Carrie (1976)

From 1976 from the mind of Stephen King and Brian De Palma comes the high school horror film Carrie. Starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie, Piper Laurie as her religious mother, Amy Irving and Nancy Allen as the girls that torture Carrie and John Travolta as Nancy Allen's boyfriend. The film follows Carrie White as she reaches womanhood and as her mother does not communicate with her in a proper manner when she bleeds for the first time she has no idea what is happening and her school colleagues being unsympathetic tease her you get the first glimpse of the pent up power within Carrie.

Another of the "Horror Classics" that I had not seen I watched this with fairly high expectations and while it was not as bad as I thought or hoped it was going to be I have to say that knowing there is some serious stuff going to happen it is quite tense and you are waiting for the scenes you possibly know about. The tension is quite good and is surely a mark of Brian De Palma as the director, as really this is a very simple story about bullying and what their actions bring them.

This was an excellent film and especially if you are into horror films and enjoy revisiting the "Classics" of this genre then this film is one for you. It also carries the trademark of the "B-Movie" ending which is always good with one final scare, this is a 4 star recommend from me, let me know if you have seen it and what you think of it. 

The Full Monty (1997)

Starring Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson and Paul Addy this smash hit UK comedy from 1997 sees 6 out of work men from Sheffield, they see the chance to make some money by forming a male stripper act and performing at the local working man's club. It follows them through their lives as Gaz played by Robert Carlyle fights to keep seeing his son, Dave played by Mark Addy wrestles with his weight and the fact that he does not think his wife finds him attractive. Gerald played by Tom Wilkinson tries to hide the fact that he is not working from his wife and Lomper and Guy played by Steve Huison and Hugo Speer find love trying to make some money.


This film was massive in the 90's probably being the biggest UK film of the decade as it hit all the right notes, the cast are fantastic and hit the right tone with the comedy none of it is malicious and some of it is played perfectly and you believe everything they say and do. The setting is bleak and their desperation is so great that they understand and know they need to fulfil what they set out just to get the money to survive. I love this film, the comedy is hilarious from the well known scene in the Job centre to the finale where they go the Full Monty.


This film is a classic of it's time and is well worth seeing and I think that everybody should give it a go, you have a few swear words but considering it is a film about stripping there is nothing untoward about this film. I give this a solid 4 stars and think that if you have not seen it and you understand the northern sense of humour then it is well worth a watch.

Casablanca (1942)

The classic black and white film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Berman, set in Casablanca during the second world war. It sees Rick Blaine played by Humphrey Bogart as the proprietor of Ricks a night club that is in unoccupied Africa in the early part of the war. You have the Germans and locals moving around freely and interacting with each other. While there and wanting to leave Rick runs in to Ilsa an old flame who left him in Paris without an explanation. You then follow them as they plan to flee Africa and war torn Europe to the sanctity of America.


This film is a classic and if you love film like I do even if you have never seen it you will know many of the lines and I cannot believe again that as with so many classics I have waited so long to see this film. It really is a great film and explores life and love with the backdrop of war and what you will actually do to for those you love and how what they do while it can hurt can also have meaning to you. The classic nature of the film has some slight flaws as you think you know what is going to happen but I recommend that you sit back and let yourself become immersed in Africa during the war.


This truly is a classic film and I cannot really recommend it any further than this, it is a solid 5 star recommend and everything good you have heard about it is true and it is well worth seeing.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Film of 2012 #31
Some Spoilers

The first Dead film from a master of the genre, that is George A. Romero, If you had asked me before I watched this film I would have told you that I have seen it many times. I have to be honest and say that getting to the end of this film I was surprised. It did not go where I thought it did and then I realised I have seen many of the famous scenes and hear many of the great quotes and I have seen the remake starring Tony Todd right through. So it is now rectified I have seen the original film, it is the story of an outbreak of flesh eating ghoul's, the word zombie is never used in this film. The story starts with us meeting Barbara and her brother Johnny and you follow Barbara until we meet Ben in the farmhouse where the majority of the film takes place. 

I have heard that this film is a metaphor for the race struggles of the 1960's and it is strange to see a Black man in form of Duane Jones playing Ben as the lead and the heroic role of the piece at this time in history. And I suppose there is something in the ending but overall I was not lost in a lot of metaphors it was just a good tense horror film that still holds up today as a scary film. And even though people claim that zombies are not scary as they move so slowly they are continuous and they just keep coming and there are always more of them. 

This is a good opener to the Dead trilogy but I have to say that Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead are stronger films for me and I would choose to watch them before watching Night again. Overall though it is a film that started a genre and a change in how horror films were made and looked at and it holds up as a classic of it's time. It is a must see for anyone that likes horror films or enjoys film history. This is a 3 star recommend, it has it's flaws but is well worth seeing and due to a mistake at the time it has been in the Public Domain for nearly 40 years so is easy to access. 

King Kong (1933)

Considering that this film is nearly 80 years old, it still stands up to today's exacting standards, yes some of the effects are a bit dodgy and really the stop motion that they use is dated and you can see the strings and you can tell how some of the effects are done but overall you have to remember that these effects were done in a different time period when things were done properly.

Reading up after watching this film this was actually a risque film, at the time this was made there were little to no rules about what you could show on film. Reading the history of the film from the cuts that were made to being restored it is a snap shot of where we have been with films. Overall this film is excellent you care about the characters and Kong who is the star of this film you care so much about what is happening to him and even though you know the end and you know where it is going you still hold your breath while he scales the tower.

I would say that this is a five star film that everybody who cares about film should at least try and watch once, it is also good if yo have seen the Peter Jackson film from 2005 you will see where he takes lots of his inspiration.

The Crazies (1973)

This is the 1973 film written and directed by George A Romero and is the story of a small town that becomes contaminated by a man made virus and the story of the army who try to contain and quarantine the town and some of the town inhabitants. You follow Judy and David and David's friend from the fire service Clank. This film was remade in 2010 and I saw that before watching the original, I have to say that I enjoyed the remake and the original film is just as good if not better for being made in 1973.

The acting is a bit ropey and the effects especially the blood effects are not very good but I think that you just have to consider the time it was made and the probable budget that was involved. I have to say that while the acting and the effects are overall it is excellent B movie that is worth watching and i will revisit again, The remake is also worth a watch and i will actually look at seeing that again in the near future after seeing this film.

This is a 4 star recommend for me, it is not a 5 star film as not everybody will enjoy it but it is worth seeing and I look forward to watching it again.