The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

Fifties science fiction cheese, though with some interesting twists.

Steve (John Agar) and Dan (Robert Fuller) head out into the desert to investigate some mysterious radiation readings. They encounter a cave that shouldn't be there then encounter a bizarre floating brain. Steve returns to his fiancé Sally (Joyce Meadows) but he has changed, for a start he is horny! He also has some maniacal plans to conquer the world. Steve indeed has been possessed by a giant alien brain and has the power to detonate atomic explosions with his mind.

Steve forces the world's powers to bow to him, he plans to use Earth to conquer his own home planet. Meanwhile, an agent from his planet contacts Sally and her father John (Thomas Browne Henry), he tells them Steve has been taken over by a criminal but there is a way to save him...

This isn't a bad film at all, though very low budget. The special effects are few and far between though are pretty effective, the brain itself looks like an overgrown bee. An interesting and fun story.

Alice Gets Stung (1925)

Another early Walt Disney animation / live action hybrid.

After an innovative if perhaps slightly overlong chase between a cat and a rabbit, Alice (Virginia Davis) appears on the scene to help Julius the cat get the rabbit which has continually outsmarted him. Alice also tries to hunt bears and ends up getting trapped in a barrel with a beehive (hence this short feature's name)...

So, a short animation feature mostly involving animal hijinks and dancing, with Alice appearing and interacting with the characters. It is quite clever and inventive, just not that funny maybe because the storyline is ultimately somewhat cruel. 

The Next Man (1976)

An interesting premise though the film does rather plod a long a bit too slowly.

The new secretary of state of Saudi Arabia Khalil (Sean Connery) - the minister's Scottish accent is unexplained - has a controversial new plan. He wants Israel to join OPEC so the Arab world can make peace with them. He also wants to sell OPEC oil cheaply to Third World nations. For some reason or other this makes him rather unpopular and the attempts to assassinate him begin.

The Palestinians hire top assassin Nicole (Cornelia Sharpe) to seduce Khalil and prepare to kill him. Unfortunately for the bad guys Nicole falls in love with Khalil which throws the plans into chaos...

The execution is too flawed in this film unfortunately which is a shame because the premise is great. Somehow a film involving international intrigue and assassins ends up being rather slow and dreary.

Crack-Up (1936)

An interesting story but averagely executed.

An advanced new airliner is poised to cross the Atlantic for the first time, the designer Fleming (Ralph Morgan) and his test pilot Ace (Brian Donlevy) are preparing for the first flight to Europe. However, foreign powers are after the design and security is tight. Eccentric oddball Colonel Gimpy (Peter Lorre) hangs around the air field but he is ignored as he is considered harmless. That is a mistake as Gimpy is really the leader of a cell of enemy spies!

Ace is one of his men, to the shock of Fleming and the co-pilot Joe (Thomas Beck), when all is revealed during their flight. Naturally the flight doesn't go to plan, especially when Gimpy is found as a stowaway...

The premise is solid but the film is somewhat flawed. It also has some weird aspects to the plot, such as at the end when three of the crew decide to go down with their crashed plane instead of at least trying to swim for it! The film has some decent action scenes but can only be considered an watchable if not brilliant film. Peter Lorre's character is rather bizarre.

Haunted House (1940)

Two eager, if slightly annoying, teenagers decide to solve a murder mystery.

Amiable and simple Olaf (Christian Rub) has been accused of murder but newspaper boy Jimmie (Jackie Moran) can't believe he is guilty. The niece of his boss, Mildred (Marcia Mae Jones) turns up in town and begins to help Jimmi with his quest for the truth. 

However, all the adults in town including the newspaper owner (Jimmie's boss, Mildred's uncle) Albert (George Cleveland) think Olaf is guilty and isn't impressed by Jimmie's antics and ends up firing him. Of course that doesn't stop Jimmy!

So, this is a fine enough crime drama though the annoying teenager factor may drop it a point or two. It has all the usual B-movie crime tropes and is a very worthwhile hour or so of your time.

The Bride and the Beast (1958)

A strange tale of past lives and jungle antics. An Ed Wood Jr creation that is surprisingly good.

Newly wed Laura (Charlotte Austin) is surprised to discover that her husband Dan (Lance Fuller) has a gorilla (Ray Corrigan in a gorilla suit of course) in his basement. However, as Dan is a big bang hunter maybe it is not that strange after all. Laura is strangely drawn to the gorilla and vice versa. When the gorilla escapes that night he is all tender with Laura, though Dan shoots him anyway!

Through hypnosis it is discovered that Laura has a past life as a gorilla! Despite all that, their honeymoon to Africa to shoot animals goes ahead anyway. Over in Africa, two escaped tigers throw Dan and Laura into peril, and Laura meets more gorillas...

Not a bad film but padded out with a little too much animal footage. The story is quite strange and has a very unexpected ending. The story drags a bit but is just enough to keep you interested.

Howard the Duck (1986)

This is either something completely awful or a work of genius (twisted admittedly).

Howard (voiced by Chip Zien) is just an average duck on a world of ducks but then he is bought to a world of humans (Earth!) when a science experiment by Dr Jenning (Jeffrey Jones) goes wrong. Howard is trapped in a strange land, the only friend he has is Beverly (Lea Thompson), the singer in a failing rock band. 

With the help of Beverly and her friend Phil (Tim Robbins), Howard tries to find a way to get home but that might be the least of his troubles when the experiment goes wrong again and unleashes an extraterrestrial evil on the world...

This is a really crazy film, the star being a sarcastic anthropomorphic duck! The special effects, especially Howard's puppetry and suit work, are pretty decent and the film has some good action set pieces including a microlight chase, some good sassy humour, and even a human-duck sex scene! Once you reassure yourself that you are really seeing such a film and not having an acid trip then there is much here to enjoy, and occasionally cringe over.