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Reviews
Hell Drivers (1957)
Brilliant, underrated piece of British 50s social realism
This underrated film, directed by Cy Endfield (Zulu) is a dour, realistic drama about an ex-con (Stanley Baker) who goes to work as a lorry driver for a crooked haulage company, only to discover that the ruthless boss and his foreman are cheating the drivers of huge amounts of money, and forcing them to work in dangerous conditions, resulting in the death of several drivers.
It benefits from a taut, BAFTA nominated screenplay by Endfield and John Kruse (better known as a documentary film maker), which pulls no punches in its realistic depiction of the genuinely life-threatening conditions that these lorry drivers had to endure.
Its chief asset, however, is the remarkably strong cast. Stanley Baker, as the ex-con determined to expose his corrupt bosses, brings a quiet strength and sincerity to his role as a basically decent guy who makes the wrong choices. It is interesting to compare Baker's performance here with his acclaimed portrayal of the ruthless, hardened gangster in Joseph Losey's 'The Criminal', made three years later.
Patrick McGoohan shines in an early role as the psychopathic lead driver, exuding genuine menace. And as for the priceless supporting cast: Herbert Lom, Sid James, Gordon Jackson, and Sean Connery in one of his earliest roles..need I say more. To sum up, Hell Drivers is a minor classic of post-war British cinema, and deserves more recognition than it has formerly feceived.
Highlander III: The Sorcerer (1994)
Awful, perhaps the worst movie ever made
Not another excruciating Highlander sequel. Cardboard acting, incomprehensible plot...need I say more. Christopher Lambert is as wooden as ever, Mario van Peebles is laughably miscast as a supposedly Japanese (?!?) villain. The TV series of Highlander is far superior to the films.
Frenzy (1972)
Hitchcock's last masterpiece
Hitchcock's best film since The Birds, this brilliant psycho-thriller about a serial killer on the loose in London marked a definite return to form for the great director after the disappointment of his previous three films, Marnie, Torn Curtain and Topaz. Barry Foster gives a chilling performance the charming but deadly psychopath Rusk, while Jon Finch is excellent as the innocent man framed by Rusk for the murders. Anna Massey and Barbara Leigh Hunt make their mark as two of the killer's victims (the scene where Leigh-Hunt's character is raped and strangled is especially disturbing, but is not perhaps gratuitous). Alec McCowen's comic portrayal of the police inspector on the strangler's trail is very reminiscent of Alastair Sim's role in Stagefright (ironically, the last Hitchcock film to be made in the UK before Frenzy). Full of the Master's trademark black humour (eg. the scene with a dead body hidden inside a lorry-load of potatoes) this underrated film deserves recognition as one of Hitchcock's finest and most thought-provoking works.
The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)
Probably the best of the Chris Lee 'Fu Manchu' movies
Undoubtedly the best of the series of Fu Manchu films produced in the late 60s, well cast and well directed by Don Sharp, who commendably eschewed camp 'Boys Own' heroics to produce a gripping adventure-thriller. Christopher Lee (as one would expect) is suitably menacing and inscrutable as Fu Manchu, even though the emphasis on his hypnotic eyes is an obvious reference to his role as Dracula. The ever-reliable Nigel Green (Zulu)turns in a solid 'Holmes-ian' performance as Fu Manchu's nemesis Nayland Smith, while James Robertson Justice has a memorable cameo as an irascible museum curator.
The highpoint of the film is undoubtedly the chilling sequence set in a English village, where all the inhabitants have been killed by poisoned gas. It still sends a shiver up the spine. The first sequel, Brides of Fu Manchu, with Douglas Wilmer as Nayland Smith, is watchable, even though it is basically a retread of the first movie, but the films which followed (especially the two directed by the notorious Jess Franco)are absolutely dire.
Calculated Risk (1963)
Tightly plotted,suspenseful heist thriller
Tightly plotted, suspenseful minor British crime thriller about an ex-con who leads a group of safecrackers to break into a bank vault through the cellar of an adjacent deserted building, only to find more than they had bargained for (namely an unexploded WWII bomb). Decent performances by Warren Mitchell and William Lucas, and a taut script by Edwin Richfield (a well known British character actor of the 60s) make this worth a watch.
Get Carter (2000)
Rubbish. How much did they offer you Michael?
An atrocious rehash of a superb British crime thriller. This has to be one of the worst remakes of all time. Stallone as Jack Carter is about as menacing as a Pokemon. Alan Cumming is as irritating as ever (not a patch on John Osborne's performance in the original). How could the usually excellent Miranda Richardson lower herself to star in this crap? And above all, I'm really disappointed that Michael Caine, who gave perhaps his finest ever performance in the original Get Carter, should appear in this absolute travesty of a film. How much did they offer you Michael???