Peter Elliott Movies

Writer/artist Roland Searle's diabolical "belles" of St. Trinian's Girls School return in this raucous British comedy. Because the girls cannot behave themselves, their headmistress (Alastair Sim in drag!) has been thrown in jail, and the school is surrounded by police and army troops. The students escape their durance vile by winning an all-expense-paid trip to Europe (by cheating, of course). While laying waste to the Continent (with Terry-Thomas driving the bus), the girls are enmeshed in a diamond theft instigated by the father (George Cole) of one of the students. The film ends with an elongated water polo game, played with the ladies' usual sense of sportsmanship and fair play. In the 1950s and 1960s, the "St. Trinians" series was as popular a British movie attraction as the "Carry On" films--but unlike "Carry On", they don't play quite as well with American audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Victor Mature stars in this European-based crime thriller. Mature is an FBI agent on the trail of a drug smuggling operation, following his quarry all over the Continent (with accompanying pretty pictures of Portugal, Spain, France etc.) The criminal mastermind (Trevor Howard) is something of a lunatic, who has already strangled Mature's sister to death just for the hell of it. Anita Ekberg plays Howard's luscious courier; as usual, her "acting" consists to breathing heavily in a low-cut dress. The title Pickup Alley was the invention of Columbia's New York office: The film's original British title was Interpol. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime drama, a Yankee rocket scientist stationed in Great Britain becomes an undercover investigator when he suspects that his laboratory base has been infiltrated by an enemy spy. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this film, American Professor Dana Andrews investigates a devil-worshipping cult active in England. The cult has apparently been responsible for more than one death in recent months. When Andrews comes too close to the cult for comfort, the devil-worshipping leader slips a cursed parchment into Andrews' research files. This 1958 American release is a re-edit of Tourneur's original 1957 British film. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

In this mystery, a girls school gym teacher is almost lynched after he is accused of murder. Fortunately, the art teacher, his girl friend, saves him. Together they begin investigating the crime and successfully expose the real culprit before he strikes again. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this crime drama, a gentle old woman finds herself involved in a murder after she dials a wrong number and overhears a murderer telling how he killed a man during a robbery. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When a traveling salesman arrives to hawk his wares in an economically depressed Italian village, the last thing he expects is to be assailed by the most beautiful single girls in town, but that is exactly what happens. The reason for it stems from the fact that all but one of the town's eligible bachelors have left to find work. The only available man left is a wealthy emigrant. He is looking for a wife and the impoverished parents of the daughters push their children to compete for his love. This creates considerable conflict until the village elders step in and decide that the rich man's bride will be selected by the first outsider to enter the village. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When a beautiful model is found shot in her apartment, a famous television star is felt to be the murderer in a failed extortion plot. Although the investigation turns up a surprise ending, by the time most viewers get there they could not care less who did it. Singularly uninspired murder drama. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

The Torture Garden is an "omnibus" chiller, adapted from four short stories by Robert Bloch (Psycho). Each is introduced by Burgess Meredith, playing a sinister carnival barker by the name of Dr. Diabolo. The doctor's audience consists of five people, four of whom are apprised of their ultimate fates as Diabolo weaves his stories. In "Enoch," a young playboy falls under the spell of a cannibalistic cat. In "Terror Over Hollywood," a famous movie star is revealed to be an android. In "Mr. Steinway," the "villain" is a killer piano. And in "The Man Who Collected Poe," the title character murders another collector over a valuable Poe manuscript--only to receive retribution from ol' Edgar himself. If we told you anything about the fifth person in Meredith's audience, we'd be giving away the ending, wouldn't we now? The individual episodes tend to rise and fall depending upon the strength of their stars. Among those present in Torture Garden are horror-flick regulars Jack Palance, Peter Cushing, Robert Hutton, Michael Ripper and Niall McGinniss. No, this isn't a Hammer Production; it was put together by Hammer's principal British rival of the 1960s, Amicus Films. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two teenagers leave their small village behind and travel to London to make a life for themselves in the big city. Joe (Robin Askwith) convinces his girlfriend Carol (Janet Lynn) he has a job waiting in the motor trade and other connections. They spend the night together in a hotel and are swindled out of their money. Joe has no trouble convincing Carol to become a prostitute, and she continues the practice after landing a job as a successful model. Carol and Joe get work in pornographic films before they consider moving back to the quiet village once again. The seamy side of West End London is graphically illustrated. Jess Conrad, Stubby Kaye, Harry Baird and Pearl Hackney also appear in this exploitation film. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Strange and terrible things are afoot and the police are helpless to stop them in this taut, complicated thriller. First a heart attack victim goes to the hospital and awakens to find limbs missing, and later, the body of a rape victim is found with two strange puncture wounds upon her wrist. Meanwhile in Europe, a military officer is murdered by someone with inordinate strength. After another girl is murdered, Inspector Bellaver gets on the case. The trail of clues has many twists and turns and before he is led to the mysterious estate of Dr. Browning, another dies. There he discovers that the insane scientist has engineered a master race of emotionless, mindless beings as part of an international conspiracy. Now Bellaver and his cohorts must somehow stop the doctor and his friends from taking over the world. This marks one of only two features to include all three great horror actors Christopher Lee (as the head of British Intelligence), Peter Cushing (the leader of a fascist government) and Vincent Price (mad Dr. Browning) in the cast. (The second was 1983's House of Long Shadows). Interestingly, except for one brief moment at the end with Lee and Price, the actors never appear in the same scene together here. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Quest for Fire takes place some 80,000 years in the past. A primitive homo sapiens tribe huddles around a natural fire source for comfort and survival. When that source is extinguished, tribesmen Naoh (Everett McGill), Amoukar (Ron Perlman), and Gaw (Nameer El-Kadi) are sent out on a "quest for fire." After several days of wandering through the prehistoric landscape (the film was shot in Canada, Scotland, Iceland, and Kenya), the three come across a cannibal tribe that knows how to produce fire; they save a young girl, Ika (Rae Dawn Chong), from the clutches of the cannibals, with the hope that she'll reveal the secret. Based on a novel by J. H. Rosny Sr., Quest for Fire convincingly creates the world of the past and believably molds its characters within the context of their surroundings and their limited knowledge of the world. The credibility factor is aided by technical consultants Desmond Morris and Anthony Burgess, who respectively developed a set of gestures and a simplistic language for the Ulams and Ivakas. An Oscar went to John Hay and Penny Rose's costume design. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a reverent retelling of the Edgar Rice Burroughs original, with a 1980s-sensibilities slant. Shipwrecked on the coast of Africa, Lord Jack Clayton (Paul Geoffrey) and his pregnant wife Lady Alice (Cheryl Campbell) attempt to survive in the hostile environment, but both die shortly after the birth of their son John. Abandoned in the wilderness, the orphaned John is adopted by a family of rather highly evolved apes, and raised as one of their own. Years later, John-now known as Tarzan, and now played by Christopher Lambert-comes across a party of white hunters. Rescuing one of the intruders, Belgian Captain Phillipe D'Arnot (Ian Holm) from a horrible death , Tarzan is taught to speak English by the grateful D'Arnot. Coming across the remains and possessions of Tarzan's parents, D'Arnot discovers that the Lord of the Jungle is actually the Earl of Greystoke. Brought back to England, Tarzan is introduced to society, where his crude, apelike manners offend everyone--except the likeable (and painfully senile) 6th Lord of Greystoke (Ralph Richardson, in his final film role) and Greystoke's American ward, Jane Porter (Andie McDowell, whose Southern-fried voice is dubbed by Glenn Close). Disturbed at the notion of Tarzan's inheriting Greystoke manner, his more greedy relatives begin plotting against him. But it is Tarzan himself who decides that he cannot adapt himself to England-especially after a painful reunion with his ape foster father, imprisoned in a science-lab cage. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi