Laura Harris Movies

John Ritter and Pam Dawber star as Roy and Helen Knable, a suburban American couple having marital problems. Roy has become a couch potato, and a resentful Helen wants him to ditch the remote. When the demonic Spike (Jeffrey Jones) offers Roy a deal on the ultimate satellite TV system, Roy doesn't realize that he's just signed away his soul. Roy and Helen are sucked into their own television, where they endure a gauntlet of Hellish television shows such as "Northern Overexposure" and "I Love Lucifer." When their kids Darryl (David Tom) and Diane (Heather McComb) realize that their parents are on the twisted television, they set out to rescue them. Among other elements, Stay Tuned contains an original cartoon short by Looney Tunes legend Chuck Jones. The film was the debut of writing team Tom S. Parker and Jim Jennewein, who would stay in the wacky comedy genre with a whopping four major releases in 1994. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

A bitter, nasty child custody battle is at the center of this fact-based TV movie. Having long since written off her divorced daughter-in-law Sarah (Tracey Gold) as an unfit mother, DeDe Cooper (Kate Jackson) anxiously awaits the slightest opportunity to take her granddaughter Josie (Laura Harris) away from Sarah for good. When Josie begins making disturbing references to "satanic rituals", DeDe figures it is time to take action. Before long, someone has kidnapped Josie--and Sarah, whose life has only just begun to find meaning via her relationship with her new beau Jack (Jeff Yagher), insists she has a pretty good idea who's responsible. What follows is a maelstrom of lies, deceptions, and ultimate vindication for one of the two principal characters. A Kidnapping in the Family originally aired February 26, 1996 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Television director Peter O'Fallon made his feature film debut with this independent film that pays obvious homage to the style of Quentin Tarantino, with plenty of violence and funny, talkative hit men. Suave gangster Charlie Barrett (Christopher Walken) meets four young men who have taken over his regular booth at a popular bistro. Charmed by the swaggering kids, he agrees to take a ride with them, but they give him a sedative and he awakens in a deserted mansion, taped to a chair with one of his fingers missing. One of his abductors, Avery (Henry Thomas), says that he has a sister who has been kidnapped and they need two million dollars to get her back, as well as a finger to exchange for her severed digit. Charlie phones his lawyer Marty (Cliff De Young), who calls a henchman, Lono (Denis Leary), who investigates the kidnappings and gives Charlie enough information to start playing each of his inexperienced abductors against the others. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Teenager Carly Astin (Chandra West) is terrified of the new boyfriend brought home by her single mom Diana (Morgan Fairchild) -- so much so that she runs away from her Salt Lake City home and into the clutches of seductive, smooth-talking Brad Winters (Ricky Paull Goldin). Unfortunately, Winters is a "recruiter" for various houses of prostitution, some of them disguised as strip joints. Thus, Carly ends up taking her clothes off for libidinous strangers in a seedy Seattle nightspot, where she manages to remain more or less unsullied thanks to the maternal ministrations of older stripper Adrian (Venus Terzo) -- who is murdered for her troubles! It falls to Carly's mother Diana to come to her senses, shed her slimy beau, and rescue Carly from what used to be labeled "the fate worse than death." Based on a true story, the made-for-TV Into the Arms of Danger: A Moment of Truth Movie debuted February 3, 1997, on NBC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Miramax Films darlings Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Kevin Williamson teamed up for a high-school alien-horror film that they described as The Breakfast Club meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Dilapidated Herrington High is the location for a story about a school faculty taken over by outer-space creatures, forcing the students to take charge and kick some alien butt. School faculty members (Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, Salma Hayek, and Jon Stewart) are infested with rapidly reproducing space worms that take over their minds and bodies. But never fear, because at this school, between hazing the student body and having sex in the locker room, a Scooby-Doo-ish group of high school students is ready to fight back. The up-and-coming acting talent includes R&B singer Usher Raymond, Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Laura Harris, and Jordanna Brewster. The story is nearly irrelevant, as the real stars are the action and lots of special effects. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi

Gary Starke (Andy Garcia) was an orphan living on the streets at 13 who grew up to preside over a crew of street hustlers as the grand master of ticket scalpers. Charming, savvy, and honorable, Gary seems beloved by everyone until Linda (Andie MacDowell), the love of his life, dumps him. Tired of Gary's unreliability after eight years, Linda takes a scholarship to the Cordon Bleu in Paris to fulfill her dream of becoming a master chef. Gary, in a tailspin, is determined to win Linda back. However, his hated rival, Casino, chooses this moment of weakness to move in on Gary's position on the streets. Gary wants to fight, but Linda may never return to him if he continues scalping. A surprise announcement is made. Pope John Paul II will come to New York to perform Easter Mass at Yankee Stadium. It's Gary's big chance. With one last big score, he can quit scalping and win Linda back. Yet Casino (and the law) still stands in his way. Gary turns to his mentor, Benny (Richard Bradford), for guidance. With his help, Gary may find a different path around his desperation and win back the woman he loves. ~ Ron Wells, Rovi

Lots of women get the feeling that their boyfriends become different people after they've married them, but one finds herself dealing with a much bigger problem than leaving socks around the house or not taking out the trash in this supernatural thriller. Kristie (Laura Harris) is a sweet but slightly naïve young woman who is soon to marry the man she loves, Marc St. Clair (Richard Lintern), a television reporter. On the night of their wedding, Marc leads Kristie away from the wedding reception and takes her virginity near a strange stone monument in the woods. Kristie is a bit surprised by this behavior and even more startled when she discovers she's pregnant. Nine months after her wedding day, Kristie's son, Dylan, is born and the new mother is thrilled, but as the child grows older, she begins to sense that things aren't right. Marc seems to take an obsessive interest in his son, while even more surprisingly, his boss, Elizabeth (Alice Krige), is nearly as interested as Marc. In time, when Dylan begins to display telekinetic powers and Kristie discovers Elizabeth has given him a book of Satanic prophesy, Kristie begins to wonder what sort of a person Marc really is -- and whose child did she really bear? ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A young man dealing with a broken heart finds support from an unexpected source in this drama. Ewan (Tygh Runyan) is a man in his mid-twenties who makes his living writing verse for greeting cards. Dissatisfied with his life, Ewan tends to drown his sorrows in alcohol and drugs, but he finds himself in far worse emotional straits when his girlfriend Charlotte (Laura Harris) decides she can't handle his lethargic attitude and unwillingness to commit to their relationship. Charlotte leaves Ewan, and only a few months later, he discovers she not only has met a new man, she's set the date for their wedding. Ewan decides to attend the wedding, though he's still pondering the notion of attempting to win Charlotte back; en route, Ewan encounters Amy (Eryn Collins), a sexy 16-year-old girl who is also dealing with a busted romance. Come Together marked the directorial debut for Canadian filmmaker Jeff MacPherson; he also wrote and edited the feature. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The writing and directing team who created Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show turn their satiric eye toward the world of folk music in this sly mockumentary. Irving Steinbloom was one of the great behind-the-scenes figures of the folk music boom of the late '50s and early '60s, and helped to nurture the careers of three of the best known acts of the era. The Folksmen -- Mark Shubb (Harry Shearer), Alan Barrows (Christopher Guest), and Jerry Palter (Michael McKean) -- were an earnest folk trio who sang of America's noble past and the challenges of the future; they split up in the early '70s after a failed attempt to go electric. Mitch & Mickey were a duo in both music and life, comprised of Mitch Cohen (Eugene Levy) and Mickey Devlin (Catherine O'Hara). They sang soulful songs of love until the collapse of their relationship sent Mitch into a deep and incapacitating depression. And The Main Street Singers were a nine-piece vocal group -- a "neuftet," as they prefer it -- who offered energetic good-time music, cranking out nearly 30 albums in the course of a decade; their current incarnation, The New Main Street Singers (played by Jane Lynch, Parker Posey, John Michael Higgins, David Alan Blasucci, Steve Pandis, Christopher Moynihan, Paul Dooley and Patrick Sauber) is still on the road. When it is announced that the legendary Irving Steinbloom has died (the character never appears in the film), his son Jonathan (Bob Balaban) decides that the best way to memorialize his father is through music, and with the help of Mike LaFontaine (Fred Willard) of Hi-Class Management, they set out to bring The Folksmen, Mitch & Mickey, and The New Main Street Singers back together for a special concert at New York's Town Hall. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer -- who previously teamed up for This Is Spinal Tap -- not only perform together as The Folksmen in A Mighty Wind, but composed most of the songs performed onscreen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Surly 18-year-old "reaper" George Lass (Ellen Muth) reluctantly continues to pursue her afterlife job -- helping souls who are about to die make a peaceful and dignified transition to the next world -- in the second season of the darkly humorous Dead Like Me. As the season opens, George concludes that her day job at Happy Time Temp Agency may not be so bad when she meets novice office worker Brennan (Steven Grayhm) -- this despite the fact that her previous attempts at romance in the afterlife have not ended too happily. Later on, George is dragged off to Happy Time's annual woodland retreat, just as her fellow reaper Mason (Callum Blue) loses the Post-It note with the name of the next soul he is slated to reap. In another episode, George excitedly prepares for her first "VIP reap" when a rock star is due to shuffle off the ol' mortal coil. And later still, our heroine develops a crush on the son of her newest reap-ee, which puts her in a funk when she realizes that she will soon have to break the heart she is so desperate to win. The season-two conclusion is "Haunted," a Halloween episode in which the reapers try to take advantage of an old legend so that they will appear to the living as they were when they were alive (since they normally appear to be different people in the afterlife). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

When the president of a high-profile international-arms supplier takes his six best employees to an Eastern European mountain retreat as a means of rewarding them for all of their hard work, their team-building getaway turns into a life-or-death game of kill or be killed in Creep director Christopher Smith's suspenseful comedy thriller. Palisade Defense isn't just the leading supplier of weaponry for the war on terror, it's a company that truly cares about its employees. When the Palisade Defense's European sales division exceeds expectations, the president decides that his dedicated employees deserve a relaxing corporate team-building retreat. The trip takes a turn for the worst, however, when a deadly enemy infiltrates the retreat with the singular goal of ensuring that no one gets out alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A devoted family man with a successful career in software unwittingly falls into a hopeless pattern of corporate slacking, lavish business trips, and beautiful prostitutes after being promoted to middle-management in this humorous tale of ambition and redemption starring Breckin Meyer. Ted (Meyer) was the kind of guy who always put his family first, but now that he's been promoted his priorities are beginning to shift. His new manager (Adam Scott) seems more interested in cutting corners and taking advantage of the high life than getting any real work done, and it isn't long before Ted becomes wrapped up in the perks of his new position as well. As much fun as he may be having at the moment, however, Ted will eventually have to return home and answer to his increasingly lonely wife. It's only a matter of time before Ted's corporate affairs come back to haunt him, and when they do will they really have been worth it? Laura Harris, Monica Keena, and Bess Armstrong co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi