Henry Fonda and Ava Gardner in City on Fire (1979)

Along the same lines of last week's post about Disaster on the Coastliner (also from 1979), this film is another bloated star epic, though some of the stars are, or had been decidedly first tier. When a refinery worker, upset because he was passed over for a promotion, sets his refinery on fire, he sets off a chain reaction of disaster in a city that's been compromised by graft and shoddy construction standards. Among the people involved are fire chief Risley (Fonda), heiress Diana Brockhurst-Lautrec (Susan Clark), nurse Andrea Harper (Shelly Winters), inebriated television reporter Maggie Grayson (Gardner) and corrupt mayor William Dudley (Leslie Nielsen).

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Though set in the midwest, this film was shot in Montreal. It's the usual disaster fare, following the lives of certain key people as they are irrevocably changed by the ensuing events. Look for James Franciscus and Barry Newman in the cast as well.

Though not available on DVD, this film can be found on VHS and is available in full on YouTube. Above is the entire film uploaded by TheGialloGrindhouse.

Obscurity factor: 9 (not on DVD, available on YouTube, barely remembered)

James Franciscus & Lee Grant in Night Slaves (1970)

Clay Howard (a very sexy James Franciscus) has decided to chuck it all and drop out of the rat race. He sells his part of the business to his partner and heads home to tell his wife Marjorie (Lee Grant). On the way he has a terrible accident that kills two people and severely injures him. Once recovered, with a metal plate in his head, he and his wife leave on a vacation. They stop in a small town in rural California and decide to stay over night in a charming guest house. That evening Clay wakes up to find a strange girl in his room and his wife missing. He looks out the window and sees the townspeople climbing into the back of a pickup truck. Among them is his wife. When he tries to stop her, they throw him to the ground and drive off. The next morning he wakes to find his wife next to him in bed acting as if nothing strange had happened. He's inclined to think it's all a dream until he finds burrs on his wife's dressing gown. When it happens the next night he tries to get some answers out of the strange girl, but she's very vague and cryptic. Is he suffering from hallucinations or is something strange happening in this small town?

This sci-fi thriller is a kinder, more pensive version of the classic B movie It Came from Outer Space (1953). Look for Leslie Nielsen as the sheriff. It's not on DVD, but can be found in its entirety on YouTube, thanks to an upload by TVTERRORLAND. The entire film is above.

Obscurity factor: 9 (not on DVD, not well remembered, available on YouTube)