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What a turkey! The 1960s saw a rash of what were called Spaghetti Westerns - Westerns made in Italy with American actors. Here though we have a spaghetti period drama cum science fiction film? Sort of, combining it with the hero's journey, whose task is what, precisely?

In spite of its simple script, the plot of this film is not easy to understand though clearly it is going to end badly for someone. The fight scenes are not simply implausible but ludicrous, though not in a humorous sort of way as with for example the 1960s Batman TV series that featured Adam West and Burt Ward punching out the bad guys with the sound effects shown in big letters on the screen.

In this film, the hero is captured and could have been killed more than once, but the deluded ruler of Metropolis decides to torture and humiliate him instead.

Having said that, there is nothing X-rated herein, but seriously, give this one a miss, there were far better adventure films than this made even before 1961.

This is yet another film about monsters Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, not the best to be sure, but not a bad effort for all its faults. Unlike the much later (2004) film "The Hillside Strangler", this one is centred mostly on the lead officer in the case, who has appeared in documentaries about it.

The story begins halfway through the murders, so we do not see and are not told the "inspiration" for them, namely, the murder of a teenage prostitute who had ripped off Buono, after which the two men had developed a liking for murdering prostitutes, graduating to ordinary young women and underage girls while their sadism and torture grew with every killing.

The names of the victims have been changed, and there are some cameos, like the German psychic who supposedly gave the police a lead which they ignored.

Bianchi is portrayed very much as the junior partner, albeit an extremely enthusiastic apprentice. Apart from that, the film passes muster, and it certainly contains nothing that will offend true crime buffs.

This was originally called simply "Revenge" but the title was probably changed to avoid confusing it with other films so named, including an American film released the same year.

There is nothing American about this tale of revenge though, rather this is a typical low budget English drama that was quite common in especially the 1960s, albeit with a slightly unusual theme.

The principal characters are the loved ones of a young girl who has been murdered by a sexual predator, a local man believed to be responsible for at least one similar crime. The film begins with this man being released from police custody, apparently against the weight of the evidence.

Obviously this does not go down too well, so our misguided heroes follow him and their brief, distant interaction convinces them he is indeed the killer, so they decide to kidnap him and beat a confession out of him. What could go wrong?

A lot of things, naturally, and there is not one but two twists in the tale. One warning though - don't try this at home Or anywhere else.