Pat Ashton Movies
- 1984
This British horror spoof was conceived as a star vehicle for then-popular TV comedian Kenny Everett, who plays an occult scientist whose team of paranormal researchers are measuring psychic disturbances at a rural English estate called "Headstone Manor." Once the site of a bloody massacre, the house is haunted by the very real presence of a moronic devil-worshipping coven and their exasperated leader, "The Sinister Man" (Vincent Price, who seems to enjoy serving up the ham). The inept Satanists are determined to prevent the so-called psychic experts from completing their task. Despite a few clever gags and some very funny asides from the mugging Price, viewers expecting a Monty Python-style satire of horror films will be rather disappointed. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenny Everett, Pamela Stephenson, (more)
- 1983
In this enhanced graduation film by Terry Winsor, the adventures of caricatured teens as they search for sex and romance, saturated with rock music, go on for a long time and in a format that is not always intelligible to the non-teen. It becomes apparent early on that this search is not usually successful, and since there is no other point to the story, the comic moments alone will not be enough to keep viewers entertained. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Peacock, Karl Howman, (more)
Peter Sellers gives a splendid, understated performance in this gentle comedy-drama. Liz (Donna Mullane) and Mark (John Chaffey) are a pair of poor children trying to get by on the streets of London. In their travels, Liz and Mark get to know Sam (Sellers), a one-time music hall performer who these days performs for change with his dog on streetcorners. Sam takes the youngsters under his wing and helps remind them of the simply joys of living that they've forgotten in their hardscrabble lives. Also released as The Optimists of Nine Elms, The Optimists features several original songs by Lionel Bart and an incidental score by George Martin, best known as the man who produced The Beatles' recordings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Donna Mullane, (more)
On the Buses was an engagingly daffy British TV sitcom set in a bus depot and made in the late sixties. Reg Varney starred as the head of the lost and found department, who spent the better part of his time fielding wisecracks from his fellow bus-company employees. The series proved popular enough to spawn three theatrical features, the second of which was 1972's Mutiny on the Buses. This time around, a labor dispute leads to endless slapstick complications. Reg Varney and Doris Hare repeat their TV series roles. On the Buses was "Americanized" as the 1973 Dom DeLuise sitcom Lotsa Luck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reg Varney, Bob Grant, (more)
Based on a popular British television series from the late sixties, On the Buses centers on the chaos caused in a bus depot when the boss hires a passel of female bus drivers. This marked the first of three theatrical features based on the series (the second and third installments were the 1972 Mutiny on the Buses and the 1974 Holiday on the Buses, respectively). Though all three films were critically savaged, they grossed dollar one in Great Britain, particularly this first installment - eliciting a host of sequels and imitators. The Motion Picture Guide wrote of On the Buses, " The humor is sexist, of course, and infantile, with no wit or sophistication, which of course ensured its appeal to a large segment of the masses." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reg Varney, Doris Hare, (more)
- 1967
British musical star Tommy Steele had starred in Half a Sixpence in London and on Broadway, thus he was first choice for this garish film version. Based on the H.G. Wells story Kipps (previously filmed in 1941 with Michael Redgrave), Half a Sixpence tells the tale of a humble London drapery clerk (Steele) who inherits a fortune. He briefly forgets his old mates and his faithful girl friend (Julia Foster), but soon discovers that High Society isn't his cup of tea. Filmed during the "monster musical" cycle fostered by The Sound of Music, Half a Sixpence isn't really suited for the spectacular approach dictated by co-producer Charles H. Schneer. Fortunately, the guiding directorial hand is the film's other producer: George Sidney, a veteran of MGM's Arthur Freed unit, who knew how to successfully weld music with story. Thanks to Sidney and star Steele, Half a Sixpence never gets too out of hand, though we'd argue with some of the eyestrain-inducing color choices in the bigger numbers. The film might have done better at the box office had the score yielded a few hit songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Steele, Julia Foster, (more)
- 1967
One of director Ken Russell's earliest films, Dante's Inferno is a made-for-TV biopic about the British poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Oliver Reed), who was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood during the late 1800s. The style was influenced by romanticism and Renaissance painters. Other founding members of the movement were William Morris (Andrew Faulds), Edward Coley Burne-Jones (Norman Dewhurst), and John Everett Millais (Derek Boshier). Iza Teller plays Dante's sister, the poet Christina Rossetti. Judith Paris plays his wife, Elizabeth, who was driven to suicide. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
