John Moore Movies

Over half of the cast in this horror send-up is either a vampire or a zombie. The conniving Mayor Ranson (Geoff Gibbs) is selling off rural property to the Japanese who plan to build a cartoon theme park. When he orders a memorial and graveyard to Vietnam servicemen to be removed, the dead come back as vampires and zombies to exact their macabre revenge on the living. Connoisseurs of carnage may be disappointed that there is not more excessive and gratuitous gore and violence. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

On her first day at an all-girls Catholic High School in Chicago, shy and reserved Janey Glenn (Sarah Jessica Parker) meets the wild and wacky Lynne Sands (Helen Hunt). Even though her oppressive dad, Col. Glenn (Ed Lauter), won't let her go, Lynne talks her into sneaking out to try out for a spot on the beloved show Dance TV. Janey wows the judges with her gymnastic ability and makes first cuts, conveniently assigned to a cute dance partner: blue-collar bad boy Jeff Malene (Lee H. Montgomery). They compete against the bratty rich girl Natalie Sands (Holly Gagnier), who sabotages them because she wants Jeff and the contest for herself. Janey and Lynne get revenge by inviting punks and street kids to crash her debutante ball. Natalie then resorts to making her wealthy industrialist dad, J.P. Sands (Morgan Woodward), threaten Jeff; If he doesn't let Natalie win, his dad (Biff Yeager) could lose his job at the factory. It all leads up to the live television broadcast of the Dance TV contest, right when Janey's dad races to the studio to stop her. Also starring Shannen Doherty as Jeff's little sister, Maggie. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

This weird British hybrid of The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby and It's Alive! stars Joan Collins as a stripper who spurns the advances of a lecherous dwarf and is subsequently cursed by a monstrous baby -- which emits horrifying demonic howls and attacks everyone within reach, including his parents, his nanny and the family doctor (Donald Pleasence). A final exorcism is attempted by a nun (Eileen Atkins), for what it's worth. No clear explanation is given for the link between the spurned dwarf and the demonic influence placed upon the homicidal tyke (even the countless Italian Exorcist knock-offs usually maintained some sort of twisted logic), and the considerable potential for horror in the killer-baby concept is not explored thoroughly enough to keep viewers involved. Also released as I Don't Want To Be Born. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Polish actress Ingrid Pitt became a cult figure for her portrayal of the notorious Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory in this Hammer horror film. Bathory finds that bathing in the blood of virgins restores her youthful beauty, and she enlists her servant (Nigel Green in a standout performance) to kidnap her own daughter, Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down). Bathory assumes Ilona's identity to seduce a young man (Sandor Eles), but without a supply of blood, she turns old in a hurry. The real Bathory had no such problems, reportedly slaughtering over 600 young girls before being sealed alive in her room. Pitt and Green are excellent, although director Peter Sasdy -- who helped adapt this story from Valentine Penrose's book The Bloody Countess -- moves the story along at a rather leisurely pace. Still, the performances and typically sumptuous "Hammer look" should make this film appealing to fans of historical horror. Maurice Denham, Patience Collier, and Nike Arrighi co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

During the excavation of an old Norman church, several top archeologists are killed. Upon further investigation, Steed and Tara discover that the dead men had been sapped of all their energy. The cause of this phenomenon is a tiny black box containing a deadly supercharge of electricity, which in turn has spawned a race of omniverous pure-energy creatures, bent on destroying all of England. Written by Terry Nation, "Thingumajig" first aired in America on March 24, 1969, then in England on April 2 of that year. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Humorist Max Wilk scripted this listless film version of his book of the same name. Jerry Lewis plays George Lester, an American entrepreneur living in London. After a money-raising scheme fails, his wife Pamela (Jacqueline Pearce) threatens him with divorce. Trying to demonstrate his willingness to get serious with Pamela, George, with crackbrained finesse, turns her country home into a discotheque. Pamela, shocked, demands that George restore her home the way it was. While defending himself, George notes than Pamela now has a snobbish suitor in tow -- Dudley Heath (Nicholas Parsons). To show up Pamela, George contacts an old friend, conman H. William Homer (Terry-Thomas). Together, they concoct a scheme to abscond with Dudley's blueprints for an electronic oil drill and sell it to the Arabs. But complications occur when George catches the mumps and has to rely upon airline steward Fred Davies (Bernard Cribbins) to transport the microfilmed blueprints to Lisbon in his teeth. Once in Lisbon, a local dentist, Dr. Pinto (John Bluthal), is tabbed to remove the blueprints from Davies's mouth, but Dr. Pinto double-crosses them. George flies off to Lisbon with Pamela in pursuit, and the chase is on. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Steed and Emma are summoned to investigate when several businessmen and a few prize bulls are found mauled to death. The culprit would seem to be a "big cat" of some sort, obliging Steed to go on a safari to find the answers. But it is Emma who finds herself in the thick of it, thanks to a curious organization called the Philanthropic Union for the Rescue, Relief and Recuperation of Cats (or PURRR). Ronnie Barker, of Two Ronnies fame, is among the guest stars. Written by Philip Levene, "The Hidden Tiger" was first seen in England on March 4, 1967, and in America 13 days later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Carson (not Johnny Carson, as listed in some source books) stars in the grim British programmer Act of Murder. Carson plays an actor who still carries a torch for his ex-mistress Justine Lord, even though she is now happily married to Anthony Bate. With cold-blooded resolve, the actor conducts a campaign to drive Bate to a nervous breakdown. Instead, the distracted husband is driven to commit murder. Act of Murder was given a limited American release by Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this thriller, a novelist is quite upset to discover himself awakening with a gun in his hand. He is more dismayed to find a dead relative nearby. Now he wonders: did he do it? He is assisted by a lady hitchhiker in discovering that the real killer is a female impersonator. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi