Karate Cop (1991)

In the post-apocalpyse future there is one remaining cop roaming the wastelands, just don't call him Max...

It is the future, gangs of men in tatty clothes fight in the streets and generally get up to mischief, including chasing Rachel (Carrie Chambers). She is saved by John Travis (Ronald Marchini), the last policeman left it seems. He lives with his dog and drives his old police car still. This is basically Mad Max 2 but in the USA.

Rachel enlights John's help to retrieve a crystal from a teleport device so she can send a group of children to safety. After battling through gang ambushes led by the hilariously inept Snaker (Michael E Bristow), John finds the crystal which is the object of worship by a weird cult. John gets the crystal and unfortunately the cult is forgotten about, which is a shame because it was one of the most interesting parts of the movie...

The gang lord Lincoln (DW Landingham) has kidnapped Rachel however, men will fight over her in a kind of Battledome though the giant champion (Michael Foley) always wins. So now we are on to ripping off Mad Max 3...

A hilariously bad film though undeniably entertaining. The action (not that much of it is "karate") isn't that bad at all. The story though is utter nonsense, it all makes little sense of course. This is a loose sequel to Omega Cop.

Oriental Evil (1951)

A rather seedy tale of crime in early post-war Japan.

Cheryl (Martha Hyer) arrives in Tokyo intent on clearing the name of her brother who was accused of smuggling and committed suicide. She meets up with Roger (Byron Michie), a suave and very tall Englishman. He agrees to help her find the man who was realy behind the smuggling and Cheryl soon falls in love with him.

Unfortunately Roger is really called Tom and is the man she is looking for. He is a disgraced ex-serviceman involved in black market smuggling and has a Japanese wife whom he treats brutally, usually after he has got drunk yet again. However, Roger/Tom has been marked by fate and his demise is inevitable...

A rather low-rent crime drama, slow moving and can drag at times though is well structured and the mystic element adds a bit of novelty. Its also amusing seeing the very tall Michie have to duck everywhere!

Assignment: Outer Space (1960)

Wobbly rockets in space in this rather odd space opera.

Ray (Rik Van Nutter) is a journalist who is blasting out into outer space to see what is going on out at the space station, his arrival does not please George (David Montresor), the space station commander who seems to be hiding something. We soon find out what, a space ship is returning to Earth out of control and, unless it can be stopped, will wipe out all life! To save Earth, Ray, George, Lucy (Gabriella Farinon) and the cool Al (Archie Savage) must head out in an apparent suicide mission in a desperate attempt to save everything...

The idea is good as is the ambition, though the budget and ability unfortunately falls pretty short. The space ships literally wobble on the end of strings and the film is full of oddness and many of the common 1950s/60s science fiction tropes including weird codenames for people. A fun film though.

Subspecies: The Awakening (1998)

High octane vampire nonsense, what is going on? Who knows... but also who cares?

Michelle (Denice Duff) escapes from her vampire master Radu (Anders Hove), a creature of pure evil and also pretty hard to kill. Michelle is saved by a nurse and taken to the ridiculously creepy looking Dr Niculescu (Mihai Dinvale) who promises to help her but really he wants the mysterious blood stone which Radu possesses, though first he secretly drinks blood from Michelle's thigh while she is unconscious.

The scene is set for a showdown between Radu and Michelle in a crypt (of course) while various other incomprehensible vampire nonsense takes place.

This film is a bit of a mess. Very violent, bloody, incoherent and campy and weird. It's totally brilliant.

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)

An excellent entry in the Rathbone Sherlock series.

Dr Watson (Nigel Bruce) is working as a medic at a stately home serving as a convalescent home for army officers. However, strange things are happening including a maniac attacking people in the night. Watson calls his friend Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) to investigate. By the time he arrives there has been a murder. The head of the Musgrave family has been killed.

This is not the first murder. There are a number of suspects, including Sally Musgrave (Hillary Brooke) who must recite an ancient saying as she assumes her place in the family hierarchy. Did the butler do it? Brunton (Halliwell Hobbes) certainly is behaving strangely when he isn't drunk anyway! Sherlock has his eye on Dr Sexton (Arthur Margetson) however...

This is a highly enjoyable entry in the long running series with an intricate plot, the setting of a dark country house with plenty of secrets of course helps!