Ray Benson Movies
- 1991
Dolly Parton goes dramatic in Wild Texas Wind--with plenty or songs in her repertoire to gloss over the script's shortcomings. This made-for-TV movie costars a curiously hammy Gary Busey as the manager of a country western band fronted by Parton. Through his business acumen, Parton's aggregation goes to the top. But the price of fame is Parton's peace of mind; she enters into a love affair with Busey, who proves to be psychotically abusive. Despite constant beatings, Parton stands by Busey until she gains the gumption to stand alone. C & W fans may not cotton to the storyline of Wild Texas Wind, though they'll probably be appeased by the musical performances of Dolly Parton, Ray Benton and (in a cameo) Willie Nelson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1990
Two young men travel around the country to anti-nuclear demonstrations selling anti-nuke T-shirts out of the trunk of their car. They stop in a small Nevada town and fall for two roommates: one is a health clinic worker whose estranged husband is dying of cancer, and the other is a dealer at a casino. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Steve Swartz, Rodney Rincon, (more)
- 1982
- PG
Against the wishes of both families, a poor boy (Matt Dillon) and a wealthy banker's daughter (Cindy Fisher) elope, only to discover that their immaturity and incompatibility may be the downfall of their relationship. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Cindy Fisher, (more)
Roadie is a showbiz saga about the working slobs who make live pop-music performances happen. Texas good ol' boy Travis W. Redfish (pop singer Meat Loaf) drives a Shiner beer truck on his appointed rounds, but he becomes smitten with rock groupie Lola Bouillabase (Kaki Hunter), a "roadie" whose sole ambition in life is to bed her idol, Alice Cooper (playing himself). Travis' grizzled pappy, Corpus C. Redfish (Art Carney), feels disgusted by his son's lifestyle. After hearing that Cooper and his band are on tour, Lola sets out to catch up to them and offer her services, with Travis in pursuit. Along the way, they meet a number of pop-music stars -- Blondie, Asleep at the Wheel, Hank Williams Jr., Roy Orbison, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott -- who are all working on their own tours. Travis signs on, himself, as a groupie for a rock band, and is quickly dubbed "greatest roadie of all time," but he soon realizes that he must return to Texas for the wedding of his sister and his best friend. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meat Loaf, Kaki Hunter, (more)
This thoroughly weird but truly inspired monster flick is one of the earliest gore films to splatter across drive-in screens in the years prior to Herschell Gordon Lewis' notorious Blood Trilogy. The plot finds a besotted movie star (Rita Morley) and her entourage trapped on an island surrounded by aquatic flesh-munching amoebas (represented by scratches on the film emulsion) created by mad scientist Peter Bartell (Martin Kosleck). These sparkly little death-blobs make mincemeat of most of the cast, including a dorky beatnik (Ray Tudor) who ingests a few of the little buggers in his drink -- leading to an agonizingly fatal case of indigestion. Good photography and well-designed makeup effects make the most of a shoestring budget. Film editor Radley Metzger found his own way as the director of numerous soft-porn films in the '60s and '70s. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
