Comsat Angel

Given the constraints of time and money that the film makers laboured under, this is a compelling and harrowing horror story, set amidst the carnage of the First World War.

Part of the impact this film has is by avoiding cliche's and pat answers - you have to sit and think about what happened and why, which makes it less appealing to those who want either a slam-bang war film or a gore-fest horror flick.

The DVD is worth buying for the extra's, and I should know, because I bought it.

A comedy that consistently amuses, to the point of being laugh-out loud funny - the hilarious inserts of Monty's oeuvre are some of the high-points: The Foxy Chocolate Robot, anyone? Or the Simplex Complex? Or, my fave, the Eco-Angels? Plus, everything comes together for a happy ending. Result! Stick around for the end credits; someone carried out a labour of love in creating 437 film titles for Monty's career.

Very creepy, very eerie and very old! Over four decades old, in fact; and one is entitled to wonder which of the contemporary TV entertainment will still have the power to entertain and alarm in 2042. "Quatermass and the Pit" features Andre Morrell, surely the best of all Quatermass's, a scientist and humanist, fallible but moral. Though the series was filmed in black and white, and the original cliff-hanging endings edited out, it still maintains a slow build-up of suspense. The long running-time helps this gradual increase, as do the un-nerving electronic sounds indicating the presence of - ah, well, that would be telling! Nigel Kneale combines and "explains" a host of myths, legends, folk-memories and the supernatural with science-fiction themes and does it all very well indeed. I bought this video in 1988 and boy am I glad I did so!