Things to Come (1936)

An extraordinary film, though it's vision of the future might be considered rather flawed nowadays. It is 1940 and the world is on the verge of war. Cabal (Raymond Massey) and Passworthy (Edward Chapman) argue about whether war will occur and what will happen. Cabal is proved right, and the world is hurled into a war which lasts for decades. The world is reduced to the level of savagery under the control of jumped up warlords like The Boss (Ralph Richardson).

Well not quite all of the world. There is a faction, which includes Cabal in it's ranks, who have continued the pursuit of progress and science and now possess a fleet of incredible flying wings which easily defeats The Boss's ragtag band. The world is united in progress. We then jump to 2036 and Cabal's and Passworthy's descendants live in an Art Deco wonderland od underground cities, and everyone wears cloaks. However, the latest project to send people around the Moon raises the ire of artist Theotocopulos (Cedric Hardwicke) who thinks the relentless march of progress must finally be stopped...

The film is very interesting rather than being overtly entertaining. The far future part of the film looks amazing (though future society despite the wonders of science seems to be as patriarchal as the 1930s). The downsides of endless scientific progress are not explored, bashed aside as irrelevant when they are mentioned. But what a vision, perhaps that is how it could have been... or be?

The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)

A low-budget and rather Noir version of the Invisible Man story. Safe cracker Joey Faust (Douglas Kennedy) is broken out of prison by Laura (Marguerite Chapman) on the orders of Major Krenner (James Griffith). The Major wants to use Faust for his deranged plans to create an invisible army! By using the science of Dr Ulof (Ivan Tresault), Faust is made invisible using nuclear rays. These abilities are used to steal more nuclear material.

However, Faust sees potential for his new invisible abilities to steal cash not nuclear materials. Unfortunately during a heist he discovers there is a drawback: his invisibility wears off! 

A short film but one which packs a hell of a lot of plot into it. An interesting film with nearly every character having a dark motive for their actions. Not great but not worth watching.

Dracula (1958)

The first Hammer horror to star Christopher Lee as Dracula, of course there would be many more to come. Harker (John Van Eyssen) arrives at a mysterious castle to take up his new role as the Count Dracula's librarian. However, he is really there to hunt vampires... Dracula to be precise. However, he fails to defeat Dracula and becomes yet another victim.

A little later Harker's friend and colleague Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) discovers Harker's diary and then Harker himself, now a vampire too. Van Helsing puts a stake through Harker's heart but Dracula himself is nowhere to be seen. Van Helsing meets the family of Harker's fiancée (Carol Marsh) who is ailing. She is also a victim of the evil Count. With the help of Holmwood (Michael Gough), Van Helsing battles to stop Dracula once and for all...

This is a truly great Dracula film, one of the best. Lee's impressive physicality adding extra menace and eroticism to the dark Count. 

Adventures of a Private Eye (1977)

A good old 1970s British sex comedy, terrible yet compelling in equal measure. Bob (Christopher Neil) is the assistant to a private detective (Jon Pertwee), when the detective heads off for some extended horizontal jogging with his secretary Bob is told to mind the store and not take on any cases. But when Laura (Suzy Kendall) turns up with a request to get rid of some uncompromising photographs and negatives which she is being blackmailed with and is putting her inheritance in peril, of course Bob takes on the job even though he doesn't really have any idea what he is doing...

He is invited down to the country house where Laura lives with other family members (who are all odd in their own ways). Bob suspects he knows who the blackmailer is though it is quite obvious he is being manipulated by Laura, unfortunately for Bob he gets endlessly distracted by bored housewives and ends up in various uncompromising positions...

A confused film though not unentertaining. It is a saucy sex comedy though the sex is pretty tame and barely erotic (though the film has plenty of nudity) and the comedy is sometimes suspect and often falls flat. It is all very politically incorrect nowadays of course though that is no bad thing. It certainly has plenty of stars in it including Diana Dors, Harry H Corbett, Ian Lavender and Adrienne Posta. Probably the best part of the film is when Bob goes to a police station and he passes Police 5's Shaw Taylor!

Jane and the Lost City (1987)

An adaptation of a wartime comic strip about Jane who... loses her clothes a lot. Happily that tradition continues in this film which is completely puerile and silly but that is exactly how it should be to be honest. 

With the war ongoing, both the British and Germans are in need of money, Luckily there is a fortune in diamonds to be found in a lost city of Africa. Evil Nazi agent Lola Pagola (Maud Adams) and her bumbling assassin Heinrich (Jasper Carrott) are sent to Africa, the British send The Colonel (Robin Bailey), his servant Tombs (Graham Stark) and Jane (Kirsten Hughes)...

The British leg of the expedition gets off to a bad start when their plane crashes due to Nazi scheming, but they are rescued by the hunky American Jungle Jack (Sam Jones). He claims expert knowledge of the African bush though this often seems a bit suspect. When they finally find the Lost City it is ruled by the Leopard Queen (Elsa O'Toole) who is more a bit of a Sloane Queen and longs to get back to Blighty, ok ya?! 

The film is complete farce, overall not the funniest of films but as an adaptation of a comic strip it works really well and it has it's moments. The cast let the film down a bit with some indifferent performances, if the film had been made by the Carry On team - for example - it would have been hilarious. As it is, its perfectly passable.