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erolgalip
Reviews
Perfect Friday (1970)
Enjoyable, Entertaining
I don't know why, but every time I think of this film, I'm reminded of "Fish Called Wanda, A". John Cleese, and Stanley Baker seem to be almost impersonating each other. They both play stuffy, uptight people, who end up becoming mixed up in some sort of convoluted plot involving grand larceny, etc. (after being introduced to some glamorous female). And there's the third party - in "Fish Called ...", it's the incredibly stupid American (Kevin Kline), however in this film, it seems to be the equally daft Earl of Dorset (David Warner). Both films end up with a sort of race to Heathrow Airport, but the similarities in plot-lines end about 5 minutes before the closing titles. I did like the way the robbery was handled (very cute) - particularly the 'phone conversation between Mr Graham's immediate superior and the parts played by both David Warner and Ursula Andress in the adjacent office. Some nice shots also of seventies London, and great comments by the Earl of Dorset on British Rail (as it was then known).
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)
Good Film (Contains Spoilers)
I liked this film a lot, but maybe I'm just a big fan of Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee etc. It has quite a creepy atmosphere, and the first story (that of the entombed werewolf), had a lot of potential to scare the viewer; although it could have gone a little further in my opinion. The second story - featuring the D.J. Alan Freeman as a family-man doing battle with man-eating plants was, frankly, as silly as it sounds. The third, starring the late Roy Castle, was just plain boring. He played a kind-of giddy idiot (something he used to do rather well), adapting the tune played during a voodoo ritual for the customers at a West End (?) night-club; until supernatural forces get the upper hand ... Fourthly, Christopher Lee played a supercilious (I think that's the word) art critic who is dogged by the disembodied hand of an artist he drove to suicide; and finally, Donald Sutherland is an American doctor, who discovers that his French wife is a vampire. All these stories are prophecies, told to the aforementioned passengers, in a train carriage, by Peter Cushing. When asked how they can avoid such a ghastly fate (he is reading their fortunes, by use of a deck of Tarot cards), he turns over the fifth card, and for each of the assembled passengers, that card happens to be death ... Good photography, but done on the cheap - which doesn't help. A lot of people have mentioned the fact that Roy Castle buys a packet of cigarettes during the film; which is ironic to say the least, insofar as he was a non-smoker, who developed lung-cancer through passive smoking after years of live performances in smoke-filled clubs.