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The Last Man On Earth(1964)

Ubaldo Ragona directed the first and most faithful adaptation of Richard Mathewson's novel,I Am Legend.Shot in Rome pretending to be the USA.With a great performance from Vincent Prince.Released in 1964,the action takes place in the future-1968.George A.Romero states that the zombies in this film inspired his "blue collar zombies."

8/10

Rio Grande(1950) The last of director John Ford's 'cavalry trilogy' stars John Wayne as a fort commander, who now that the Civil War is over, has to turn his attentions to the Apache threat. He also has to contend with family issues, his wife (Margaret O'Hara) & his son (Claude Jarman Jr). The family drama is a strong centre to the film backed up by interesting cavalry life and exciting battle scenes, held together by an intelligent script. Also starring Ben Johnson,Harry Carey Jr,Victor McLaglen & J Carrol Naish. 7.5/10

The Hole(2009)

Joe Dante directs this supernatural and pretty spooky thriller about A single mother and her two sons who have moved to a small town.In their new house they discover a trapdoor that covers a seemingly bottomless hole.The boys team up with their teenage neighbour Julie and figure out the meaning behind a series of strange events that they keep witnessing.A by the numbers but thoroughly enjoyable film.Featuring the obligatory appearance from Joe Dante stalwart, Dick Miller.

7/10

Mark Of The Phoenix(1957)

Another crime thriller from maestro McLean Rogers.Thieves steal a secret and valuable metal formula and plan to smuggle it into Germany where they can sell it to the highest bidder.A very nicely shot film with a good performance from Anton Diffring.

7/10

The Conjuring 2 (2016) Vera Farmiga & Patrick Wilson return as paranormal investigators the Warrens this time tackling a case in Enfield, North London. Loosely based on a true haunting in 1977, this is definitely a Hollywood take, I doubt the demons etc featured in real life. But it is a constantly creepy film with a fair amount of shocks and well acted, as well as Farmiga & Wilson, there's Madison Wolfe(excellent as the daughter), Frances O'Connor & the ever excellent Simon McBurney. It would be interesting to compare this with the 2015 TV adaption The Enfield Haunting starring Timothy Spall, I imagine the latter is more understated. NB to the film makers, set in 1977, the film starts with London Calling by The Clash, released in 1979! 7/10

Robocop(1987)

With its trashy title and troubled production,Dutch director Paul Verhoeven's second Hollywood movie after 1985's Flesh + Blood seemed to bear all the hallmarks of a flop.Instead,it was powerful ,intelligent and visionary.A shining blend of hardcore comic book action,social satire and human drama.Robocop combines the tale of cyborg police officer Alex Murphy's struggle to regain his soul with a prescient pastiche of modern consumerism.Peter Weller is at his most arresting as Murphy,his character's exploits both crowd pleasing and cathartic.An absolute classic which spawned a string of sequels and TV spin offs and more recently,a worthless remake with no soul that missed the point entirely.However,nothing can tarnish the original.

9/10

Bridge of Spies 7.5/10 - excellent cold war thriller starring Tom Hanks.

Starter For 10(2006) Set in 1985, James McAvoy stars as a newbie at university having girl problems while trying to get onto the University Challenge team. A decent mix of drama and comedy with a fine cast including Rebecca Hall, Dominic Cooper, Alice Eve,Lindsay Duncan, Charles Dance, Benedict Cumberbatch, Catherine Tate & Mark Gatiss (as an excellent Bamber Gascoine) 6.5/10

Independence Day: Resurgence

Very good & very enjoyable sequel to the iconic sci-fi classic. The special effects & action are on a spectacular scale, especially compared to Independence Day. the returning cast are all very good, especially Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman & Brent Spiner. The new cast are also very good with the standouts being Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher & Maika Monroe

The ending does set up further Independence Day films. I think there will be

8/10

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt2 - 7.5/10