Spaceways (1953)

Starring Howard Duff, Eva Bartok, Alan Wheatley, Philip Leaver, Michael Medwin
Directed by Terence Fisher
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The leader of a project to launch a satellite into space falls under suspicion when the satellite fails to be boosted into the proper orbit, and at the same time his wife and her secret lover go missing.

Based on a radio play by Charles Eric Maine, the film shares with it a great sci-fi story premise, conjecturing that it would be possible for a murderer to strand his victims' bodies in space.  I've never heard the original play, so don't know what changes Paul Tabori made in his adapted screenplay, but cinematically it has its moments.  However it could have probably used a quicker pace and the film's budget doesn't allow for any worthwhile special effects.  Most of the effect shots look to have been borrowed from 1950's Rocketship X-M and the interior of the manned rocket at the climax of the film looks more like a modified garage than a believable spaceship interior.  Director Terence Fisher went on to much greater things, and I enjoyed several members of the cast, but found the melodrama in the story weakly written and the film's technical shortcomings too much to overcome.  I still enjoy the picture, and it's interesting as one of studio Hammer Film's early attempts at science fiction, but to be honest it doesn't hold up particularly well.

Blood And Black Lace (1964)

Starring Cameron Mitchell, Eva Bartok, Thomas Reiner, Ariana Gorini, Dante DiPaolo
Directed by Mario Bava
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The beautiful models of a fashion salon become the targets of a vicious murderer, who assaults and tortures them for the secrets hidden within a scandalous diary.

An extremely stylish Italian thriller from director Mario Bava, it's also a very entertaining one with the killer's identity kept a mystery until late in the film, although Bava gives us some visual hints.  The cinematography by Ubaldo Terzano (and per IMDB, an uncredited Bava) is superb, with a grand and beautiful color scheme, and effective use of a roving camera.  Composer Carlo Rustichelli contributes some haunting themes, and the performances are excellent.  I was entranced from the dynamic opening credits sequence, which has the cast pose like the models of the film, and although I was disturbed by the violence committed against the film's victims, which made me very uncomfortable, I understand how this approach heightened the suspense and made the killer's assaults more terrifying to the audience.  Bava here has crafted a film that not only looks spectacular, but is intelligent and gripping on the same level.

The Gamma People (1956)

Starring Paul Douglas, Eva Bartok, Leslie Phillips, Walter Rilla, Philip Leaver
Directed by John Gilling
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

While traveling in Europe, a newspaper reporter and his cameraman become stranded in a socialist country where they find a notorious scientist is engaged in sinister experiments.

This British import is a very unusual picture, with a wonderful surprise in the casting of the craggy middle-aged Douglas as the reporter instead of a young handsome lead.  While Douglas was an American star of some renown, from movies like Angels In The Outfield and Clash By Night, he would have hardly been the first choice for a film of the type and is a refreshing fit in the part, and although he doesn't get the beautiful Bartok, he carries the film most capably.  Director John Gilling, who's probably better known for Hammer film productions like The Reptile and The Mummy's Shroud, has a brisk entertaining thriller to his credit here, which he also co-wrote.  It's not a deep or penetrating expose of socialism, but it is very enjoyable, aided by an energetic musical score and Phillips' fine support as the photographer who seems to be always on the run.