Blood Street (1988)

Terrific straight-to-video nonsense.

Joe Wong (Leo Fong) is a private investigator hired by the wife (Kym Paige) of a hoodlum MacDonald (Stan Wertlieb) to find her missing husband. 

Joe soon finds himself drawn into a complicated, and somewhat bewildering, gang war between MacDonald and rival gang leader Boyd (Richard Norton). Joe having to use his martial arts skills to protect himself from the gangsters and crooked cops...

The film does not make a lot of sense (or any sense at times) but it is great fun. The martial arts and other action scenes are high impact and well done, the story line (such that it is) does not get in the way of the action scenes, the next of which is never far away. It is low budget, sleazy, incomprehensible and cheap.

And it is brilliant.

The Brighton Strangler (1945)

A rather dark, if somewhat implausible, tale of murder in the dark streets during the Blitz.

Reginald Parker (John Loder) is a successful stage actor though he is starting to tire of his role as a murderer, the Brighton Strangler. 

When he is hit on the head during a bombing raid on London he has amnesia but a chance enounter unlocks a memory in his brain and he now believes that he is really the Brighton Strangler! He heads to Brighton and begins to kill for real...

A dark tale and the medical details are somewhat ridiculous, but the film is pretty atmospheric and well directed though the short film can drag a bit at times. The ending is particularly memorable.

Dance Hall Racket (1953)

An appalling piece of exploitative sleaze.

A criminal is killed at a dodgy night club owned by Tim Farrell (Umberto Scalli) with Vincent (Lenny Bruce) as his murderous henchman (who is very handy with a knife). 

A Federal agent is sent in to investigate and he discovers the club is a front for a diamond smuggling racket. Vincent meanwhile has plans to replace his boss permanently...

This is pretty grim stuff, badly acted and plotted. The cheese factor is high but when a dog (which doesn't do much other than lie around) outacts most of the humans then you know things are bad...

The sheer ridiculousness can be compelling at times but "so bad it's good" can only take you so far.

The Take (1974)

A cool tale of a crooked cop who still wants to take the hoodlums down.

Detective Sneed (Billy Dee Williams) arrives in New Mexico to help out the local police who are struggling with the mob led by Manso (Vic Morrow). 

Unfortunately, Sneed is already on the take and has the help of Oscar (Sorrell Brooke - aka Boss Hogg!) to handle the ill gotten gains. Other cops are also on the criminal payroll and Sneed plays a dangerous game taking the gangster cash while also giving the appearance he is doing his job - or is he really doing it?

This is a great film, even if the plot is a bit basic and doesn't make complete sense at times. It is very stylish, likely taking inspiration from blaxploitation films, and has plenty of action as well as plenty of heart. Williams plays a good role.

Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It (1941)

The third and (unfortunately) final Inspector Hornleigh film.

Britain is at war and Inspector Hornleigh (Gordon Harker) wants to join the hunt for fifth columnists but instead he and Bingham (Alastair Sim) are sent undercover into the army to find out who is stealing army jam! 

However, soon Hornleigh is on the trail of suspected nazi spies, the trail leading to a suspicious dentist then an even more suspicious school and then a thrilling finale on a Royal Mail train...

It is a shame they never made any more Hornleigh films as Harker and Sim had great chemistry together and the film has a perfect mix of serious police work and humour.