Illegal (1932)

Rather melodramatic perhaps but an interesting look at the murky world of illegal bars and gambling dens.

Mrs Dean (Isobel Elsom) kicks out her no-good husband (DA Clarke-Smith) but then received a windfall from the race track. She uses the money to buy a failed bar, making money with after hours drinking and illegal gambling in order to fund her two daughters' good education. She eventually gets caught but by then her daughters have grown up and taken over the club. However, their troubles have only just begun, especially when their step-father re-enters their lives...

This is actually a rather sordid film at times, even including a bit of incest! The acting is a bit erratic, though good at times. The mechanisms of a club of ill repute plus the humour here and there enlivens the film. It can't be called good, but it can be called interesting.

The Amazing Colossal Man (1957)

A radiation mutated (naturally) man menaces Los Angeles.

Colonel Manning (Glenn Langan) somehow survives a close-by nuclear test blast and begins to grow, he becomes an (amazing) colossal man. Unfortunately his brain has also been affected and he becomes very dangerous, and hungry. Egged on by his wife Carol (Cathy Downs), the US military don't just try and kill him. Though when Manning escapes he begins a rampage across Los Angeles.

Yet another giant mutated creature causes havoc, shown using some ropey cheap special effects. For a change the monster is human and not a giant insect or spider. This is a campy film with a big helping of cheese. 

It is nonsense and fairly entertaining though Manning spends a good deal of the film groaning and moaning and it does get a bit tedious after a while.

The Phantom Shot (1947)

The audience gets involved in this fine little murder mystery that helps elevate a basic plot into something more.

After an unpopular county gentleman (Ronald Adam) is shot dead in his house, Inspector Webb (John Stuart) is called to investigate. Unusually he speaks to the camera and asks us the audience to follow the case and see if we can guess who did the murder. Webb works his way through a list of suspects who all have their various reasons to hate the victim or who had the opportunity. Can you guess who was guilty?

To be honest i didn't although i suspected it was someone unlikely, mostly because it usually is! A basic little police procedural that doesn't outstay it's welcome, not Earth shattering but very competent and the (somewhat) interactive element by breaking the fourth wall helps make it stand out.

The House That Would Not Die (1970)

A rather engaging little horror TV movie. 

Ruth (Barbara Stanwyck) and her niece Sara (Kitty Winn) move into an old house. After a rather fraught seance and a painting which falls on a fire, they discover that the house is possessed by two ghosts who appear to be of two people who died in the American Revolutionary War. 

As the hauntings and disturbing antics continue, Ruth and Sara begin to unravel the dark secrets and mysterious circumstances deep in the house's past...

This is a great little ghost story full of atmosphere and growing menace. It might have only had a small budget but it made the most of it and has some good performances especially from Stanwyck.

Light of Day (1987)

The well-worn story of two young people struggling between the pressures of family life and the fantasy of rock and roll.

Joe (Michael J Fox) and Patti (Joan Jett) are young siblings who have the dreams of rock stardom to help them escape the mundanity of their lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Their mother (Gena Rowlands) would rather they got normal jobs as they might then get paid. However, it is when they are performing on stage then they can escape...

There isn't a great deal to this film, its fine (and occasionally cheesy and overly cloying) if not brilliant. Fox and Jett work together well as a convincing pair of close siblings.

Joan Jett in particular plays a good role, you would think an actual rock star would always be able to play a rock star on screen however, as we have seen so often in movies so many fail at it, but Jett nails it.