Daniel Eden Movies
Post-collegiate angst, '80s style, is the subject of this coming-of-age ensemble piece, which traces the fortunes of a group of Georgetown grads as they enter the real world and grapple with work, infidelity, and adulthood. The most outwardly upscale member of the gang, Jules (Demi Moore), hides a plethora of emotional baggage behind a chic wardrobe, an expensive apartment, a fashionable drug habit, and lots of meaningless casual sex. Her friend Wendy (Mare Winningham) has the opposite problem; a trust-fund baby with body-image issues and little sexual experience, she's hung up on Billy (Rob Lowe), a no-good, sax-playing drunkard who can't face up to his responsibilities in the job market or at home with his wife and young child. Such open infidelity is anathema to Alex (Judd Nelson), who must maintain a sense of propriety even while engaging in compulsive womanizing; after all, the Democrat-turned-Republican's nascent political career requires the sort of picture-perfect relationship he shares with girlfriend Leslie (Ally Sheedy). That doesn't sit too well with tortured writer Kevin (Andrew McCarthy), who toils away at a newspaper job and pines away for the unattainable Leslie. Unrequited love also dogs Kirby (Emilio Estevez), a law-school student whose greatest wish is to romance classy doctor Dale Biberman (Andie MacDowell), who is, alas, way out of his league. Co-written by director Joel Schumacher and his studio intern, Carl Kurlander, St. Elmo's Fire spawned the number one pop hit "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)," which was credited to John Parr but co-written by music producer David Foster. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, (more)
This imaginative low-budget horror film from first-time director Frank LaLoggia tells the story of shy high-school student Andrew (Stefan Arngrim) who, in a nod to the Omen films, slowly begins to realize that his feelings of alienation stem from the fact that he is the Antichrist. This revelation is not lost on Andrew's elderly next-door neighbor and one of his fellow students -- both of whom are actually archangels-in-hiding who have been waiting for the inevitable moment when the boy's latent identity finally surfaces. Andrew's first demonstration of his powers allows him to avenge himself on his cruel classmates (in an imaginative scene, one macho poser is gifted with breasts), but soon he begins to undergo a more dramatic change. The climactic moment comes during an outdoor Passion play performance -- during which the actor portraying Jesus on-stage ends up crucified for real -- and archangels Gabriel and Michael arrive to fulfill their destiny in the final battle between good and evil. Considering the budgetary limitations, this is still an impressive debut, tackling its weighty metaphysical themes with style and intensity seldom seen in other teen-horror films and boasting a superb score blending punk, pop, and new wave tracks with haunting Gregorian chants. Apart from its artistic merit, Fear No Evil should stand as an inspiration to young filmmakers everywhere. Producer/director Frank LaLoggia managed to scrape up 150,000 dollars to finance the production and find distributors all on his own -- all at the tender age of 23 -- long before his success directing the more subdued supernatural opus Lady in White. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stefan Arngrim, Elizabeth Hoffman, (more)
