Eye of the Tiger (1986)

The streets of a small town have been taken over by drug crazed bikers, only one man can stop them (natch).

Buck (Gary Busey) returns to his small hometown for a spell in gaol to find things have changed for the worst, a biker gang led by a cardboard cut-out (William Smith) are running rampant, killing and beating and raping people in the streets in between selling crack cocaine. The sheriff (Seymour Cassel) has been paid off.

After Buck stops the gang raping a nurse, they turn on him and kill his wife (Denise Galik) and wreck his house. They also kidnap his young daughter (Judith Barsi). With the help of his old army buddy JB (Yaphet Kotto) faces down the gang with the help of a lot of hi-tech weaponry...

So, a silly and unoriginal premise but an entertaining violent romp. The action scenes are well done and spaced out by a reasonable amount of story. Blade the main baddie could have been better though, he looks pretty cool but we don't really see much from him until the very end of the film.

Village of the Giants (1965)

Annoying teens eat a weird chemical created by an even more annoying pre-teen and become giant annoying teens.

A group of delinquents led by Fred (Beau Bridges) turn up in a small town. In that town Mike (Tommy Kirk) is trying to make out with his girlfriend (Charla Doherty) when little Genius (Ron Howard) invents a weird orange goo which turns animals into giants. 

Naturally its not long before Fred and his gang take the goo themselves and become giants who terrorise the town. Normal size teens and adults are at their mercy...

Now, it doesn't sound very promising, the special effects and acting are not up to much and most of the characters are hard to warm to. However, despite that the film is great fun, maybe because it is just so ridiculous.

Omoo-Omoo, the Shark God (1949)

A remarkably cheap film about a Pacific Islander curse and the eyes of a god.

Sea captain Guy (Trevor Bardette) has stolen a couple of pearls from a South Sea Island people, the pearls being the eyes of their Shark God. Guy is cursed with a tabu and is sent into near madness and bad health. He is forced to return to the island. However, he still won't tell the Chief (Pedro de Cordoba) where the pearls/eyes are. Guy's crew include some disreputable members who fancy the pearls for themselves...

A fairly dreary film, short in length though padded out with plenty of stock footage (including an underwater life scene which seems to go on for ages). The story is thin, the sets basic and the acting either non-existent or awkward. Not really a lot of jungle fun.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

A classic late Cold War thriller.

A new advanced Soviet submarine is about to launch, it's new electro-drive makes it virtually undetectable giving the Soviets a sizeable advantage in any nuclear war. Luckily for the US, the captain of the submarine (Red October) is Ramius (Sean Connery) who wants to defect and will bring the submarine with him! When the Soviets raise the alert, CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is the only one who suspects this is a defection and not a Soviet preparation for war.

As the Red October tries to reach the West and safety, Jack heads out to the cold waters of the North Atlantic  to contact Ramius and find out for sure what his intensions are as Soviet and US forces converge...

A great tense film set mostly aboard a submarine (therefore the perfect location for tenseness!) Seen nowadays it has an amusing coincidence in that the troublesome political officer (Peter Firth) whom Ramius has to kill early on is called Putin! Great sets and some exciting (and - because it is based on a Tom Clancy story - realistic) underwater combat scenes make this one of the best Cold War dramas.

Gang Smashers (1938)

Somewhat baffling at times but fast paced gangster action in this race movie.

Laura (Nina Mae McKinney) is a gangster's moll and singer at his (Laurence Criner) club. However, all is not what it seems. Really she is an undercover agent seeking evidence to bring down the Harlem racket once and for all. Naturally this is a very dangerous enterprise, but she might have an unexpected ally.

This is a highly enjoyable film with plenty of cool swing and jazz. It also includes Mantan Moreland in an unusual role for him as a gangster's henchman, though he still plays it light to add some humour to the film. 

The low budget and iffy acting can make the story a little hard to follow at times but this is a solid film with an exciting action packed ending.