Steve Welles Movies
Inspired more by the 1960s TV series than by the original Charles Addams New Yorker cartoons, The Addams Family proved to be one of the more successful of the TV shows-turned-movies of the 1990s. The film opens on a recreation of the magazine cartoon wherein the ghoulish Addamses prepare to pour hot oil upon a group of merry Christmas carolers. After a series of vignettes which establish the characters of Gomez (Raul Julia), Morticia (Anjelica Huston), Wednesday (Christina Ricci), Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) and family servants Lurch (Carel Struycken) and Thing (Christopher Hart), the plot proper gets under way. A stranger, played by Christopher Lloyd, shows up on the Addams doorstep, claiming to be long-lost Uncle Fester. It appears, however, that Lloyd is a ringer, in cahoots with attorney Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya) to strip the Addamses of their fortune. In their usual against-the-grain fashion, the Addams Family seems to delight in the possibility that they're being hoodwinked-indeed, not even kidnapping or death threats dampen the Addams clan's joy of living (or should we say dying?). The Addams Family served as the directorial debut of cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, (more)
- 1991
- R
The supernaturally animated demonic puppet creations of a mad puppeteer spring back to life in hopes of reanimating their master with an ancient Egyptian formula that utilizes brain serum in this gory horror thriller. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth MacLellan, Collin Bernsen, (more)
A group of scientists are sent to the sun in 2050 to stop a giant solar flare from destroying the Earth. As the team nears the sun, some members of the team begin to suspect that someone is trying to sabotage their mission. Solar Crisis has very strong special effects and fine acting, making it an excellent sci-fi thriller. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Matheson, Charlton Heston, (more)
One of the few sleaze-horror movies that actually delivers on the lurid promise of its title (and what a title!), this trashy treasure from the irrepressible Fred Olen Ray also sports a classic exploitation cast, toplined by "Scream Queen" Linnea Quigley. Quigley plays a cute young runaway whose desperate dive into the Hollywood prostitution racket lands her smack in the middle of a demonic chainsaw death-cult, presided over by none other than Texas Chainsaw Massacre's "Leatherface," Gunnar Hansen. This deliberately over-the-top item makes no pretense about its primary mission -- the display of female nudity and severed body parts -- and comes through with flying colors, so to speak. Highlights include a decidedly un-subtle cross-dressing hooker, an Elvis-loving cultist who covers her movie posters with plastic before chainsawing her next john, a victim's-eye view of a chainsaw attack, and a body-painted Quigley performing the "Virgin Dance of the Double Chainsaws!" ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gunnar Hansen, Linnea Quigley, (more)
- 1961
Talented action film director William Witney shows the depth of his skills in turning this one-week-in-production wonder into a passable, entertaining, one-hour western. The focus of attention is a trial in a town with no respect for the law, where the federal judge (Hugh Marlowe) valiantly tries to buck the current and carry on according to normal standards. At issue is the murder of the brother of a prominent, despotic land baron. The accused is an impoverished Mexican (John Alonso) who is not going to get acquitted unless the real murderer can be found. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Marlowe, Alan Hale, Jr., (more)
