Fallguy (1962)

A rather inept drama though not without some highlights.

Sonny (Ed Dugan) is a cocky young man driving his convertible who happens upon an attempted road side murder of a gangster (G.J. Mitchell). Sonny ends up the prisoner of the man, but then dragged into a conspiracy involving a crooked doctor (Don Alderette) and police chief (Louis Gartner). Sonny is framed for the murder of the gangster and the powerful figures up against him means he needs some evidence. Can the doctor's daughter June (Madeline Frances) provide any of that?

The film is a bit shoddy around the edges with mysterious direction at times and patchy acting and plot, plus has the budget of a cheese burger. It does have a noir edge to it though, especially in the last act. Sonny and June do become characters you care about and you'll stick around to see if they survive. For a short film though it can be a bit of a drag.

God Told Me To (1976)

Somewhat confusing maybe, and switches between more genres than you can count, but somehow its brilliant.

A number of horrific random crimes are being committed in NY, the perpetrators all saying that "God" told them to commit the crimes before they usually die themselves. Detective Nicholas (Tony Lo Blanco) thinks there is something more than meets the eye to this and begins to track down the mysterious Bernard Philips (Richard Lynch) who has been seen speaking to the perpetrators and indeed may even be directing matters.

Nicholas' investigation goes into really strange territory when it includes alien impregnation! Nicholas also begins to discover some shocking details about his own life too...

So, the film starts off like it is going to be a gritty 1970s crime story, then becomes a horror with elements of the supernatural, then sci-fi. Then the film switches back to crime with a blaxploitation-esque sub-plot about a pimp (George Patterson) who kills a cop on the take. 

Oh, there is also a sub-plot about Nicholas and the two ladies (Deborah Raffin and Sandy Dennis) in his love triangle! The story is confusing, but fast moving and multi-layered. Its great!

Sign of the Wolf (1941)

A surprisingly enjoyable film about some very clever dogs and rather unscrupulous humans.

Judy (Grace Bradley) has two performing Alsatian dogs (Smokey and [Grey] Shadow). When the two dogs fight at a dog show, causing her to miss out on a prize she decides to sell Shadow much to the dismay of Ben (Mantan Moreland). He smuggles Shadow aboard the flight back to Canada. The plane crashes in bad weather. Shadow manages to bring help to Judy and Ben in the shape of Rod (Michael Whalen). 

However, where has Smoky gone? Unfortunately, Smoky has been grabbed by two thieves who want to use the dog to steal fox fur pelts...

This is a fun little film with some good heroic dog action and a growing romance in the snow bound Canadian woods. Low budget doesn't have to mean low quality (or vice versa) after all.

The Handmaid's Tale (1990)

A dark dystrophia, that in the thirty odd years since release doesn't seem quite so far fetched any more.

We are in the near future and it's dark times. America has fallen, replaced by the religious fundamentalist Gilead (though a civil war seems to be raging so not everywhere is under Gilead's control it seems). Pollution has wiped out much of human fertility, those women who can still give birth are now a valuable commodity, not that they see any of that value themselves of course. Women like Kate (Natasha Richardson) are trained to become obedient "handmaids", basically given to rich families to bear their children for them. 

Kate is given to the Commander (Robert Duvall) and his wife Serena (Faye Dunaway). Rough unpleasant sex with religious ceremonial overtones follows. Kate also strikes up a friendship with the Commander's driver Nick (Aiden Quinn). There is more to Nick than it at first seems, indeed more to Gilead's supposedly strict religious society than it at first seems too...

The world of Gilead is monstrous, especially because of so much that goes unexplained as much as what we see. Hypocrisy and violence is of course at the centre of the society which is well portrayed here. An excellent film.

In Old Santa Fe (1934)

Singing cowboys shenanigans in a contemporary Western (as in 1930s of course).

Kentucky (Ken Maynard) is a singing cowboy who gets involved in a horse race with his performing horse Tarzan. Unfortunately, the crooked gangster Chandler (Kenneth Thomson) and his friend Tracy (Wheeler Oakman) are also in town and Kentucky ends up being framed for murder and involvement in the robbery of a stagecoach. Kentucky needs the help of his sidekick Cactus (George Hayes)...

Not a bad western at all with some good good riding, decent humour (much in the form of sharp dialogue and wisecracks) and good tunes. Interestingly, Gene Autry sang the songs and this was his screen test.