Johnny Messner Movies

A freelance hit man botches the biggest job of his career, and attempts to atone by protecting an innocent woman while being pursued through Los Angeles by hired killers and corrupt cops. Corrado (Johnny Messner) was just a boy when his parents were killed in cold blood, and vengeance has defined his life ever since. These days, Corrodo works as a hired gun for Frankie (Joe Gannascoli), who offers him the opportunity to make a mint by stealthily rubbing out venerable crime boss Vittorio (Ken Kercheval) so that it looks like he died from natural causes. But just as Corrodo prepares to carry out the contract, he's startled by Julia (Candace Elaine), his elderly target's live-in nurse. Hastily shooting Vittoria dead before fleeing through an open window, the Corrodo remains nearby as the gangster's volatile son Paolo (Tom Sizemore) appears on the scene. When Corrodo overhears Paolo blaming Julia for his father's death, his conscious gets the best of him, and he returns to rescue the terrified nurse. But Paolo isn't about to let them make a clean getaway, and now the faster Corrodo and Julia run, the harder they have to fight just to make it through the night. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Four friends are swept up in a treacherous game of intrigue and betrayal during a Monday night poker game gone terribly awry. Every Monday night, Aaron Tyler (Johnathon Schaech) and his friends get together for a friendly game of poker. They've had the same routine for years, and it's always been a low-key affair. But tonight's game of poker will be anything but routine, because after accidentally killing a burglar who was sneaking into Aaron's house, the boys attempt to cover up the crime by quietly disposing of the corpse. When the dirty deed is done, the friends take a pledge of silence, agreeing to take the secret to their graves. But someone else knows exactly what they've done, and as the murderous game of revenge gets underway, the friends realize that their horror has just begun. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A man who planned to marry his high school sweetheart, buy a house with a white picket fence, and raise a family kisses his dreams of suburban bliss goodbye in order to travel through a hundred mile section of Central and South American jungle known as the Darien Gap in this adventure starring Christopher Masterson, Brooke Burns, Johnny Messner, and James Duval. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The Blair Witch Project co-director Daniel Myrick returns to the helm to tell this tale of two paramedics kidnapped and held hostage by a mysterious cult. David Vaughn and Victor Hernandez were on the road when they received a call about a young girl whose mother has lost consciousness. Upon arriving at the remote area to administer treatment, however, both paramedics are kidnapped and confined in an isolated building. David is determined to discover the true motivation of the cult that now controls his destiny, while Victor suddenly finds his entire belief system crumbling as the fine line between religion and science is inexorably crossed. Now, come sunrise, something big is about to happen. Perhaps if David and Victor can escape the compound before dawn, their lives will be spared. But their chances for survival are growing slimmer with each passing hour, and as the first rays of sun shine over the horizon David and Victor's desperation quickly turns to terrified determination. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A minor crook finds himself in major peril when a "hot" weapon goes missing in this violent crime thriller. Joey Gazelle (Paul Walker) is a low-level "mechanic" in the Mafia who hopes to rise through the ranks by doing whatever is needed. One night, a drug deal goes very wrong when police show up and try to close down the operation; shots break out and a battle ensues, with a pair of of cops meeting a particularly violent fate at bad end of a gun barrel. Joey is given the gun that killed the policemen and is told to make it disappear so it can't be used as evidence; however, before he can do that, the weapon is stolen by Oleg (Cameron Bright), a friend of Joey's young son, who takes the pistol and uses it to shoot his abusive stepfather. Now that the gun is implicated in high profile crimes, it's vitally important that Joey find it as soon as possible, but his search for the firearm is complicated by the fact that Oleg's stepdad is affiliated with a rival gang of Russian mobsters, and that Rydell (Chazz Palminteri), a seriously corrupt police detective, is hot on Joey's trail. Joey's search for the gun takes him through the grim criminal netherworld of the city, where he must face off against nearly every sort of crook, con artist, and deviate that has ever walked the earth. Running Scared is from writer-director Wayne Kramer, who made a name for himself with the well-reviewed independent feature The Cooler. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Created by CSI's Josh Berman, the tension-laden Fox detective series Killer Instinct chronicled the activities of San Francisco's Deviant Crime Unit, headed by the tough, flippant Lt. Matt Cavanaugh (Chi McBride). The unit's mission was to track down and eliminate the most vicious and heinous of serial killers and sex criminals, which may explain why this series received a lot of negative prerelease press; indeed, the acts of violence perpetrated on the victims of these deviants had to be seen to be believed (in the most notorious example, one nutcase rendered his female captives helpless by covering them with poisonous spiders!). Lt. Cavanaugh's top man was Det. Jack Hale (Johnny Messner), who had just come off a six-week leave of absence after the death of his female partner. Hale may or may not have spent several of those months in a mental institution; whatever the case, he was one seriously disturbed individual, and in some ways he was almost as unbalanced as the perpetrators he went after. Endeavoring to keep Hale "on program" was his new partner, Det. Danielle Carter (Kristin Lehman), a former forensic lab assistant. Executive-produced by Charles Craig (The X-Files) and Ed Zuckerman (Law & Order), the weekly, hour-long Killer Instinct debuted September 23, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Directed by Dwight H. Little, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is the sequel to 1997's tongue-in-cheek Anaconda, though none of the original cast have returned. The film chronicles a fateful mission ordered by a pharmaceutical giant: to travel deep in to the jungles of Borneo, where a rare black orchid -- one that can be used to attain immortality -- has bloomed for hundreds of years, unbeknownst to man. The eager horticulturists sent have no idea that an indigenous population of bloodthirsty anacondas has been privy to the orchid's properties for years. Not only have the orchids augmented their already phenomenal size, strength, and vitality, they've substantially increased the snakes' appetites for flesh. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid features Peter Curtis, Johnny Messner, Morris Chestnut, and Eugene Byrd. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Director Lawrence D. Foldes teams with producer Victoria Page Meyerink to weave a haunting tale of family tragedy and painful memories starring Geneviève Bujold, Louise Fletcher, and Lisa Brenner. Troubled by traumatic memories of being forcefully removed from her grandmother's serine New England bed and breakfast, Amanda is forced to return to the house of her childhood as the fragmented memories of her past slowly begin to come together. With past secrets relating to the events that simultaneously shaped her childhood and destroyed her family gradually rising to the surface, the betrayal of the past and her inexplicable hesitance towards the inn's young caretaker lead to a startling revelation that will bring three generations of blurred memories into sharp focus. As Exorcist star Jason Miller's last film, this was released posthumously. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The third live-action TV series based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' immortal "King of the Jungle" (there had also been a few cartoon series and innumerable theatrical features), the WB network's Tarzan offered a few new up-to-date spins on the classic canon. Orphaned in the jungle as an infant, John Clayton (played by male model Travis Fimmel) was raised by apes and came to maturity as the resourceful Tarzan. All this changed when John/Tarzan was captured by his uncle, billionaire industrialist Richard Clayton (Mitch Pileggi), and flown to New York City, there to take his rightful place as the heir apparent of the vast Greystoke business enterprises. As uncomfortable as Tarzan felt in his new civilized surroundings, it was nothing compared to the discomfiture expressed by Richard Clayton's sister, acid-tongued publisher Katherine Clayton (Lucy Lawless), who wished that Tarzan would return whence he came so that she could take over Greystoke. At last fed up by all the inter-family squabbling and backstabbing, Tarzan escaped to the concrete jungle known as Manhattan, where he befriended feisty female NYPD detective Jane Porter (Sarah Wayne Callies). Ultimately, Me-Tarzan teamed with You-Jane to track down elusive criminals, while Jane's detective boyfriend, Michael Foster (Johnny Messner), and her official partner, Sam Sullivan (Miguel Nunez Jr.), expressed dismay at the girl's newfound bravado -- and while Jane's younger sister, aspiring actress Nicki Porter (Leighton Meester), lolled around awaiting her next "damsel in distress" assignment. The new Tarzan swung into view on October 5, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The latest vision from The Powers That Be sends the gang to D'Oblique, a hipster meat market, to hunt down a serial killer who preys on the denizens of the Los Angeles singles scene. Proving that they still have a thing or two to learn about keeping a low profile, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) and Doyle (Glenn Quinn) make a spectacle of themselves. She tries passing out Angel Investigations business cards to the bar's confused clientele, while he gets involved in a brawl. Meanwhile, Angel (David Boreanaz) gets chummy with Kate Lockley (Elisabeth Rohm), a grave and alluring young woman who confesses that she spends every night at the club. Over the next few nights, Angel continues to trace the killer, who turns out to be a demon parasite that must switch bodies frequently to survive. Just as he catches up with the monster, Angel crosses paths with Kate again. It turns out she's a police detective, and she suspects Angel himself of the murders. Originally broadcast October 12, 1999, on the WB network, "Lonely Hearts" marked season one, episode two of the supernatural comedy drama. Tracey Stone, who has a small guest role, previously appeared with Charisma Carpenter on an episode of the short-lived Malibu Shores in 1996. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi