I Believe in Santa Claus (1984)

A Christmas movie with a bit of a difference. Simon (Emeric Chapulis) is sad for a number of reasons, including being bullied at school, menaced by the evil caretaker and because his parents are missing in Africa. He writes his letter to Santa asking for him to bring them back. When he and his friend Elodie (Alexia Haudrot) end up on a plane to Lapland, he gets to meet Santa (Armand Meffre) and ask him to help for real!

Santa goes to Africa (this isn't narrowed down any, let's face is "Africa" is quite a big place) with the Good Fairy (Karen Chéryl) - who also looks rather like Simon's teacher at school, must be a coincidence. Once in Africa, Santa and the Fairy discover Simon's parents are being held hostage by some rebels. To get them freed, Santa needs the help of some children with guns (yes this is a strange Christmas movie!) Meanwhile, in Lapland Simon and Elodie have wandered off and are about to be eaten by an Evil Ogre (Dominique Hulin)!

Although a bit odd at times, this is a lovely Christmas movie which doesn't overdo the saccharine. Karen Chéryl also provides a number of musical numbers in her various guises. 

He Walked by Night (1948)

A superb crime drama, showing the real life of a detective (i.e. much of the time it's pretty boring paperwork!) After a policeman is shot by Roy Martin (Richard Basehart), Captain Breen (Roy Roberts) and Sergeants Marty Brennan (Scott Brady) and Chuck Jones (James Cardwell) are put on the case. However, Martin has no record, leaves no traces, and knows police procedures. Finding him proves to be impossible, even after a sting to try and capture him when he goes to pick up his loot fails. Marty wonders if Martin is a cop and a long trawl through personnel records begins...

The film is shot in semi-documentary format with a voice over and more detail given to police procedures than was common in crime films at the time. This includes the early use of a photo-fit and forensic examination of cartridge cases. It isn't all CSI 1948 though, there is plenty of action including a final chase and shoot out in the LA storm drains.

The criminal Martin is also different to the usual wise guys and hardened criminals shewn in crime films of the time, Martin is a loner and a bit of a sociopath. His cool and calculated method makes finding him all the harder. A tense and atmospheric film.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

(Unintentionally) hilarious big game hunter nonsense... where the game is man (and woman).

Bob (Joel McCrea) is on a yacht which hits the rocks by a mysterious island, he is the only survivor and discovers a fort on the island owned by a Russian count (with a Scottish accent) Zaroff (Leslie Banks). The count introduces Bob to two other survivors from an earlier shipwreck Martin (Robert Armstrong) and Eve (Fay Wray). Zaroff then goes on at length about his obsession with hunting...

Eve though tells Bob she suspects foul play on the island, fears confirmed when Martin is soon found dead. Zaroff is indeed a hunter but he hunts humans. He sets Bob and Eve off into the wild and prepares to hunt them in a game of death...

Although the film does verge dangerously close to complete tosh, this is at times an exciting film with a decent bit of jungle action, especially some of the later chase scenes as the camera passes through the jungle. The characters are all rather two-dimensional though, apart from Zaroff who is hilariously over the top. Fast moving and efficient, a flawed but enjoyable film.

Neutron vs. the Death Robots (1962)

An example of the rather strange genre of the luchador movie. Where masked Mexican wrestlers appear in movies as super heroes and villains, and do a decent job of it too.

Neutron (Wolf Ruvinskis) is a crime fighting super hero who recently defeated the similarly masked but evil Dr Caronte (Julio Aleman). Caronte, however was not killed and has returned with a new plot to revive the brains of three dead scientists. With the help of their knowledge, the help of the alive scientist Professor Thomas (Jack Taylor) and his army of robot mutants, Caronte plans to build the ultimate bomb. Oh he also had a midget assistant called Nick.

In between various musical interludes starring Nora (Rosita Arenas), Dr Caronte sends his army to gather the chemicals he requires to build his bomb. Then the bomb goes missing at the airport...

A very odd film indeed. The final fight between Neutron and Dr Caronte is very good (and goes on for a long time) but much of the rest of the film is rather slow and disjointed and doesn't make a lot of sense.

The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)

A quality early 1970s horror. In the 17th century farmer Ralph (Barry Andrews) is minding his own business when his plough unearths a fiendish creature's remains. Thus begins a dark tale of Satanic possession and witchcraft. Young local girl Angel (Linda Hayden) becomes the servant of the Dark One and lures other youngsters into her coven, giving them the (hairy) demonic skin and in some cases leading them to their doom...

The Judge (Patrick Wymark) is at first sceptical but soon he learns of the real dark power of Satan and only he can save the village from destruction...

A dark, sordid and sexy tale of evil (well you certainly see plenty of young female flesh). Although the story isn't highly original (early 70s British horror was full of Satanic witchcraft) this is a very well made example of the genre with excellent performances. The only real criticism is that the final showdown is rather underwhelming but that doesn't stop the film being one of the best British horror films of the period.

Santa Claus (1898)

Possibly the earliest appearance of Santa Claus in a film, he is noticeably not quite as rotund as later on (all those mince pies obviously). A short simple film made by George Albert Smith showing Santa Claus visiting a couple of children at Christmas (sound asleep of course), but with some interesting camera effects especially for the day. A simple and lovely way to show the magic of Christmas.

Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)

A horror spy comedy which combines several genres to produce something truly awful. After the Communists have taken over Cuba, the regime are fleeing with the state gold reserves. They hire a criminal in Renzo (Antony Carbone) to get the loot overseas, but he wants the money for himself and concocts a bizarre plot to start killing off the Cuban guards with an invented sea monster... unfortunately there is a real sea monster who is also bumping them off.

All this is being observed by secret agent XK150 (Robert Towne) who is part of the crew, though is pretty clueless. Renzo schemes to get the boat caught on the rocks so he can get the loot. However, he didn't plan on there being a real monster...

This is pretty strange stuff, an obvious parody but the problem is that it just isn't very funny. The best humour is provided by sardonic moll Mary-Bell (Betsy Jones-Moreland), plus also the sheer ridiculousness of the monster. There is also a gang member who brays like a animal instead of speaking. Very weird.