Pulgasari (1985)

The North Korean Godzilla film. Considering the fact the director Sang-ok-Shin and lead actress were South Koreans kidnapped by the North to make movies... and the Japanese Toho studio were tricked into helping by thinking they were filming in China... and the undoubted propaganda nature of the film... this isn't that bad a film at all!

In Ancient Korea the evil (imperialist no doubt) King (Yong-hok Pan) is starving his population. Villagers rise up and the King orders a new army formed, weapons to be made by Takse (Gwon Ri) using iron seized from the villagers. He refuses and dies in prison, before hand he gives a strange little figure of a monster to his daughter Ami (Son Hui Chang). She accidentally drips blood on it and the monster, Pulgasari, comes to life. Pulgasari eats iron to grow and is soon a huge monster... however he obeys Ami and helps Inde's (Ham Gi Sop) rebel army fight the King...

This is an interesting mixture of period drama and monster movie. The special effects are quite poor and Pulgasari doesn't get to destroy as many buildings as usual in these kinds of film, however when he does it is pretty spectacular. The film has lots of action, though can get a bit repetitive after awhile. The twists in the story, the monster being the hero and then the enemy, keep your interest. The sheer novelty and strange nature of this film makes it well worth a watch and it certainly isn't the worst monster movie made by any means.

Scrooge (1951)

A masterly version of the Dickens classic. Scrooge (Alastair Sim) of course has no time for Christmas, he sneers at Bob Cratchit (Mervyn Johns) for wanting Christmas Day off. But, alone in the night on Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Will he see the error of his ways and celebrate Christmas like everyone else and not be so mean?

The story is very familiar of course but is given such life with this version and the superb performances by the cast including George Cole as the young Scrooge. A story of redemption and restoration which probably stays closer to the true spirit to original than some versions. 

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

A highly enjoyable horror anthology. Dr Terror (Peter Cushing) boards a railway carriage compartment already containing five men. Soon it is discovered he has tarot cards and he is asked to give a demonstration. Each of his fellow passengers learns what is in store for them, and they have very strange futures indeed.

Bill Bailey (Roy Castle) discovers his jazz band will tour the West Indies. Out there Bill discovers voodoo music and, despite being warned not to steal the music by the witchdoctor, he returns to London and performs his adaptation. That is when things start to go really wrong for Bill, and his audience...

Marsh (Christopher Lee) is an art critic. He discovers that he will enter a feud with an artist (Michael Gough) he criticises. That feud ends in a hit and run and Marsh being menaced by a severed hand!

The five horror stories don't all work, the story about the murderous plant is let down by poor special effects. The film is sometimes cheesy, and leans more on the strange and supernatural rather than gore (which is no bad thing). The cast is great and do a great job with what they were given. The film has a good twist as well.

Army in Space and Under the Sea (1971)

With US astronauts on the Moon, the US Army decided it needed to explain it's role in the fantastic achievement. So, this interesting though rather dry documentary was made to highlight the US Army's role in space exploration and underwater salvage operations. 

With a slightly quirky and jaunty soundtrack, various rockets and missiles are shown as well as special facilities built by the Army for developing things like the astronauts' spacesuits. Interesting archive footage of exciting times. It is literally out of this world though the film is ironically a bit pedestrian.

Above Us the Waves (1955)

A classic British war film, stiff upper lips in the face of certain death, but just time for a cup of tea first. The German battleship, the Tirpitz, must be destroyed but it is hiding deep in a Norwegian fjord. Commander Fraser (John Mills) concocts a plan using human torpedoes to attack the ship. Admiral Ryder (James Robertson Justice) thinks it is a folly but when Fraser's team plant dummy charges on his own ship he decides to give the go-ahead.

With a plucky team of heroes including Duffy (John Gregson) and Corbett (Donald Sinden), Fraser makes his attack but it fails even before they reach the Tirpitz. There is a plan B though, with midget submarines. Three of which make an attack, penetrating deep into German occupied territory, evading patrol boats and torpedo nets...

A very tense film, especially during the actual attack. Submarines are always claustrophobic but a midget submarine where you can't move without risking kicking a comrade in the head are even more so. The film is based on real events and is a fitting tribute to the sheer courage needed to perform such deeds.