Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)

A low-key horror film of twisted medical experiments, slow moving but one worth waiting for to get to the end.

Dr Peter Blood (Kieron Moore) arrives back at the sleepy Cornish village he grew up in, having left a medical research facility in Vienna for some reason. Meanwhile men are disappearing, though Peter is keen to help the police especially when a man turns up dying. Later he is discovered during the autopsy conducting a bizarre medical experiment. He thinks he can bring the dead back to life.

When his girlfriend Linda (Hazel Court) discovers what he is doing she is repulsed. Peter plans to bring Linda's dead husband back to life to finish his experiment...

For much of this film this is more of a mystery than a horror. The film is perfectly paced and gradually builds up to a fine macabre final act with a big twist. 

The Pawnshop (1916)

More Charlie Chaplin mayhem, this time in a pawnshop where Charlie works.

Charlie causes a mess at the shop while "cleaning" (including destroying his feather duster in an electric fan). This enrages his fellow shop assistant (John Rand) with whom Charlie seems to have a hate-hate relationship. More trouble comes though when a customer (Albert Austin) brings in a clock for examination which Charlie destroys...

The usual antics and slapstick. Chaplin hadn't quite perfected his comedy short formula though was getting there. This one is a fine viewing though had a little too much pointless slap and not quite enough story explaining why.

Puberty Blues (1981)

A tale of Aussie teen life in the early 1980s, which seems to have consisted of a lot of surf and a lot of sex.

Sue (Jad Capelja) and Debbie (Nell Schofield) are teenage girls living in the suburbs of Sydney. Their lives consist of cheating in exams (by writing the answers on their thighs), smoking in school toilets and hanging out on the beach with dumb guys who are only really interested in surf and want girls to serve their needs in various ways. The girls are desperate to be in the cool clique and not with the loser geeks (naturally). It is a vacuous life of course, the grown-ups try their best to put the youth on the straight and narrow. 

But never mind all that, the story is told from the point of view of the teens and, while artistically it won't uproot any trees, the film is strangely engaging and quite nostalgic for anyone who was a teen in the 1980s. The film has a fairly light touch, plenty of comedy though the more you know of 80s Aussie pop culture and life the more jokes you'll get. By the way there was nothing wrong with being a loser geek in the 80s, you just end up writing a blog like this one.,,

The Doughboy (1926)

A silly little comedy short. Snub Pollard joins the US Army in World War 1 and soon, this "Doughboy" (as US soldiers were called at the time) has been sent to the front line even if his training is a series of disasters. His front line service is also a disaster, he spends most of his time trying to avoid being captured by the Germans. 

The film has plenty of inventive comedy situations though it does start to get a bit tedious and repetitive by the end. Not a top tier silent comedy but perfectly fine as a shirt feature and does raise plenty of smiles.

I, Monster (1971)

A re-telling of the Jekyll & Hyde story, though though renamed Marlowe & Blake for some reason. An enjoyable horror.

Dr Marlowe (Christopher Lee) is a follower of the ideas of Freud and has developed a serum which can remove inhibitions. The first person he tries it on, a young woman, removes all of her clothes. For some reason Marlowe decided to continue his experiments on himself. He becomes a craved vicious thug with a deformed face who haunts the streets of Old London Town called Mr Blake...

Marlowe's friend Utterson (Peter Cushing) is starting to suspect things are not right with Marlowe. As for the Doctor, prolonged use of the serum begin to push him over the edge and out of control...

This is a good version of Jekyll & Hyde, with the Victorian feel down to a tee. Christopher Lee gives his usual excellent performance in a British horror of the period though the film falls short of being truly great. The action is often a bit static and Cushing could have done with more of a role. 

In the Line of Fire (1993)

This is a superbly tense thriller involving the protection... and assassination of US presidents.

Frank (Clint Eastwood) is a grizzled old Secret Service agent, his claim to fame/infamy was that he was present when JFK was shot. Frank discovers a plot to kill the current president who is seeking re-election. Nothing too unusual there but it soon transpires that this is not a normal threat to POTUS. Frank begins a cat and mouse chase with a mysterious and deadly foe called Leary (John Malkovich) who will stop at nothing to achieve his aims.

As the election campaign reaches it's final stages, Leary prepares to strike. Can Frank stop him and gain redemption (and get his leg-over with fellow agent Lilly (Rene Russo))?

Leary's plot is pretty intricate and maybe slightly far fetched (though his amazing abilities are later explained). Eastwood does a great turn as the veteran with plenty of past demons, Malkovich superbly dark and menacing. 

Jail Bait (1954)

A rather strange and technically terrible but very watchable little crime drama, directed by Ed Wood Jr - say no more!

Don (Clancy Malone) is the son of eminent plastic surgeon Dr Gregor (Herbert Rawlinson), but Don has chosen the world of low rent crime with Vic Brady (Timothy Farrell). After a robbery goes wrong, Don and Vic are now on the run for murder of a police officer. Vic kills Don when the son wants to give himself up. With the police in the form of Johns (Lyle Talbot) searching for him, Vic forces Dr Gregor to use his skills to change his appearance. When the bandages are finally removed, Vic has a real shock!

A clumsy film with indifferent acting and dialogue, static staging, a curiously sparse soundtrack which seems to come from a completely different film and a basic plot. However, the twist is great (even if you see if coming a mile off). A perfectly watchable film, despite everything.