Robert Kerman Movies
- 2005
Take an inside look at the most notorious porn film of all time as the original cast and crew of Debbie Does Dallas step forward to set the record straight and explore the fascinating legacy of mysterious star Bambi Woods in a documentary that will both titillate and educate. A cult classic that re-defined the world of pornography, Debbie Does Dallas remains a familiar title to cinema fans more than two decades after first shocking theatergoers back in 1978. From rumors of drugs and mafia funding to the strange tale of the small-town girl who set the screen ablaze before disappearing forever, there's no shortage of mystery surrounding the production of Debbie Does Dallas. Now, camera in hand and determined to seek out answers, filmmaker Francis Hanly sets out to offer an illuminating look at the business of pornography while gaining rare personal insight into the production of the film that virtually defined porn chic. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Edwards, Herschel Savage, (more)
No Way Out is told in flashback as Naval officer Tom Farrell (Kevin Costner) is grilled by his superiors regarding a recent "unpleasantness." While at a Washington party, Tom meets Susan Atwel (Sean Young), and they're soon sharing a steamy love scene in the back of a limo (marvelously parodied in 1993's Hot Shots! Part Deux). Several months pass before Tom meets Susan again; he discovers she's the mistress of the US Secretary of Defense David Brice (Gene Hackman). When Susan is murdered by Brice, his loyal aide (Will Patton) dutifully destroys the evidence and invents the fallacious theory that a KGB mole was responsible. Tom is assigned to locate that mole -- a perilous situation, since Tom knows that no such mole exists, but must go along with the charade since he was the last person who was seen with Susan. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman, (more)
- 1986
Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) is convinced that Otto Minski (Anthony James), a man he arrested several years before, is responsible for blowing up the angel statue on the grave of a woman whom Rick has once planned to marry. Trouble is, Minski is a past master at slipping through the fingers of the law and cooking up convenient alibis. Now Hunter must literally race against the clock to prevent the demented Minski from planting time bombs all over town! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Virtually unnoticed during its brief theatrical run, this wildly entertaining horror-comedy achieved healthy cult status following its home-video and cable TV releases. The directorial debut of Fred Dekker (writer of the successful horror parody House), this low-budget effort throws alien monsters, axe-wielding killers, flesh-eating zombies, nudity, and (gasp!) drunken fraternity shenanigans into a blender, spiced with witty one-liners and references to dozens of horror classics (and anti-classics). The result is a satisfying treat that will tickle the tastebuds of horror fans. The film's nominal protagonists are a pair of randy fraternity pledges (Jason Lively, Steve Marshall) who open a literal can of worms when they steal a corpse from the campus medical facility and release a horde of space-leeches, which proceed to infest the bodies of everyone in sight. The host bodies subsequently become homicidal zombies with a penchant for popping in on unsuspecting (and undressing) sorority girls. The town's only hope (such as it is) seems to be a hard-boiled ex-cop (Tom Atkins), who has uncovered the secret link between the zombie invasion and a 30-year-old axe-murder case... and who's also several sandwiches shy of a picnic. Dekker keeps things moving at a brisk pace thanks to some outrageous set-pieces (some of which happen so quickly they'll have viewers reaching for the pause button) and clever dialogue, particularly for Atkins ("Girls, the good news is your dates are here; the bad news is, they're dead"), who dives into his crusty character with relish. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, (more)
- 1982
Filmed independently in Boston, Mission Hill has been undeservedly ignored by most sourcebooks. Alice Barrett plays a young woman with dreams of becoming a popular singer. Unfortuantely, Alice is saddled with an unpredictable teenaged brother, played by Brian Burke. Every time the family makes some progress, Burke scotches things with his propensity for making trouble. Director Robert C. Jones wisely avoids judging his characters: everyone's human, even those who don't alway behave that way. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Burke, Alice Barrett, (more)
Primarily a showcase for the gory special-effects artistry of Gianetto de Rossi, this revolting horror film stars Giovanni Lombardo Radice (also known as "John Morghen") as a drug-dealer who comes to the Amazon jungle from New York looking for a cache of stolen emeralds. He joins some American college students and soon introduces them to his special lifestyle, raping a native girl, then beating a young Indio senseless before gouging out his eyeball with a knife. Naturally, the local cannibals don't take too well to this treatment, so they cut off Radice's penis with a machete, gouge out his eye, then scalp him and eat his brain. Deciding that his companions are also to blame, the natives hang a young woman by impaling her breasts on meat hooks while her sorrowful companion sings "Red River Valley." Eventually, one woman gets back to New York, where she reads a dissertation on cannibalism to earn her PhD. Cult filmmaker Umberto Lenzi really outdid himself with this bloody spectacle, which maintains a consistent air of cruelty with a non-stop procession of beatings, rapes, real-life animal slaughter, larva-chewing, genital-chopping, cannibalism and the infamous meathook scene. Definitely for acquired tastes only, this nauseatingly effective shocker features a brief appearance by adult-film star Richard Bolla as a New York policeman. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Morghen, Lorraine de Selle, (more)
A courageous mercenary journeys to the New Guinea jungle to find a missing young woman. He brings with him an expert on the terrain and with only a rotting, super-8 film to guide them, they try to figure out where she is. As they make the dangerous journey, they must deal with hungry cannibals and a crazed religious zealot. This Italian horror adventure is filled with blood, gore, and violence that includes the killing of real animals. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Janet Agren, Mel Ferrer, (more)
- 1979
- NR
While Umberto Lenzi began the Italian-made cycle of brutal Amazonian cannibal horrors with Il Paese del Sesso Selvaggio and effectively ended it with the nauseating Cannibal Ferox, it was Ruggero Deodato who directed the subgenre's most enduring film. This popular bloodbath features a fetus ripped from a woman's body, people impaled on spikes, a genuine tortoise-flaying, and numerous other indignities, both real and simulated. The plot concerns the efforts of a group of American explorers to discover the fate of a missing documentary film crew. They receive a scratchy film-reel containing the bloody truth from a tribe of tree-dwelling natives, and the reel's contents make up the bulk of the film. Advertisements claimed that "the crew who filmed it were actually devoured alive by cannibals," yet most of them were spotted alive in future unsavory gore films. While the film is undoubtedly gruesome enough to satisfy fans, its mixture of nauseating mondo animal slaughter, repulsive sexual violence, and pie-faced attempts at socially conscious moralizing make it rather distasteful morally as well. The fact that the film's sole spokesperson for the anti-exploitation perspective is played by porno star Richard Bolla should give an indication of where its sympathies lie. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, (more)
