Wednesday

Yippee I've got Friday off. Going back to my home town to see the family and take my Mom out for her Birthday. Staying at my sister's new digs too, oh and visiting my Grandparents (pea-fritters here I come). The following weekend we are back in Windsor and going to that huge car boot sale in Henley, where I purchased loads of great stuff last year. The week after that it's up to Glasgow to stay with my pal Catherine, which should be lots of fun and involve copious amounts of beer (mmm).

What have we seen on DVD? Well...

'Die Tür mit den 7 Schlössern' ('The Door with Seven Locks' Directed by Alfred Vohrer 1962)
Another cool entry in the Edgar Wallace film collection. Any film with a man in a monkey suit is always brilliant, although the one in this film doesn't get to do much. There's an evil old boot (Gisela Uhlen as Emely Cody) who smokes a lot, a mute guy who looks very similar to Tor Johnson and pretty Sabine Sesselmann (as Sybil Lansdown). Sadly Klaus Kinski is only in it for the first ten minutes or so. Really want to get the other Edgar Wallace films on DVD (with English subtitles). And when, oh when will the Kommissar X series get a decent DVD release?

Doctor Who - 'The Pyramids Of Mars'
Not my favourite story, but great to see again, especially as the Doctor is with my favourite assistant Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). Great features on the DVD too.

That's all for now. My only wish is that men would stop wearing flip-flops.

Saturday the 28th

Thank God for days off. I feel like I've been working forever. What have we been up to? Oh yeah, went to a 'baby naming ceremony' in Cambridge last Sunday. That was lots of fun, had too many glasses of Pimms though (not to mention the pints of beer). Slept on the train on the way back home and awoke in King's Cross with a hangover. Had a so-so week, had a boys night out last night with David and Peter. I don't remember coming home, as I was very, very drunk. Still, it was great to catch up with Peter - he was on form as usual and had us all entertained. I've had a hideous hangover all day, and it's been lovely (!).
Stayed at Matt's parents on Friday night and had fish and chips (classy) which was fun too. As for our viewing delights we've sat through:

'The Witch Who Came from the Sea' (Directed by Matt Cimber 1976)
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I found this boring and didn't warm to any of the characters.

'Death Rage' ('Con la rabbia agli occhi' Directed by Antonio Margheriti 1976)
Really enjoyed this (well, it is an Italian crime/revenge film). Great to see Barbara Bouchet again, although I found the love scenes between her and a haggard looking Yul Brynner a tad off-putting, to say the least. Nice scenes of Naples, that had me going "I've been there" all the time!

'The Adventures of Hercules' ('Le Avventure dell'incredibile Ercole' Directed by Luigi Cozzi 1985)
More camp nonsense with Lou Ferrigno back as the mighty Herc. Sadly quite forgettable though.

'Village of the Damned' (Directed by Wolf Rilla 1960)
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Classy Barbara Shelley and George Sanders in a British tale of unearthly children.

'Children of the Damned' (Directed by Anton Leader 1963)
Quite good follow up to the previous film, this time with International children (Mi Ling was so cute!). Ian Hendry (Tom Lewellin) is a guy who has compassion for the devilish tots. I really like Ian Hendry, but his Welsh accent was dodgy.

'The Mummy's Shroud' (Directed by John Gilling 1967)
Not a very action packed Mummy film from Hammer, but still enjoyable. Maggie Kimberly (playing Claire de Sangre) looks fantastic and is very Alexandra Bastedo.

'Plague of the Zombies' (Directed by John Gilling 1966)
Seen this so many times and it's still great. There are a number of really good scenes especially the one where a dead Alice Mary Tompson (Jacqueline Pearce) opens her eyes.

Phew! Enough. Goodnight!

Here again

It's 6.30 am and I'm typing. I had a long nightmare this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, so here I am. Bex's Birthday evening went well. Started in The Champion and ended up in The Golden Lion (old rent-boy haunt). Bex and her mate Cher (who was fantastic) came back to ours for a nightcap (I drank neat vodka, as we had no mixers, how filthy).

Anyway, more importantly what have we seen?

Gambling City ('La Città gioca d'azzardo' Directed by Sergio Martino 1975)
Luca Altieri (Luc Merenda) is a professional gambler who gets hired to work for "The President" an ageing crime boss (Enrico Maria Salerno, in a wheelchair). He gets involved with the bosses son's girlfriend Maria Luisa (Dayle Haddon - 'Spermula') and the trouble begins, which Luca invites with enthusiasm. Enjoyed this loads, Merenda looks great in those 70's suits and the soundtrack was brilliant, it starts off plinky plonky jolly and gradually turns more sombre as the film progresses. Must buy!

'Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee' ('The Secret of the Red Orchid' Directed by Helmut Ashley 1962)
Although this film stars Christopher Lee (speaking German with ease), Marisa Mell and Klaus Kinski, amongst others, I found it very dull. A bad start to the 'Edgar Wallace Collection', however...

'Das Gasthaus an der Themse' ('The Inn on the River' Directed by Alfred Vohrer 1963)
This was a different kettle of fish (no pun intended) altogether and had loads of great elements. Elisabeth Flickenschildt who plays (Aunt) Nelly Oaks was a riot. I knew I'd like the film as soon as she started singing in her seedy bar. Klaus Kinski is back, this time playing a french guy ("I'm in spices, import, export"). It's all meant to be set on the river Thames, near Greenwhich (wish that bar was still there, I'd go all the time) and the main story is about a killer that spears people with a harpoon, he gets about (and away) in a black wet suit and is known as 'the shark'!

Friday at last...

I'm sat here in my favourite new shirt, having another beer. Decided it was time to pull myself away from ebay - how many bloody hours have I wasted looking at that damn site, just in the hope of getting some bargain? Well, plenty.

My flu has almost gone, which is good. My last tattoo needs some serious re-touching, Santo looks chinless. My Step-Mother rang today to tell me my Father is in Hospital, after having a suspected heart attack, my cousin has had a miscarriage and my sister isn't talking to anybody (not Jess). So... family life's a bit weird right now.

On a brighter note, it's our pal Bex's Birthday a week today, so we'll be out and drinking 'til we fall over, which is always good. Shame I am working on the Saturday, mmm enjoy that hang-over. At least I'll only be serving the customers and not working with dangerous machinery...

Step-Mother has just rung, Father is at home now, wasn't a heart attack, just a severe hernia pain (too much info).

I have the biggest beard I've ever had, it's too woolly but I can't be bothered to do anything about it.

We have cockroaches in our kitchen, which is rather disgusting. So far we have caught three of the bastards.

Enjoyed watching 'Lost' the other day and we're really pleased that the final series of 'Six Feet Under' starts next week, yay!

Well that's it for now, my beer's getting warm and I want a smoke.

New stuff...

Last weekend was rather quiet. I'd gotten some kind of flu, so we didn't go out on the lash Friday or Saturday. Sunday however I was getting cabin fever, so we took a walk to the Barbican then after looking for ages for somewhere to eat, found a really great pub (The Coach and Horses) somewhere near the Betsy Trotwood. Had a gorgeous meal and three glasses of Leffe. Having a lazy weekend was rather good for watching DVD's though, I managed to get through these...

'Hercules' (Directed by Luigi Cozzi 1983)
Hilarious campy sword and sandal nonsense with Lou Ferrigno and Sybil Danning. Brad Harris gets third billing and is only in the film for about five minutes. There's some great 80's special effects and sound effects. The bit with the chariot and the boulder is beyond belief and had us in stitches. Looking forward to seeing the follow up film 'The Adventures of Hercules', I hope it's as trashy as this.

'Death Carries A Cane' ('Passi di danza su una lama di rasoio' Directed by Maurizio Pradeaux 1972)
Starring the fun Nieves Navarro, this film swings into the giallo mode really early on - within minutes of it starting a girl is being knifed to death by a person dressed head to toe in black. Kitty (Navarro) has been watching the murder through a coin operated viewfinder and no one will believe her, until the Police discover the girls body. Because her lover (or husband, I can't remember) is implicated she tries to clear his name...
Pretty usual affair with all the familiar giallo ingredients. Over three quarters of the way through I was wondering why there was no lesbian scene, and low and behold, one turns up (albeit in a flash-back)!
The picture quality on the DVD was the worst I've seen on a 'X-Rated Kult DVD' release, but no way near as bad as those 'Dagored Films' releases.

'She Gods Of Shark Reef' (Directed by Roger Corman 1958)
Laughable and camp film about two brothers who end up on an (hawaiian?) island only inhabited by pearl diving women who worship a shark god. One of the brothers is a bad guy (the dark-haired and buff Don Durant), the other is a blond goody-goody who falls in love with one of the girls. All the time they are spied on by an old hag (the leader of the women), who doesn't like the men and wants no hanky panky between the new male guests and one of her girls. The men run around in little shorts and there are scenes (stock footage) of sharks and some shots of dead ones being speared.
Somehow I managed to sit through this film even though the picture quality was like watching it through a dirty tea towel (Are there any decent transfers in that 50 Sci Fi movie box-set?)

'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' (Directed by Terence Fisher 1969)
Wow! I hadn't seen this for years and had forgotten what a nasty piece of work Peter Cushing's Baron is. Totally brilliant stuff and has made me want to get loads more Hammer films on DVD (groan! I need more cash).

'Ulysses Against The Son Of Hercules' ('Ulisse contro Ercole' Directed by Mario Caiano 1961)
Really enjoyed this sword and sandal film, starring two leading guys I'm not familiar with (Mike Lane and Georges Marchal). There's a very voluptuous 'Queen of the bird people' (Dominique Boschero - 'All the Colors of the Dark', 'Who Saw Her Die?') who struts around her jungle in very high heels wearing feathered creations (the bird people are extras dressed as green budgies), great sets (that face in the wall), almost death by a falling ceiling of rock and a guy who is forced to fly with wings off of some wooden scaffolding - the way he just falls off was great.

'Crime Boss' ('I Familiari delle vittime non saranno avvertiti' Directed by Alberto De Martino 1972)
Found this Italian crime film rather dull and perhaps the worst one I've seen so far. It does have Telly Savalas, Antonio Sabato and Paola Tedesco ('Watch Me When I Kill') but none of the excitement you usually find in these types of films. The ending dialogue between Savalas and Sabato is really unconvincing. Oh well, I only spent 51p on the DVD (!) thanks to that brilliant web site I found.

'Confessions of a Police Captain' ('Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica' Directed by Damiano Damiani 1971)
Is that a long title or what? Another Italian crime film and although this stars Franco Nero and Martin Balsam I found it dull and slow paced. It does have the pretty Giancarlo Prete in it though, if only briefly.

Phew, that's quite enough for one day. Have to mention that 'The Saint' has been brilliant, we've watched about ten episodes so far. Shirley Eaton's been in it twice which was cool. Barbara Shelley and the wonderful 'Cathy Gale' (Honor Blackman) have been in it too. Who will be next?

Stuff

God! Feels like I haven't been here for ages. Been kind of busy lately...

Sister Jess came to stay with her friend Ellie weekend before last. Took them to a cool pub in Mornington Crescent on the Friday night and got wasted (me more than anybody else). Went down the Thames on a boat on Saturday, from Westminster to Kew, which was lots of fun as the guy doing a commentary was unusually hilarious. We were surrounded by tourists and a Cilla Black look-a-like, who kept sneaking away for a cigarette. Spent a fortune on clothes in charity shops and TKMAXX (love that shop, it's just bizarre) and had fish and chips in a weird place somewhere near Hammersmith. Later that night we went to our local, 'The Approach' and met up with our pal Bex. Hours later we were dancing to The Army Of Lovers (the shame). On the Sunday Jess and Ellie left (after I had made them watch 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?', episodes of Tales Of The Unexpected' and 'Wonder Woman') for Waterloo. I was monumentally horrored, of course, due to all the alcohol I'd consumed and we had to meet up with another pal (Emma) who works for the Foreign Office and was over for a few weeks from Nigeria (have to catch her when you can!)... So on Sunday evening we went to 'The Dove' and met her, Bex and Kirsty. I was terrified at first, but we had a great time after my body had been topped up again with some beer. Next time we'll see Emma will be in Delhi. Yay!