Jerold Wells Movies

A detective plagued by headaches goes to a hypnotist and relives his investigation into a serial killer case in Lars von Trier's first feature, The Element of Crime. Fisher (Michael Elphick), a retired policeman, returns to Europe at the behest of his mentor, Osborne (Esmond Knight of The Red Shoes). Osborne, the author of an influential textbook called The Element of Crime, has given up his investigation into the Lotto Murders, in which a number of lottery ticket salesgirls have been killed and mutilated. The new chief of police, Kramer (former Benny Hill Show regular Jerold Wells), is a trigger-happy lunatic who objects to Fisher's methodical approach to crime solving. Osborne, meanwhile, seemingly losing his grip on reality, insists that the killer, Harry Grey, died in a car crash. Using Osborne's methods, Fisher tries to delve into the mind of Grey by following the path of a trip the killer took three years earlier, while Osborne was investigating him. Along the way, Fisher hooks up with a prostitute, Kim (Me Me Lai), who also has a link to Grey. As he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, Fisher finds himself taking on more and more aspects of the killer's persona. Von Trier uses a traditional film noir style voice-over, while visually, his film is a monochromatic sepia tone with occasional flashes of fluorescent blue. This film brought von Trier international attention, paving the way for his success with Zentropa and The Kingdom. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

A young boy joins a group of renegade dwarves on an unpredictable journey through time in this humorous fantasy. Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam mostly achieves a tricky balancing act in his second feature as sole director, creating a dark, irreverent comedy disguised as a family adventure. Particularly amusing are the boy's encounters with various historical figures, including an entertainment-starved Napoleon (Ian Holm), a powerful Agamemnon (Sean Connery), and a surprisingly stuffy Robin Hood, embodied by Gilliam's Python cohort John Cleese. Episodic by nature, the film is less successful when dealing with the larger narrative, which concerns the pursuit of the dwarves and their time-traveling map by the Supreme Being. However, the combination of Gilliam's visual exuberance and the witty script (by Gilliam and Michael Palin) ensures an entertaining, if erratic, journey. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Here's another the raunchy British "Adventures" series, released on the heels of Adventures of a Private Eye. Christopher Neil plays the title character, a bloke named Sid South. In course of his job, Sid runs up against thieves, would-be spies, motorcyle salesmen, and a bevy of cute female tennis players. It was perhaps a "given" that he'd also run across a character named Crapper. The delightful Anna Quayle lends a bit of comic dignity to proceedings. Star Neil also wrote the film's incidental music. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this children's drama, a London boy is struck upon the head. When he regains consciousness, he discovers that he can foretell crimes before they are committed. With this gift he is able to lead the police to arrest a notorious criminal mastermind who is also a prominent, well-respected businessman. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this historical fantasy, based on the classic medieval poem during the days of King Arthur, the gallant Green Knight gallops into the court and makes a gruesome challenge to the Round Table Knights. He dares any of them to successfully chop off his head. If they fail, he gets to hack off theirs. Brave Gawain accepts the challenge and with a mighty swing slices off the Green Knight's noggin. Unfortunately, the headless body calmly picks up the head and places it back on his shoulders. The honor-bound Gawain then must fulfill his destiny at the palace of the Green Knight. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Smashing Time attempts to turn British actresses Rita Tushingham and Lynn Redgrave into a female Laurel and Hardy. The film's second mistake is to prolong the joke for 96 minutes. Tushingham and Redgrave play a couple of dimwitted North Country girls who head to London, in hopes of breaking into the mad, mod world of fashion modeling. Instead they spend most of their screen time getting in each other's way and wreaking havoc on innocent pedestrians. The comic "highlight" of Smashing Time is supposed to be a mammoth pie fight; but outside of one cute throwaway gag involving a street minister, the sequence makes one wish, in the words of Laurel and Hardy buff Leonard Maltin, that Smashing Time "had been handled by someone other than [director] Desmond Davis." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This suspenseful crime drama finds a jealous husband hiring a killer to murder his supposedly unfaithful wife. Donald Edwards (Michael Gough) imports the German hit man Kersten (Hans Borsody) to murder his wife Helen (Erika Remberg). He suspects her of having an affair with Robert (John Justin). The usually cold-blooded hit man first agrees to the assignment, but he soon becomes convinced that Helen is innocent of any wrongdoing. When he refuses to kill Helen, he is confronted by the irate husband, something which leads to an inevitable showdown. The feature was filmed in 1962. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

An American artist travels to rural France for a relaxing vacation and ends up falling for a lovely young woman, whose father is the owner of a cafe. Unfortunately, her father is not in town, as he is locked up in the local looney bin for immolating the man who raped his daughter. The trouble begins when the girl's stepmother seduces the artist and then convinces him to help her free her murderous husband, a man who cannot bear the thought of a man touching his beloved daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this high-seas adventure, a wicked one-eyed, one-armed pirate forces a young man, who was wrongfully imprisoned, to take him and his band to his Caribbean island home where the pirate believes great treasure is buried. Once there, the pirate begins fighting for control of the island and begins slaughtering the lad's family and friends. The young man is utterly appalled and with his step-sister, a young woman and her beloved, somehow escape. Later the pirate discovers a large statue of pure gold. He and his men haul it to the beach and put it on a raft. As they are floating toward their ship, they are ambushed by the man and the other survivors causing the precious statue to fall overboard and sink to Davy Jones' locker while the pirate is killed. Later the survivors return to their ravaged home. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Craig Rhodes (John Derek) is the partner of gold miner Frank Davidson (Al Mulock). Frank's wife Lenore (Elaine Stewart) develops a yen for Rhodes, while he insists upon remaining honorable.The situation becomes prickly when a heavy snowfall forces Frank, Lenore and Craig to share close quarters, awaiting rescue. Adding to the tension is lecherous miner Luke Fulgham (Patrick Allen), who openly lusts after the heroine. Though set in the Canadian Rockies, produced by a Hollywood film company and boasting a largely American cast, High Hell is technically a British film, lensed in the Alps! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi