I’ve never seen 1958 British crime drama Violent Playground. (Ok, frankly I’d never heard of it either before finding this poster…) However, that didn’t stop me buying this Spanish one-sheet on a whim. Its a great image, I think, and the film also boasts a fantastic cast: Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing and, in an early…
The Masque Of The Red Death
The Masque Of The Red Death is arguably the best of the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations that Roger Corman made with Vincent Price in the 60s. The film is the last but one of 8 Poe adaptations Corman directed. It was made in the UK, and was stylishly shot in color by cinematographer (and later…
Pink Floyd The Wall
“All in all you’re just another brick in the wall…” If you grew up in the 80s The Wall was inescapable. First there was the 1979 double album and hit single, mostly conceptualised by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, then a tour featuring animatronics designed by artist Gerald Scarfe, who also produced the album artwork. The…
L’Aine Des Ferchaux
I must admit I had never heard of 1963 French film L’Aine Des Ferchaux (aka Magnet Of Doom) until this huge poster landed on my lap as part of a large lot I bought. The movie is (apparently) a neo-noir directed by renowned New Wave director Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Samourai and others) and based on…
Scream And Scream Again
This 1970 British horror movie is one that promises rather more than it delivers. It was the first film which included all three of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in its cast. Its really Price’s movie though. He plays a mad scientist, who creates ‘composites’ from body parts (and is revealed to be…
Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
I remember one thing and one thing only about the 1959 version of Jules Verne’s classic novel. I saw in on TV years ago when I was a kid and my sole recollection is being very disturbed by a scene where the baddie is found to have killed and eaten another character’s pet duck. We…
First Blood
Whilst I intensely dislike the jingoistic and increasingly ridiculous sequels, I have a soft spot for Sly Stallone’s original Rambo movie (before he became an indestructible one-man army). Here, he is portrayed more as a vulnerable and disturbed Vietnam veteran – not so much fighting to try rewrite the result of the Vietnam war as…
Exorcist II : The Heretic
When it comes to discussing terrible sequels to great movies, Exorcist II is invariably at the front of the conversation. It’s a movie which manages to throw out just about everything which made the original so compelling. Linda Blair returns as a teenage Regan, and Max Von Sydow plays a young Father Merrin in a…
Mishima
I must admit I fell asleep in the cinema during Mishima, which is probably rather unfair on Paul Schrader’s movie. Maybe it was a long day, maybe I wasn’t in the mood for subtitles, but I did find it rather dull at the time (hence the snooze). Mishima is the bizarre true story of a…
Le Mans
I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen this iconic Steve McQueen movie. If I have, I remember nothing of it. McQueen was a renowned petrol-head, and having done many of his own driving stunts in Bullitt, having him star in a movie about the famous 24-hour race seems like a natural fit. For added realism,…