The Drums of Jeopardy (1931)

A somewhat creaky early talkie though worth seeing for Warner Oland in a pre-Charlie Chan role, here he plays a mad Russian scientist bent on revenge.

He wants revenge on the Russian Petrov princes (Lloyd Hughes and Wallace Macdonald) who he thinks caused the death of his daughter. After the Revolution the Petrovs are in exile in America and the mad scientist is now released from the gulag and has the help of the Bolsheviks...

He possesses jewels of the Petrovs called the Drums of Jeopardy, he promises to return the jewels to the family one by one as he disposes of them.

The jewels are cursed (naturally), it's said that if one of the drums is separated from the others whoever receives it dies within twenty-four hours...

There follows some murky goings on, some bumpings off and other evil schemes. The action isn't that great though certainly atmospheric and the acting (especially by Oland) a bit over the top but it is a fascinating film. Oland's character was Dr Boris Karlov, it's said that Boris Karloff got the idea for his screen name after reading the original novel.

Radar Men from the Moon (1952) (Serial)

Commando Cody (George Wallace) wears a rocket suit and also flies a rocket ship. In this exciting serial he is sent to the moon where the evil Retik (Roy Barcroft) plans to conquer Earth using his advanced atomic weapons. Although as usual with these kind of things, for all that high-tech advancement nothing can defeat good old American fisticuffs (as Captain Kirk proved later on, only his fists could save the universe).

As this is a serial (of twelve parts) of course it is fast moving and basically a series of action set pieces with cliffhangers. Can Cody escape being blown up or melted by lava? Find out next week!

Radar Men from the Moon reused a lot of footage from earlier serials. The rocket suit scenes for example were reused from King of the Rocketmen. Visually though this serial is a treat, spaceships with fins, laboratories fill of sparking equipment and mysterious dials. Most of the action is a series of somewhat lower-tech punch-ups though.

The Murder in the Museum (1934)

A "museum" - more correctly a rather flimsy freakshow of knife throwers, mind readers, a conjuror (Henry B. Walthall) and belly dancers - is under investigation from the city council. Much to the show manager's consternation as his show is a front for drug running...

When councilman Newgate (Sam Flint) is shot dead suspicion falls on a man with no arms but can fire guns with his feet (really!) But then Police Commissioner Brandon (Joseph Girard), a political rival of the victim, is suspected of the crime...

Brandon's niece Lois (Phyllis Barrington) teams up with plucky reporter Jerry Ross (John Harron) to find the real killer. Take away the freak show element then the film is a pretty basic murder mystery with Golden Age touches but it is pretty well done and the "museum" is hilarious. Especially when it re-opens after the murder with a big banner advertising that punters can see where Newgate was shot!

Troll 2 (1990)

Troll 2 is often listed among the worst films of all time, so is it? Troll 2 is a basic horror film involving murderous little goblins (not trolls - there are no actual trolls in the movie despite the title) terrorising a family in the middle of nowhere....

So the set-up seems fine for a basic horror flick, but what makes Troll 2 stand out is just how badly it was all executed. The plot, dialogue, acting and camerawork are all terrible... but happily it is so terrible as to be actually very entertaining.

Some examples of the (real) terror include a fly very visibly landing on an actor's forehead and the director not bothering to redo the shot. One of the main actors was a dentist (George Hardy) who turned up at filming for a laugh and ended up being made the lead. The goblins are defeated by eating a ham sandwich... Then there is Grandpa Seth (Robert Ormsby) who surely is one of the weirdest movie characters ever.

So it's utterly terrible, but so compelling. So it is one of the best worst movies of all time. Did I mention there is a scene where the boy starts urinating on the family's dinner?

Paradise Express (1937)

A small railroad run by grouchy Jed Carson (Harry Davenport) is facing bankruptcy due to the underhand tactics of a trucking company. Receiver Larry Doyle (Grant Withers) has been bought in not knowing it is the work of the crooked trucking boss (Donald Kirke) and part of his plan to get rid of the railroad and gain a freight monopoly.

Doyle, after a slightly fractious start with Jed and his granddaughter Kay (Dorothy Appleby), gets to work trying to save the railroad company despite the odds against him...

A neat little morality play of the type common at the time (when big business when hitting the real guy for real in 1930s America). The clerk Trotter (Arthur Hoyt) provides some comic relief.

Boot Hill Bandits (1942)

The Range Busters were a trio of cowboys who made no fewer than twenty four movies in the early 1940s.

Marshal Corrigan (Ray Corrigan) turns up in Sundance and sets up a shooting date with the Mesquite Kid (I. Stanford Jolly) whom he promptly despatches but really he is in town to investigate the mysterious Bolton (John Merton) whom he thinks is up to no good but isn't the real leader of the gang. When Bolton's men blow up a mine payroll wagon Corrigan is thought to be killed. However he is still alive and with the help of his fellow Range Busters (John King and Max Terhune) investigate the gang and uncover the real mastermind.

It is a rather straight forward but enjoyable Western, simple cowboy adventures with a ventriloquist dummy (yes that's right Max Terhune's dummy Elmer).

Danger Lights (1930)

An early talkie and one of the earliest films filmed in widescreen though that version no longer survives. It is a story of romance and railroads, lots of railroads.

Dan Thorn (Louis Wolheim) is a tough - to an almost ridiculous stereotypical degree - railroad boss. During the clear-up of an accident he recruits (or rather press gangs) hobo Larry Doyle (Robert Armstrong) into working for him.

Despite his resistance Larry stays on with the company but a complication occurs when he falls in love with Mary (Jean Arthur) who is Dan's fiancee. Naturally Dan isn't too happy about the competition...

Although the story and plot isn't too much to get excited about being a fairly basic love triangle with a bit of railroad peril though isn't bad, the acting and dialogue delivery is sometimes a bit off as is usual for an early talkie but not always. Where this film really flies is the railway footage, quite simply it's brilliant (no bland stock footage here) and some of it very rare.