Sorsimus

When their boat hits Hong Kong harbor, two sailors go on shoreleave. One of them is on a courier mission for some far east heavies and goes missing. The other befriends some natives and goes on a kung fu- quest to uncover the secrets behind his friends disappearance.

This one is a fairly entertaining turkey containing lots of bad kung fu, bad acting and bad screenwriting. What makes it entertaining is its particularly disarming innocent silliness. One example: the lead character is a Dutchman named Dutch... Reasonably fast paced and coherent storywise.

Highly recommended for fans of second rate (or lower) kung fu.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

A typically unimpressive euro- war film of the seventies.

American major trains a group of elite soldiers for a dangerous covert commando mission behind the lines. Unfortunately, as they're dressed in German uniforms, all but the major are killed in their sleep by another allied platoon lost behind enemy lines. The major has no alternative but to continue the mission with his new platoon.

Familiar face Guy Madison stars in this very very average example of European war cinema. Everything is done with a very tight budget, hence no major effects and lots of cardboardy studio interiors. And as far as themes and message are considered, it's safe to say, that Hellcommandos if far from groundbreaking. Some unintentional comedy can be found, though.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

Entertaining Italian 60's Zorro- rip off.

Errol's son Sean Flynn stars in this delightful piece of fast paced fluff. The lively son of a Basque aristocrat lady discovers that he has a father living in Mexico. The father has requested the help of his son with some trouble at hand. Reluctantly the son sails across the Atlantic only to find his father murdered by the evil local administration. Revenge follows.

It's most interesting to watch "Errol Jr." trying to imitate his father's nonchalant style of acting. Even more worrying is that he actually pulls it off a few times. Rest of the time it's just plain painful. But in a good way. All in the references to Zorro are few. In fact: two. At some point the son wears a mask that barely resembles any mask worn by the other Zorros. Later on the famous Z- mark has mysteriously appeared on some wall. That's it.

All in all this one is a fairly basic swordplay- movie which manages to rise above mediocrity mainly because of fast pace and burlesque characters.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

An extremely cute seventies American "action" film.

A Wealthy capitalist wants to get even richer by drilling oil from a recently charted area. He needs to buy the land cheap and hires a motorcycle gang to terrorize the locals into leaving town and selling their property. Local glider builder and radio dj start defending the town with their gliders and skycopters.

If there ever was a film based on a single contraption, this is it! The loosely assembled collection of cliches they called script aims at use of any material involving the self built little gliders that could be described as lawnmowers with wings. Anyhow, what redeems this picture is the wonderful 70's groove that penetrates this film on every level: characterization, costumes and discoing as a favorite pastime to name a few.

Not for the serious viewer, but great for appreciating the wonderful naivety of days gone by. In fact, if it weren't for all those gratuitous shots of titties, this one would be an excellent children's adventure film.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

Abysmal Swiss "action adventure"- film.

A handful of diamonds are lost in a plane crash that belong to a middle east revolutionary group. A bunch of people try to recover the gems from the underwater wreck and subsequently fight for the possession of the precious stones.

No script, bad acting (surprisingly including Barbara Bouchet), no rhytm, no nothing. Bad eighties score, no sets, no set pieces, no costumes. Unbelievably badly staged plane crash with a model plane.

Way too boring to be entertaining.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

An entertaining rescue mission TV- movie.

Big name actress (Elke Sommer) is kidnapped from the set during filming. She's being held by ex- pirate Bourdieu (Patrick Macnee)on an off shore shack off the coast of Cuba for ransom. As the FBI declines to act, stuntman Hill Singleton decides to put together a rescue team made of stuntmen and women.

What's so enjoyable in this one is the fact that everyone seems to be aware of the ludicrosity of the script. No one's acting at all seriously and it almost seems that many times we get a glimpse of the real people behind the roles.

Another notable thing about The Fantastic Seven is the warmth and respect shown towards the profession of stuntman. After seeing this one I wanted to become one immediately just because of the great team spirit they have!

Finally, as it is a product of the seventies, enjoyability is heightened by the "Charlie's Angels"- factor. In other words: if you're a fan of the groovy feeling of the Spelling- created series, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one, too. (Although Spelling is in no way connected with the Fantastic Seven.)

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

Praesidenten is a film about the crucial conflict between the (conservative) codes of society and individual moral.

It tells the story of a grandfather, father and son of a well respected family who all make the same mistake and fall in love with a common girl.

They all have to resolve the problem in a way acceptable to the society they live in but must consequently suffer the inner guilt that inevitably follows.

Finally, late in his life the son, whose a respected judge in a small town, gets a chance to redeem himself and his ancestors by doing the right thing morally but also severely breaking the law in doing so.

This highlights the conflict between the personal and the societal spheres of right and wrong in a spectacular way, especially as Dreyer depicts the other local men of power as only concerned with how the incident would affect their status in society.

Dreyer uses flashback- structure in a very efficient and economical way to build the comparisons between the different times portrayed in the film. Furthermore: in this our digital age of fast editing and overflow of image it is most gratifying to see a film that has a complex point to make and manages to do that almost effortlessly with a minimum of "hassle". The direction is so economic it almost hides the mastery of cinematic vision behind it to the untrained eye.

An Italian revenge- themed crime film.

A young man tries to rob a jewellery store but gets caught and sent to prison. Inside he befriends a crime boss and they break out together. After this comes the first plot twist which I'm not going to reveal...

All in all an entertaining crime flick for fans of European hardboiled cinema of the seventies. Includes a truly remarkable motorcycle chasing a lorry- scene which includes either real crash footage or the most convincing effects I've ever seen.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

Pretty average 70's pasta western.

A farmer returns home from the forest to find his family butchered. He decides to hunt down the murderers. As you do. He tracks the killers to a frontier town. As you'd expect.

An average city- western. Average acting, average sets, average script typical non- existing direction. I watched it two days ago and have a hard time recalling it now...

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

Just released ex- convict Guido watches his girlfriend get killed on the way home from prison. He thinks the killing is connected with the events that led to him going to jail five years back. Guido starts to investigate...

In many ways a typical late DiLeo- crime film: unimaginative lightning, boring sets, unimpressive action sequences. Yet I think just because of the grittiness of the script, this one easily rises above the other DiLeo- turkeys I've seen.

Decent acting in the form of especially Barbara Bouchet and Guido's main adversary Martin Balsam, who stand out positively. Most importantly, the plot really thickens towards the end climaxing in a truly memorable final scene between Guido and Martin Balsam's Rizzo.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

Interpol agent Ravelli (Tomas Milian) gets a new clue after five years of investigating a robbery where his wife got killed accidentally from a stray bullet. It leads him to a master criminal called Marseilles, who is trying to keep away from the police after his latest robbery partially failed. Revenge is in the air...

Pleasurable crime film. Milian, as usual, gives a good performance as a policeman whose only goal in life is to avenge his wife's death. Good locations, OK casting and a great sense of street credible grit not forgetting good pacing. Slightly more original script wouldn't have hurt, either.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

A Mexican plantation drama/ western.

Manuel, a liberated slave, is in love with the plantation owner's daughter Gaby. When things get violent, Manuel rescues Gaby and takes her to a cottage to heal. Love is in the air.

Reasonably entertaining interracial drama/ western with some action scenes and brief nudity. The villain is nasty enough to lift this one above the level of the more pathetic examples of the genre.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

A decent Italian World War II commando action film.

Henry Silva is the American officer selected to assemble a band of misfits for a "probability zero"- mission in nazi- occupied Norway.

Simple plot, OK acting, good locations and great production design. Not very gritty, though, nor sleazy.

Released on video in Finland in the eighties.

Mish mash of a western from Italy.

King is a bountyhunter after a vicious gang of brothers who are selling gatling guns to Mexicans.

Boring, uneven, uninspired and unimaginative run of the mill spaghetti western. Only scenes that work are the ones where Klaus Kinski appears on screen, which is alltogether about 10 minutes anyway.

Best missed.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

Boring Italian commando rescue mission film.

Elite group of three commandos are given the mission of rescuing an old professor and his daughter from the Russian forces in the middle east. They are meant to work in co-op with the local islamist rebels.

Nothing in this one to recommend. Uninspired acting, the most basic plot, no budget, no innovation, "no nothing".

Bottom of the barrel.

Released on video in Finland.

A group of funloving teenagers spend their summer vacation saving their beach from builders.

Ample- bosomed teenager comedy with the works: vans, bikinis, parties, a nerd and a fatso. Pretty much includes what you'd expect from a low budget imitation of the more famous examples of the genre.

Nothing new, nothing surprising. Turkey- legend John Carradine appears in a tiny supporting role. Recommended for fans of the genre only.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

A romantic adventure about royal kidnapping, friendship across the trenches and high treason!

Or, if you prefer: an Italian imitation of a Hollywood adventure film. Nevertheless, director Capuano manages to lift his film above the cinecitta- cardboard sets and plastic acting and turns a dull generic script into a genuinely sympathetic and exciting sword wielding action adventure.

If you like the Hollywood films this one imitates, I see no reason why you shouldn't like this one as well!

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

A silly terrorist- professional- caper action turkey.

Arab oil sheik hires a group of professionals to steal him the secret of synthetic fuel.

Again, as usual, Fernando Di Leo fluffs it! Good cast (Silva, Di Lazzarro), entertaining script with lots of action and explosions and the beautiful locations of Monaco. The result is a hapless turkey that fortunately is funny enough to make you laugh...

Compared to his peers, Di Leo's directing style could best be described as "fit for television". The camera is always fixed in the corner of the room or the street, and as long as no one forgets most of their lines: it's a take. In addition to the lack of visual style, Di Leo also has no sense of pace. When watching a Di Leo film you can tell which scenes were meant to be exciting. The problem is they never really are.

Killer Contro Killers is Di Leo's last film to date, so whatever cult reputation he might have is probably based on the more famous exploitation films he made in the sixties and seventies which I've yet to see.

Not recommended.

Released on video in Finland in the mid eighties.

A somewhat noir- ish 70's Italian crime film.

Diamond robber, who got left behind into the hands of the police, gets out of prison and teams up with the funder of the robbery, who never saw the loot, to get even with the other members of the gang.

Some fans of the genre would describe this film as slow, I'd call it deliberate: time is taken to create the drama and the relationships between the gang. There are less car chases, shootings and fisticuffs than in some Italian crime films, but in comparison the atmosphere is moodier, more noir- ish. Kinski, as usual, is in a supporting role but manages to steal the show. As usual.

Actually, this one looks more like the crime films made in France at the time.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

The "true account" of the tribal wars of ancient England. In minuscule budget.

King Arthur fights saxons, picts and whatnot in this watchable little flick. Lots of effort has been put into sets, mainly in pouring shedloads of mud on the ground. It's not the great adventure you'd expect, but as it delivers it's peaceful message towards the end at least I wanted to believe it.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.

A film of two halves, Os Canibais starts as an opera and ends as a surreal opera. The story is about upper class love and marriage, lifestyle and prejudice, jealousy and revenge, suicide and cannibalism. And so on.

For the first hour or so director De Oliveira keeps the audience in a state of disbelief by showing us the empty life of the upper class in "their own art form": Os Canibais is a true opera- every line is sung, but rewards us in the end by going surreal. You'll know what I mean when you see it yourself.

Even though the last fifteen minutes of Os Canibais are great it doesn't remove the fact that the first hour is somewhat painful to watch. It might be different for people who understand and appreciate opera. The ending can be recommended for everyone who love the films of Bunuel, the works of surrealists or just enjoy good cinema with surprises.

A brilliant biopic of the most famous poet in Finland: Eino Leino.

But far from being an ordinary biopic, this one does not begin with his birth or even his childhood and it does not end with the death bed scene.

Oh no, Runoilija ja muusa is a film about what made Leino special. It is a film about his difficulties to live in the world he was born into. The film reveals the reasons why Leino was such a great poet.

Esko Salminen is great as Leino, Elina Salo is equally great in a smaller part as Leino's muse: poet L. Onerva. The period sets are impeccably made, including Leino's drinking buddies Sibelius and Gallen- Kallela. But most of all one must emphasize the vision of director Jaakko Pakkasvirta in having the courage to make a demanding film instead of a more conventional one.

Highly recommended.

Decent melodrama from the studio era.

Liana Kaarina plays a vamp- like young vagrant hitch hiker, who gets a ride from older industrialist who consequently takes her to his summer house to be his mistress. She takes full advantage of the situation and plans a prosperous marriage when she meets a young man while skinny dipping...

Surprisingly fresh effort from (the biggest studio mogul of Finland) Särkkä, who (with great help from the master cinematographer Olavi Tuomi) succeeds in creating a suitably sleazy atmosphere to unfold the drama in.

This one was a big success at first release and was sold to 32 countries. Mostly because of the nude swimming, I presume...

An immensely entertaining 70's comedy drama from Georgia.

The film documents the past and present life of a female journalist in small fragments creating a remarkable whole. Some fragments are sad, some are more funny, and everything is done in a way that there can be no doubt about Gogoberidze being a great filmmaker. Her control of the medium, her skill to tell just the things she wants to tell in an original way makes this film, which to our western eyes seems rather experimenting, a real treat to watch.

Highly recommended as a reminder of what celluloid can be made to do when will and skill combine.

A reasonably watchable hard boiled cop film/ jungle action pic from Leone collaborator Aldo Sambrell.

Washed up drug addict ex- cop (played by Sambrell himself) is needed to crack an art theft case, which leads him from the smutty cities of southern Europe to a smutty banana republic revolution.

Short, fast paced and reasonably sleazy, viewed in the right frame of mind, this one should be good for a couple of laughs. The biggest shortcoming must be Sambrell's directing, which has so little regard for coherence, that the film becomes almost a surreal experience.

Released on video in Finland in the early eighties.