Wheels of Fire (1985)

A rough but good (in it's own limited way) Mad Max rip-off. It is the post-apocalypse and men dressed in leather drive muscle cars with spikes and flamethrowers fighting over the remaining resources of mankind. As usual.

Our hero is Trace (Gary Watkins), a nomadic super warrior of sorts. When his sister Arlie (Lynda Wiesmeier) is captured by the evil warlord of the wastelands Scourge (Joe Mari Avellana), he seeks to get her back.

He gets help from Stinger (Laura Banks), who has a bird of prey. A powerful faction called the Ownership Army is aiming to wipe out Scourge but the evil warlord has a plan...

Low budget, ultra violent and shamelessly exploitative. Weismeier's large breasts get more screen time than most of the supporting cast. The plot is pretty basic and the film is mostly just a series of violent set pieces with large body counts. It is trashy and utterly unoriginal but undeniably entertaining.

The Steel Key (1953)

A fast moving though rather complicated crime/spy caper. A scientist who has worked on a formula for hardening steel has died in America. Johnny O'Flynn (Terence Morgan) arrives in the UK pretending to be the colleague of the dead scientist to try and find the formula. He discovers that the only man who might know the formula, Professor Newman (Esmond Knight), has just died...

O'Flynn enlists the help of a nurse at a sanatorium where Newman died. Doreen (Joan Rice) had serious misgivings on the treatment given to patients. Doreen helps O'Flynn discover that Newman is still alive, and a gang led by Dr Crabtree (Colin Tapley) are trying to sweat the information out of Newman...

A complicated plot with various double crosses and changes of identity. The film is fairly light and breezy in tone, despite a certain amount of murder and brutality... all in the crisp, chipper nature of an early 1950s British film.

Hideout in the Alps (1936)

A breezy crime caper involving forged bank notes and skis. Jim Kent (Ronald Squire) is an old lag who has been released from gaol for forgery. He vows to go straight but discovers to his horror that his nephew Gilbert (Arthur Macrae) may have got into the same game. He follows Gilbert and his niece Linda (Jane Baxter) to the Alps where he finds a forging gang using the cover of a hotel to commit their crimes.

The police in the form of Inspector Forsyth (Anthony Bushell) are in the Alps too. Jim recognises old bill already and tries to save his nephew from being caught with the help of Linda...

This is a good fun film that travels from England to the Continent and back a couple of times. It is fast paced, often feeling a bit like a serial. The film climaxes with a rather entertaining chase scene through the snow. Margaret Rutherford plays a good role as one of the crime bosses.

Welcome Back, Norman (1979)

A curious little short film about a rather inept man who returns home... and makes an incredible mess out of getting out of the airport car park! Norman (Douglas P. MacIntosh), presumably a travelling businessman, is a bit of a reverse Midas. When he reaches his car he finds the other cars are parked too close so he has to squeeze in with much discomfort. Oh no, he has left his brief case on top of his car, lets hope he doesn't run over it...

There isn't much to this film but it a little bit of fun. The bumbling ineptness of Norman resembles the hapless Captain Mainwaring. Most of the fun is from the sheer oddness of this little film, the fact it exists and quite why it was made?

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Epic psychological horror. FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is bought in create a profile on the serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). To do this she needs the help of convicted serial killer and cannibal Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). 

After Buffalo Bill kidnaps a Senator's daughter, Lecter is offered a deal if he helps. He ends up in a cage in a Tennessee courthouse, he can't escape from there can he? And can they find this Buffalo Bill?

A deliciously dark and gory horror film which has deserved it's various awards and accolades. The two leads give excellent performances, especially Hopkins who gave his character such an air of believable terror and menace.