Mad Max (1979)

The start of the legend, the icon.

It is the near future (so basically the 1980s) and Australia is falling into anarchy with gangs of motorbike riding thugs roaming the land. Only the ultra violent remnants of the police force exemplified by Max (Mel Gibson) stand between civilisation and barbarians exemplified by the likes of Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne)...

However, Max wants out. He is bought off by a new V8 nitro boosted Ford Falcon XB GT (surely one of the coolest cars in movie history) but finally he heads off with his wife Jessie (Joanne Samuel) and child into the countryside. But they don't discover peace there, only Toecutter and his gang. After Max suffers a terrible loss, he returns to the garage and gets in his Falcon... only revenge on his mind.

A fantastic film, just the start of the iconic Mad Max series (and many imitators of varying quality). A hard violent film set in a dystopian wasteland. The road scenes are exhilarating. But this was just the start.

The Man from Hell's Edges (1932)

An enjoyable Western with some superb stunts.

Williams (Bob Steele) breaks out of prison and heads into the country, the authorities hot on his trail. He makes it to a small town and befriends the sheriff (Robert Homans) and becomes his deputy. He falls for the sheriff's daughter Betty (Nancy Drexel) but she discovers his real identity and both father and daughter are shocked when Williams turns up with a gang to rob them!

However, everything is not what it seems, Williams is really an undercover agent looking for the man who led a big robbery some years ago, a robbery where Williams' father was killed. Williams suspects the cocky Lobo (Julian Rivero)...

A solid if unspectacular story that proceeds at a rapid pace. Some of the horse stunts are pretty spectacular including a jaw dropping jump from a cliff into a lake.

The Cape Town Affair (1967)

A bit slow but very stylish.

Skip (James Brolin) steals a woman's purse on the bus, unknown to him the woman is being tailed by the secret service. Candy (Jacqueline Bisset) is carrying stolen plans for the Communists. When the police (Gordon Mulholland) track down Skip he refuses to play ball (and for some reason they don't search him as he has the stolen plans on him all along!) Now Skip must stay one step ahead of the police, the Communist cell and Candy...

All set against a backdrop of late 1960s South Africa, Apartheid is never mentioned but can't be ignored especially as this is a film set in South Africa with no black characters. The pacing is glacial at times and the plot a bit dull but it does have some late 60s cool. I enjoyed the British made cars and buses too.

Revenge of the Zombies (1943)

Not quite as much fun as a film about a mad German scientist creating an army of Nazi zombies should be if we are to be honest.

Scott (Mauritz Hugo) heads to a mansion in the Louisiana swamp where his sister Lita (Veda Ann Borg) lives with the scientist von Altermann (John Carradine). Or rather lived because Lita has died in mysterious circumstances. von Altermann seems in a rush to bury his wife and the corpse quickly vanishes. The reason being von Altermann is creating an army of zombies. He intends to return to the Third Reich and create an invincible army of the undead!

However, Lita being a good all-American gal isn't one to bow done to the Third Reich even if dead! She rebels against von Altermann's control, but can the zombie army be stopped?

Not a brilliant film though quite watchable, the budget is pretty low and the "swamp" scenes are obviously an indoors film set. The zombies are not very scary, just rather slow moving people. The best part is probably the comedy antics of Jeff (Mantan Moreland).

X the Unknown (1956)

Time for our 1,200th review!

A large blob of radioactive slime threatens the world in this thrilling sci-fi horror.

A fissure opens at a quarry used by the British Army for radiation training, soon mysterious and horrific radiation related deaths occur. Radioactive materials also go missing, including from the lab of Dr Royston (Dean Jagger) and the local hospital X-ray department. Despite scepticism from his director Elliot (Edward Chapman), Royston thinks the thefts and deaths are due to some kind of inhuman force or life form from the bowels of the Earth.

Along with McGill (Leo McKern) from the Atomic police, Royston devises a plan to neutralise the radiation in the blob. However, with the blob's appetite for radiation growing is it too late?

Low budget but decent thrills. A very Quatermass like sci-fi horror, and quite gruesome at times. The plot is quite familiar and standard for films of the genre, but the script is taut and efficient and the film is rather good.

The Girl in Lovers Lane (1960)

A low-budget film from the tough streets of a small town in the US.

Danny (Lowell Brown) is a rich kid who has gone on the run, he gets turned over by some thugs in a rail yard but is saved from destitution by experienced drifter Bix (Brett Halsey). Bix takes Danny under his wing (the fact Danny has all the money is incidental of course!) They end up in a small town and Bix soon has to teach Danny some street smarts and how to deal with dangerous thugs and even more dangerous gals!

However, Bix falls in love with Carrie (Joyce Meadows) and starts to wonder if he should settle down and stop drifting. But the weird Jesse (Jack Elam) throws a tragic spanner in the works...

An enjoyable film, though the sleazy and brutal world of Bix and his drifting lifestyle could have done with a little bit more budget and at times the pace of the film could have done with a bit more juice. 

The Trusted Outlaw (1937)

An efficient if run-of-the-mill Western.

Reformed former outlaw Dan Ward (Bob Steele) returns to his old home in the hope of reuniting with his old beau Molly (Lois January), however she arranges for him to be ambushed! Dan faces his old rival Swain (Earl Dwire), the local outlaw, but in the end is persuaded not to turn to gunplay by the Sheriff (Frank Ball).

Dan is hired to take the payroll to the mine (very trusting considering his past!) He has to run the gauntlet of Swain's gang but also discovers Betty (Joan Barclay)...

So yet another B-movie Western, a decent enough film that tells a straightforward story pretty quickly without any tangents. The fact Molly is one of the bad guys (for a while) is probably the most notable thing about this film, which is otherwise pretty familiar fare. Good horsemanship and reasonably good fights.