Who Killed the Cat? (1966)

A rather slow moving but enjoyable crime drama. After the death of her husband scheming widow Eleanor (Vanda Godsell) takes control of the house and decides it is time she made her three elderly renters (Mary Merrell, Ellen Pollock and Amy Dalby) pay more money in rent than they can afford, she also wants her step-daughter Mary (Natasha Pyne) to leave school and earn her keep...

Eleanor is rather vile, spreading poison about Mary's boyfriend. Poison of another kind of spread when Mrs Goldworthy's cat is found dead...

The film does not have a lot of action or suspense but is a rather interesting period piece. Although made in the 1960s it feels like it is set decades before. It plays out like a Golden Age murder mystery and is very entertaining if you like that sort of thing.

Slander House (1938)

A nicely light bit of romance dealing with the heavy business of weight loss. Helen(e) (Adrienne Ames) runs a beauty salon, dedicated to helping overweight rich ladies lose pounds (and also plenty of dollars). She is being wooed by Dr Stallings (George Meeker), who is nice but a bit dull. He is her ticket to high society though.

Then she meets Pat (Craig Reynolds), a bit of a wise guy perhaps but with something more about him. A more interesting love match but of course things do not go very smoothly, with various obstacles in the way including jealous love rivals and dangerous gossip in her salon...

An amusing little film which sends up the beauty industry (which often is rather absurd after all) with various stunts including a lady knocking herself out while exercising and a few mishaps involving loose animals in the salon. An enjoyable film for sure with decent performances, and plenty of humour, though not a lot of depth. Unlike the salon's clients, it could have done with a few more layers.

The Devil Bat (1940)

A fantastic and cheesy horror film. Dr Carruthers (Bela Lugosi) works as the chief scientist for a cosmetics company. He is bitter that the Heath and Morton families have grown rich off his work. Therefore he plots a terrible revenge: he uses dark experiments to create a gigantic bat and a shaving lotion which turns the bat crazy and thirsting for blood...

The giant bat begins it's reign of terror, killing the sons of Heath whom Carruthers has tricked into using the lotion. City reporter Johnny Layton (Dave O'Brien) has come to discover what is going on...

A ridiculous story but highly entertaining. The film has a lot of camp and silliness but Lugosi seemed to enjoy the role and played it with plenty of enthusiasm. The only thing that really lets the film down is the rather ropey looking "giant bat" but with a B-movie's low budget it is acceptable.

Phase IV (1974)

A remarkable film, at first glance yet another "creepy" insect horror film but it is far more of that.

A mysterious force in outer space has taken control of ants on Earth, merging them into a super intelligence. Dr Hubbs (Nigel Davenport) and Lesko (Michael Murphy) are investigating the phenomena.

The ants have driven people from a desert town, and built strange structures. Hubbs and Lesko have built a domed research base, but who is really under investigation? Ants... or humans? The ants soon prove deadly, killing a family of farmers except Kendra (Lynne Frederick) who is rescued by the scientists. However the ants' plan is not to destroy...

The film has some incredible visuals, many close-ups of ants of course. The story is developed slowly, maybe too slowly for a monster movie, for an intelligent science-fiction movie it is perfect though. The ending is suitably mind-bending. The twists are what makes this film special, especially when we realise that it is the scientists in their dome who are really in an experiment.

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

Often called one of the worst films of all time, and it certainly is. A couple (Harold Warren and Diane Adelson) get lost in the Texas desert and find a mysterious house in the middle of nowhere. Despite the fact the world's creepiest man Torgo (John Reynolds) lives there and keeps babbling on about "The Master" who doesn't want them there, they decide this house will be the perfect place to stay the night!

Once night falls the full horror becomes apparent. The Master (Tom Neyman) is a dark lord who wears a rather funky psychedelic cloak, has six slave wives and sets fire to hands. He orders the couple and their daughter be killed...

An incredibly bad film with an air of complete ineptness in every frame. The acting is awful, the pacing completely off, awkward pauses as the actors desperately waited for cues, a plot which makes little sense. It is therefore wonderful (of course!) The film is complete cheese and very campy. It's legend among fans of trash movies is well deserved, it is one of the low lights of the genre.