Target Earth (1954)

An interesting take on the 1950s "alien invasion" theme. Nora (Kathleen Crowley) awakes after an attempted overdose, she finds all her neighbours seem to have gone, in fact the whole city seems to be empty! Finally she runs into Frank (Richard Denning), who also had been out of it for some time - though in his case due to a mugging. They explore the eerie empty city, finally they hear piano music and discover Jim (Richard Reeves) and Vicki (Virginia Gray) getting hammered in a bar!

Soon after the four discover something else is stalking the streets. The US has been invaded by a mysterious army of robots from outer space. The foursome flee to a hotel and hole up there until escaped convict Davis (Robert Roark) forces them to help him facilitate his own escape from the alien robots. Meanwhile the US Army races against time to find a counter to the robots, if they don't... well they are going to nuke the city!

This is a great sci-fi film, full of suspense with it's empty streets and air of mystery. A lot of that mystery is lost though when we finally see the robots, which are ridiculously clunky. However, this film is elevated above other films in it's sub-genre by how it explores the human reactions to an alien invasion not just lots of laser gun firing. A great little film.

Blood Theatre (1984)

Quite simply one of the most baffling films ever made. Murdock (Rob-roy Fletcher) adds another movie theatre to his chain, unfortunately it is one which was the scene of a massacre on the opening night. Murdock, when he is not being bullied by his "assistant" Miss Blackwell (Mary Woronov), sends some of his employees to prepare the theatre for re-opening. Jennifer (Jenny Cunningham), Adrian (Andrew Cofrin) and Malcolm (Daniel Schafer) all encounter much weirdness, such as flying movie film canisters and Jennifer even encounters a strange old man (Jonathan Blakely) who tries to strangle her.

The deaths begin as opening night nears, including sassy employees Selena (Joanna Foxx) and Darcy (Stephanie Dillard) - which is a bit of a shame because they are probably the best part of the film. Opening night itself becomes a bit of a blood bath with various and innovative methods of execution including decapitation by a projection room shutter. Jennifer encounters the old man again, and apparently she reminds him of someone from his past...

By then you won't really care as the film makes zero sense. It is hilarious though (and intentionally) with randomness and weirdness throughout. The film includes a fake trailer for Clown Whores of Hollywood. To be honest that film would probably have made more sense. A kind of genius.

Trapped (1949)

A taut and tough noir. The Feds are on a case of counterfeit dollar bills, they need the plates to stop the near perfect fake bills being printed. They arrange with the plate's creator Stewart (Lloyd Bridges), for him to help the Feds track down the plates in return for parole. The Feds arrange for him to "escape" and he links up with his old squeeze Dixon (Barbara Payton).

Unknown to Stewart and Dixon, the Feds already have a line on Dixon. Agent Downey is posing as small-time hustler Hackett (John Hoyt) and he arranges for himself to become part of Stewart's plan to get the plates back from Sylvester (James Todd). Downey and the Feds' plan runs into trouble when Stewart decides that escaping to Mexico with Dixon and a pile of cash is preferable to going back to the jail...

A great crime film with plenty of double dealing and intrigue, not a small amount of violence too. All you want in a really good noir crime film.

Towed in a Hole (1932)

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy decide to get a fishing boat... not that they get anywhere near the sea in this comedy short! 

The boat is bought from a junkyard and needs some work doing to it, of course nothing can go wrong there can it? Or should we say nothing can go right?

Stan and Ollie suffer various mishaps as they try and fix the boat, leading to a bit fall out between the guys. Finally, however the boat is ready to take to the docks... it is all going to OK now isn't it?

Not the best Laurel and Hardy comedy short though still very good fun with plenty of slapstick and comedy timing magic.

Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965)

A dark film indeed, a remarkable piece of 1960s noir and sleaze. Difficult and dangerous, a deep exploration of the dark side of humanity.

Norah (Juliet Prowse) is a DJ at a swinging New York club, not very hip though judging by the awkward dancing (more drugs obviously required, the later 1960s would help there). She starts receiving strange phone calls. Then, she realises she is being stalked as the caller knows everything about her and what she has been doing. He even breaks into her apartment to leave a broken teddy bear! Her stalker (Sal Mineo) is a co-worker and is obsessed with her and obsessed with sex, however unable to sexually function because of what happened to him in the past as a boy...

Lt. Madden (Jan Murray), on the vice squad, is investigating. He fills his apartment with all sorts of porn and filth to help him understand the sex criminal mind, but is this corrupting him too? It certainly seems to be corrupting his young daughter (Diane Moore) who starts using words she shouldn't be at her age.

A very moody and sleazy piece of work. Artily filmed in black and white though at times flirts with falling into self-parody. The film has a number of superb performances, including Elaine Stritch as a lesbian who befriends Norah though doesn't get much of what she was hoping for but a lot of what she wasn't. Mineo steals the show though as the bodybuilding weirdo who calls up his dream girl wearing just his tight shorts and sweating profusely, and goes looking for porn while his mentally retarded sister (Margot Bennett) is locked in a cupboard. A film that stretched taboos and is a compelling and irresistible watch though rather exploitative. It's riveting for sure.

The Severed Arm (1973)

An amazing film, an amazingly strange film too. It is a tale of revenge and psychological horror with a superb twist. 

A number of years before a group of friends get trapped as they explore a cave. As time goes on and they get hungrier, Jeff (David Cannon) has the idea that they eat each other. They draw lots and unfortunately Ted (Ray Dannis) is chosen to have his arm cut off and consumed. Of course just as soon as the arm is cut off the rescuers arrive. Jeff and the others (sans Ted who is rather annoyed) decide to concoct a cover story and say they cut off Ted's arm to save his life...

Now a number of years later Jeff receives a horrific present in the mail, a severed arm! He finds out Ted has left the mental hospital he has been in and must plan a revenge. One by one the others are killed in various macabre ways, finally just Jeff is left with Ted's daughter Teddy (Deborah Walley), who has been helping him. Well Jeff thinks she has been helping him...

The twist is immense when it happens (though can be seen coming a mile off). The film is dripping with menace and suspense, assisted by a superb synthesiser led soundtrack. The only real criticism you can make of this film is that a little too much takes place in the dark and it is difficult to tell quite what is going on. Weird but great.

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

The first in the Hammer series of Frankenstein films, and the first Hammer film in colour. With the help of his former tutor and friend Paul (Robert Urquhart), Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) conducts a series of ever more extreme medical experiments. Frankenstein's ultimate aim is to create life, Paul increasingly wants out especially when Frankenstein starts to steal human body parts in order to create the "perfect man"...

Paul tries to convince Frankenstein's fiance (Hazel Court) to leave, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Frankenstein manages to create a monster of true horror (Christopher Lee) but with a damaged brain. The monster manages to escape and kill, forcing Paul to kill it. However, Frankenstein resurrects his creature which ends up killing his creator's mistress Justine (Valerie Gaunt)...

Although the film starts off a bit slowly, once the creature makes it's debut the film transforms into a truly remarkable horror. Wonderfully macabre.