VCI’s second set of Hammer Film Noir contains 2 more movies (8 in all) but they are not as good as Volume 1 and the last one, A RACE FOR LIFE, isn’t even a noir at all. Having said that, this set is still worthwhile as you get to see more fading American stars (Dan Duryea, Paulette Goddard, John Ireland, and Zachary Scott) and more of Terence Fisher’s early work (THE BLACK GLOVE, A RACE FOR LIFE, THE UNHOLY FOUR, WINGS OF DANGER). Everyone of these films was renamed for the American market (they were released in England as FACE THE MUSIC, MASK OF DUST, THE STRANGER CAME HOME and DEAD ON COURSE) and they played the bottom half of a double bill. One of them, BLACK GLOVE (FACE THE MUSIC), is well written and directed with a great 50s jazz score while THE UNHOLY FOUR (THE STRANGER CAME HOME) is a halfway decent mystery. As one would expect from Fisher, these four are the most visually interesting of the set.
Regarding the other four, three (THE GLASS TOMB, PAID TO KILL, TERROR STREET) were directed by Montgomery Tully who is compensated for his minimum running times (GLASS TOMB is 59 minutes) by being given the more interesting storylines. PAID TO KILL is a minor suspense classic while THE GLASS TOMB gets the award for the most bizarre plot with a sideshow performer starving himself while people pay to watch. THE DEADLY GAME was directed by Daniel Birt and features a young Lloyd Bridges (before SEA HUNT) caught up with smugglers. Today it’s easy to see how much his son Jeff resembles him. With the exception of A RACE FOR LIFE, I thoroughly enjoyed these movies for their up close look at post-WW II Britain and for seeing how creative the filmmakers could be with their extremely low budgets. Classic noir it ain’t, but it’s still not bad and should keep you entertained especially if you’re a fan of British films.
The Capsule Critic 