The Game (1984) – Bill Rebane.

Three jaded millionaires eccentrically get their jollies by elaborately staging a prank-laden 'Game', offering a million dollars to the most stalwart participant able to surmount their very worst fears. Following the HD restoration of singularly splendid home-spun Sci-shockers, indie horror hero Bill Rebane's wickedly entertaining genre features are deservedly gaining a wider audience. Enjoyably camp, and devilishly mysterious, The Game's credibility endures due to a playful text, and its ghostly jackanapes, remaining a quirky, modestly creepy 80s terror treat. The performances prove colourful, the rudimentary FX are frequently fun to behold, and the sinisterly smoke-smothered, spook-slathered climax provided a memorably goofy climax. The Game is tremendous fun, and fans of Norman J. Warren's identically tweaked Bloody New Year may especially appreciate the freaky-deakey charm of Rebane's boisterously bizarro B-Horror funhouse!

 Mesmerized (1985) – John Laughlin.

A subtly sinister 19 century crime thriller from new Zealand, concerning the melodramatic misfortunes that befell innocent foundling Victoria (Jodie Foster) who, once married to crass businessman Oliver (John Lithgow) must endure his unsavoury peccadilloes! As one would expect, Jodie Foster is both sympathetic, and distractingly lovely as the naive teenage bride, with John Lithgow being especially well cast as her drunken, increasingly oppressive husband. Based on a true crime history, Mesmerized proved to be more of an intriguing curiosity than essential cinema. The performances are all exemplary, there are picturesque rural locations, and exacting period detail, while I was never completely mesmerized, it is certainly well made, and would be a decent watch to more avid fans of Lithgow and Foster.

 Before Tonight is Over (1965) – Peter Solan.

Peter Sloan's dazzling multi-character drama, perhaps, remains one of the lesser-seen masterpieces of the 60s Czech new wave. Set over one especially eventful night in a wintry ski-resort hotel, the increasingly inebriated guests colourful interactions make for unusually compelling cinema. Not dissimilar to Milos Forman's ensemble masterclass Fireman's Ball, Sloan's vibrant, immaculately performed narrative does occasionally suggest that the plot may suddenly take a much darker turn. While Before Tonight is Over is frequently playful and witty, there's a tangible sense of melancholy throughout, imbuing the motivations of these increasingly noisome revellers with a profound pathos. While Solan's fascinating film is manifestly of its time, the deleterious malaise following WW2 and the incumbent ogre of Soviet communism are undeniable, but Before Tonight is Over remains strikingly relevant, and deeply relatable, potently crackling with the galvanic intensity of Dogma manifesto Festen. I adore vibrant European cinema that inspires, offering compelling insights into a country's beleaguered history, and in many instances I am called to reflect upon the old adage 'the more things change, the more they stay the same!'

 Hotel (2003) – Jessica Hausner.

Irene (Franziska Weisz), a sensitive, pretty, increasingly anxious young woman takes a position at a Hotel, she then discovers that the previous employee she replaced, only just recently disappeared without a trace, seemingly engulfed by the surrounding, ill omened forest! A uniquely unsettling vision, captivatingly visual, eerily off-beat, and seductively mysterious, Hotel can be read as a glacial thriller, refracted darkly through a folk horror lens. With immaculate performances, and exquisite photography, what I found most compelling about Hotel are those elements the director chose not to reveal, thereby allowing imaginations to run rampant over the especially Grimm horrors that befell the doomed young women! The blurb on the Artificial Eye DVD references Hitchcock, Lynch and Haneke, and for me, Hotel also recalls Ulrich Seidel, and the earlier works of Aki Kaurismaki. Completed over 20 years ago, Jessica Hausner's sublime, desperately inhospitable Hotel is ripe for rediscovery, and remains utterly essential viewing for all those who appreciate artfully enigmatic chills. 

 Deadly Instincts (1997) – Paul Matthews.

A sinister extraterrestrial conveniently crash lands next to a college campus, proceeding to perpetrate its slimy shenanigans in gloopy 90s creature feature Deadly Instincts. Dazzlingly nubile bombshell student Samantha Womack, dully handsome prof Todd Jensen, and Oliver Tobias's prototypically surly cop make heavy work of dispatching this galactic grotesquery. There's a deliciously faux quality throughout, nothing feels remotely authentic, crass set design, sketchy US accents, hilariously bogus Boston PD, and second hand dialogue, excepting the magnificent man-in-a-suit alien which is a bona fide B-Monster marvel! One of the more joyous aspects of Deadly Instincts is seeing Womack and Jensen stoically delivering the execrable text, while a clearly disinterested Tobias phones it in like a boss. Deadly Instincts proved revelatory, being one of the most goofily entertaining Sci-schlockers I have enjoyed in quite some time. Like Ed Wood before him, Paul Matthews apparent inability to appreciate the howling absurdity of his vision is no small part of Deadly Instinct's sensationally Schlocky appeal! Arguably more fun when viewed today, than upon its initial release, this fun, gratuitously goo-clotted British creature feature is surely destined for B-Cult status!

 Monster A-Go Go. (1964) – Bill Rebane.

Following the crash landing of a U.S space module, the horribly mutated, deadly radiation emitting astronaut lumbers hither thither upon its not altogether convincing killing spree in the somewhat disingenuously titled Monster A-Go Go! While I don't share the director's belief that this is the worst film ever made, since malign muck-spreaders The Asylum/Blumhouse regularly make 'the worst film ever made' every month or so, but it certainly 'ain't the most auspicious film making debut. The goofy 1^st act provides hugely enjoyable Z-Movie larks, act 2 suffers greatly from radiation sickness, and the climax was, sadly, pronounced dead on arrival. It is almost unpardonable for a vintage creature feature to feature such a prodigious lack of creature, but to its credit, Monster A-Go Go acts as a dry run for 'The Incredible Melting Man', and for that reason alone, I'm willing to give it a pass. Monster A-Go Go is often entirely static, it still beheld an odd fascination, the pockmarked monster, if utilized more judiciously had potential, and the colourful narration by maestro H.G Lewis remains a psychotronic treat! Monster A-Go Go's greatest legacy is that it's better to make a bad film than merely planning to make a brilliant one, especially since Mr. Rebane went on to produce some genuinely lovely films not long thereafter.

 Force of Execution (2013) – Keoni Waxman.

I still maintain that Seagal is far more authentic when portraying ruthless villains than ruthless heroes, and Keoni Waxman's gritty gangbanger Force of Action finds Steven 'thunder thighs' Seagal in stone-cold gangster mode as Karate chopping kingpin Mr. Alexander. Force of Execution concerns a bloody turf war, a prodigious willie waggling context betwixt glacial Ice Man (Ving Rhames) and Mr. Alexander (Steven Seagal), no prizes given for guessing who has the biggest! The energized action scenes are remarkably compelling, proving more acrobatic than expected, crippled shadow warrior (Bren Foster) ably executes an exhilarating array of truly blistering combat moves. Keoni Waxman's explosively violent actioner Force of Execution caught me wholly by surprise, with strong performances, bravura action, suitably salty B-Movie badinage, and beloved DTV legend Danny Trejo's chef/Scorpion wrangling Aztec shaman being a genuine highlight!

'Did I fuck you last week? Yes. Stop wasting my dick time!!!!'