Leofwine_draca

I have a long history with this series, starting from when I first saw and enjoyed 28 DAYS LATER back in the cinemas. I still consider it Boyle's best work as a director, but I think the sequel, 28 MONTHS LATER, surpassed it, because the Spanish guy they hired did an even better job than Boyle. Now, a couple of decades later, they've decided to reboot the series and make a load more films, of which this is a first. The bad news is that Boyle's back in the director's chair and seems to have no clue what he's doing here. There's not much of a (very) predictable storyline, so he tries very hard to add in freshness by adding nudity and the like, but the end result feels surprisingly cheap and passe, almost like a student production. Stupid directorial decisions, like the laboured use of stock footage and random idiotic freeze frame effects, help none. When it comes to the writing we're in for more disappointment, with no real narrative thrust, an annoying child lead, and other characters just disappearing halfway through for no reason. Ralph Fiennes is the most entertaining part of this mess. Let's hope the next one is better without Boyle behind it.

HIGHWAY TO BATTLE is another film from the Danziger factory, a whole slew of which have recently picked up by the good folk at Talking Pictures TV. Sadly, most of the ones I've watched have been cheap and tawdry affairs, and this one is no exception. The story is set on the eve of WW2, and features various German diplomats who are involved in a spy ring which some British spies in turn are trying to break up. Very little happens here other than a great deal of mundane chit-chat, which is something of a shame when otherwise entertaining stars like Ferdy Mayne and Peter Reynolds feature. It's a missed opportunity overall.

A bizarre little British crime film, set in the sleazy confinse of a low rent strip club. The plot involves a character with a grievance against one of the strippers who comes up with a way to boobytrap one of her costumes, but then of course the deaths continue and the police have to investigate to try to figure out what's going on and why. I found this a grubby little affair, poorly paced and without much going for it in the scheme of things. Unsurprisingly, a great deal of the running time is padded out with lengthy striptease sequences which add nothing more than the gentle titillation of yesteryear.