Drunken Master 2 (1994)

 

 

Retitled to The Legend of Drunken Master and slightly edited for it's current release this is one of Jackie Chan's last truly great movies.

  The plot involving British diplomats stealing Chinese artifacts is secondary and really just there to propel the story between the stunning fight and action sequences.

  A great supporting cast includes Andy Lau, Ti Tung and the late Anita Mui while Ken Ho is a more than worthy opponent for Chan in the climactic fight.

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Shuttered Room (1967)

 

 

Engaging British horror movie based loosely on a HP Lovecraft story and set on the remote Dunwich island, supposedly near New York but actually filmed in Norfolk.
  Carol Lynley returns to her childhood home with new husband Gig Young only to face hostility from the local delinquents and warnings of a family curse from everyone else.
 Oliver Reed is suitably psychotic as one of the islanders and adds to the overall sense of dread that the movie creates so well.
  There's a manic jazz soundtrack that i personally didn't like too much but that was really the only negative point to this enjoyable film.

 

 

 

 

So Sweet So Perverse (1969)

 

 

The second of the four Umberto Lenzi directed giallo's Carroll Baker made in the late 60's and it's a highly enjoyable movie at that.
  The plots were all pretty interchangeable and here it's the usual blackmail, ominous phone calls, double crossing spouses, etc.
  Jean-Louis Trintignant plays the role usually taken by Jean Sorel or George Hilton as the  playboy industrialist and Erika Blanc is his unhappy wife, while Baker gets the mistress role this time around.
  Helga Line co stars as another of Trintignant's mistresses and Beryl Cunningham does what she usually does in these films.....
   Riz Ortolani provides a decent score and there's a catchy theme song in "Why".

 

 

 

 

The Sweet Body Of Deborah (1968)

 

 

One of Carroll Baker's first Italian movies this giallo light has a great cast of Euro stalwarts and a plot that seems very familiar.
  While on honeymoon in Switzerland and France Baker and husband Jean Sorel are stalked by a man (Luigi Pistilli) who claims Sorel was responsible for the death of his ex girlfriend (Evelyn Stewart).
  It's a pretty standard plot for this type of film, nobody is exactly who they seem at first glance and it has the obligatory twist ending (2 in this case).
 George Hilton is also on hand as the American neighbour who may have ulterior motives, while the score by Nora Orlandi is a lounge masterpiece, breezy and cheerful.
 Romolo Guerrieri also directed The Detective with Franco Nero and Florinda Bolkin which  i enjoyed, will have to check out his City Under Seige which looks interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

Revenge (1971)

 

Gritty little thriller from Sidney Hayers, director of the excellent Night Of The Eagle.
 Joan Collins and James Booth headline as the parents whose daughter is abducted and murdered by a child killer at large. Convinced that they know the identity of the killer an elaborate scheme is hatched to abduct and kill him that goes awry and threatens to tear their family apart.
  With a great use of a pub as the central location this enjoyable slice of 70's british drama has enough moments of tension and a thrilling climax to make it an enjoyable viewing experience all round.

 

 

 

 

Kidnap Syndicate (1975)

Great Fernando Di Leo movie has Luc Merenda and James Mason as the parents of two children kidnapped and held for ransom.
 Supposedly regarded as one of Di Leo's lesser movies it still has all his usual hallmarks, exciting chases and violent bloody shootouts.
 Luc Merenda is great as the father turned vigilante forced to take the law into his own hands while Vittorio Caprioli is perfect as the harassed police commissioner. Mason is rather cold as the other parent although that may have been down to his role having been dubbed into Italian.
 Has Di Leo ever made a bad movie, i've yet to come across one....

Island Of Fire (1990)

Star studded Hong Kong action movie produced by the legendary Jimmy Wang Yu. Although Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Andy Lau are top billed on the advertising their roles are more like extended
cameo's with Tony Leung Ka-fai the real star of the show.
 Sent undercover into one of Hong Kong's most brutal prisons to expose the corruption and brutality policeman Leung faces the usual for this type of movie, organised fights, vicious guards, a despot warden, etc.
 Chan has a couple of decent fight scenes, Hung provides the sentimentality as the repeat escapee missing his son and Lau plays against type as the local gang boss.
 Tipping it's hat to Cool Hand Luke in a couple of scenes it moves along at a fair pace and is certainly better than many similar movies in this genre. Recommended.