What classics did you see last week, July 4 to July 10?

A two-bit campy sci-fi crime hybrid which was a slog to sit through. In spite of that, there were moments of amusement when the title character first appeared in a shimmering glow, and wandering the woods in her reflective skin suit costume. Also there were a few choice lines of ridiculous dialogues.
“The way you keep putting your foot in your kisser, it’s a wonder you don’t get athlete’s mouth”. 3/10


Entertainingly ludicrous and hokey low-budget Turkish action-fantasy with a run-of-the-mill premise infused with silly story threads and insane action. As the title character leaps about (sometimes obvious trampoline work) clawing faces and throats in a constant bloodbath of sloppily executed, non-stop mayhem. Especially the film’s final third when he bestows the metal claws. The monotone dubbing also added to the charm. 6/10


‘The Damned’ had a uniquely absurd concept, striking seaside locations (Weymouth) and unexpectedly dark story turns. Especially when it decided to settle into the story of the mysterious experimental children. However the uninteresting, and out-of-placed secondary story takes up most of the time and focus, as an American tourist gets involved with a girl, who happens to be the sister of the leader (Oliver Reed) of a group violent delinquent motorcycles.


I rather enjoyed this spiced up entry, and the last of the Hammer Frankenstein series. For the last hurrah they attempted another remake of the original source material, but their focused went down a different path. Having fun at the material’s expense; sleazier and humorous. It surprised me, and that goes for how things eventually played out, especially the last reel. Talk about really laying on the gallows humour. The dark humour sprinkled throughout was a nice change of pace from the standard Hammer routine. Ralph Bates is great as the young, villainously smarmy and unethical Baron Frankenstein. Kat O’Mara and Dennis Price had their moments too. 8/10


The poster is somewhat misleading in how the snorkel was used in the film, but still this was a surprisingly good low-energy thriller by Hammer films. After the death of her mother, the daughter believes her step-father was behind it and goes about trying to prove her theories while everyone else doesn’t believe her. It sticks to the usual genre tropes and questionable actions of the protagonist to drum up dramatic tension. However the performances are on key (especially Peter Van Eyck) and there’s a satisfying double sting in its tail. 7/10


Mayor; “You gotta be a couple of bounty hunters”.
Amos: “Well, you all have been hunting black folks for so long. We just want to see what it felt like to hunt white folks.”

Despite having the likes of Fred Williamson, RG Armstrong & William Smith (R.I.P) in this no holds barred Blaxploitation western directed by Jack Arnold. It’s D’Urville Martin as Amos (Williamson’s sidekick) who steals every scene. 7/10


Favourite feature of the Week;
The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)