Alan McClelland Movies

Producer-writer Brian Clemens was in top form with this episode, which originally aired on February 15, 1964. Cathy Gale adds to her already impressive leather wardrobe when she joins a motorcycle gang. No, she hasn't "gone punk," she's merely trying to help Steed find the location of an insidious electronic jamming device. As for Steed himself, he has quite a time with a pair of "old witches," namely the Peck Sisters (Athene Seyler and Nora Nicholson). "Build a Better Mousetrap" made its American cable TV debut on April 1, 1991, arousing amusement over the episode's depiction of "typical" 1960s British teens. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Joseph Losey directed this unusual science fiction effort, which has won a small but fervent cult following. Simon Wells (MacDonald Carey) is an American visiting England, where he meets a woman named Joan (Shirley Ann Field). Simon is immediately attracted to Joan, but there's a considerable obstacle in their budding romance: Joan's brother King (Oliver Reed), the leader of a violent pack of motorcycle rockers. King has a barely concealed incestuous attachment to his sister, and he sometimes uses her to lure victims into his gang's clutches. King and his cronies attack Simon, take his money, and leave him stranded, where he's eventually found by a pair of military security men. Simon is brought to the home of Bernard (Alexander Knox), a scientist working on a secret project for the government, and his girlfriend Freya (Viveca Lindfors), a sculptor. Joan eventually tracks Simon down in hopes of winning his forgiveness, but another run-in with King causes Simon and Joan to discover a cave that holds a terrible secret: a group of strange, cold-blooded children who were the products of one of Bernard's experiments gone wrong. The children were genetically engineered to survive a nuclear war, and, as a result, they are radioactive enough to kill anyone who comes in close contact with them. Controversial in its day, The Damned was produced in England in 1961 but was not released until 1963, when Hammer Films booked it as the second-half of a double bill with Maniac. It did not reach American screens until 1965, when it was shown under the title These Are the Damned. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The mysterious Indian jungle provides the setting for this adventure where a one-legged hunter pursues a terrifying tiger, a man-eater. On the hunt, the man encounters the cowardly fellow who caused him to lose his leg in a POW camp. Together they face the snarling, cornered jungle cat. Again, the fellow chickens out, resulting in the near-fatal mauling of the hunter. Later, the coward's wife helps the battered hunter recuperate. As she ministers to him, the hunter can't help but fall in love with her. He begins to drink heavily. He stops when he learns that the coward's son has wandered off into the dangerous jungle. Not wanting the lad to be tiger chow, the hunter sets off to kill the beast. He succeeds. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi