The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)

A historic film that unfortunately now only barely survives.

This film was one of the first full-length movies, originally lasting over an hour, though less than twenty minutes of it now survives. However, despite that we can see that the film was a stunning achievement for it's day. 

The film has six scenes based on the Ned Kelly Gang story. The gang are already notorious and hunted by the police when the film starts. We see the gang carry out a number of killings and hold-ups and even attempt to derail a train. Finally the police close in and Ned Kelly (possibly played by Frank Mills) fights to the very end...

The story of Ned Kelly is legendary and this was the first film to depict the Australian outlaw and terror of the bush. Indeed the film was made just 26 years after Kelly was executed and many would still have first hand memories. It is just such a shame so little now survives.

She Demons (1958)

Rather hokey Nazis in the jungle horror nonsense.

Fred (Tod Griffin) and Jerri (Irish McCalla) are shipwrecked (along with a couple of racial stereotypes) on a remote island after a storm. After a brief setting up scene where they become an incredibly annoying couple, they discover a drowned young girl with horrific facial disfigurements. Fred, Jerri and Sammy (Victor Sen Yung) head into the island's interior where they discover native girls (who don't look very native at all) and their captors... Nazis! 

Deranged Nazi scientist Osler (Rudolph Anders) is trying to use the youth of the young women to restore the looks of his beloved Mona (Leni Tala) who was horrifically disfigured in an accident. Osler however, when he sees Jerri, considers ditching Mona or at least using Jerri for his mad Nazi medical experiments...

The film isn't that bad at all though let down by some of the main cast who are a little bland. For a 1950s horror with a little mild exploitation it could be a lot worse.

Mortal Passions (1989)

A rather lazy thriller that even a bit of erotic action can't set to life.

Emily (Krista Errickson) is cheating on her rather laid-back husband Todd (Zach Galligan) with the rather hilariously named Darcy (Luca Bercovici). She plots to get Darcy to kill Todd so she can get her hands on his inheritance. The arrival of Todd's big brother Burke (Michael Bowen) throws a spanner in the works, especially when he kills Darcy! Emily then uses her seductive powers (which are pretty hot to be fair) to try and get Burke to do the dirty for her. Meanwhile, Adele (Sheila Kelley) turns up looking for Darcy, she and Todd begin to uncover Emily's plot...

An average thriller that doesn't get out of first gear, the story plods along interspersed with a little violence and sex. David Warner adds a little class as a psychologist but the rest of the acting is fairly risible. It isn't brilliant by any means though is reasonably watchable.

The Hot Rock (1972)

A highly enjoyable early 70s heist movie that goes on and on.

Dortmunder (Robert Redford) is recruited by his brother-in-law Kelp (George Segal) to steal a diamond from a museum, a commission by Dr Amusa (Moses Gunn), an official from an African country. The heist, which involves a staged fake car crash, goes well. The diamond is stolen... but one of the gang members Greenburg (Paul Sand) is arrested... and he was the one with the loot.

Dortmunder and Kelp manage to bust Greenburg out of the gaol, they then discover that he hid the diamond at the police station when he was arrested! So, they have to raid the police station too. Dortmunder starts to feel that the diamond is cursed but he is going to get it if its the last thing he does...

Fairly far fetched but good fun, very cool in an early 70s California way too. If you like complicated and intricate heists in movies then you'll like this as you get them multiple times in this one!

Riders of the Purple Sage (1925)

A classic silent era Western, based on the famous Zane Grey novel.

Jim Carson (Tom Mix) rides to the rescue when his sister (Beatrice Burnham) and her daughter is kidnapped by some bad dudes on the order of the evil Lew Walters (Warner Oland). Jim saves his sister, then he links up with rancher Jane (Mabel Ballin) in her fight against some cattle rustlers called the Riders of the Purple Sage. Behind their crooked antics secretly is Walters, who is posing as a judge...

This has all you need for a top quality Western, a great hero, a great villain, superb scenery and lots and lots of action.

Spanking the Monkey (1994)

A rather dark film about a rather inappropriate relationship.

Ray (Jeremy Davies) comes home from MIT to care for his mother Susan (Alberta Watson) who has broken her leg. Mum is lonely and rather manipulative and Dad (Benjamin Hendrickson) is away from home as a salesman. He doesn't get on with Susan or Ray in any case and is a rather unpleasant individual. 

Caring for his mum, and seeing her naked, leads Ray to start having sexual thoughts about her. Unfortunately, she shares these thoughts and they begin a relationship putting him in competition with the old man...

Despite the taboo subject the film has some quite offbeat humour. All of the characters have flaws in different ways, apart from Ray perhaps. An interesting watch and a competent independent film.

Thrashin' (1986)

Classic 1980s youth gang action on four wheels, four wheels of a skateboard that is!

Corey (Josh Brolin) is a young hotshot skateboarder who arrives in LA with his crew to compete with the best. They immediately come into conflict with a bunch of skateboarding punks led by Hook (Robert Rusler). Corey is going to take part in a downhill race and grab all the glory and money. Hook has other ideas of course. Things get complicated when Corey meets Chrissy (Pamela Gidley) and they fall in love. Complicated because Chrissy is Hook's kid sister...

This is a fairly formulaic teen drama with the usual tale of challenge, set backs and eventual redemption. The film is often quite silly but is cool (especially if you are nostalgic for the 1980s) and fun. The skateboarding is realistic (and includes many accidents!)

Look out for the young unknown band who appear in an early scene. They were pretty good, i wonder what happened to them. They called them the Red Hot Chili Peppers i believe...