Shameless Self Expression

Psychiatrist Christopher Lee is accused of murder when his wife goes missing, with accusatory (and anonymous) letters showing up at the police station. Jon Finch is the shabby police detective in charge of the investigation, Judy Geeson is Lee’s secretary and mistress, and Jane Merrow is an unhappily married woman Finch is having an affair with.   No, this is not the Dick Van Dyke medical mystery series, though this film was originally intended for TV. IMDb on one hand says it was meant to be a TV movie, but another bit of trivia says it was part of an intended anthology series. Either way, here it is as a theatrically released film in some quarters of the globe. One of the more obscure films in Christopher Lee’s filmography despite a pretty prominent cast, this 1974 film from director Sidney Hayers ( “Circus of Horrors” and a plethora of TV work) has just enough flaws to hold it back from a recommendation.   Every intrusion with Jane Merrow and her miserable husband...

For purely political reasons, the CIA decides to recruit African-Americans, with the idea that rigorous training will be too much for them anyway. Lawrence Cook plays one such recruit who doesn’t drop out, though his subsequent duties of basically manning the photo copier by the door (hence the reactionary title) do eventually see him resign a few years later. So what does he do? Officially working as a social worker, Cook is in actuality using his CIA training to utilise Chicago’s street gangs in staging a seizure of the ghettos. J.A. Preston is Cook’s cop friend who may be forced to work against him, and Joseph Mascolo plays a shameless white senator trying to win the black vote. Real-life Black Panther member (and Chicago cop at one point apparently) David Lemieux appears as a white-passing guerrilla member.   Directed by Ivan Dixon (best known for appearing on “Hogan’s Heroes” ), this 1973 adaptation of the novel by Sam Greenlee is a priceless, cynical film. A running time ...

As a hurricane approaches, Pete Davidson holds a get together with his friend group. They eventually play the title game, the usual ‘guess the killer’ party game. And as usual with this sort of premise, someone dies for real. And then more people die. Lee Pace plays the new (yet very old ) boyfriend of one of the party attendees.   Strangely popular 2022 film from director Halina Reijn (much more prolific as an actress) and screenwriter Sarah DeLapp (her first produced screenplay) isn’t the tongue-in-cheek slasher film I was expecting. It’s closer to a dark comedy like “Very Bad Things” or “Donkey Punch” where unlikeable characters get involved in death during a night of sleazy/drunk shenanigans I have zero interest in. It’s the kind of film I hate because there’s no one worth latching onto. You know you’re in trouble when Pete Davidson isn’t even the least likeable person around. These people suck so why should I care if they live or die?   It’s an empty film, and f...

While King Richard the Lionheart is away The Archbishop of Canterbury (Jack Gwillim) acts as viceroy and speaks out against The Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing) who wants to confiscate the estate of a nobleman who has died in battle. Needless to say The Sheriff is outraged and plots to have the Archbishop killed, with the aid of the Earl of Newark (Richard Pasco) and his offsider Lord Melton (Oliver Reed). The man appointed the task of assassination? Robin Hood (Richard Greene). Needless to say, Robin quickly realises he’s on the wrong side of things and sets about making things right.   Although I think the later “A Challenge for Robin Hood” is the best of Hammer’s Robin Hood films, this 1960 outing from Terence Fisher ( “Horror of Dracula” , “The Hound of the Baskervilles” , “The Devil Rides Out” ) is a bit slight but perfectly acceptable entertainment. Essentially a big-screen version of TV’s “The Adventures of Robin Hood” it retains the show’s star Richard Greene (wh...

Alyssa Sutherland and her three kids are visited by her guitar tech sister Lily Sullivan when a small earthquake hits. The ground in the parking garage of their crappy apartment building opens up and one of the kids stumbles upon a book and some old gramophone records. An ugly, ugly book called the Necronomicon. Oh no, don’t do that. Silly kids.   I’ll quite often have a different take on a film to the general consensus, but every now and then I find myself having the extreme polar opposite opinion to most other people. I think this 2023 film from writer-director Lee Cronin (whose background is in shorts) might be such an occasion because I’d heard good things from all quarters it seemed. I thought the trailer was quite effective, although far more serious and scary than I normally associate with this particular franchise. I probably should’ve seen the warning signs right there.   In terms of the camerawork here, Cronin tries very hard to make you think of the first ...

When the daughter of a politician is kidnapped by the drug smugglers he was attempting to crack down on, a top secret organisation called DRAGON sends in their best agent Sand (Jim Kelly, whose character is not remotely a samurai by the way) to get the girl back. Oh, and for added importance she’s also Sand’s ex-girlfriend. Said drug smuggling operation is headed by a white voodoo practitioner (Bill Roy) who also has dwarf henchmen because why not? A mannered Marilyn Joi plays Roy’s second-in-command, while Aldo Ray turns up briefly as the head of DRAGON.   If you see one Jim Kelly martial arts movie, make it “Black Belt Jones” . That movie is fast, funny, and loads of fun. If you need to see a second Jim Kelly martial arts movie, you may as well see “Enter the Dragon” , though there are better Bruce Lee films available in my opinion. If you really need more Jim Kelly martial arts movies in your life, I suppose you could watch this 1976 Al Adamson (The dreadful director of “Sa...

Yaphet Kotto plays Denmark Vesey a slave who buys his freedom from somewhat avuncular ship captain and owner Captain Vesey, and then organises a slave rebellion. Bernie Casey plays another slave initially reluctant to uprise against his racist but oddly sympathetic master Mr. Benjamin (Ned Beatty, whose character name isn’t listed on IMDb). Also somewhat sceptical of Denmark’s plot is Cleavon Little, slave to governor William Windom. Brock Peters shows up as a black preacher, whilst Antonio Fargas plays Gullah Jack, who seems to be some kind of practitioner of witchcraft in his spare time.   Shamefully obscure to the point where IMDb’s listing is lacking in certain cast and character information and there’s no Trivia items for it, either. Even if you can manage to get your eyes on it, most sources have a 90 minute version, whilst a certain free social media site contains a 2hr version where the sound infuriatingly cuts out for the rest of the film (it definitely is a 2hr versio...

Set in 1800s Texas, Jeffrey Hunter plays a horse-riding attorney who represents old flame (Joanna Moore) who is on a murder charge. James Coburn plays Hunter’s somewhat friendly legal opponent, the town marshal. Kevin Hagen plays the defendant’s husband, whilst Ed Nelson turns up as a decidedly sinister, intimidating figure.   Directed by actor William Conrad (best known for being one half of TV’s “Jake and the Fatman” ), this 1963 B-western was originally designed as a TV pilot, hence the less than 60 minute running time. Apparently it was repurposed into another show with a different lead character. Scripted by Dean Riesner ( “Play Misty for Me” , “Dirty Harry” ) and Michael Zagor (a TV veteran), I was initially unsure whether it would be fair to review this as a feature film since that’s not really what it is. However, it was released that way at the end of the day, and it turns out I managed to get some interest out of it at least.   It’s kind of an interesting id...