Shameless Self Expression

Horrible, scheming husband Andre Morell murders his wife (Catherine Lacey) with the assistance of servants Andrew Crawford and Freda Jackson, and they subsequently bury the body. The resident tabby cat witnesses the murder and Morell becomes obsessed with killing it. All perfectly sane behaviour. Barbara Shelley plays Lacey’s niece, who is one of several relatives who come to stay whilst the police investigate Lacey’s ‘disappearance’. Meanwhile, more murders happen, and the cat somehow seems to be causing them.   Although the company is strangely not mentioned in the opening credits, this 1961 John Gilling ( “The Brigand of Kandahar” , “The Reptile” ) chiller is surely a Hammer film. Scripted by George Baxt ( “Circus of Horrors” , “City of the Dead” ), in terms of plot it actually feels more Amicus or AIP, but the atmosphere is all Hammer right from the thunderous opening and the credits are full of Hammer names. It was even shot at Bray studios, so at the very least I’d say it...

Set in the 1800s in the West Indies on a plantation owned by whip-cracking Lady Susan Walker (Anoushka Hempel), a brutal tyrant ably assisted by the brutish Joxer (Percy Herbert). David Warbeck plays an Englishman who arrives to enquire on the whereabouts of his brother, Lady Susan’s husband who is missing. Character actor Anthony Sharp (in perhaps the most decent performance here) plays Lord Clive, whilst stunt man Bob Minor plays one of the slaves, and an American actor named Bernard Boston plays the snooty, gay, French soldier whom Lady Susan employs as the captain of her private army of mercenaries. The hulking David Prowse turns up in a small role that you can probably figure out the identity of yourself.   There were a couple of times in his career that former ‘nudie cutie’ director Russ Meyer ( “Vixen” , “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” ) attempted to make somewhat ‘serious’ films, “The Seven Minutes” (a PG-rated Russ Meyer film!) being one of them. This 1973 slavery-th...

The Spengler family (Carrie Coon, kids McKenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard, and partner Paul Rudd) are now New Yorkers and their ghost busting antics have earned the attention of the one and only Dickless, I mean former EPA inspector Walter Peck (William Atherton) who is now the city’s mayor. He’s utterly bemused and threatens to shut the operation down, before Coon offers to stand Grace down for being underage. Grace is upset but finds a new friend in Emily Alyn Lind, whom she quickly realises is a ghost. Meanwhile, original ghostbuster Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) unwittingly unleashes a paranormal evil when opening a brass ball artefact. Ray…what did you do ? Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, and eventually Bill Murray turn up to reprise their franchise roles. British comedian James Acaster is here because the film was partly filmed in the UK and they wanted to qualify for tax relief. He plays the head of a paranormal research and development centre. Kumail Nanjiani turns up as the guy who sells R...

In what is absolutely not a forerunner to “Rush Hour” , Cop and widower Leo Fong teams up with ATF agent Richard Roundtree to take down nutty crime lord Cameron Mitchell and his arms dealer cohort named Nighthawk (Stack Pierce). Hope Holliday turns up as a madam, James Lew is a henchman, and that’s a young, baby-faced Branscombe Richmond talking to Fong in a locker room at one point. You’ve seen him get beaten up by most of your favourite 80s action heroes at some point. It’s his thing.   Producer-star-golem Leo Fong combines with “Aftershock” director Frank Harris in this 10c action movie from 1984. Harris also scripts, produces, edits, and serves as cinematographer here. Co-star Hope Holliday serves as casting director and associate producer due to the apparent advice of her friend and co-star Cameron Mitchell, having produced several other Mitchell 80s cheapies as well. What’s my point? This whole film plays like a bunch of slumming colleagues and friends got together to pr...

In 1940s Finland, a gold miner (Jorma Tommila) and his dog fiercely protect a supply of gold from Nazis who are unaware of just how much of a brutally violent, unstoppable force the old man is.   We’re in Nazi gold plot territory with this stunningly photographed 2023 Finnish movie from writer-director Jalmari Helander. However this time it’s not about stealing gold from the Nazis, here it’s the Nazis trying to steal gold from one tough old bastard. It’s simple, borderline minimalist storytelling but really effective stuff. If you like old-school action films but also have an interest in European cinema, this one’s for you.   Unsparingly violent and swiftly brutal at times to a level that is inches away from Python-esque black comedy. I think the first half is much better than the somewhat sillier second half, but I still really dug this blend of “John Wick” , “Kelly’s Heroes” and “First Blood” (with a touch of Nicholas Winding Refn thrown in). Lead actor Jorma Tommil...

Set in a matriarchal world where everyone is either a fawning Ken or an admired Barbie, the film is centred around one particular Barbie (Margot Robbie) who seems to undergo something peculiar: Fear. She has a sudden anxiety about her own mortality, and that thought leads to an existential crisis which will see her to venture out of Barbieland and into the ‘real’ world in search of the child who has apparently been ‘playing’ with her. Barbie is accompanied by Ken (Ryan Gosling), a preening idiot who finds the ‘real’ world and its patriarchal society very much eye-opening, which leads to trouble when he comes back to Barbieland and tells the other Kens what he has learned.   Although I’m clearly the wrong demo (45 and a hetero male), I was really rooting for this 2023 film from Greta Gerwig (the solid “Lady Bird” ) and co-writer Noah Baumbach (Wes Anderson’s enjoyable “Fantastic Mr. Fox” ). I figured there was room for some real wit and enjoyment, and any film that pisses off th...

Carol Speed stars as the title young woman, who has just moved into a new house with her husband Terry Carter, an apprentice priest. All of a sudden Abby starts to undergo severe and frightening changes, becoming uncharacteristically foul-mouthed and sexually aggressive, and even having the capacity to move objects mentally. Carter thinks he better call in an expert, namely his father William Marshall, a priest who also happens to be a college professor of ancient religions and cults. Juanita Moore plays Abby’s mother, with Austin Stoker turning up as Abby’s brother.   The notorious 1974 William Girdler ( “Sheba, Baby” , “The Manitou” ) blaxploitation rip-off of “The Exorcist” that resulted in Warner Brothers suing AIP and getting the film taken out of circulation in the US for years. It made money, but due to the lawsuit Girdler himself sadly saw none of it, and he died in 1978 at age 30. Apparently a later court ruling realised Warners didn’t have a monopoly on exorcism film...