Chris de Rose Movies
- 2006
Debuting over MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006, Desire was one of two nightly hour-long continuing dramas seen over the fledgling network during its first season on the air; both this series and its companion show, Fashion House, were inspired by the Spanish-language "telenovela" genre, and both were filmed in San Diego. The principal players in Desire included the Thomas brothers, Alex (Zack Silva) and Louis (Nate Haden), who had to give up running their restaurant in Bayonne, NJ, when the headstrong Louis was caught in bed with the daughter of a gang boss. Fleeing the gangsters' wrath, the Thomas boys relocated to California, where they went to work for sexy Andrea Zavatti (Michelle Belegrin), heiress to a huge restaurant fortune. Having lost her best employee and boyfriend George (Tomy Dunster) to her false friend Suzy (Vivian Gray), Andrea's affections were torn between the affable Alex and the ruthless Louis for the balance of the series. Others in the cast included Andrea's calculating half-sister, Victoria Marston (Sofia Milos), vengeful mob chieftain Joey Gamarra (Chris de Rose), and the Thomas brothers' long-suffering mother, Rita (Eliana Alexander). Telecast on a Monday through Friday basis, with a weekend "recap," Desire was destined for a 13-week, 65-episode run, at which point MyNetwork would replace it with a new nightly soaper, Wicked Wicked Games. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michelle Belegrin, Zack Silva, (more)
- 1998
- R
Ghosts...of the Civil Dead is an Australian prison picture, ironically coproduced by a company calling itself "Correctional Services". The prison in question is a cruelly repressive institution, with a set of rules bordering on the Draconian. The inmates finally rebel in violent fashion against the regimented sadism of their captors. With its limited setting and its small cast, Ghosts...of the Civil Dead should have been easier to follow. The unnecessarily cluttered screenplay was written by the film's director, John Hillcoat. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Field, Mike Bishop, (more)
- 1995
- R
This unintentionally campy suspense thriller takes a large part of its plot from Hitchcock's Vertigo. Matteo Juarez, a former policeman in Palm Springs, has been emotionally devastated by his accidental death of a female hostage he was trying to save. Donald Gale, a wealthy capitalist and environmentalist, is determined to save California's unique Salton Sea. He hires Juarez to protect his mysterious wife. Jennifer is not all she seems. Juarez, who tails her, is surprised to find her working secretly as a blond wigged stripper. After saving her two times, Juarez falls in love with her. After she is brutally murdered, Juarez again sinks into depression, alcoholism, and self-blame. Things turn around when he encounters a waitress who appears identical to Jennifer. She says she is a recent Irish immigrant, but Juarez doesn't believe her and sets off to solve the mystery once and for all. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1995
- R
This actioner features notorious figure skater Tonya Harding in a supporting role. The story really centers on Myra, a courier for the Mafia, who after seven years of dangerous work, wants to take her $300, 000 and split. She is accompanied by Dan, and is pursued by a dogged hitman determine to kill her. He comes close to getting her after Myra's boy friend Carter tips him off. He ends up with the loot which he stashes in the apartment of his second girl friend, Gina. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Teri Thompson, Tonya Harding, (more)
Framed for a murder he did not commit, a detective is sent to a prison where each day's survival is a victory. Sickened by the brutality he encounters there, he plans his escape, knowing that only on the outside will he be able to prove his innocence. ~ Mark Hockley, Rovi
Set in a post-apocalyptic 21st Century, Aftershock offers us a world ruled by an unseen female voice, where scuzzy paramilitary groups wipe out anyone remotely intellectual. Held for interrogation by government flunkey John Saxon is empty-headed mystery woman Sabina (Elizabeth Kaitan). Sabina is rescued by a pair of resistance fighters (Jay Roberts Jr. and Chuck Jeffreys). Once she arrives at rebel headquarters, Sabina proves to be a lot smarter than we think-as well she should be, since she's a visitor from another galaxy. Having come to earth in the misguided belief that the world has reached a state of peace and harmony, Sabina decides to return to her home planet, only to be captured again by Saxon and his minions ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Kaitan, Chuck Jeffreys, (more)
In this action drama, a high-ranking military man returns to his home town, only to discover that drug dealers have taken control of the city and that crack has polluted the community. When he finds that the law is no help in stemming the tide of drug dealers and gangsters, he recruits two of his old Army buddies to take on the drug cartel on their own. Crackdown stars Chris De Rose, Seib Seibl, Chard Hayward, and Tkye Caravelli. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1987
In this sci-fi film, actually a television pilot inspired by Nicolas Roeg's provocative 1976 film, chronicles the exploits of an alien marooned on Earth. All he wants is to go back to his dying planet. He is hindered by military forces determined to find him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
An officer of the law becomes a wanted man while trailing a killer in this crime drama. Jack Murphy (Charles Bronson) is a police detective who helped to put Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress), a psychotic murderer, behind bars ten years ago. However, Joan is now back on the street and determined to get revenge on Jack. She kills Jack's ex-wife and her new husband, and she cleverly frames the detective for the crime. Jack is arrested and taken into custody handcuffed to Arabella McGee (Kathleen Wilhoite), a rough-and-ready young hoodlum picked up for theft. Jack is able to escape, and has to track down Joan in order to clear his name with Arabella as his unwitting accomplice. Murphy's Law also features Lawrence Tierney and Richard Romanus. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Kathleen Wilhoite, (more)
- 1982
- R
When she's wrongfully convicted for participation in a drug-smuggling ring, a woman (Tracy Bregman) winds up in a women's prison, where she toughens up during several brutal encounters. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jill St. John, Tracey E. Bregman, (more)
- 1979
After calling her ex-boyfriend Jim (James Garner) for help, former model Carol is found dead. According the the police, Carol committed suicide, but another model, Alta Hatch (Erin Grey) suspects that the girl was murdered--and that the killer is the same person who bumped off yet another model. In hopes of finding a connection between the two deaths, Jim joins Alta in her investigation of the high-fashion industry, conducted on behalf of flamboyant celebrity designer Masters (Rene Auberjonois), who is acting rather suspiciously himself. In the process of uncovering the truth, Jim is--as usual--subjected to a surfeit of physical abuse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
