Encounters in the Deep (1979)

The Bermuda Triangle where boats and people disappear without trace? Well that includes Miles' (Gabriele Ferzetti) daughter on a holiday. He funds Peters (Manuel Zarzo) and Scott (Andres Garcia) to mount an expedition to find just what is going on. Peters thinks it is extraterrestrials...

It sounds promising, unfortunately this Italian-Spanish co-production does not really go anywhere apart from aimlessly travelling around the sea and seeing underwater lights.

There is something strange going on but the motley crew on the boat seem pretty ill-equipped to handle it. A crew man is possessed and many strange things happen including a whole freighter vanishing, however only the ship's dog (who also seems the only one who can act in this film) seems to know what is going on. It is total nonsense of course, and lacks much in the way of coherence or suspense. The special effects are also laughable. I quite enjoyed it.

Shatter (1974)

An attempt by Hammer Films to cash in on the early 1970s martial arts craze, Shatter stars Stuart Whitman as Shatter, an assassin who is double crossed when trying to collect his money after a successful hit in Hong Kong. He ends up on the run and being menaced by... basically everyone including the security services led by Peter Cushing.

Along the way Shatter is helped by kung-fu master Ti Lung and love interest Lily Lee through a series of fights (the fights are actually pretty good) until he gets his dollars... or gets killed.

Well the plot isn't very complicated and the story is stretched out a bit but the overall film isn't bad at all though a bit ridiculous. The main problem is Whitman looks too much of a wreck to be a supposedly top-notch hitman who can survive fighting the mob and everyone else (luckily Ti Lung does most of the fighting for him). Still if you can suspend disbelief long enough then the film is enjoyable. The nostalgia for HK is strong with this one.

When Thief Meets Thief (1937)

Also known as Jump for Glory this romantic drama stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr as a thief who falls in love with Valerie Hobson (while he is trying to steal her jewels) who ends up breaks off her engagement to Alan Hale.

Douglas wants to go straight and settle down with Valerie but she is forced to return to Alan - who is not really a respectable businessman but really Douglas' ex-partner-in-crime and nemesis from the US...

A light and energetic film, although the three leads are all crooks in different ways actual criminal activities do not feature highly in the film. The film has an interesting take on a love triangle.

Impulse (1954)

Alan Curtis is Arthur, a bored estate agent in a Sussex village who hates his humdrum regular life. He crosses paths with the sexy Lila (Constance Smith) who must get to London and is being followed by the police.

She is mixed up with a jewel robbery and Arthur decides to follow the excitement instead of returning to his dull life. Arthur's naivety gets him into ever greater trouble as Lila finds it easy to manipulate him...

It is an enjoyable little B-movie exploring the tedium of normal life and the temptation of the darker side. The seedy streets of London contrasting with the innocence of the shires. The story has some nice twists and turns with the two leads giving great performances. The only problem with the film is that it does stretch credibility a bit, especially the forgiveness of Arthur's wife at the end!

The Floorwalker (1916)

Charlie Chaplin becomes a prototype Captain Peacock in this short silent movie. It is set in a department store which is being ripped off by it's manager (Eric Campbell) and floorwalker (Lloyd Bacon). Chaplin unwittingly foils their plan and, as he looks almost identical to Bacon, takes his place as the floorwalker while Bacon is arrested.

There then follows much slapstick as Campbell tries to get his bag of money back. Much of the mayhem involves an escalator, the film being the first to employ the running staircase gag (where people running on the escalator remain in the same spot).

Kong Island (1968)

Low budget monkey business in a film that is not about King Kong, or set on an island. It stars Brad Harris as a mercenary who is enlisted to help a girl (Ursula Davis) on a big game hunt in a forbidden jungle who has been kidnapped by gorillas.

These arn't normal gorillas though (as that obviously wouldn't be bad enough), these are cyborg gorillas. The slaves of a mad scientist bent on world domination, or at least kidnapping a young girl for nookie.

Naturally the film is unintentionally hilarious and makes little sense. It makes even less sense when we come across Eva (Esmeralda Barros) who has apparently been raised by monkeys and is regarded as some kind of loincloth clad god. It is not altogether clear why they needed to add a jungle girl to an already confusing film about revenge, mercenaries, kidnaps, mad scientists and gorillas... maybe they thought they just needed some more near naked female flesh.

Black Shampoo (1976)

Black Shampoo is a film about a hairdresser, however as it is a  blaxploitation film the hairdresser spends most of his time sleeping with his female clients and ends up fighting the mob.

It stars John Daniels as the hairdresser/stud who ends up getting into trouble when he falls for his new receptionist Tanya Boyd. She has walked out on a gangster who naturally doesn't take no for answer.

So that is the story, the reality is the film is just a massive slab of sleazy cheese. Sex and gratuitious nudity punctuated by violence and ridiculous stereotypes a plenty. It isn't a film to bore though as everything proceeds at a high rate of knots. It is total nonsense of course but made very bearable by the sheer cool and a nice 70s soul/pop soundtrack.