Slander House (1938)

A nicely light bit of romance dealing with the heavy business of weight loss. Helen(e) (Adrienne Ames) runs a beauty salon, dedicated to helping overweight rich ladies lose pounds (and also plenty of dollars). She is being wooed by Dr Stallings (George Meeker), who is nice but a bit dull. He is her ticket to high society though.

Then she meets Pat (Craig Reynolds), a bit of a wise guy perhaps but with something more about him. A more interesting love match but of course things do not go very smoothly, with various obstacles in the way including jealous love rivals and dangerous gossip in her salon...

An amusing little film which sends up the beauty industry (which often is rather absurd after all) with various stunts including a lady knocking herself out while exercising and a few mishaps involving loose animals in the salon. An enjoyable film for sure with decent performances, and plenty of humour, though not a lot of depth. Unlike the salon's clients, it could have done with a few more layers.

The Devil Bat (1940)

A fantastic and cheesy horror film. Dr Carruthers (Bela Lugosi) works as the chief scientist for a cosmetics company. He is bitter that the Heath and Morton families have grown rich off his work. Therefore he plots a terrible revenge: he uses dark experiments to create a gigantic bat and a shaving lotion which turns the bat crazy and thirsting for blood...

The giant bat begins it's reign of terror, killing the sons of Heath whom Carruthers has tricked into using the lotion. City reporter Johnny Layton (Dave O'Brien) has come to discover what is going on...

A ridiculous story but highly entertaining. The film has a lot of camp and silliness but Lugosi seemed to enjoy the role and played it with plenty of enthusiasm. The only thing that really lets the film down is the rather ropey looking "giant bat" but with a B-movie's low budget it is acceptable.

Phase IV (1974)

A remarkable film, at first glance yet another "creepy" insect horror film but it is far more of that.

A mysterious force in outer space has taken control of ants on Earth, merging them into a super intelligence. Dr Hubbs (Nigel Davenport) and Lesko (Michael Murphy) are investigating the phenomena.

The ants have driven people from a desert town, and built strange structures. Hubbs and Lesko have built a domed research base, but who is really under investigation? Ants... or humans? The ants soon prove deadly, killing a family of farmers except Kendra (Lynne Frederick) who is rescued by the scientists. However the ants' plan is not to destroy...

The film has some incredible visuals, many close-ups of ants of course. The story is developed slowly, maybe too slowly for a monster movie, for an intelligent science-fiction movie it is perfect though. The ending is suitably mind-bending. The twists are what makes this film special, especially when we realise that it is the scientists in their dome who are really in an experiment.

Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)

Often called one of the worst films of all time, and it certainly is. A couple (Harold Warren and Diane Adelson) get lost in the Texas desert and find a mysterious house in the middle of nowhere. Despite the fact the world's creepiest man Torgo (John Reynolds) lives there and keeps babbling on about "The Master" who doesn't want them there, they decide this house will be the perfect place to stay the night!

Once night falls the full horror becomes apparent. The Master (Tom Neyman) is a dark lord who wears a rather funky psychedelic cloak, has six slave wives and sets fire to hands. He orders the couple and their daughter be killed...

An incredibly bad film with an air of complete ineptness in every frame. The acting is awful, the pacing completely off, awkward pauses as the actors desperately waited for cues, a plot which makes little sense. It is therefore wonderful (of course!) The film is complete cheese and very campy. It's legend among fans of trash movies is well deserved, it is one of the low lights of the genre.

The Delavine Affair (1955)

A fairly mundane crime caper affair. Rex Banner (Peter Reynolds) owns a small press agency. He becomes an amateur sleuth when one of his friends is killed after the theft of the Delavine diamonds. Its just as well he is on the case as the police are fairly clueless throughout and think Rex is the culprit! Meanwhile his partner Maxine (Honor Blackman) has become involved with Florian (Gordon Jackson)...

The story plods along without a great deal of tempo or energy, however the story is fairly straightforward and the film is a decent watch. It uses it's low budget to the fullest. Its competent but not a lot more.

The World Gone Mad (1933)

The biggest crooks are the big city crooks but the mob is never far away, as this enjoyable tale reveals. When the District Attorney is shot while on the verge of uncovering a huge stock market fraud, it falls to plucky and wise cracking reporter Andy Terrell (Pat O'Brien) and the new DA Lionel Houston (Neil Hamilton) to discover who is behind the killing and the fraud.

It might be a high-level crime but it is low-lives who do the actual killing with the mob led by Bruno (Louis Calhern) in cahoots with the corporate criminals. Lionel is soon the new target of the mob. Andy is also soon in danger when he messes with the gangster moll Carlotta (Evelyn Brent) and is lured into a trap...

The story can be a little complicated at times, plus there is a little bit too much filler which can drag the movie a bit, but this is a good solid corporate crime / gangster / news reporter caper well worth your time. The main cast give good performances, especially O'Brien and Brent. The Art Deco backdrop and sets are often breathtaking.

Dual Alibi (1947)

An interesting tale of crime and falling on hard times. Herbert Lom plays the de Lisle acrobat twins (using the standard camera tricks) who are the star trapeze artists of the circus.

Mike Bergen (Terence de Marney) is the rather villainous circus worker who is tired of working at the circus and the de Lisles. He discovers that one of them has won the lottery and so plots a plan with Penny (Phyllis Dixie) to steal the winnings.

The tale of treachery and eventual murder is told in flashback. Lom plays a terrific dual role, giving the (completely identical) twins subtle character differences. The film is pretty low budget but makes the most of it. A moody and atmospheric film with Noirish touches.