Vigilante (1983)

After his success with Maniac (1980), director William Lustig widens expectations with the revenge flick Vigilante. Despite upgrading from 35 mm to CinemaScope, the film still retains a gritty feel. This was attained by channeling some of the trashier neighborhoods in New York for its locations. The sleazy satisfaction is still there, but it also scores as a competent drama. I only wish Robert Forster had been a little less stone cold in his acting. Everyone deals with tragedy differently, but nary a tear is shed for his loss. From the building crescendo in Jay Chattaway's score to the satisfying pursuits of each villain, Vigilante is a modern day western.

3½ car bombs out of 5

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Revellers on board the luxury liner Poseidon enjoy their New Year's Eve party oblivious to the giant wave that's thundering toward them... until it hits!
Produced by master of disaster flicks Irwin Allen, Poseidon is a thoroughly enjoyable but admittedly pretty awful journey from the bowels of hell to the light of day for a small and varied collection of individuals who realise that they must band together if they're to have any hope of escape.
With plenty of rationalising and moralising along the way the ensemble cast do their best with the material, and by the end we know exactly why each character was included and what basic emotion they were required to appeal to, a task that most of them do rather well, I'm happy to say. I know that it's basically trash given the big screen treatment, but damn me, I love it.

3½ tables turned (literally) out of 5

Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1972)

Kolchak's first TV appearance doesn't feel like an intro movie. The character is so well-presented that it feels more like he's been established already and we're now deep into his world. Even though he's a Las Vegas newspaper reporter, with an almost ever-present cassette tape recorder, he's more like a small screen detective in a police drama. His sleuthing to find a big story takes him into what might be supernatural happenings.
Dir. John Moxey took some interesting chances with the script. It's not atypical to see the world through a killer's eyes, but from the POV of a corpse on an autopsy table? That's refreshingly weird.

4 sleepless nights out of 5