House of Mystery (1931)

Early DC character The Phantom (Frank Readick) narrates another short but sweet crime drama.

The body of a young woman (Geneva Mitchell) is discovered by two hunters in a log cabin in the woods. Suspicion falls on the woman's husband John (James Craig) after it is revealed that she had been unfaithful. However, the woman's lover Gerald (Eddie Pbillips) and the family butler (Frank Austin) seem to be acting suspicious. There is something in the log cabin they don't want revealed...

A short feature that has a good little plot with a surprising twist. A very satisfying screen equivalent of a crime short story, though its probably a story that could have been expanded into a full-length feature.

The Terror Within (1989)

For a change the battered survivors fight a barren wasteland caused by a biological weapon instead of nukes.

Some sort of virus has escaped from a lab (probably not Covid) and wiped out most life on Earth. A few survivors, now immune, hide in a secure lab while violent mutants roam the wasteland. They discover a group of slain people, and a live girl (Yvonne Saa). The girl is pregnant, and to everyone's horror her baby isn't human... soon a fast growing mutant is loose in the base.

David (Andrew Stevens), Linda (Terri Treas) and the others are in a race against time to kill the mutant before it kills them. Unfortunately, the mutant seems virtually indestructible...

A low-budget science fiction movie, mostly involving running about an underground bunker set. The mutant actually looks pretty good and there is plenty of action and it is pretty entertaining. There isn't a lot of depth to the film but really that isn't the point of a film like this.

Find the Blackmailer (1943)

A bright and breezy crime drama involving a talking crow!

Mayoral candidate Rhodes (Gene Lockhart) comes to private investigator DL Trees (Jerome Cowan) with an unusual request. A talking crow owned by a man called Molner is being used to blackmail Rhodes which is threatening to scupper his election chances. 

Trees goes in search of Molner but finds the man has been killed by gangsters collecting a debt. But where is the crow? Maybe Molner's girlfriend Mona Vance (Faye Emerson) knows something...

This is a fine B-movie crime romp with the usual fast moving action and plenty of wise cracks. A well worn recipe seen in dozens of films of course but always entertaining. Jimmy the Crow is probably the real star on show.

Meteorites! (1998)

A somewhat tedious TV movie about meteorites which decide to bombard the same small American town.

Tom (Tom Wopat) is a retired bomb disposal officer (and as this is a TV movie of course he has demons in his past) who is called upon to investigate a series of unexplained house explosions. 

The mayor (Marshall Napier) is not interested in this though as the town is holding a UFO festival, it's big money spinner and the mayor needs the cash after some dodgy business loans. Tom discovers that the explosions are not due to gas leaks but from something from above. In fact a meteorite storm is targeting the town...

So, the science makes no sense whatsoever, and the film wastes too much time on side plots and irrelevance. Overall, this is a fairly insipid watch.

A Burglar to the Rescue (1931)

A neat little crime drama narrated by the early DC character The Shadow.

Banker Steve Corley (Thurston Hall) has been embezzling the bank so he can spend lavishly on his young mistress Marian (Charlotte Wynters), however the bank auditors are closing in. We learn that Steve has already framed a fellow bank worker for earlier money losses, but Marian will not run away with Steve and leaves in a huff. Then, a burglar (Frank Shannon) enters the bank, he is the man Steve framed (or thinks he is), together they concoct a plan where the burglar steals the contents of the safe then Steve can claim he took all of the missing funds. However, Detective Hurley (Arthur Aylesworth) is sceptical...

A short feature but packed with storyline, and narrated by The Shadow (Frank Readick) who has a very annoying voice. Many films outstay their welcome and would be better if they were shorter, this is one film which would have been better with a little extra time to explain the story. But very enjoyable all the same.