Tanya Dempsey Movies

Hell is coming to planet Earth and it's up to two determined demon fighters to fend off the forces of evil in actor-turned-director Ted Smith's futuristic tale of ancient evil unleashed. Josh Griffin is a member of a dedicated team of demon-hunters known as the Guardians. Situated in an ultra-secret underground base located in the center of Los Angeles and known as The Core, Bannon, Lisa, Max, and Chief Gil Kane have dedicated their lives to maintaining the perilous balance between good and evil. When Josh is assigned the task of working with New York-based Guardian Alex Marlow, the revelation that a horde of demons has stolen an ancient artifact from a Manhattan art dealer before making its way to the West Coast leads the pair on a perilous flight through the demon-infested Los Angeles warehouse district. It seems that a dangerous occult organization known as the Brotherhood has unwittingly released an ancient demon known as Virago into the human realm, and that Virago is now determined to open the doorway to Hell and allow the tormented souls of the damned free reign over all of humankind. With only hours left before the cycle is complete and the planet thrown into chaos, Alex and Josh must now defeat the powerful demon and snuff out the flames of Hell's inferno before the darkness takes hold. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Initially conceived as a sequel to David DeCoteau's amusing Prison of the Dead (2000), this straight-to-video horror film was written by minor cult actor Trent Haaga. The story line posits a new reality-based television series along the lines of Fear Factor in which five attractive models must spend the night in a haunted asylum for a million-dollar prize. There's a greedy producer who sets booby-traps for the girls along the way, not knowing that there is a real presence in the hospital -- the ghost of an evil millionaire who had kidnapped several young women years before, hoping to force them to marry him. The contestants make confessions to the cameras strategically placed within, only to have their deepest fears used against them by the malevolent ghost. Joe Estevez shows up as well, adding a small bit of name value to a cast including Debra Mayer, Tanya Dempsey, and Stacey Scowley. This was one of several collaborations between B-movie moguls J.R. Bookwalter and Charles Band, concluding with Dead & Rotting the same year. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Low-budget horror mogul J.R. Bookwalter (The Dead Next Door) directed this second sequel to the mildly successful Witchouse, another in his Tempe studio's productions for B-movie legend Charles Band's Full Moon Pictures. Cult favorite Brinke Stevens takes over the role of Lilith in this installment, which -- being shot on DV in Los Angeles -- represents more modest aims than the glossier 35mm look of the Romanian-lensed Witchouse 2. Like both of its predecessors, however, the film owes a lot to The Blair Witch Project, as Lilith is revived by a pair of documentary filmmakers (Debbie Rochon, Tina Krause) and their friend, an abused woman (Tanya Dempsey) seeking shelter from her past. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

This creepy horror film was directed by Victoria Sloan from another fine script by Full Moon Pictures' prolific writer, Benjamin Carr (Head of the Family, Hideous!). The titular creature is an ancient snarling demon originally summoned by alchemists thousands of years in the past. It demands five human lives as sacrifice for its knowledge and now terrorizes a group of college students squatting in an abandoned hospital. Sloan creates some effective suspense as the beast -- which looks like a large skinned monkey with two heads -- stalks its prey through the empty corridors, and the young cast is amiable and engaging. Edited by cult filmmaker J.R. Bookwalter, the film moves at a decent clip and is less jokey than most similar efforts. While Shrieker is not the best of Full Moon's late-'90s offerings, and is certainly more traditional than most, it remains worthwhile for horror fans looking for a few straight chills at the expense of inventiveness. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi