Jonathan Demme directs Juanita Brown, Roberta Collins and Barbara Steele in this women in prison exploitation flick from Roger Corman’s New World Pictures.

Early exploitation Demme that, one or two scenes aside, doesn’t feel all the predatory. The first hour is a grindhouse Orange Is The New Black. The last twenty widens out and amps up the action. All the inmates have quirks and heart. Still fulfils what the dirty mac brigade would have required back then… and at least one of those scenes of sexual threat is quite abrasive. On the whole though… fun.

6

Perfect Double Bill: The Big Doll House (1971)

Gary Fleder directs Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken and Gabrielle Anwar in this dark crime ensemble comedy where a slick gangster needs to wrap up his affairs quickly after a mob boss puts a hit out on his crew.

As a teenager this was in heavy rotation on my VCR. A derided flop in the States, I feel (with no real evidence) it was more fondly embraced and financially successful in the UK. Just like Reservoir Dogs was when it banked more cash in its original run over here than across the Atlantic. It has quotable dialogue, quirky characters, easy cool and a hip soundtrack. Now the dust has long since settled and not many (if any) of the kneejerk Tarantino rip-offs have stood the test of time, this stellar cast and hilariously nasty script actually shines brightly. It looks fantastic and moves with a purpose. Garcia is only this in sync with his material in The Godfather III and here. Treat Williams and Walken are outlandishly memorable monstrosities. The living thing is both meta and full of heart. Sheen but breathing. Boat drinks, Jimmy The Saint!

10

Perfect Double Bill: Con Air (1997)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin

Francis Lawrence directs Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson and Mark Hamill in this dystopian road movie where fifty young men take part in a contest of walking endurance; one where 49 of them will be executed when they slow down.

One of Stephen King’s simplest but most haunting novels. Filmed gruesomely. With two of the best young actors out there currently, front and centre and eating up the focus. Horrific in its own cruelly inevitable way but joins Shawshank, Stand By Me and Hearts In Atlantis as one of the superior “non-horror” King adaptations. Surprised this didn’t breakout to a wider audience.

8

Perfect Double Bill: The Running Man (2025)

Cameron Thor directs Justin Lazard, Johnathon Schaech and Moon Unit Zappa in this drama where a group of friends reunite at a mountain retreat only for tragedy to (briefly) interrupt their self centred whining.

Top billed Christina Applegate turns up for three minutes, promptly kills herself by hanging herself with a swing. Then her mates dump her body in the woodshed and carry on with their affairs, pot smoking, arguments, pranks and blah blah blah. There are flashbacks to a sexual assault and both Molly Ringwald and Paul Gleeson are in it. Every other scene is smothered in some horrible dirge-y singer songwriter crap. Might just be the worst movie I have seen. The Big Nil.

1

Perfect Double Bill: The Room (2003)

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Chris Nahon directs Jet Li, Bridget Fonda and Tchéky Karyo in this French martial arts actioner where a Taiwanese cop is framed by some Parisian ACABs.

Li’s best stunt work in a western production, he shines when he is wordlessly in motion, taking down all of France with a picture postcard backdrop. Fonda is served up a doozy of a role as… deep breath… a junky whore farm girl white slave with a heart of gold and a kidnapped daughter. This is very much made through the prism of what producer Luc Besson feels both ‘cool’ and ‘femininity’ are. A wayward mess but satisfyingly packaged. Saturday night takeaway.

7

Perfect Double Bill: Unleashed (2005)

Jack Clayton directs Deborah Kerr, Megs Jenkins and Michael Redgrave in this classic psychological horror where a young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.

Lovely, gorgeous repressed Deborah Kerr becomes convinced her two wards are possessed by a horny dead couple. We have menacing creepy and wholly untrustworthy kids. Shadowy figures in the distance. Sleepless night. Paranoia. Doubting servants. Wandering a labyrinth of a country house with nothing the tenuous light of your candelabra. Histrionic and diaphanous. Nightie-tastic.

8

Perfect Double Bill: The Others (2001)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin

Gerd Oswald directs Robert Wagner, Virginia Leith and Joanne Woodward in this thriller where a ruthless college student resorts to murder in an attempt to marry an heiress.

Such a strange movie for its decade. The opening credits suggest it is going to be a Blake Edwards style Technicolor caper comedy. Jazzy, cartoonish. Then we spend the first half in Robert Wagner’s headspace as he tries to kill his pregnant girlfriend while executing the “perfect murder”. That has obvious frisson if you know the star’s infamous future. It all seems indebted / to be lampooning the moral anguish of A Place In The Sun. No such ethical qualms here though. The second half opens up. But there are at least three set pieces that Hitch would give up a year of his foie gras for. It just is so obtusely uneven and eerie. I’m not entirely sure all that is intentional. Seems to exist to be one of those half remembered out of time movies where that happened and then that happened… AND THEN THAT HAPPENED!

7

Perfect Double Bill: Dial M For Murder (1954)

Edgar Wright directs Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Kate Ashfield in this beloved British rom-zom-com.

As familiar and cosy as an old pair of socks. Hot Fuzz has way more killer jokes though.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Hot Fuzz (2008)

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Joe Wright directs Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller and Garrett Hedlund in this fantasy adventure prequel where Peter, Hook and Tiger Lily team up to take on the evil pirate Blackbeard.

Derided and unprofitable back in its day, this came out just before I started blogging about every movie I watched. My decade old memory of it was that Wright got the short end of a critical pile on. Yes… the over reliance on CGI is garish but also ambitious. And Rooney Mara’s casting as Tiger Lily did not read the room of what was culturally appropriate… but she looks splendid and actually handles most of the combat action. One step forward, two steps back. I was spellbound by the cacophony of colours and hubris when I first saw this on the big screen. At home, on belated revisit, I do acknowledge the flaws but the only true terminal criticism is the set-up first hour is so much stronger than the second half. If you fancy The Greatest Showman meets Fury Road but “y’know for kids” then Pan is worth a gamble.

6

Perfect Double Bill: Peter Pan (1953)

Desmond Davis directs Peter Finch, Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave in this rich adaptation of Edna O’Brien’s early Irish novel.

The Swingin’ Sixties / Kitchen Sink hits Dublin. Awful accents, amazing framing. A slight May to December romance shouldn’t be this provocative, philosophical or powerful. The underdog highlight of the Woodfall series of flickers. From the director of… Clash Of The Titans.

8

Perfect Double Bill: The Knack (1965)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin