Joseph Walton Losey III was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Blacklisted by Hollywood in the 1950s, he moved to Europe where he made the remainder of his films, mostly in the United Kingdom. Among the most critically and commercially successful were the films with screenplays by Harold Pinter: The Servant (1963) and The Go-Between (1971).
X the Unknown is a 1956 British science fiction horror film directed by Leslie Norman and starring Dean Jagger and Edward Chapman. It was made by the Hammer Film Productions company and written by Jimmy Sangster. The film is significant in that "it firmly established Hammer's transition from B-movie thrillers to out-and-out horror/science fiction" and, with The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and Quatermass 2 (1957), completes "an important trilogy containing relevant allegorical threads revealing Cold War anxieties and a diminishing national identity resulting from Britain's decrease in status as a world power".
The Plague Dogs is a 1982 animated adventure drama film, based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. It was written, directed and produced by Martin Rosen, who also directed Watership Down, the film adaptation of another novel by Adams, with animation direction by Tony Guy. The Plague Dogs was produced by Nepenthe Productions; it was released by Embassy Pictures in the United States and by United Artists in the United Kingdom. The film was originally released unrated in the United States, but for its DVD release, was later re-rated PG-13 by the MPAA for mature themes such as animal cruelty, violent imagery, and emotionally distressing scenes. The Plague Dogs is the first non-family-oriented MGM animated film, and the first adult animated feature by the studio.
Crank is a 2006 American action film written and directed by Neveldine/Taylor in their directorial debuts. It stars Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Efren Ramirez, and Dwight Yoakam. The title of the film comes from a slang word for methamphetamine. In the film, Chev Chelios, a Los Angeles–based hitman, is poisoned by a synthetic drug and must keep his adrenaline flowing constantly in order to keep himself alive, while trying to track down the person who poisoned him.
Highway to Hell is a 1991 American B horror comedy film directed by Ate de Jong and starring Chad Lowe, Kristy Swanson and Patrick Bergin. It was written by Brian Helgeland. The film tells the story of Charlie Sykes (Lowe) and his girlfriend Rachel Clark (Swanson), who is kidnapped by a demon and taken to Hell to become one of Satan's brides, while Charlie must travel to the other dimension to rescue her.
Barry England was an English novelist and playwright. He is chiefly known for his 1968 thriller Figures in a Landscape, which was nominated for the inaugural Booker Prize.
Figures in a Landscape was Barry England's first novel. Published by Jonathan Cape in the summer of 1968, it was hailed by critics as an exemplary addition to the literature of escape. Two professional soldiers, Ansell and MacConnachie, have escaped from a column of POWs in an unnamed country in the tropics. Safety across the border lies 400 miles away; in the meantime, they must make their way through alien territory, battling the climate and the terrain as well as the enemy's soldiers and helicopters. The Times called the book "a fiercely masochistic accomplishment" and concluded another review as follows:
S.S. Doomtrooper is a 2006 television science fiction film starring Corin Nemec, in which a mutated Nazi supersoldier, who can generate electrical charges as a weapon, and has greatly enhanced strength, fights against Allied troops during World War II. It was aired from Sci Fi Channel on April 1, 2006.
The Damned is a 1961 British science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Viveca Lindfors and Oliver Reed. Based on H.L. Lawrence's 1960 novel The Children of Light, it was a Hammer Film production.
When Eight Bells Toll is a 1971 action film directed by Étienne Périer and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley, and Nathalie Delon. Set in Scotland, it is based upon Scottish author Alistair MacLean's 1965 novel of the same name. Producer Elliott Kastner planned to produce a string of realistic gritty espionage thrillers to rival the James Bond series, but the film's poor box office receipts ended his plans.
John James Rambo is a fictional character in the Rambo franchise. He first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film series, in which he was played by Sylvester Stallone. The portrayal of the character earned Stallone widespread acclaim and recognition. The character was nominated for American Film Institute's list 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains. Following the success of the first movie, the term "Rambo" was occasionally used in media circles to describe a lone wolf who is reckless, disregards orders, uses violence to solve all problems, enters dangerous situations alone, and is exceptionally tough, callous, raw and aggressive.
Trucks is a 1997 horror television film and a remake of Maximum Overdrive, directed by Chris Thomson, which follows the story of a group of tourists and locals attacked by autonomous trucks and other inexplicable phenomena in a rural town. It is based on Stephen King's short story "Trucks", which also served as the source material for the earlier film, the only film directed by King. Trucks aired on the USA Network on October 29, 1997.
Bear Island is a 1979 thriller film based on Alistair MacLean's 1971 novel of the same name. It was directed by Don Sharp, and starring Donald Sutherland, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee and Lloyd Bridges.
Rottweiler is a 2004 science fiction horror film directed by Brian Yuzna and starring William Miller, Irene Montalà, Paulina Gálvez, and Paul Naschy.
Spy School is a 2008 American comedy-drama film, released on March 1, 2008. Even though it was a 2008 release, it was first filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the summer of 2005. The film stars Forrest Landis, and AnnaSophia Robb as the lead characters. The movie focuses on the adventures of Thomas Miller, in his efforts to save the President's daughter from being kidnapped.
River's End is a 1930 American Pre-Code Western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Charles Bickford and Evalyn Knapp. Bickford plays two roles, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) sergeant and the man he is after. The film is the second of three adaptations of the bestselling novel The River's End by James Oliver Curwood, the others being released in 1920 and 1940.
Renegade Girl is a 1946 American western film directed by William Berke and starring Ann Savage, Alan Curtis and Edward Brophy. It was one of a few movies made by the short-lived Affiliated Productions, and was released through Robert L. Lippert's Screen Guild Productions.
Strike Commando is a 1987 Vietnam war action film directed by Bruno Mattei and starring Reb Brown, Christopher Connelly and Alex Vitale.
Curse of the Komodo is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Jim Wynorski under the pseudonym Jay Andrews. On a isolated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, genetically mutated Komodo dragons find themselves facing the prospect of a feast. Their main course consists of a team of scientists that has been ordered by the military to destroy all evidence of the secret experiments it has been conducting. Their dessert is served in the form of a group of robbers who arrive on the forsaken island. Unless the group manages to destroy the killer lizards, mankind is doomed. It was followed by Komodo vs. Cobra.
Land of Doom is an American film set in the 21st Century after what was known as the "Final War" leaves the world in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with disease and pollution, unfit for human life. Food is scarce, always taken by raiders led by a mad-man obsessed with murdering the last of the good human beings. Meanwhile, one by one survivors are dying of "the Plague", another concerning problem. Harmony, a sexy, acrobatic, elusive rogue warrior wielding a crossbow, decides to stand up for the tormented and molested villagers and take on the murderous raiders. She meets a wounded survivor by the name of Anderson, whom she befriends, in order to find the leader of the raiders, Slater, and redeem the lives of the people he has done misfortune to.
