TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS**** Mildly interesting if not confusing British crime caper movie involving a gang of hijacker who've been terrorizing truckers and stealing or hijacking their cargo's on the highways and back roads. Setting up fake accidents on the roads to the big cities the hijackers lead by the bald headed man Jack Carter, Derek Francis,try to take out their next victim independent trucker Terry McKinley, Anthony Booth, who's hauling a truckload of Johnny Walker Red whiskey bottles worth as much as $50,000.00 dollars or pound sterling. Carter and his boys didn't notice that Terry had a passenger that he picked up at a local truck stop Shirley, Jackie Ellis,who unlike Terry who was blindfolded with a sack tied over his head escaped and could identify them.Terry also later finds out that his good friend and business partner Jim Brady, Ronald Hines, is working for the Cater hijack gang and in fact set him up. This all leads to Shirley getting kidnapped and held hostage by Carter's boys until they pull one one job, a truck loaded with ladies cosmetics, and then check out of the country. We also get the impression that Shirley's behind bars husband Tim, Douglas Livingstone, is somehow also involved with the hijacking team and is blackmailed by Shirley to spill the beans on them to the police. That or else she's testify against him in court on a number of other crimes that he committed that can extend his jail sentence from three months to thirty years! ***SPOILERS****It's Terry and some two dozen police lead by Inspector Grayson, Patrick Cargill, who finally come to Shirley's rescues in the gangs hideout in the country with the head man Carter knowing that he's beat not offering any resistance at all. Unlike his cohorts who fought like hell and got the hell beat out of them by Inspetor Grayson's men as well as Terry Carter saw the writing on the wall and meekly gave himself up, smoking a cheap .5 cigar, with out a fight! The what seemed like out of of the blue scene in the prison with Shirley and her jailbird husband Tim was a bit difficult to follow since it seems to have nothing to do with the story about hijacking. And Tim's non stop babbling about things that seemed to make no sense confused more then clarified his association with the Carter gang if in fact he had anything to do with it at all!

jamesraeburn2003 A young lorry driver called Terry McKinley (Anthony Booth) picks up a young runaway called Shirley (Jacqueline Ellis) en route to London with a consignment of whiskey worth £20,000. As they make their way down a quiet country b road, they are set upon by a gang of hijackers lead by Jack Carter (Derek Francis) who make off with the lorry and its valuable goods. Shirley who managed to escape is able to get a good look at Carter and is able to give a description to Inspector Grayson (Patrick Cargill). Terry invites Shirley to stay with him at his London flat and we learn that his business partner, Jim Brady (Ronald Hines), is working for Carter's gang. He tipped them off as to what valuable goods he was carrying and the route he was taking. Unfortunately, Brady learns that Shirley is able to identify his boss and later that night, Terry and Shirley receive a visit from a couple of Carter's thugs who deliver a sinister warning. By now, Terry strongly suspects his old friend Brady and drags him off to the police where he is forced to tell them of the gang's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Shirley visits her ex husband, Tim, who is doing time at Wormwood Scrubs. She threatens to tell the police about other crimes he was connected with, which could put him behind bars for longer unless she tells him where the gang are hiding out. She goes to Carter's house in Hampstead but she is overpowered by the gang. But fortunately, Brady has cracked and informs Terry and Inspector Grayson that the gang are pulling off another job, a lorry carrying £30,000 worth of cosmetics. As it happens the lorry is being driven by one of Terry's mates, a guy known as Scouse (Harold Goodwin). Terry and the police trace the gang to an abandoned farm but not until after they have hijacked the truck but in time to save the goods and rescue Shirley...A routine b-pic thriller from Butcher's, Britain's poverty row studio who churned out numerous pot boilers such as this. Anybody who has seen a great number of them will probably agree that many were pretty awful. This one is utterly routine in terms of its plot but it is kept watchable thanks to brisk paced direction by Jim O' Connolly here working from his own screenplay who even throws in a few effective directorial touches, which you would not expect from such a routine production. Derek Francis is good as the gang leader, Jack Carter, who as well as planning ingenious hijacking methods also has a passion for cookery. "I find it creative rather like art or sculpture" he tells one of his accomplices. "I took it up when I was in Parkhurst and I ended up cooking for the prison governor and I think he was sorry when I left". Anthony Booth enjoys himself in the lead as Terry and he goes through his role cheerfully. He clearly enjoys the opportunity to do the odd fight scene and jump through a window (without the glass I might add) and knock a couple of hoodlums for six. Jacqueline Ellis is very competent as Shirley but the love angle is very blandly worked out and you cannot really imagine her character falling for Terry. There is an amusing little scene where Scouse approaches a road block, which he assumes to be the hijackers so he drives straight through it so pleased with himself that he narrowly avoids a deadly collision with a tree. He is surprised when he learns that it was a genuine road block. But later he approaches another one and assumes this one to be genuine as well so he stops and - you've guessed it - this time it is the hijackers!

naseby Couldn't agree more, with Daniel. This seemed to wane, as you said only when the obligatory love interest came in (which thankfully, there wasn't a lot of). An independent lorry driver (a young Tony 'scouse git' Booth)finds he has been set-up by his co-partner in the business for a hi-jacking. The love interest Jacqueline Ellis, someone he picked up on her way to London, in his lorry, becomes also involved in cracking the gang that too hijacked Booth's lorry and are onto countless others. Watch carefully, when Booth goes to confront his chum, of an old location of 'Lion Wharf' Isleworth in Middlesex, close to Twickenham studios where the studio work was done. Some good character actors, Harold Goodwin, Glynn Edwards and Patrick Cargill as a sarky article cop make it watchable.However, a basic but good plot, fine acting especially from Tony Blair's son-in-law. Fairly recently released with Reknown Pictures

a.roberts Yet another late night treat from ITV. Rather above the British second feature norm (no difficult task), it boasts a likeable lead performance from Anthony (father-in-law of Tony Blair) Booth, genuine location footage and a witty villain. Even Vauxhall police-cars make a change from the usual Wolseleys.I wonder if the PM screens this epic at Downing Street functions?