Return of the Jedi (1983)

The third Star Wars film, a great ending to the saga but also when things started to go wrong.

The Rebel alliance was reeling after the last instalment in the saga, the Empire driving them to the outer reaches, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) frozen and given to Jabba the Hutt and Luke (Mark Hamill) discovering the horror that Darth Vader (David Prowse/David Earl Jones) was his father. 

But the Rebels are fighting back, Luke and Leia (Carrie Fisher) rescue Han and then link up with the regrouped Rebel fleet which is about to attack the second Death Star, the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) himself is on board...

This is an all-action ending to the original trilogy of the film, which ties up most of the trilogy's plot threads nicely. However, it is also where the Star Wars franchise started to go wrong. The inclusion of the Ewoks can be a bit jarring, only the fact the rest of the story is taking place at the same time can make the Ewoks story tolerable. The big reveal that Luke and Leia were twin siblings does make their snog in the previous film interesting...

It is of course brilliant (though not quite as brilliant as the previous two films), and the perfect end to the saga. It is a shame they had to change that a few decades later.

Just Before Dawn (1946)

Part of the Crime Doctor series of films. Dr Ordway becomes involved in an interesting murder case.

Dr Ordway (Warner Baxter) is called to assist a diabetic neighbour who has collapsed at a house party, but the man dies after being given insulin. It is later found that the syringe was spiked with a poison. Ordway begins his investigation, with there being plenty of potential suspects at the party. 

He begins to unravel a complicated plot involving wanted criminals receiving plastic surgery to help them change their identity...

This is one of the better entries in the Crime Doctor series, the story being well structured and taking Ordway in some interesting directions including faking an injury and also adopting a disguise. 

Valley of the Dragons (1961)

A Jules Verne adaptation which leaves no stock footage left unused.

Hector (Cesare Denova) and Michael (Sean McClory) are about to fight a duel when a comet transports them to the Moon! There they find a prehistoric land of large lizards with bits of plastic stuck to them and unconvincing cave men... and of course cave women in fur bikinis. 

So, this isn't a very high budget film. It is padded out massively with stock footage from other films. The dinosaur scenes are not very convincing and rather cruel, getting real crocodiles to kill lizards on camera! It is all fairly cheesy and, of course, complete nonsense. 

King of the Zombies (1941)

Spooky goings on at cliché island.

After the plane carrying James (Dick Purcell), Bill (John Archer) and Jeff (Mantan Moreland) is forced to land in bad weather on a mysterious island they are met by Dr Sangre (Henry Victor) who apparently lives there as an Austrian exile. Something weird is going on, including zombies wandering the place and women in traces appearing and disappearing before our heroes very eyes! There is a dark secret on the island involving voodoo rituals, hypnotism and the quest for secret plans...

A voodoo/zombie romp which clicks every cliché box and being a film of it's time there is a enemy agent sub-plot, but is a fine enough film with a fast moving if unoriginal plot. Mantan Moreland makes the film as the cast is otherwise quite bland, though competent. Most of the humour comes from him, though some of it may be dated and a bit stereotype these days.

Nine Deaths of the Ninja (1985)

Ninja nonsense in the jungle.

A group of American tourists are kidnapped on a tour of the Philippines by a band of terrorists led by a crazed nazi (Blackie Dammett) and his lieutenant who is apparently called Honey Hump (Regina Richardson)! 

The terrorists want the release of a brutal madman, the US government sent three of their special agents who have martial art skills including Spike (Sho Kosugi) who was kicked out of ninja school but wants to prove himself.

This is a very silly film but once you treat it as a comedy spoof it makes a lot more sense. The plot though makes very little sense and is filled with bizarre scenes and tangents. The actual fighting, especially the ninja scenes, are nothing special but competently done. A curiously odd film, not brilliant but certainly memorable.