Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983)

A low-budget fantasy where our heroes are transported to a parallel universe where people fight with swords, wear loin cloths but still speak English. Dr Hartmann (Kenneth Hendel) has developed a way to transport objects between parallel worlds but falls onto his portal and is sent there himself. TV reporter Carrie (Kay Lenz) and electrician/kendo master Dan (Richard Hatch) also end up being transported after various displays of imbalance.

But where are they transported to? A strange world inhabited by giants in furs, midgets with flashing eyes and Kleel (John Saxon), an evil warlord who has imprisoned Hartmann as a sorcerer to do his bidding (though Kleel mostly seems to be interested in sleeping with his slave women and killing people). Carrie ends up a prisoner of Kleel while Dan enlists the help of The Greenman (Ray Charleston), Vosk (Larry Taylor) and Malachi (Peter O'Farrell) to save Carrie and defeat Kleel...

Although pretty low-rent, cheesy and unoriginal, the film is quite entertaining although is padded out with a little too much wandering aimless through the bush (which helped the budget no doubt). The leads put on good performances though especially Saxon. The concept and plot makes little sense of course but the sheer strangeness and camp will keep you watching.

The Key Man (1957)

A light and undemanding crime drama. Lionel Hulme (Lee Patterson) is the presenter of a popular true crime show on the radio. When he investigates the case of a convicted murder Smithers (Philip Leaver) who has now been released but gone to ground. Smithers is thought to have been behind an unsolved robbery. Lionel and a mysterious hidden bad guy are both trying to find where Smithers hid the loot...

Lionel tracks down Smithers with the help of Smither's gal Gaby (Hy Hazel) and he agrees to split the loot with Lionel but Lionel has to retrieve it himself from a safety deposit box...

The film is competent if not thrilling and with a rather simple plot though does have some nice stylish flourishes including a fight in a barber shop. In tone the film is not unlike a comic strip or 1930s serial and that isn't a bad thing by any means.

The Mummy's Shroud (1967)

A good Hammer horror involving mysterious occurrences in the desert. During the days of ancient Egypt we at first see the story of an overthrown pharaoh and his son who is eventually entombed by his faithful slave Prem (Dickie Owen) in the desert. Now in 1920 Prem himself is a mummy in an Egyptian museum and the pharoah's tomb has just been discovered by a team financed by the rather overbearing Stanley Preston (John Philips) and led by Sir Basil (Andre Morell).

Once the pharaoh's remains, which were wrapped in a shroud, are bought to the museum and reunited with Prem the troubles begin. The members of the party start dying one by one. Is it the work of the crazed tomb guardian Hadmid (Roger Delgado) or is it Prem himself?

The story is straightforward and as seen many times. This isn't the best Mummy film ever made but far from the worst. The film looks good and has enough thrills and chills to keep one entertained. One of the best parts of the film though is the narrated section in ancient Egypt, that story would have probably made for a decent film on it's own.

King Solomon's Mines (1937)

Epic adventure in deepest darkest Africa. Irish miner O'Brien (Arthur Sinclair) heads off looking for King Solomon's diamond mines and thus become the richest man in the world. His daughter Kathy (Anna Lee) enlists the help of English game hunters and adventurers Quartermain (Cedric Hardwicke), Curtis (John Loder) and Commander Good (Roland Young) plus the rather mysterious Umpopa (Paul Robeson) to help her find her father... and plenty of diamonds.

The adventure takes them across blistering desert and up mountains until they reach the mines guarded by a native tribe. Umpopa finally reveals that he is the true tribal king who had been usurped, obviously his usurper Robert Adams is rather keen that their adventure now ends...

A well-paced adventure, the wonderful backdrop of Africa adding tremendous presence. The wonderfully deep voice of Robeson also adding as much presence. Of course the stereotypes are a bit dated nowadays (though if we are to be honest Anna Lee's terrible "Irish" accent is probably the worst culprit) but that doesn't detract from the old fashioned but glorious fun.

To Love Ferrari (1994)

The Ferrari in the title being a girl played by Vivian Chow not a car. Though she does get to drive one at the end of the film.

This is really half film half early 1990s cantopop music video, even down to a bizarre fight sequence where the heroes can only fight while listening to Grasshopper. And when the ghettoblaster is destroyed Vivian leaps onto some oil drums to hammer out the beat so they can fight on. No really.

Vivian plays a girl who dreams of being a singer, she is loved by two guys. They fight, balls get released onto the floor of a dancefloor and Vivian ends up going head first into some electric lights. She ends up blinded, her dreams of being a singer are shattered. Her brother's club gets involved with some minor hoodlums and Vivian is kidnapped. Of course she gets electrocuted again and cured. If only the world of real medicine was as miraculous as in the movies...

Nonsense of course but very watchable and typically cross genre like many HK films. If you like early 1990s cantopop then the soundtrack is great. The film is worth watching just for the tunes and the zaniness of HK pop culture back then.

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

The notorious Alcatraz was the most secure prison ever built, no one escaped from it... until three men did. Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood) has arrived in the prison after a conviction for bank robbery. With the Anglin brothers John (Frank Ward) and Clarence (Jack Thibeau) he decides to escape the jail when he finds that salt water (the prison is an island in San Francisco Bay) has made the concrete around the ventilation grill in his cell weak and he begins to chip away...

Over long months a careful plan is formed, amid harassment by the Warden (Patrick McGoohan) and violent fellow cons. Frank and his compatriots will chip away at the concrete around the grills, remove the grills and then slip away. They then try and escape the prison in roughly fashioned rubber dinghies...

The film is based on a true story and implies the escapees got away (their ultimate fate is still unknown). An intelligent film full of details and suspense. It has some great performances especially by Clint Eastwood.

The Ghost of Monk's Island (1966)

A delightful Children's Film Foundation film. Four children (Pierre Bedenes, Lucinda Jackson, Peter Bartlett and Robert Bartlett) are allowed off to sea on their own but run into trouble. They eventually land on tiny Monk's Island which, they are told by Eli (Conrad Phillips), is now uninhabited... except for the ghost of a monk.

While the search for the children continues news comes in that a convict (Jerold Wells) has escaped gaol and has been seen in the area. Meanwhile why does Jacob (Ivor Salter) seem to want to discourage Eli from checking Monk's Island? Meanwhile on the island the children (who seem to be able to find anything they need including string in abundance) start seeing the ghost of a monk...

A wonderfully nostalgic film when kids could be left to play all day on their own, and when boys carried knives it was to help them make kites, stockades and other boy scout antics. The film is full of the sort of things that used to fascinate children like abandoned houses and mysterious tunnels in a simpler, more civilised age...