The Racetrack Murder 1964 German movie called Das Siebente Opfer, based on the novel by Brian Edgar Wallace, screenplay and direction by Franz Josef Gottlieb. One of several films made from Edgar Wallace's son's novels by a rival German film company, they were not usually as good as the superior Edgar Wallace films from Rialto. The movie is on a DVD with a second film.
The story is set in the world of horse racing and involves a rich family and the people who work for them. First someone tries to dope the horse, then someone is killed. Scotland Yard are called in and soon after there's another murder. It plods along and the detectives do their best to catch the killer. It's a bit slow moving and sometimes I lost interest. Not as much fun as many of the Edgar Wallace films are. It's about average to me. Glad to have seen it but wish it was more entertaining.
The House In The Woods 1957 Based on a short story called Prelude To Murder by Walter C Brown, screenplay and direction by Maxwell Munden. I had the Network DVD but watched the version on the DVD with The Racetrack Murders. I'll compare the two when I have a chance to dig out that DVD.
Michael Gough is a moody writer who wants to go somewhere nice and quiet. Patricia Roc plays his wife. They find a nice cottage in the country. Ronald Howard plays the owner, he wants to go off traveling and will rent them the place for a pittance. He talks them into staying that very night, so they can see if they like the place.
Ronald's a gracious host and they have a nice time until Michael starts to believe there's something sinister behind all that bonhomie. It takes a while to figure it out and Patricia doesn't believe Michael until it's too late. Now they're in a pickle and it's touch and go for a while.
I enjoyed it quite a bit, it's only an hour and there's a good bit going on. You can watch a copy here.
Cruise Of The Gods 2002 Written by Tim Firth, Michael Marshall Smith and Peter Baynham, directed by Declan Lowney.A made for TV movie for the BBC.
Rob Brydon has been producing his own short interview program from home over the lock down periods in the UK. When he interviewed Steve Coogan they talked about Cruise Of The Gods and it seemed like I would like it. Steve and Rob appeared together in The Trip and all the sequels to that.
Twenty years before the movie starts Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan were in a cheaply produced SF TV show called The Children Of Castor. Steve went on to bigger and better things and Rob is a porter at a hotel. The show has a following and Rob gets hired to appear on a cruise ship for the fans of his show.
The ship is also host to a Jack Jones appreciation get together and a third do for someone else. These are really small gatherings. Jack plays himself in the film and he's great. He's another of the people who pass some sage advice to Rob. Jack sings a number of songs through the movie and he's still in fine voice.
David Walliams plays the head of the fan group and James Corden is his hapless lackey. The lady in the picture above is Helen Coker, she plays a fan of the series and she's another of the people that give Rob a bit of a life lesson. Rob's character is a needy failure who's only fans are the sort of people he hates. He acts like he's still as active actor but his roles are few and far between. Steve's character is a nice guy who's had some breaks, he's currently staring in Sherlock Holmes in Miami, it's a street smart version of Holmes with a black Watson. We're lucky to see some of the movie being made because Steve hires Rob to play the part of Scumbag #3 out of pity.
Because Steve nearly ran over Rob with his yacht he finds out that there's a fan cruise for the show. He's only too happy to put in an appearance and he's happy once he gets there. He's just generally an all around nice person. The lessons continue for poor Rob and eventually there's a happy ending. I laughed a fair bit and there's some good life lessons to learn. I'd certainly recommend it. Sadly, there's only the British DVD out, you need a region free player or VLC Player to play it. I got a copy from Amazon and was glad I picked it up.
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