Peter Sproule Movies
- 1981
This provocative film, based on a short story by Dylan Thomas, is set in Wales during the turmoil of WW I. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
This horror feature should entertain fans of the blood and guts but ultimately fails to live up to its title. Royal ancestors feel the wrath of the curse of the condemned witch Mad Dolly L.E. Mack, who spews forth her prophetic venom while she is burned at the stake. The victims suffer death by having their heads removed in various fashions, getting their limbs caught in animal traps, knife wounds, and other methods of popular medieval torture. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Nolan, Carolyn Courage, (more)
- 1975
- PG
In this low budget fantasy adventure from Britain, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 science fiction novel, a German submarine holding American prisoners of war during World War I, veers off course. Lost at sea, the submarine empties its fuel supply and runs aground on an uncharted island in the Antarctic. The survivors find that the island contains an ancient oil refinery that can be used to fuel the submarine. The only problem is that the group of Germans and Americans have to battle gigantic dinosaurs and primitive cavemen as they make their way through the island. The Land That Time Forgot was enough of a success to spawn a 1976 sequel called The People That Time Forgot. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doug McClure, John McEnery, (more)
Rebellious students at an English private school plan a violent revolt against their repressive environment in director Lindsay Anderson's highly acclaimed but extremely controversial drama. Centering on a small group of non-conformists led by Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell), the film paints a distinctly negative picture of the British school system and, by extension, English society. Seeing the powers-that-be as humorless, bureaucratic, and needlessly restrictive, Mick and his cohorts indulge in small acts of rebellion, including sneaking into town to romance a local waitress. Their actions are discovered and punished with harsh beatings, leading the students to plot revenge. This effort culminates in the film's most famous sequence, a surrealistic depiction of a bloody uprising by the students against the adult world. Daring and unpredictable in content and form, If... mixes color and black-and-white cinematography as easily as it mingles satire with dark fantasy. The film's ambiguous attitude toward violence caused controversy at the time, as many commentators saw the film as a potential incitement to violence. It became a great success among younger, counter-culture audiences who appreciated the audacious shock tactics and embraced the satirical, anti-establishment message. Often compared to Jean Vigo's French classic Zéro de conduite, which also featured surrealistic boarding-school rebellion, If... has become a high point in the cinema of youth rebellion. Anderson and McDowell later collaborated on O Lucky Man! (1973), Look Back in Anger (1980), and Britannia Hospital (1982). ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, David Wood, (more)
