The Black Raven (1943)

A dark house mystery with a difference.

The Black Raven (George Zucco) - not his real name but the name he is known by due to his criminal activities - owns a hotel on the Canadian border. A number of people wanting to cross the border for various illegal reasons get trapped by a storm and a broken bridge and end up in the hotel. The people include an escaped convict (I Stanford Jolly), a man who robbed a bank (Horace Weatherby), a crime boss on the run and an eloped couple. The latter are rumbled when the girl's father, an important man, turns up.

When the father (Robert Middlemass) is found murdered, suspicion falls on the future son-in-law (Robert Livingstone) though the Black Raven turns out to be a criminal with a heart of gold and wants to prove the young man's innocence. When the stolen bank loot goes missing and the crime boss (Noel Madison) also ends up dead then the Sheriff (Charles Middleton) has a real mystery on his hands...

A fun if sometimes confusing film. The setting up takes ages with probably a few too many characters and the action takes place largely in the dark with various bumps and scrapes. Despite the heavy number of characters they all have time to establish themselves and the elaborate story makes sense in the end. It is what you would call a romp.

Fallout (1999)

What a great idea for a film, though the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

We are in the future (well for this film anyway, 2015 is the past now). Russia have invaded a former Soviet country (oh that sounds familiar). However, despite being from the country being invaded Federov (Frank Zagarino) is still going to command a space shuttle mission on the behalf of the Russians to the international space station (or a more advanced version which conveniently has artificial gravity). Also going on the mission is Amanda (Teri Ann Lynn) who is going to fix the space station's computer.

However, on the station things soon go wrong. Federov seizes control of the station and also a Russian nuclear attack satellite constellation. He tells Russia that they must withdraw from his homeland or he will start firing these nuclear satellites at US cities! The US responds by sending maverick pilot Hendricks (Daniel Baldwin) aboard an experimental new space ship, which has yet to make a successful flight...

The story is great though the budget and execution is unfortunately not up to the job. The acting is nearly as flimsy as some of the sets do, one of which makes Mission Control look like it's been relocated to a caravan. The action mostly consists of firing assault rifles on a space station. This does not seem the wisest thing to do to me...

Fear City (1984)

A sleazy tale of vice and murder in the big city that doesn't quite get out of third gear.

Strippers in NY are being attacked and soon murdered by a mysterious attacker (Neil Clifford) whose motivations and background are never really explained apart from that he knows martial arts. The strippers are managed by Nicky (Jack Scalia) and Matt (Tom Berenger) who is an ex-boxer whose career was ended by his mental trauma after killing an opponent in the ring. Nicky and Matt think their rivals are behind the attacks but when their rivals' strippers are also attacked they know something more is up. 

The police in the form of Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams) are keen to bust everyone's ass though don't seem to be doing much to find the attacker, but then again neither does Matt until the very end of the film and the inevitable final showdown...

Despite being a rather gory film about a serial attacker the film lacks a lot of tension, you do get a lot of near naked women gyrating in seedy glubs though. Much of the film deals with Matt's demons and his eventual redemption. As for the attacker, well he doesn't say a word. Not a bad film but could have been so much more.

Kelly of the Secret Service (1936)

A rather crude mystery that has everything but the kitchen sink thrown at it. Somehow it ultimately satisfies.

Dr Marston (Forrest Taylor) has developed some kind of death ray apparatus that can destroy military threats at a distance. Unfortunately, in the best movie tradition, the plans for the top secret weapon are kept lying on a desk with no security. A mysterious figure in a gas mask steals the plans!

Kelly (Lloyd Hughes) from the Secret Service is called in to investigate. He is suspicious of Marston's assistant Lesserman (Jack Mulhall) and secretary Sally Flint (Sheila Bromley). However, when a test warship is destroyed despite Marston's apparatus having been destroyed it is clear there is someone else involved and with a copy of the apparatus, the hunt now is on for Marston's former assistant Walsh (John Elliot) but how is he involved with Sally Flint?

Although the film is rather shoddily made with plenty of awkward pauses and wobby sets, plus the inclusion of Fuzzy Knight and Syd Saynor to provide some dubious comedy, the film is pretty good overall. As it includes death rays, military secrets, red herrings, hidden doors and secret panels it is like a greatest hits of 1930s mystery dramas!

Lady Mobster (1988)

An enjoyable TV movie showing how a young woman rises through the mobster ranks on a mission of revenge.

After mobster Victor Castle (Joseph Wiseman) announces plans to go straight, his accountant and his wife are killed by an assassin (Anthony James). The daughter Laurel (Susan Lucci) manages to escape and is bought up by the Castle family. 

A number of years later she is a promising young lawyer but returns to the Castle family as Victor is ailing and his plan to finally become legitimate is in trouble. Despite Victor's misgivings, Laurel becomes involved with the family business with the help of Nick (Michael Nader) but discovers the assassin who killed her parents is still at large...

A good mobster film though perhaps contains nothing you haven't seen elsewhere. This is done very well though and has a suitably dark conclusion after a number of twists.

The Rage of Wind (1973)

Crazy wild kung fu action, not a huge lot of story though!

The Japanese (evil of course) have invaded China (this is set in the late 1930s). Taka (Yasuaki Kurata) has put the Chinese fishermen under harsh new fish taxes and his henchmen are beating up anyone who protests. Meanwhile, top Chinese boxer Chan (Sing Chen) and his American wife Lin (Irene Ryder) have returned from the US. After killing a man in the ring he has vowed to never use his fists for violence again...

That immediately becomes a problem as Chan is immediately hurled into the fight between the Chinese and Japanese. Eventually he is forced to fight and everything is set up for the inevitable showdown with Taka on the beach to the death...

So, a basic kung fu tale. Any vague story is just a handy framework for a series of fights. These are pretty good fights too, especially the final showdown. A good example of the genre.

You're Out of Luck (1941)

The Darro-Moreland double act is back in this tale of gambling and elevators.

Frankie Darro and Jeff (Mantan Moreland) are working at an apartment block as elevator operator and janitor respectively. When they witness a murder in the car park they get involved thanks to Frankie's older brother Tom (Richard Bond) being the detective on the case. However, when the investigation falls into chaos poor Tom ends up back in uniform. Frankie (with Jeff dragged along rather unwillingly) decides to try and solve the case himself, which involves putting themselves into danger in the city's seedy gambling scene...

An enjoyable film with the usual good banter and chemistry from Darro and Moreland. The humour isn't as overt as in some of their films but the mystery is well written. The low budget doesn't detract too much. Kay Sutton plays the agreeable heroine.