Cheryl Smith Movies

Video Vixens purports to be a satire of the phony liberalism that resulted in the permissiveness of the 1980s. A libidinous TV executive decides to stage an awards show. But not just any awards show: this one will honor the finest achievements in the world of filmed pornography. Thus does satire take second place to acres and acres of female skin and 85 minutes' worth of soft-core titillation. Robyn Hilton and Sandy Dempsey are among the au naturel cuties in this ham-handed "comedy." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When pimp Ramrod (Wings Hauser) is wanted by the police for murder, an undercover detective, Tom Walsh (Gary Swanson), enlists the aid of prostitute Princess (Season Hubley), a loving mother struggling to support her kid, to help capture the fiend. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In this gory sci-fi outing, shot and originally released in 3-D, Dr. Paul Dean (Robert Glaudini) is a scientist living in the near future, after America has fallen under the control of a repressive paramilitary regime. Dean's research causes him to absorb an especially voracious parasitic worm, which feeds inside the human stomach until it becomes strong enough to burst out in search of a new host. In time, Dean is able to extract the creature from his body, but soon it escapes from captivity, and Dean and his friend Patricia (Demi Moore) must find a way to stop it as they find themselves on the run from brutal government agent Merchant (James Davidson) and a gang of thugs led by Ricus (Luca Bercovici). Parasite was Demi Moore's second film, shot while she was still a regular on the daytime serial General Hospital. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Then professional potheads Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong teamed up for Cheech & Chong: Up In Smoke, which features the drug-addled duo on a road trip throughout California; that is to say, a road-trip they hope will culminate in finding some quality weed. Instead, a series of mishaps result in their respective deportations to Mexico. Desperate to get back to the states so they can perform in their band's gig later that night, Cheech and Chong unwittingly agree to drive a very unique car across the border -- rather than steel and various metal bits, the vehicle is constructed entirely out of marijuana. Back in the States and accompanied by two extraordinarily out-of-it female hitchhikers, the stoned group meanders about in an attempt to get their musical performance together, and narrowly escapes from local law enforcement agencies on numerous occasions despite their complete inability to realize they were being tailed to begin with. The incredibly low-budget movie surprised critics, grossed millions, spawned a series of lesser follow-up films, and cemented Cheech & Chong's cult-status among potheads across the globe. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Essentially a seedy '70s version of The Quatermass Experiment, this painfully cheap production from writer/director William Sachs involves the horrific plight of returning astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar), the sole survivor of a disastrous expedition to the rings of Saturn. The fatal outcome of the mission apparently involved the discovery of a space-borne virus, or radiation, or something (it's never made quite clear) that killed the rest of the crew and is causing West's flesh to melt and slough off his body. For reasons unexplained, the only relief from the pain of his condition can be found by consuming live human cells. After munching on a few bystanders, West escapes into the surrounding woods, pursued by NASA researcher Dr. Nelson (Burr DeBenning) and a disorganized posse of military monster-hunters. Unable to stop his rapid dissolution or resist his cannibalistic urges, West agonizes over his dilemma (as indicated by laughable scenes of Rebar trying to register emotional anguish through layers of goop), but he still finds time to terrorize a few locals, including the topless Rainbeaux Smith and a pair of comic-relief oldsters trying to score some lemons. The film's notorious ad campaign rallied the makeup FX work of Rick Baker, but his talents are largely wasted thanks to AIP's frantic cost-cutting and a truncated shooting schedule that forewent many of Baker's elaborate prosthetics in favor of a cheap latex mask covered with gallons of syrup. Future Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme contributes a brief cameo. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

When a group of teenage girls gather together for a slumber party, they spend the night relating stories of how they lost their virginity. Debra Winger makes her screen debut in this film. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The cheerleading team at Aloha High are popular with their fellow students (except for a couple of stuck-up rich girls), but they're a major cause of the school's lecherous reputation for underage sex and drug abuse. The fun-loving gals spike the lunchroom spaghetti sauce with a concoction of pot, pills, and powders, hold wild orgies in the boys' locker room, and never bother to attend their classes. The school board considers a merger with Aloha's biggest rivals, the vocational school Lincoln High, but the cheerleaders refuse to mix with the low-class juvenile delinquents that go there. A new principal, ex-Marine Hall Walker (Norman Thomas Marshall), might whip the school into shape, but it'll mean forcing the cheerleaders out of the squad and back into the classroom. Though the girls prove their importance to Aloha spirit at the crucial moment of a big basketball game, it turns out that more sinister forces are at work when the school is blown up and the principal is kidnapped. It's up to the cheerleaders to save the day and unravel a conspiracy to steal Aloha High's land for a shopping mall. Carl Ballantine, David Hasselhoff, and genre vet Rainbeaux Smith appear in this energetic sex comedy. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide

Dutch cult director Rene Daalder's fascinating debut was this unfairly neglected and richly idea-laden political allegory set in an American high school. Derrel Maury stars as David, a new student at Central High School who is shocked at the degree of control wielded by three preppie thugs who run the school with an iron fist. At first befriended by Mark (Andrew Stevens), David is soon the victim of bullying when Mark believes that he is courting his girlfriend, Teresa (Kimberly Beck), and points him out to the "ruling class." The worst is still to come, however, when David threatens the pecking order by foiling the three boys' attempted gang rape of a female student and has his leg crushed for his efforts. Eventually, the crippled David politicizes the underclass to fight their oppressors, and all three are killed by falling (from political power, the analogy clearly suggests). Daalder then takes the film in a different direction, with the newly liberated student body becoming an oppressive force themselves, and David enraged to the point of mass murder, deciding to wipe out the entire school. Stirred to action, it is up to the formerly apolitical Mark and Teresa to stop him. Daalder shrinks the entire political spectrum into the crucible of what seems on the surface to be a standard exploitation film. There are representatives of the extreme left, extreme right, disaffected center, intellectual bourgeoisie, and so forth, and all are nicely sketched without sacrificing the film's visceral appeal. Beyond the portraits, however, Daalder also skillfully shows the transitions which occur in many political movements, notably those which start as populist and develop into oppressively hierarchical castes. Perhaps disheartened by the failure of Massacre at Central High at the box office, Daalder did not direct again for nearly two decades, but returned with two more conceptually challenging (if equally unsuccessful) genre films, Hysteria and Habitat, in the mid-'90s. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

"He sold his soul for rock-n-roll," read the tagline for Brian De Palma's satirical Phantom of the Opera for the '70s rock scene. After hearing Winslow Leach (William Finley) perform a song from his Faust rock opera, Phil Spector-ish impresario Swan (Paul Williams) decides that Winslow's opera would be the perfect debut attraction for his new rock palace, the Paradise. Swan steals the music and has Winslow imprisoned -- but not before Winslow meets aspiring songbird Phoenix (Jessica Harper). Jumping prison, Winslow breaks into Swan's Death Records factory to ruin the recordings, but a record press accident grossly disfigures him. Winslow then sneaks into the Paradise to sabotage Swan's show, disguising himself as the Phantom. Swan, however, cuts a deal with the Phantom to finish his cantata; he promises that Phoenix will sing it but then reneges, hiring prissy glam rocker Beef (Gerritt Graham). Determined to have Phoenix sing, the Phantom soon discovers just how far Swan will go to give the people what they want. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

This effort from exploitation auteur Jack Hill was a profitable early entry in one of the most beloved subgenres of sexploitation cinema, the cheerleader movie. The soap opera-styled premise focuses on the lives of a squad of cheerleaders at Mesa University. Mary Ann (Colleen Camp) is worried with trying to get her roving football player boyfriend, Buck, to settle down and marry her; Lisa (Rosanne Katon) is caught up an in an affair with the married Professor Torpe (Jason Sommers); and Andrea (Rainbeaux Smith) frets over whether or not to give her virginity up. There is also a new cheerleader named Kate (Jo Johnston), who is actually a journalism student using the experience to write a feminist-slanted paper for her thesis. Kate soon learns that the cheerleaders and football players deserve more respect than she gives them and also uncovers a secret gambling ring involving the coach, Professor Torpe, and Mary Ann's father. The narrative that results from these surprisingly involved plot threads delivers all the raciness the title promises, and, thanks to the gambling subplot, even a bit of action. The Swinging Cheerleaders is less inspired and kinetic than Hill's other exploitation fare, but it delivers the sexploitation goods and manages to work in a little subversive social commentary to boot. As a result, it became a drive-in hit and earned a cult following amongst fans of drive-in movies. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide