been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumour.

This is a slice-of-life movie about lives you don’t typically see — transgender prostitutes and their clients and it is all shot on a mobile phone. Apart from a pretty decent and modern soundtrack, there is very little to like about this movie. The characters are neither funny nor interesting. I'm not sure why this movie has got rave reviews. The acting is so bad. All you get is people shouting abuse towards each other. What a waste of time.

When a mysterious power surge phenomenon from Neptune menaces to destroy life on planet Earth, astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across the immensity of space and its many perils to uncover the truth about a lost expedition that decades before boldly faced emptiness and silence in search of the unknown.

This sci-fi movie whilst it was OK to a certain degree is full of padding to make it run for 2 hours. The story without all of that nonsense could have been told in less than an hour. It is packed full of pointless things such as the trip to the moon, moon pirates, the SOS call and the trip to Mars. At times it reminded me how far fetched it was like in the movie Gravity which was rather stupid. I am not sure what this movie wanted to be - something about space or just a drama about a son with father issues. The cast all did well and I liked Brad Pitt in the lead. In the end though, it was all rather bland and average.

A young woman Barbara who is estranged from her wealthy father returns home after he dies, reluctantly agreeing to listen to the will reading. It soon becomes clear that some unknown party is out to bump off the woman as she is the only person who stands to benefit from her father’s demise.

Directed by Hammer mainstay Terence Fisher, Home to Danger is another movie with an interesting set-up, playing on the class divide between the lush countryside estates of the well-to-do and the dismal city streets plagued with poverty. What is most memorable about this movie is the dark depictions of the criminal underworld as Barbara visit the shadowy streets of the London slums, deals with junkies, and basically sees everything that wealth and privilege protects her from. There are elements of danger to Barbara which are exciting to watch. Great acting from Rona Anderson as Barbara who is in danger of being murdered by people that are close to her. Interesting to see Stanley Baker as a slow witted gardener who knows that some people are up to some dirty tricks. As the movie is only 66 mins long, it passes by quickly and comes to a satisfying conclusion. An enjoyable quickie movie.

Renowned British dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock comes across Alma, a young, strong-willed woman, who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover.

Romantic movies, as a genre, is fairly predictable in the aspects of love it portrays. This movie though breaks those molds, and ventures into a world rarely explored in the cinema. It's thrilling, humorous, romantic, scary and depressing all at the same time, and yet it feels real and rooted. Daniel Day Lewis excels once again as the moody Reynolds Woodcock and if this is to be his swansong what a way to go out. Vicky Krieps is equally impressive as his muse Alma with the wonderful Lesley Manville also on top of her game. The directing by Paul Thomas Anderson is excellent. I'm sure because of the slow pace of the story it will not appeal to everybody but for those with the patience to stick it out, you'll be rewarded with a rich story that lingers in the mind afterwards.

Dr. Burke is in love with Ophelia but doesn’t have time to propose to her as she leaves for a cruise to the Mediterranean. Also on board the cruise ship is an old school chum of Burke’s who plays ‘Dr.Dare’ in a very popular TV series and who women flock to. Burke decides to join the cruise, but is first apprehended as a stowaway, and then becomes the captain’s steward.

The 7th and thankfully final movie in the Doctor series. Just when you thought that the continuity of the Doctor movies couldn't get any more confusing, the producers have trumped themselves once more with Leslie Phillips playing Dr Burke once again having been a completely different character in the previous movie. In fact there is very little relation here to the other movies, and, as it happens, very little in the way of doctoring since Burke spends most of his time trying to avoid the ship's Master-at-Arms. It is more like a poor man's Carry On type farce. There is only a small role for the other mainstay of the entire series in James Robertson Justice. You'll also get to see Graham Chapman as a camp photographer, Joan Sims as a Russian ship's captain and Harry Secombe as a randy football pools winner. It was obvious from the script that the Doctor series had run it's course. A shame this was so lame to finish it off despite one or two good laughs. If you've seen the other six, you might as well see this to complete the set.

Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They don’t know where they are or how they got there. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, ruthless elitists gather at a remote location to hunt humans for sport. But their master plan is about to be derailed when one of the hunted turns the tables on her pursuers.

Those that have seen this movie will know the story isn't original - think The Most Dangerous Game or Battle Royale but this movie is slightly different as director Craig Zobel and screenwriters Nick Cuse and Damon Lindelof have twisted the tale somewhat and put together an amusing satire with carefully measured storytelling, razor-sharp wit, and maniacal mayhem that skewers both conservatives and liberals of the American political spectrum. Violence is used gratuitously for laughs and shock value with Tarantino-esque moments of comedy and dialogue. Betty Gilpin is brilliant as the lead character and her final standoff with Hilary Swank is a must-see spectacle. A wild, very violent and fun movie to see.

Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school.

A very realistic coming of age movie about an unpopular girl at middle school who just wants to fit in and is trying to navigate the deep pitfalls of adolescence. A lead character who comes into her own throughout the movie and is portrayed very well here and very much true to life. The viewer watches her efforts to fit in with other kids in her grade and those a tad older and also the dynamic between her and her loving father. Director Bo Burnham successfully portrays the awkwardness, fear, heartbreak, joy and confusion of what it is to be a teenager in today's society. Elsie Fisher is fantastic as Kayla with her authentic mannerisms and nervous habits. This movie might not a masterpiece but it is pretty relatable and worthy of watching.

aka The Yangtse Incident. While sailing lawfully up the Yangtse in 1949, the British warship HMS Amethyst finds its return to the open sea blocked by Communist Chinese shore batteries that unexpectedly opened fire. In charge, Lietenant Commander Kerans is not however prepared for his crew and his ship to remain as a hostage for the Chinese to use as an international pawn.

A splendid rendition of a real life incident which was started by the dastardly Commies. The battle sequences are exciting, and you really feel under fire as you watch the perplexed crew cope with the unexpected attack. Richard Todd does well as the captain who launches an ingenius plan to escape from the clutches of the Chinese. Even though the real ship HMS Amethyst was used, the movie was definitely not shot in the Far East but somewhere in England! The naval action and later escape is thrilling. Other cast members include William Hartnell and there are small roles for Bernard Cribbins and Barry Foster. A fine war movie to watch.

In the Old West, a 17-year-old Scottish boy teams up with a mysterious gunman to find the woman with whom he is infatuated.

Every American western cliche imaginable is in this movie, presented in a dull, plodding, story that does not hold together at all. Presented with all of the cynicism of a spaghetti western without any of the drama or characters of that make that genre compelling. You will know the characters if you are familiar with American westerns because this movie just borrows them from John Wayne, John Ford, and Clint Eastwood, without any of it's own development of those characters. You never really understand why anyone does anything in this movie. The only good thing I can say is the cinematography with New Zealand supposedly filling in for Colorado. Really poor to be honest.

Ja-yoon is a high school student who struggles with memory loss after she endured some unknown trauma during her childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, she is unwittingly dragged into a world of crime and finds herself on a journey that will awaken many secrets hidden deep within.

Wow, what an amazing Korean action movie this is. The plot of this movie is nothing special or new but the main reason for seeing this movie is due to Kim Da Mi as the lead character Ja-yoon. I thought she was going be the kind of character that doesn't know who she really is and eventually the truth will be revealed in the middle of the movie and the whole thing will go down with a bloodbath which is what does happen apart from one twist - Ja-yoon is playing everybody all along and she knows exactly who she is. A cute Korean schoolgirl who looks so innocent but can turn into a brutal killer who has superpowers. The action scenes are totally brilliant and exciting. There is never a dull moment in this movie. This is supposed to be the first in a trilogy but the 2nd isn't out yet but I am eagerly awaiting it now thanks to how good this was. I REALLY enjoyed this fast paced action packed movie and can't wait for the story to continue.

In 1949, Tim and Beryl Evans move into 10 Rillington Place, west London, with their infant daughter Geraldine. The place is run by softly spoken landlord John Christie and his wife Ethel. Beryl is pregnant again and attempts an abortion by taking some pills. Christie tells Beryl that he can help her out as he has medical training. With Ethel and Tim out of the house, Christie begins his plan of action to kill Beryl.

This is a disturbing true life tale about one of Britain's serial killers who murdered various women between the 1940's and 1950's before his reign of terror came to and end and of a miscarriage of justice that took place to Tim Evans. The story grabs a hold of you and simply does not let go, remaining in your memory for long after. Richard Attenborough gives one of the performances of his career, if not the performance of his career as the eerie, creepy landlord and serial killer John Christie. John Hurt, starring as the simple minded, illiterate braggart Tim Evans also performs well though his Welsh accent is a little bit iffy. The filmmakers even used the very location of the murders to shoot this movie which makes it even more eerie. The movie really takes its time building up to the murderous deed, and the ending feels kind of rushed in comparison, but overall this is just a soul-shattering, tense watch from start to end. Recommended.

A plane carrying a group of schoolboys crash lands on a deserted island. With no adult survivors, the boys are forced to fend for themselves. At first they cooperate, but when the they split into two separate camps – one led by the pragmatic Ralph and the other by militaristic Jack – their society falls into disarray, leading to a disturbing examination of human nature.

Compared to the later movie version (1990) of the book, this is so much inferior. Unfortunately this film adaptation of the epic tale does not even begin to do the source material justice. It is a poorly executed attempt with bad acting from the cast. The child actors all seem to regurgitate their lines, giving the movie a stale feel without any substance to lines which are meant to be harrowing and dramatic. All the right elements are present in here but they are all very underdeveloped and the movie does not achieve its full potential. Poor acting and a lack of enthusiasm hurt an extremely well crafted psychological experience that had so much potential. Thankfully the remake in 1990 corrected these mistakes and it was much better all round.

A deep-sea salvager kidnaps an oil heiress in a scheme to trap killers seeking gems in the Gulf of Mexico.

An uneven adventure thriller based on an Alistair Maclean novel. It starts out very strongly with a prolonged fantastic car chase which is incredible to see but unfortunately it then slows down considerably. The actual plot is murky and difficult to follow, but is pulled together quite well in the showdown conclusion onboard a small submarine. Barry Newman plays quite the bad ass character who doesn't take any crap from anybody including the cops in his quest to have revenge for the death of his family. Suzy Kendall doesn't do much apart from looking attractive and Ben Kingsley (with hair!) plays one of the bad guys. Overall, a watchable and entertaining thriller with more than one twist in the tale.

Returning from a business trip in Germany, toy salesman Simon Scott is caught attempting to smuggle a wristwatch bought for his wife’s birthday through Customs. He is arrested and, due to a bungled defence by his solicitor, obliged to serve a three-month prison sentence.

This is one of those British dramas which are kind of hard to review because what you see is what you get and there are no unexpected twists. The viewer sees within a space of 48 hours how a man's life and his wife's are turned upside down because of his stupidity. While this movie isn't the most complex of dramas it is still fascinating especially when it comes to the rules and regulations of the prison system which means Simon is in the dark over what is going on with his case and also as to how his wife is coping. But that is just part of the drama and we also get to see what happens after he is released and the prejudices that happens to ex-cons. Tony Britton and Sylvia Syms are great as the married couple but Geoffrey Keen is also very good as Simon's sympathetic boss who is happy to take him back but the rest of the board want to get rid of him. All in all, this is an engaging drama with a simple but interesting storyline with nice performances whilst ticking over at a nice pace. Well worth watching if you get the chance.

aka Girl In The Headlines. Called in to investigate the murder of a model, Chief Inspector Birkett and Sergeant Saunders soon discover that the victim had been leading somewhat of immoral life.

An entertaining detective movie starring Ian Hendry and Ronald Fraser. It was surprisingly racy for 1963, touching on issues that wouldn’t really be addressed properly in movies until much later in the decade. Hendry is so good as a dedicated, good-natured family man that it’s a shame they didn’t make more movies focusing on the character. Nice to see a young Jeremy Brett years before he would find proper fame as Sherlock Holmes. An engaging and fun mystery.

During a contest to find the greatest warrior, Deathstalker must defend his remaining comrades, his life, and his newfound love in battle against an evil army of stone warriors and the wicked queen who created them.

The 4th and thankfully the last in the Deathstalker series. It's a virtual remake of the first one as far as the general plot line goes. In fact, they even go so far as to recycle some scenes from the first movie here. And while this movie isn't nearly as inept and ludicrous as the first one, the filmmakers still have no clue how to create a worthy plot or even characterisation. There's the usual sword and fantasy scenes with fighting and nudity abound. The acting is atrocious as it has been from the first movie with Rick Hill returning in the leading role having been absent from the 2nd and 3rd movies. A movie for completists only.

Newly qualified doctor Simon Sparrow goes in search of a job. He applies for a surgery position at the hospital where he studied, but manages to insult the senior surgeon and one of the hospital’s governors. So, instead he ends up as assistant to with a niggardly and rather scary GP with an amorous wife.

The 3rd in the Doctor series. Forgetting what took place in the 2nd movie in which Sparrow goes off with Brigitte Bardot to Rio, he's back in more familiar surroundings. The movie is more or less a series of anecdotes, which sees Sparrow cast out into the big wide world, taking on a number of locum positions. As before there are a number of actors from the previous movies popping up such as Shirley Eaton, Donald Sinden and James Robertson Justice. It's certainly a movie of its time; how many comedies would now feature its leading man taking a woman over his knee and smacking her arse because she's a bit hysterical!! Overall, a step up from the 2nd movie but not as memorable as the 1st, it's still a good comedy to watch.

Set in medieval Europe, an alchemist, knight and priest mistake a flying saucer for being a dragon.

This is an adventure/comedy from Spain. It blends science fiction with medieval fantasy elements into a plodding chore of a movie where the only magic on display is how it manages to make 90 minutes last an eternity. The blend of comedy and adventure doesn't work at all well. You'd think having a movie with Klaus Kinski and Harvey Keitel in the cast might be good but how wrong you'd be. Keitel stands out like a sore thumb as a knight trying to rescue a beautiful princess from inside the flying saucer. He is quite frankly bloody awful in the role. Kinski fares a little better but his voice is unfortunately dubbed. The eccentricities of the movie never make up for the general lameness of what takes place. The comedy on offer is pathetic. Not a terribly good or fun movie at all.

Upon returning to London to be with his lover who he last met 6 years ago, a man is shot dead whilst embarking from the plane. The police investigate and think there's a link between the murdered man and the woman the American is seeing.

This is a fairly bland British b-movie noir with Lloyd Bridges imported from America to play the lead role and add appeal to a wider audience. The plot follows a reasonably intriguing path towards what should/could have been a dramatic conclusion before reaching a disappointing ending that you might have seen in a certain episode of Dallas many years later. Despite this, the movie has its moments with fine performances from Bridges and Alan Wheatley as the Inspector. Leslie Phillips appears as the inspector's subordinate and, as always, is typecast as the ladies man who ogles everything in a dress. Although the ending is flawed, the movie still has appeal as an interesting example of British film noir.

A group of people are killed one by one while participating at a million dollar treasure hunt in a mysterious Italian castle.

If you know the name of Charles Band, you know what to expect when you see his name in the credits as the executive producer. The story in this movie isn't that good but the special effects are good for such a cheapie production. In fact they're the highlight of this movie such as a gluttonous character that’s transformed into a pig, a character that’s devoured by a chair and a demonic picture that comes to life. Though there are many things that this movie does well, there are just as many things that do not work. The cheesy dialog laced with sexual innuendos is laughable and there’s even an attempt at humour but it mostly falls flat. Even though Adam Ant is billed as the top star, he's only it for the last 10 mins. Bunty Bailey is probably the best out of the cast even though she's mostly only known for being the girl in the A-ha song Take On Me video. In the end, despite the great special effects I can only rate this as being below average.

While walking along the beach, Christian and his girlfriend discover a mysterious woman washed ashore. The following day, Christian meets the woman again at a yacht party and soon finds himself entangled in a web of lust, intrigue and murder.

The first strange thing about this Italian movie is it's name! What a peculiar title. The second strange thing about this movie is that it is just a bizarrely off-kilter story even by giallo standards. It's exactly what we have come to expect from giallos but with really strange directorial and performance choices; perhaps even stranger is that these odd decisions make it feel like a David Lynch movie at times. An example of such is seeing fetish images of inflatable love dolls hanged on trees or covered in blood. Sadly without any unforgettable scenes and even with a very bland soundtrack, this movie doesn't come up to scratch as a great giallo.

Dr. Tsu is a brilliant surgeon with her own exotic island off the coast of Manila. Using her sexy, all-girl army of martial-arts experts, Tsu kidnaps some of the world’s greatest athletes. She is able to transplant any body part, so she uses the athletes for spare parts to sell to the world’s richest men. Mike Harber is a womanizing, wise-cracking insurance investigator for Lloyd’s of London sent to Manila to investigate the disappearance of a jai-alai player.

Filipino trash cinema at it's worst! If this feels like a low-budget Bond ripoff, you’re just about right on the money - from the megalomanic Dr Tsu to the beautiful girls that protect her island and man beasts that are caged up. It's nice to have a female super villain for a change though! A shame the movie is completely ridiculous as you'll struggle to guess what will happen next. The action is crap with girls that can't even shoot guns properly and awful martial arts sequences. The movie recklessly endangered the people of the Philippines with a severe lack of crowd control and poorly planned dangerous action sequences. As for the acting, where do I start - nobody comes out with any flying colours. They are all terrible. I'm sure many viewers will have fun with this off the wall movie as it manages to pack an enormous amount of weirdness into its quick running time but as for myself I thought it was too stupid to enjoy.

A fiction writer begins working on a biography of a pilot who went down during the test flight of a new plane and finds himself soon involved in a series of murders.

This is a fast moving, keep-you-guessing plot that keeps you glued until the very end. Although the plot might have you knowing who the mysterious person bumping off various people is quite early on, it's still a good movie to watch. The directing by Wendy Toye is briskly handled in a movie with lots of fake climaxes. The cast led by John Justin and Margaret Deighton are great. Quite enjoyable.

In a Swiss Alpine resort, an army officer and upper-class Humpy Miller both set their sights on Mary, the landlord’s daughter. When the two come down with chicken pox they are put in the charge of fellow guest Miss Cartwright, who turns out to be Humpy’s old nanny.

A forgettable and at times tiresome farce. I thought this movie would have been far funnier than what I saw. David Tomlinson comes across as a rather annoying character but thankfully Nigel Patrick's one is more fun. The best out of the cast has to be the ever reliable Kathleen Harrison as the nanny. She treats the two men like children when they come down with chickenpox and they rebel against her. I kept expecting things to improve especially on the humour front but it didn't and in the end I was rather disappointed. It might be fine to watch if you're really desperate and have nothing better to see.

Gilliatt, a fisherman-turned-smuggler on the isle of Guernsey, agrees to transport a beautiful woman to the French coast in the year 1800. She tells him she hopes to rescue her brother from the guillotine but in reality she is a spy who is working to prevent Napoleon from invading England.

A fairly good but instantly forgettable swashbuckler. Part of the trouble with this movie is that it feels over written with dialogue and story elements which end up uninteresting. Another problem is there's absolutely zero chemistry between Yvonne De Carlo and Rock Hudson. It is left to Bryan Forbes to provide the entertaining performance as Gilliat's sidekick Willie and there is better comic chemistry between Forbes and Hudson than the supposed chemistry between the leads. The action scenes at least bring some attention grabbing energy to this movie. In the end, it's not so much that this is a terrible movie but it has nothing to make it truly entertaining or memorable.

Roger Thursby is an overly keen, newly-qualified barrister who rubs his fellow barristers up the wrong way. When he is thrown in at the deep-end, with a particularly hot-tempered judge and tricky case, Thursby learns how to prove himself not only to the judge and fellow barristers but also to the public gallery.

A great comedy that is nowhere near a cynical as some of the output of the Boulting Brothers, this is a pretty straightforward episodic movie showing what life is like for a new barrister until he has the good fortune to be taken on by a conman who all but gets himself off as he leads the wet-behind-the-ears barrister to his first win in court. Most of the story is about someone who is cut adrift and struggling desperately to find his feet in a world where everyone else seems to know what they're doing. It has a fabulous cast which includes Ian Carmichael, Richard Attenborough, Nicholas Parsons, Terry Thomas and even a small part for John Le Mesurier. A comedy to definitely seek out which comes from the heyday for British Comedy which stretched from the 50's into the 60s.

Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can’t leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.

This highly rated movie is interesting in its own peculiar way in the first 45 min or so. In the absence of a strong plot, it gets by with the help of its strong cast and decent acting which somehow keep you engaged without a gripping story. Then, it goes into a repetitive mode with a crawling pace and ends with a pathetic finale. It also goes on for way too long. The cast are good in their roles especially Leonardo DiCaprio. Unfortunately a banal story, strong cast, good acting and a feeble plot can't stop this from being just average for me.