A True Mob Story (1998)

Andy Lau plays a somewhat unusual character in HK triad films: the loser triad member. As a minor boss he's more like the whipping boy for the smug elder bosses who basically treat him like a gopher and ration his pay. His wife was killed several years before by a vile thug Andy half blinded but his son is looked after by mamasan Suki Kwan.

As Andy gets dragged further and further into trouble he meets barrister Gigi Leung... who just happens to be the girlfriend of Alex Fong, the cop who's out to bust Andy! (HK movies are always full of such amazing coincidences). Gigi falls in love with the lovable Triad boss putting her career at risk, naturally, but is it two-way?

The thug who killed Andy's wife makes a comeback and puts Andy in peril, but the bosses won't help and he finds himself the fall guy for a drugs operation. Now what...

Its a Wong Jing film so you know what to expect: violence, lots of it, especially against women. Blood, gore, death, sexual violence and torture. He delivers though with this film, one of his best films. All in all this is an excellent HK triad film, very well played by Andy Lau.

The Trap (1922)

Also known as "Heart of a Wolf", this film stars Lon Chaney as Gaspard, a happy go lucky if rather simple minded miner in Quebec with an idyllic family life with his girl Thalie (Dagmar Godowsky). However things soon go wrong when Benson (Alan Hale) arrives on the scene. He ends up stealing Gaspard's mine and his woman!

Gaspard, his life crushed, spends several years in a dark depression. In that time karma seems to have bit back at Benson and Thalie hard who are both on the downward curve. The mine is struggling and her health is failing fast. Lon, meanwhile, now has a heart set on revenge instead of happiness...

Its rather formulaic and melodramatic and Chaney overplays Gaspard's character somewhat with his famous facial expressions but this is a decent enough film. Somewhat improbable but undeniably compelling.

The Road to Ruin (1934)

A rather unsubtle but engaging morality play. Ann (Helen Foster) is a good college girl devoted to her studies and parents. However she is befriended by Eve (Nell O'Day) who has a rather looser attitude to life. Ann starts to drink, smoke and has awkward sex with Tommy (Glen Boles)...

Well its a slippery slope of course. Its not long before Ann and Eve are drunks, drug addicts and Ann is sleeping around with a bad older man (Paul Page). There is worse to come for poor Ann...

Luckily this film is more sincere than an exploitation film though does take time to get going. There is a sad inevitability about innocent Ann's downfall. Its a story as old as the hills: it always ends up being the girl's fault.

Castle in the Desert (1942)

Unstable historian Paul Manderley (Douglas Dumbrille) lives in a castle deep in the desert cut off from the outside world. A visitor dies of poison one night and the death is covered up by Manderley due to Mrs Manderley (Lenita Lane) being a Borgia and having a past linked to poison. Then Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is mysteriously invited to the castle...

For an isolated country house... er... castle there certainly seems to be a motley collection of guests including a doctor, a sculptor and a private detective. Number 2 son (Victor Sen Yung) is also there to help with an eccentric mystic (Ethel Griffies) tagging along to "help".

It is all a glorious muddle and a shameless romp reusing every "Middles Ages" prop the studio had in it's store including two suits of armour! A great, if unoriginal, example of a dark house mystery.

Thunder in the Desert (1938)

An average B-movie western though improved by some decent comedy lines. Bob Radford (Bob Steele) arrives in town via a box car train with roaming bum Rusty (Don Barclay) tagging along. The plot is fairly familiar: Bob seeks to avenge his uncle who has been killed by a gang of outlaws. Bob pretends to be on the wrong side of the law himself so he can infiltrate the gang...

The Sheriff (Horace Murphy) is hot on Bob's trail, though not assisted a great deal by his deputy (Budd Buster) who isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Bob meanwhile is looking for the mastermind behind the gang (Charles King). Louis Stanley provides the love interest.

This is a case of a film that's more than the sum of it's (meagre) parts. Although not a brilliant film by any means it passes the time enjoyably enough. The action is understated, and good when needed, and some comedic touches by Barclay and Buster elevate proceedings.

Up the Junction (1968)

Bored rich girl Polly (Suzy Kendall) heads into the poorer areas of London to look for some rough trade. Grim reality and great rock and roll from Manfred Mann ensue.

Really this is a way of exploring social issues prevalent in late 1960s Britain. The real story grittier stories behind Swinging London. That included industrial unrest, domestic violence, politicial protests and back street abortions. Suzy tries to recreate the working class realism she craves with Dennis Waterman though it's only a facade she can build. A fake working class life. She can leave it if things get too tough, something her new friends cannot do...

It is a wonderful period piece. At times it can be quite a dreary film but that's because it doesn't try and sanitise the 1960s as some films have tried.

Trail of the Silver Spurs (1941)

The Range Busters (Ray Corrigan, John King and Max Terhune - with Elmer the dummy of course) are on a secret mission for the US government on the trail of gold robbers. They arrive at a ghost town which isn't quite as empty as it at first seems. Gold mine owner Dan Nordick (Milburn Morante) and his daughter Nancy (Dorothy Short) are still living there despite being menaced by "ghosts" trying to scare them off...

It isn't a ghost though but the more substantial menace of notorious killer The Jingler (I. Stanford Jolley) who is hiding out in the hotel and wants to get the Nordicks out of there. Things hot up with Max and Elmer concoct a plan to fake a gold rush...

Rather confusing but decent enough "wild west" fun - though when the film is supposed to be set is a mystery considering at one stage they refer to the Civil War then suddenly the film features automobiles! The Range Busters are in "disguise" which means they have switched their normal horses for nags but the rest of their fancy outfits are unchanged!