Film titles that sound like Bond movies/books

suavejmf

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Ludovico

A lot of the novels of Deon Meyer have their English titles that could work beautifully as Bond titles: Dead at Daybreak, Heart of the Hunter, The Last Hunt, etc.

RichardTheBruce

Piece of Cake (1988), Ian Toynton.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157239/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Stories of the men of the RAF Hornet Squadron during the early days of World War II.




Piece of Cake (1990), Jay Sandrich.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149602/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_7
Two brother-in-laws must run the family bakery, despite their personality differences.

From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming, 1957.
Chapter 12 - A Piece of Cake.

`This girl will only do these things on one condition.' M's eyes narrowed until they were fierce, significant slits. `That you go out to Istanbul and bring her and the machine back to England.'

Bond shrugged his shoulders. That presented no difficulties. But ... He looked candidly back at M. `Should be a piece of cake, sir. As far as I can see there's only one snag. She's only seen photographs of me and read a lot of exciting stories. Suppose that when she sees me in the flesh, I don't come up to her expectations.'

`That's where the work comes in,' said M grimly. `That's why I asked those questions about Miss Case. It's up to you to see that you do come up to her expectations.'

RichardTheBruce

1968 Tunnel Rats (2008), Uwe Boll.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970462/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
During the Vietnam War [1959-1975] a special US combat unit is sent out to hunt and kill the Viet Cong soldiers in a man-to-man combat in the endless tunnels underneath the jungle of Vietnam. Suicide squads of a special kind.

From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming, 1957.
Chapter 16 - The Tunnel of Rats.

Back in the cool office, while they waited for the inevitable coffee, Kerim opened a cupboard in the wall and pulled out sets of engineers' blue overalls. Kerim stripped to his shorts and dressed himself in one of the suits and pulled on a pair of rubber boots. Bond picked out a suit and a pair of boots that more or less fitted him and put them on.

`You go first,' said Kerim. `Go down the steps to the bottom and wait. I must fix the door.'

Bond switched on his torch and stepped through the opening and went carefully down the stairs. The light of the torch showed fresh masonry, and, twenty feet below, a glimmer of water. When Bond got to the bottom he found that the glimmer was a small stream running down a central gutter in the floor of an ancient stone-walled tunnel that sloped steeply up to the right. To the left, the tunnel went on downwards and would, he guessed, come out below the surface of the Golden Horn.

Out of range of Bond's light there was a steady, quiet, scuttling sound, and in the blackness hundreds of pinpoints of red light flickered and moved. It was the same uphill and downhill. Twenty yards away on either side, a thousand rats were looking at Bond. They were sniffing at his scent. Bond imagined the whiskers lifting slightly from their teeth. He had a quick moment of wondering what action they would take if his torch went out.

RichardTheBruce

Time to Kill (1942), Herbert I. Leeds. Writers Clarence Upson Young, Raymond Chandler (novel). Lloyd Nolan.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035443/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7
A private detective is hired to retrieve a valuable antique coin that was stolen from its owner by her son, who used it to pay off a blackmailer.




No Time to Kill (1959), Tom Younger. John Ireland.
(Med mord i bagaget; With Murder in the Luggage, original Swedish title)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055236/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_13
A man is convicted and imprisoned for an arson that he didn't commit. When he is released, he sets out to track down the person who actually committed the crime and framed him for it.




The Killing Time (1987), Rick King. Beau Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Wayne Rogers. Joe Don Baker, Michael Madsen.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093347/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_9
A murderer who assumes the identity of a new deputy is unbeknownst to the sheriff planning to pin a separate murder on him.




Killing Time (1998), Bharat Nalluri.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140312/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
After the mobster who murdered his partner is acquitted, semicorrupt detective Robert Bryant hires a beautiful female assassin, Maria, to kill him.

From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming, 1957.
Chapter 17 - Killing Time.

It was seven o'clock on the same evening and James Bond was back in his hotel. He had had a hot bath and a cold shower. He thought that he had at last scoured the zoo smell out of his skin.

He was sitting, naked except for his shorts, at one of the windows of his room, sipping a vodka and tonic and looking out into the heart of the great tragic sunset over the Golden Horn. But his eyes didn't see the torn cloth of gold and blood that hung behind the minaretted stage beneath which he had caught his first glimpse of Tatiana Romanova.

RichardTheBruce

Murder on the Orient Express also suggested by @0BradyM0Bondfanatic7 on Page 1.



Orient Express (1934), Paul Martin.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025608/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5
Based on Graham Greene's novel Stamboul Train, the movie focuses on the lives of individuals aboard the Orient Express as it makes a three-day journey from Ostend to Constantinople.




Orient-Express (1944), Viktor Tourjansky. (As V. Tourjansky, not to be confused with son Victor Tourjansky associated with The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only).
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037155/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_11




Orient Express (1954), Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia. Also Curd Jürgens.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047312/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
On December 24th the Orient Express gets snowbound near a little mountain village and its passengers are forced to spend some time there, mingling with the local people, upsetting their usually monotonous daily lives.




Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Sidney Lumet. Paul Dehn, writer.
Albert Finney, also Jaqueline Bisset, Sean Connery,
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071877/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_10
In December 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Kenneth Branagh. Also Judi Dench.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3402236/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
When a murder occurs on the train on which he's travelling, celebrated detective Hercule Poirot is recruited to solve the case.

From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming, 1957.
Chapter 20 - Black on Pink

`That's wonderful, Tania.' Bond's voice was casual. `We'll keep you hidden and then we'll take the first plane tomorrow morning.'

`Don't be foolish.' Tatiana had been warned that here would be some difficult lines in her part. `We will take the train. This Orient Express. It leaves at nine tonight. Do you think I haven't been thinking this thing out? I won't stay a minute longer in Istanbul than I have to. We will be over the frontier at dawn. You must get the tickets and a passport. I will travel with you as your wife.' She looked happily up at him. `I shall like that. In one of those coupes I have read about. They must be very comfortable. Like a tiny house on wheels. During the day we will talk and read and at night you will stand in the corridor outside our house and guard it.'

`Like hell I will,' said Bond. `But look here, Tania. That's crazy. They're bound to catch up with us somewhere. It's four days and five nights to London on that train. We've got to think of something else.'

`I won't,' said the girl flatly. `That's the only way I'll go. If you are clever, how can they find out?'

Chapter 21 - Orient Express.

The great trains are going out all over Europe, one by one, but still, three times a week, the Orient Express thunders superbly over the 1 ,400 miles of glittering steel track between Istanbul and Paris.

Under the arc-lights, the long-chassied German locomotive panted quietly with the laboured breath of a dragon dying of asthma. Each heavy breath seemed certain to be the last. Then came another. Wisps of steam rose from the couplings between the carriages and died quickly in the warm August air. The Orient Express was the only live train in the ugly, cheaply architectured burrow that is Istanbul's main station. The trains on the other lines were engineless and unattended---waiting for tomorrow. Only Track No. 3, and its platform, throbbed with the tragic poetry of departure.

The heavy bronze cipher on the side of the dark blue coach said,

`COMPAGNIE INTERNATIONALE DES WAGON-LITS ET DES GRANDS EXPRESS EUROPEENS.

Above the cipher, fitted into metal slots, was a flat iron sign that announced, in black capitals on white, ORIENT EXPRESS, and underneath, in three lines:

ISTANBUL --- THESSALONIKI --- BEOGRAD
VENEZIA --- MILAN
LAUSANNE --- PARIS

James Bond gazed vaguely at one of the most romantic signs in the world.

Chapter 22 - Out of Turkey

Now for the first round. If Kerim failed. If the three men stayed on the train. . . .

Some goods-trucks, led by a straining engine, filed by. The silhouette of sheds showed briefly. With a jolt and a screech of couplings, the Orient Express took the points and swerved away from the through line. Four sets of rails with grass growing between them showed outside the window, and the empty length of the down platform. A cock crowed. The express slowed to walking speed and finally, with a sigh of vacuum brakes and a noisy whoosh of let-off steam, ground to a stop. The girl stirred in her sleep. Bond softly shifted her head on to the pillow and got up and slipped out of the door.

Chapter 23 - Out of Greece

`How did you do it?' Bond knotted his tie.

`Money and influence. Five hundred dollars to the conductor. Some big talk to the police. It was lucky our friend tried a bribe. A pity that crafty Benqd next door,' he gestured at the wall, `didn't get involved. I couldn't do the passport trick twice. We will have to get him some other way. The man with the boils was easy. He knew no German and travelling without a ticket is a serious matter. Ah well, the day has started favourably. We have won the first round, but our friend next door will now be very careful. He knows what he has to reckon with. Perhaps that is for the best. It would have been a nuisance having to keep you both under cover all day. Now we can move about---even have lunch together, as long as you bring the family jewels with you. We must watch to see if he makes a telephone call at one of the stations. But I doubt if he could tackle the Greek telephone exchange. He will probably wait until we are in Yugoslavia. But there I have my machine. We can get reinforcements if we need them. It should be a most interesting journey. There is always excitement on the Orient Express,' Kerim got to his feet. He opened the door, `and romance.' He smiled across the compartment. `I will call for you at lunchtime! Greek food is worse than Turkish, but even my stomach is in the service of the Queen.'

Bond got up and locked the door. Tatiana snapped, `Your friend is not kulturny. It is disloyal to refer to your Queen in that manner.'

Chapter 24 - Out of Danger?

The Orient Express steamed slowly into Belgrade at three o'clock in the afternoon, half an hour late. There would be an eight hours' delay while the other section of the train came in through the Iron Curtain from Bulgaria. Bond looked out at the crowds and waited for the knock on the door that would be Kerim's man. Tatiana sat huddled in her sable coat beside the door, watching Bond, wondering if he would come back to her.

Gerard

Not to mention this french TV series :

https://www.a-suivre.org/annuseries/encyclopedie/series.php?series=7540

RichardTheBruce

Seven Up! (1964), Paul Almond. Michael Apted, researcher.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058578/
A group of seven-year-old British children from widely ranging backgrounds are interviewed about a range of subjects. Director Michael Apted plans to reinterview them at seven-year intervals to determine how their lives and attitudes have changed.

7 Plus Seven (1970), Michael Apted.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066356/?ref_=ttls_li_tt
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children after a seven-year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.

QBranch

Gerard

RichardTheBruce

The Killing Bottle (1967), Senkichi Taniguchi. Nick Adams.
(Kokusai himitsu keisatsu: Zettai zetsumei/International Secret Police: Desperate, original title.)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061875/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Two agents of the International Secret Police must prevent a crime organization from assassinating the President of Buddabai and his General.




The Killing Jar (1994), David Blum.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110262/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3
A former porn star marries a wealthy criminal defense attorney who enjoys masochistic sex. When the two tire of each other, the husband becomes attracted to his wife's best friend and decides to murder his wife.




The Killing Jar (1997), Evan Crooke. Tamlyn Tomita (007: Nightfire, voice of Makiko Hayashi).

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116772/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
Michael Sanford and his wife move to his old town so he can take over the family business. However, gruesome murders of children start to happen.




The Killing Jar (2010), Mark Young. Michael Madsen.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270296/
A stranger armed with a shotgun takes seven patrons hostage in a remote roadside diner. But as the body count increases, the desperate survivors discover that one of the hostages may be even more dangerous than their captor.

From Russia With Love, Ian Fleming, 1957.
Chapter 26 - The Killing Bottle.

Bond dug his nails into the palms of his hands.

`As for picking you up at Trieste, old man, I didn't. Rode down with you---in the front of the train. Got out as we stopped and walked back up the platform. You see, old man, we were waiting for you in Belgrade. Knew you'd call your Chief---or the Embassy or someone. Been listening in on that Yugoslav's telephone for weeks. Pity we didn't understand the codeword he shot through to Istanbul. Might have stopped the firework display, or anyway saved our chaps. But the main target was you, old man, and we certainly had you sewn up all right. You were in the killing bottle from the minute you got off that plane in Turkey. It was only a question of when to stuff the cork in.' Nash took another quick glance at his watch. He looked up. His grinning teeth glistened violet. `Pretty soon now, old man. It's just cork-hours minus fifteen.'

Bond thought: we knew SMERSH was good, but we never knew they were as good as this. The knowledge was vital. Somehow he must get it back. He MUST. Bond's mind raced round the details of his pitifully thin, pitifully desperate plan.

He said: `SMERSH seems to have thought things out pretty well. Must have taken a lot of trouble. There's only one thing . . .' Bond let his voice hang in the air.

RichardTheBruce

A Dirty Knight's Work (1976), Kevin Connor. John Mills, Donald Pleasance, Barbara Hershey.
(Trial by Combat, original title; also: A Choice of Weapons)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074409/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1
A group of British aristocrats, who call themselves "Knights of Avalon", isn't content with the system of justice and executes judgment themselves.




Fist 2 Fist: Weapon of Choice (2014), Jino Kang, Tony Urgo.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2825774/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_27
Retired assassin, Jack Lee, walked away from his violent past to raise his dead brother's daughter, Jaime, as his own. When crime lord Banducci kidnaps Jaime for a payback, Jack brings his gifted skills of extermination out of retirement and the streets of San Francisco become a battleground for a one man killing machine and ruthless, united mob bosses.




Weapon of Choice (2018), Fritz Ofner, Eva Hausberger.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7683350/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_10
The Glock pistol has been fetishized in films and the arts, and is a regular top seller in the international arms market. This documentary tells the story of the rise of the Glock: the most sought-after service and murder weapon worldwide.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 2 - Choice of Weapons.

Three weeks later, in London, March came in like a rattlesnake.

"Thank you, sir," said Major Boothwoyd. He turned and marched stiffly out of the room.

There was a moment's silence. The sleet tore at the windows. M swivelled his chair and watched the streaming panes. Bond took the opportunity to glance at his watch. Ten o'clock. His eyes slid to the gun and holster on the desk. He thought of his fifteen years' marriage to the ugly bit of metal. He remembered the times its single word had saved his life-and the times when its threat alone had been enough. He thought of the days when he had literally dressed to kill-when he had dismantled the gun and oiled it and packed the bullets carefully into the springloaded magazine and tried the action once or twice, pumping the cartridges out on to the bedspread in some hotel bedroom somewhere round the world. Then the last wipe of a dry rag and the gun into the little holster and a pause in front of the mirror to see that nothing showed. And then out of the door and on his way to the rendezvous that was to end with either darkness or light. How many times had it saved his life? How many death sentences had it signed? Bond felt unreasonably sad. How could one have such ties with an inanimate object, an ugly one at that, and, he had to admit it, with a weapon that was not in the same class as the ones chosen by the Armourer? But he had the ties and M was going to cut them.

M swivelled back to face him. "Sorry, James," he said, and there was no sympathy in his voice. "I know how you like that bit of iron. But I'm afraid it's got to go. Never give a weapon a second chance-any more than a man. I can't afford to gamble with the double-o section. They've got to be properly equipped. You understand that? A gun's more important than a hand or a foot in your job."

QBranch

Weapon of Choice - Song title as well, by Fatboy Slim - the music clip featuring none other than Christopher Walken:

RichardTheBruce

Holy cow that's worth checking out, @QBranch.

QBranch

A bizarre classic.

Some_Kind_Of_Hero

QBranch wrote: »

A bizarre classic.

Indeed, but par for the course for Walken. ;)

Fire_and_Ice_Returns

1932
I suspect Fleming watched/read this classic there are a few Bond tropes in this film.

RichardTheBruce

Trigger Fingers (1939), Sam Newfield.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032055/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2
Marshal and his men disguise themselves as gypsies to catch a gang of cattle thieves.




Trigger Fingers (1946), Lambert Hillyer.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039048/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_5
Blacksmith Pinto Peters (Raymond Hatton) calls on his old friend, Sam "Hurricane" Benton (Johnny Mack Brown), to help him clear his son, Jimmy (Riley Hill), of a murder charge.




Finger on the Trigger (1965), Sidney W. Pink. Rory Calhoun
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059178/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
At Civil War's end, hidden Confederate gold pits a group of ex-Union soldiers against Confederate troops occupying a fort in the Oklahoma Territory but forces them into a temporary alliance when attacked by Indians.




Thunderfingers - A Tribute to John Entwistle (2009), Fay Goodman.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11079334/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_39

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 6 - The Finger on the Trigger.

Bond felt her hand at his neck. She kept it there as they swayed and thundered down the track. At the lake, Bond went on fifty yards into the water and turned the machine round and put it in neutral. Through the oblong slot he could see the pack streaming round the last bend. He reached down for the rifle and pushed it through the aperture. Now the dogs were in the water and swimming. Bond kept his finger on the trigger and sprayed bullets into the middle of them. One floundered, kicking. Then another and another. He could hear their snarling screams above the clatter of the engine. There was blood in the water, A fight had started. He saw one dog leap on one of the wounded ones and sink its teeth into the back of its neck. Now they all seemed to have gone berserk. They were milling around in the frothing bloody water. Bond emptied his magazine among them and dropped the gun on the floor. He said, "That's that, Honey," and put the machine into gear and swung it round and began rolling at an easy speed across the shallow lake towards the distant gap in the mangroves that was the mouth of the river.

Some_Kind_Of_Hero

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

Thunderfingers - A Tribute to John Entwistle (2009), Fay Goodman.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11079334/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_39

Dear Lord, there's more than one?

RichardTheBruce

Night Passage (1957), James Neilson.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050763/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1
A fired railroad man is re-hired and trusted to carry a ten thousand dollar payroll in secret, even though he is suspected of being connected to outlaws.




A Passagem da Noite (2003), Luís Filipe Rocha.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381483/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3
Mariana is a 17 year old girl, who, after being raped by drug addict, finds out she's pregnant and, in her path, discovers how difficult it can be entering adulthood.




Night Passage (2004), Jean-Paul Bourdier, T. Minh-ha Trinh.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4687330/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_2
Night Passage is a digital film on friendship and death. Made in homage to Miyazawa Kenji's classic novel, Milky Way Railroad, the story evolves around the spiritual journey of a young woman, in the company of her best friend and a little boy, into a world of rich in-between realities.




Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006), Robert Harmon.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498360/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
In this prequel to 'Stone Cold,' Tom Selleck reprises his role as Jesse Stone, an L.A. cop who relocates to a small town only to find himself immersed in one mystery after the other.




Centipede! (2004), Gregory Gieras.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321626/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_4
A group of cave explorers are menaced by giant centipedes.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 7 - Night Passage.

By the way, Quarrel--" Bond dared a bus with 'Brown Bomber' painted above its windshield. The bus pulled over and roared on down the hill towards Kingston sounding a furious chord on its triple windhorn to restore the driver's ego, "--what do you know about centipedes?"

"Centipedes, cap'n?" Quarrel squinted sideways for a clue to the question. Bond's expression was casual. "Well, we got some bad ones here in Jamaica. Tree, fo, five inches long. Dey kills folks. Dey mos'ly lives in de old houses in Kingston. Dey loves de rotten wood an' de mouldy places. Dey hoperates mos'ly at night. Why, cap'n? Yo seen one?"

RichardTheBruce

Vénus (1929), Louis Mercanton.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020546/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_80




Living Venus (1961), Herschell Gordon Lewis.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054035/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_77
Man and his partner, a photographer, start up a men's magazine called "Pagan." The magazine becomes a success, he leaves his fiancee, marries his star model, and complications ensue.




Venus Beauty (1999), Tonie Marshall.
(Vénus beauté (institut), original title)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174330/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_60
Employees of a beauty parlor in search of love and happiness.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 8 - The Elegant Venus.

Bond awoke lazily. The feel of the sand reminded him where he was. He glanced at his watch. Ten o'clock. The sun through the round thick leaves of the sea-grape was already hot. A larger shadow moved across the dappled sand in front of his face. Quarrel? Bond shifted his head and peered through the fringe of leaves and grass that concealed him from the beach. He stiffened. His heart missed a beat and then began pounding so that he had to breathe deeply to quieten it. His eyes, as he stared through the blades of grass, were fierce slits.

It was a naked girl, with her back to him. She was not quite naked. She wore a broad leather belt round her waist with a hunting knife in a leather sheath at her right hip. The belt made her nakedness extraordinarily erotic. She stood not more than five yards away on the tideline looking down at something in her hand. She stood in the classical relaxed pose of the nude, all the weight on the right leg and the left knee bent and turning slightly inwards, the head to one side as she examined the things in her hand.

It was a beautiful back. The skin was a very light uniform café au lait with the sheen of dull satin. The gentle curve of the backbone was deeply indented, suggesting more powerful muscles than is usual in a woman, and the behind was almost as firm and rounded as a boy's. The legs were straight and beautiful and no pinkness showed under the slightly lifted left heel. She was not a coloured girl.

Her hair was ash blonde. It was cut to the shoulders and hung there and along the side of her bent cheek in thick wet strands. A green diving mask was pushed back above her forehead, and the green rubber thong bound her hair at the back.

The whole scene, the empty beach, the green and blue sea, the naked girl with the strands of fair hair, reminded Bond of something. He searched his mind. Yes, she was Botticelli's Venus, seen from behind.

RichardTheBruce

A Close Shave (1929), Harry Edwards. Johnny Burke.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313906/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3
Pete is an amateur barber who messes things up in a barber shop patronized by both sexes. He especially draws the ire of the fitfully jealous George Billings (Vernon Dent).




A Close Shave (1995), Nick Park.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0313906/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3
Wallace's whirlwind romance with the owner of the local wool shop puts his head in a spin; Gromit is framed for sheep-rustling in a fiendish criminal plot.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 9 - Close Shaves.

Ten minutes later the bay was empty and immaculate. Small waves curled lazily in across the mirrored water inside the reef and flopped exhausted on the dark sand where th'e mauve shells glittered like shed toenails. The heap of discarded shells had gone and there was no longer any trace of footprints. Quarrel -had cut branches of mangrove and had walked backwards sweeping carefully as he went. Where he had swept, the sand was of a different texture from the rest of the beach, but not too different as to be noticed from outside the reef. The girl's canoe had been pulled deeper among the rocks and covered with seaweed and driftwood.

Quarrel had gone back to the headland. Bond and the girl lay a few feet apart under the bush of sea-grape where Bond had slept; and gazed silently out across the water to the corner of the headland round which the boat would come.

The boat was perhaps a quarter of a mile away. From the slow pulse of the twin diesels Bond guessed that every cranny of the coastline was being searched for signs of them. It sounded a powerful boat. A big cabin cruiser, perhaps. What crew would it have? Who would be in command of the search? Doctor No? Unlikely. He would not trouble himself with this kind of police work.

RichardTheBruce

The Thing from Another World (1951), Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044121/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3
Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.




The Thing (1982), John Carpenter.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1
A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.




The Thing (2011), Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0905372/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_2
At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 12 - The Thing.

The next thing Bond knew was that it was three o'clock in the morning. He knew it was three o'clock because the luminous dial of his watch was close to his face. He lay absolutely still. There was not a sound in the room. He strained his ears. Outside, too, it was deathly quiet. Far in the distance a dog started to bark. Other dogs joined in and there was a brief hysterical chorus which stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Then it was quite quiet again. The moon coming through the slats in the jalousies threw black and white bars across the corner of the room next to his bed. It was as if he was lying in a cage. What had woken him up? Bond moved softly, preparing to slip out of bed.

Bond stopped moving. He stopped as dead as a live man can.

Something had stirred on his right ankle. Now it was moving up the inside of his shin. Bond could feel the hairs on his leg being parted. It was an insect of some sort. A very big one. It was long, five or six inches-as long as his hand. He could feel dozens of tiny feet lightly touching his skin. What was it?

Then Bond heard something he had never heard before-the sound of the hair on his head rasping up on the pillow. Bond analysed the noise. It couldn't be! It simply couldn't! Yes, his hair was standing on end. Bond could even feel the cool air reaching his scalp between the hairs. How extraordinary! How very extraordinary! He had always thought it was a figure of speech. But why? Why was it happening to him?

The thing on his leg moved. Suddenly Bond realized that he was afraid, terrified. His instincts, even before they had communicated with his brain, had told his body that he had a centipede on him.

RichardTheBruce

The Spider and the Fly (1916), J. Gordon Edwards.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0007383/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_4
A young Frenchman kills his best friend in a drunken fight. He vows never to touch another drop of liquor again, but he goes back to the bottle when he hooks up with seductive Blanche Le Noir, and is soon an alcoholic. Blanche, however, prefers the sinister Lantier, and tries to use Lantier's daughter to get to him. However, the daughter is saved by the efforts of young American RIchard Lee, who marries her. Unfortunately, Lee's sister is seduced by Lantier. Complications ensue.




The Spider and the Fly (1931), Wilfred Jackson. Disney Production.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spider_and_the_Fly_(1931_film)
A kitchen is filled with flies. A spider wakes up and plays its web like a harp, attracting a pair of them; the female is trapped, and the male summons the cavalry, which arrives riding bees, riding butterflies to drop pepper bombs, firing champagne bottles, and ultimately setting the web on fire and catching the spider on flypaper when it falls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndL_qEIqZ60




Come Into My Parlour (1932), John Longden.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166537/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0


The Spider and the Fly (1949), Robert Hamer.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041911/
A clever and dedicated French police official, a cleverer master-thief whom he secretly admires, the woman loved by the official who is in love with the thief, at the outbreak of World War I.





As illustrated by Tony Diterlizzi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOjXlIqoCyo

"The Spider and the Fly" (poem, 1829), Mary Howitt.

“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,
“‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;

The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to shew when you are there.”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”

“I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the Spider to the Fly.
“There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in!”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “for I’ve often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”

Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, “Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I’ve always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome–will you please to take a slice?”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “kind sir, that cannot be,
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!”

“Sweet creature!” said the Spider, “you’re witty and you’re wise,
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I’ve a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you’ll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.”
“I thank you, gentle sir,” she said, “for what you’re pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I’ll call another day.”

The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.
Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
“Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple–there’s a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!”

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue–
Thinking only of her crested head–poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour–but she ne’er came out again!

And now dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 14 - Come Into My Parlour.

The searchlights went out. Bond turned slowly. He expected to see Doctor No, but still the room was empty. It looked static and lifeless compared with the pulsing mysteries outside the window. Bond looked back. What must this be like in the colours of day, when one could see everything perhaps for twenty yards or more? What must it be like in a storm when the waves crashed noiselessly against the glass, delving almost to the floor and then sweeping up and out of sight. What must it be like in the evening when the last golden shafts of the sun shone into the upper half of the room and the waters below were full of dancing motes and tiny water insects? What an amazing man this must be who had thought of this fantastically beautiful conception, and what an extraordinary engineering feat to have carried it out! How had he done it? There could only be one way. He must have built the glass wall deep inside the cliff and then delicately removed layer after layer of the outside rock until the divers could prise off the last skin of coral. But how thick was the glass? Who had rolled it for him? How had he got it to the island? How many divers had he used? How much, God in heaven, could it have cost?

"One million dollars."

"It was a cavernous, echoing voice, with a trace of American accent.

Bond turned slowly, almost reluctantly, away from the window.

Doctor No had come through a door behind his desk. He stood looking at them benignly, with a thin smile on his lips.

"I expect you were wondering about the cost. My guests usually think about the material side after about fifteen minutes. Were you?"

"I was."

Still smiling (Bond was to get used to that thin smile), Doctor No came slowly out from behind the desk and moved towards them. He seemed to glide rather than take steps. His knees did not dent the matt, gunmetal sheen of his kimono and no shoes showed below the sweeping hem.

RichardTheBruce

[also a Chapter title in Moonraker]


Pandora's Box (1929), Georg Wilhelm Pabst.
(Die Büchse der Pandora, original title)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018737/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1
The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her.




Pandora's Box (2009), Masanori Tominaga.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1339478/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_11
Set shortly after Japan's defeat in WWII, the story follows a young man named Risuke who has contracted tuberculosis. He travels to the countryside to a unique nursing facility to receive treatment for his disease.




Just Another Pandora's Box (2010), Jeffrey Lau.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1612143/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
Traveller Tsing meets a girl with a sword, which is "forever" kept in the sheath. Quite by chance he succeeds to pull the sword, and she said him that it is a sign - now he has to marry her. In order to avoid marriage he escapes from the bride into the past times of the Three Kingdoms period, using the legendary Pandora's box.




Pandora's Box: Unleashing Evil (2016-2018), Douglas Elford-Argent, J. Fisher, James H. Fitzgerald.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6107486/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_6
Most stories end with the crime, but sometimes the crime scene represents just the tip of the iceberg. From a murder scene that tipped police off to a polygamist secret society to a random house fire that revealed family secrets that had been buried for decades, Pandora's Box: Unleashing Evil uncovers gripping investigations that get more sordid as every piece of evidence is examined.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 15 - Pandora's Box.

James Bond picked up his glass and sipped at it thought-fully. It seemed pointless to go on bluffing. His story of representing the Audubon Society was anyway a thin one which could be punctured by anyone who knew about birds. It was obvious that his own cover was in shreds. He must concentrate on protecting the girl. To begin with he must reassure her.

Bond smiled at Doctor No. He said, "I know about your contact in King's House, Miss Taro. She is your agent. I have recorded the fact and it will be divulged in certain circumstances"-Doctor No's expression shewed no interest-"as will other facts. But, if we are to have a talk, let us have it without any more stage effects. You are an interesting man. But it is not necessary to make yourself more interesting than you are. You have suffered the misfortune of losing your hands. You wear mechanical hands. Many men wounded in the war wear them. You wear contact lenses instead of spectacles. You use a walkie-talkie instead of a bell to summon your servant. No doubt you have other tricks. But, Doctor No, you are still a man who sleeps and eats and defecates like the rest of us. So no more conjuring tricks, please. I am not one of your guano diggers and I am not impressed by them."

Doctor No inclined his head a fraction. "Bravely spoken, Mister Bond. I accept the rebuke. I have no doubt developed annoying mannerisms from living too long in the company of apes. But do not mistake these mannerisms for bluff. I am a technician. I suit the tool to the material. I possess also a range of tools for working with refractory materials. However," Doctor No raised his joined sleeves an inch and let them fall back in his lap, "let us proceed with our talk. It is a rare pleasure to have an intelligent listener and I shall enjoy telling you the story of one of the most remarkable men in the world. You are the first person to hear it. I have not told it before. You are the only person I have ever met who will appreciate my story and also-" Doctor No paused for the significance of the last words to make itself felt-"keep it to himself." He continued, "The second of these considerations also applies to the girl."

Twenty million? It would be a priceless victory in the armaments race. I could name my figure. Don't you agree, Mister Bond? And don't you agree that these considerations make your arguments and threats seem rather puny?"

Bond said nothing. There was nothing to say. Suddenly he was back in the quiet room high up above Regent's Park. He could hear the rain slashing softly against the window and M's voice, impatient, sarcastic, saying, "Oh, some damned business about birds... holiday in the sun'll do you good... routine inquiry." And he, Bond, had taken a canoe and a fisherman and a picnic lunch and had gone off-how many days, how many weeks ago?-'to have a look'.

Well, he had had his look into Pandora's Box. He had found out the answers, been told the secrets-and now? Now he was going to be politely shown the way to his grave, taking the secrets with him and the waif he had picked up and dragged along with him on his lunatic adventure. The bitterness inside Bond came up into his mouth so that for a moment he thought he was going to retch. He reached for his champagne and emptied the glass. He said harshly, "All right, Doctor No. Now let's get on with the cabaret. What's the programme-knife, bullet, poison, rope? But make it quick, I've seen enough of you."

Doctor No's lips compressed into a thin purple line. The eyes were hard as onyx under the billiard-ball forehead and skull. The polite mask had gone. The Grand Inquisitor sat in the high-backed chair. The hour had struck for the peine forte et dure.

RichardTheBruce

The Killing Grounds (1997), Kurt Anderson. Priscilla Barnes.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185400/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_4
After the fatal crash of a small airplane in the high Sierras, six greedy strangers clash over a fortune in stolen gold.




Children of Wax (2007), Ivan Nitchev. Armand Assante, Udo Kier.
(The Killing Grounds, alternate title)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479880/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_35
Turkish and Neo Nazi gangs battle over territory and drug trafficking in Berlin, while a serial killer is on the loose. This action thriller brings several cultures together wanting to dispose of evil and stop the violence.




Killing Ground (2016), Damien Power.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4728386/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1
A couple's camping trip turns into a frightening ordeal when they stumble across the scene of a horrific crime.

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 17 - The Long Scream.

Bond groaned aloud. How could his bruised flesh stand up to that?-How could he protect his skin from the metal? But there wasn't anything he could do about it. He could either go back, or stay where he was, or go on. There was no other decision to make, no other shift or excuse. There was one, and only one, grain of consolation. This would not be heat that would kill, only maim. This would not be the final killing ground-only one more test of how much he could take.

Bond thought of the girl and of what she was going through. Oh well. Get on with it. Now, let's see...

Chapter 18 - Killing Ground.

The cotton fabric at Bond's knees and elbows had burned away. Numbly his mind registered the moisture as his blisters burst against the cool metal. As he moved, he flexed his fingers -and toes, testing the pain. Slowly he got the measure of what he could do, what hurt most. This pain is supportable, he argued to himself. If I had been in an aeroplane crash, they would only diagnose superficial contusions and burns. I would be out of hospital in a few days. There's nothing wrong with, me. I'm a survivor from the crash. It hurts, but it's nothing. Think of the bits and pieces of the other passengers. Be thankful. Put it out of your mind. But, nagging behind these reflections, was the knowledge that he had not yet had the crash-that he was still on his way towards it, his resistance, his effectiveness reduced.

When would it come? What shape would it take? How much more was he to be softened up before he reached the killing ground?

But again, would this be Doctor No's killing ground? A bite or two perhaps--to send one into a delirium of pain. The horror of having to burst through the mesh in the darkness-Doctor No would not have reckoned with Bond's lighter--and squash through the forest of eyes, crushing some soft bodies, but feeling the jaws of the others lance home. And then more bites from the ones that had caught in the clothing. And then the creeping agony of the poison. That would have been the way Doctor No's mind would have worked-to send one screaming on one's way. To what? To the final fence?

The killing ground was a narrow deep water inlet at the base of the towering cliff.

The lifeline towards which Bond struggled, hampered by the clumsy spear in his trouser-leg, was a strong wire fence, stretched from the rock walls of the inlet ana caging it off from the open sea. The two-feet squares of thick wire were suspended from a cable six feet above the surface and disappeared, algae encrusted, into the depths.

Bond got to the wire and hung, crucified. For fifteen minutes he stayed like that, his body occasionally racked with vomiting, until he felt strong enough to turn his head and see where he was. Blearily his eyes took in the towering cliffs above him and the narrow vee of softly breathing water. The place was in deep grey shadow, cut off from the dawn by the mountain, but out at sea there was the pearly iridescence of first light that meant that for the rest of the world the day was dawning. Here it was dark and gloomy and brooding.

RichardTheBruce

Blood Bath (1966), Jack Hill, Stephanie Rothman.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060174/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_2
A crazed artist who believes himself to be the reincarnation of a murderous vampire kills young women, then boils their bodies in a vat.




Shower of Blood (2004), Tiffany Kilbourne.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213248/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_4
Five sexy college friends venture out on a road trip. A detour to Lisa's Uncle Marty's house leads them into the Galloway Forest which is known for mysterious disappearances and rumors of cannibalism.




Shower of Death (2014), Kevin Hodes.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5530176/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
3min | Short, Comedy | 22 October 2014 (USA)
The shower is supposed to be that place of privacy and serenity. But not any more...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RzuC6cXct4

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter 19 - Shower of Death.

Bond whirled the director wheel. Christ, wouldn't it turn any faster? In seconds Doctor No would get through and it would be too late. Slowly the tip of the crane arced across the sky. Now the mouth of the conveyor was spewing the dust column down over the side of the ship. Now the yellow mound was marching silently across the jetty. Five yards, four, three, two! Don't look round, you bastard! Arrh, got you! Stop the wheel! Now, you take it, Doctor No!

At the first brush of the stinking dust column, Doctor No had turned. Bond saw the long arms fling wide as if to embrace the thudding mass. One knee rose to run. The mouth opened and a thin scream came up to Bond above the noise of the engine. Then there was a brief glimpse of a kind of dancing snowman. And then only a mound of yellow bird dung that grew higher and higher.

Robert Havell after John James Audubon
Roseate Spoonbill, 1836

RichardTheBruce

Happenstance (2000), Laurent Firode.
(Le battement d'ailes du papillon/The flapping of the butterfly's wings, original title)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243135/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1
How, thanks to what's known as the "Butterfly theory" (a random series of unlinked events), can a young woman and a young man meet ?




Happenstance (2017), Joel Ulrick O'Neal.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6715006/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_3
A coming of age comedy following a 26 year old millennial named Zander while he navigates his many jobs, tumultuous love life, and dysfunctional family.

Goldfinger, Ian Fleming, 1959.
Part One - Happenstance.

Part Two - Coincidence
Chapter 14 - Things That Go Bump in the Night

Goldfinger wore his purple velvet smoking-jacket over an open-necked white silk shirt. The open neck showed a tuft of orange chest-hair. He sat very erect in a high-backed chair. He hardly glanced at the girl. The big china-blue eyes were fixed on Bond. They showed no surprise. They held no expression except a piercing hardness.

Bond blustered, 'Look here, Goldfinger. What the hell's all this about? You put the police on to me over that ten thousand dollars and I got on your tracks with my girl friend here, Miss Soames. I've come to find out what the hell you mean by it. We climbed the fence - I know it's trespassing, but I wanted to catch you before you moved on somewhere else. Then this ape of yours came along and damned near killed one of us with his bow and arrow. Two more of your bloody Koreans held us up and searched us. What the hell's going on? If you can't give me a civil answer and full apologies I'll put the police on you.'

Goldfinger's flat, hard stare didn't flicker. He might not have heard Bond's angry-gentleman's outburst. The finely chiselled lips parted. He said, 'Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action." Miami, Sandwich and now Geneva. I propose to wring the truth out of you.' Gold-finger's eyes slid slowly past Bond's head. 'Oddjob. The Pressure Room.'

Gerard

While one this subject :

RichardTheBruce

Fair enough, @Gerard.




Enemy Action (1999), Brian Katkin.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0175593/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Two Air Force officers are after a stolen high teck [sic] smart bomb.

Goldfinger, Ian Fleming, 1959.
Part Two - Coincidence
Chapter 14 - Things That Go Bump in the Night

Goldfinger's flat, hard stare didn't flicker. He might not have heard Bond's angry-gentleman's outburst. The finely chiselled lips parted. He said, 'Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action." Miami, Sandwich and now Geneva. I propose to wring the truth out of you.' Goldfinger's eyes slid slowly past Bond's head. 'Oddjob. The Pressure Room.'

Part Three - Enemy Action
Chapter 15 - The Pressure Room

BOND'S REACTION was automatic. There was no reason behind it. He took one quick step forward and hurled himself across the desk at Goldfinger. His body, launched in a shallow dive, hit the top of the desk and ploughed through the litter of papers. There was a heavy thud as the top of his head crashed into Goldfinger's breastbone. The momentum of the blow rocked Goldfinger in his chair. Bond kicked back at the edge of the desk, got a purchase and rammed forward again. As the chair toppled backwards and the two bodies went down in the splintering woodwork, Bond's fingers got to the throat and his thumbs went into its base and downwards with every ounce of his force.

Then the whole house fell on Bond, a baulk of timber hit him at the base of the neck and he rolled sluggishly off Goldfinger on to the floor and lay still.