Mark Burns Movies

A charmingly naïve boy from the English village of Wall travels to a magical, mythical world in search of the falling star that will help him win the heart of his true love in this fantasy adventure starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais, and Sienna Miller. For hundreds of years the massive cobblestone barrier that surrounds the sleepy English hamlet of Wall has kept the citizens of the village safe and secure from the malevolent supernatural forces that stir just outside its perimeter. When dashing Tristan Thorne (Cox) promises the fairest girl in the village, Victoria (Miller), that he will prove his love by bestowing her with a genuine falling star, his daring mission sends him on an adventure far outside the comfortable confines of Wall. In order to find the fallen star, Tristan will have to ascend the wall and venture deep into the forbidden heart of the fantastical realm known as Stormhold. Upon discovering that the meteorite he sought was in fact a beautiful girl named Yvaine (Danes), who has stumbled though space and is now being pursued by the King of Stormhold's (Peter O'Toole) sons (who long to use her cosmic powers to lay claim to the throne), Tristan vows to protect the otherworldly visitor at all costs. But the king's sons aren't the only ones in search of the luminous Yvaine; fearsome witch Lamia (Pfeiffer) has become convinced that the young girl's power can help her to achieve eternal youth and beauty. As Tristan makes his way through Stormhold on a mission to bring the star back to Wall, he will encounter a series of spectacular characters and creatures that will lead him to a fate he never imagined. Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn serves as director and co-screenwriter for this tale of witches and pirates adapted from the novel by fantasy icon Neil Gaiman, who also produces. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Michael Winner directs a curious amalgam of his own Death Wish and Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45, in this intense, post-feminist serial-killer movie, based on the bestseller by Helen Zahavi. After an explosive love affair crashes and burns, Bella (Lia Williams) leaves London for Brighton, where she begins to receive a series of obscene telephone calls from her deranged neighbor. Soon her neighbor also begins to stalk her. When the local police refuse to help her, Bella determines to take the matter into her own hands. Finally, at the urging of a loony Asian clairvoyant (Ian Richardson), Bella sneaks into the stalker's apartment in the dead of night and beats him to death with a claw-hammer. And to Bella's surprise, she finds that she likes it. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A hectic caper flick with farcical overtones, Bullseye! doesn't quite hit the....oh, you know. Government scientist Michael Caine and his titled pal Roger Moore plan to auction off a cold fusion formula to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, a pair of con artists-also played by Caine and Moore-impersonate the scientist and his friends in hopes of getting a piece of the action. This leads to an unending supply of comic complications, deadly encounters, wacky recurring characters and Sennett-style chases. Is louder and faster really funnier? You be the judge (but you'll have to catch the film on home video, since it never received a US theatrical release). Roger Moore's real-life daughter Deborah Barrymore shows up as a CIA agent. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this somewhat tasteless romantic comedy, a feuding but very wealthy married couple are planning their divorce while relaxing at luxury hotels in Yugoslavia. The husband hires a hitman to kill his wife, while his adulterous wife is trying to persuade one of her many lovers to do her husband in. Should these attempted murders not succeed, the husband will have to give in to his wife's attempts to blackmail him for his long-time incestuous affair with his sixteen-year old daughter. Since the daughter has her own lethal romantic agenda, things don't go quite as planned. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

John Hurt plays the British jockey Bob Champion in this true story of how Champion overcame cancer and the rigors of chemotherapy for an impressive personal and professional comeback. Just as Champion is in the middle of a vacation in Kentucky, he finds out he has cancer, and, like others before him, submits to the full, painful treatments of multiple injections and radiation, suffering as much or more from the cure as from the illness (these treatments are graphic). Gaunt and nauseous, Champion also endures realistic meetings with his doctors that hold forth no guarantee of a cure. His eventual remission leads to yet another grueling physical schedule to get him back into shape for the Grand National Steeplechase -- a 30-fence, well-publicized race that offers difficult hurdles for both the horses and their jockeys. If the 115-minutes running time of this film were cut in places, it would create a better, trim and slim, fast-paced telling of an even more focused tale. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Director and writer Marissa Silver debuted with this captivating film on the friendship of two young girls from opposite sides of the economic tracks but same side of town. Twelve-year-old Lonnie Sloan (Sarah Boyd) is a well-to-do New York rich kid and Karen Bruckner (Rainbow Harvest) is the more ordinary, impoverished New York kid. They happen to meet one day on the street in their neighborhood and hit it off just because each is fascinated with unknown quantities. As they learn that they were taught to perceive and react to the world differently, their relationship becomes one of unfolding adventure -- even for the grown-up viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Faye Dunaway stars in Michael Winner's labored re-make of the 1945 swashbuckler, which was co-scripted by Leslie Arliss, the original director of the 1945 film. Dunaway is Lady Barbara Skelton, a lady of the royal class, who becomes a highway robber, taking up with Captain Jerry Jackson (Alan Bates), a highwayman and her lover. Because of a notorious whiping scene in which Lady Barbara and Jackson's girlfriend (Marina Sirtis) take horsewhips to one another, tearing their clothing to strategically-placed ribbons, the film was held back from release because Winner refused to cut the salacious footage. After corralling author Kingsley Amis, and directors John Schlesinger, Karel Reisz, and Lindsay Anderson to attest to the redeeming social value of the scene, the scene stayed in the film. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Joan Collins stars as Fontaine Khaled in this sleek and sleazy sequel to her sister Jackie Collins's The Stud. Fontaine is the owner of a high class London nightclub, but after having an extramarital affair, her marriage falls apart and she stands to lose her nightclub. As a result, she hits the jet-set circuit, plying her allure for erotic dividends. She also involves herself in smuggling and in rigged horse races, trying any means necessary to obtain the funding to rescue her beloved nightclub from foreclosure. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Count Dracula is a three-part British television adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. Louis Jourdan plays the count not as villain or pathetic victim of circumstance, but a charismatic charmer, who doesn't need to suck the blood of his lady victims to make them faint. Part One takes place in Transylvania, with British attorney Jonathan Harker (Bosco Hogan) arriving at Dracula's castle to close a real estate deal--and to nearly lose his life and soul to his sinister host. Part Two finds Dracula at large in England, beckoning the unfortunate Lucy (Susan Penhaligon) into the world of the Undead. The story grows more intense in Part Three, with vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing (Frank Finlay) rallying the forces of Good against the elusive Dracula. Count Dracula was first telecast in the US on PBS' Great Performances series in March of 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodramatic science-fiction romance, an architect finally finds his true love after a lifetime of searching. They marry, and soon afterward discover that the woman has an incurable disease. She is frozen until the day her condition is curable. That day does not come until 40 years later. The architect is now quite old, and though their love is as strong as ever, he dies soon afterwards. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Directed by Christopher Miles, The Maids is a 1974 film version of the play by French absurdist writer Jean Genet. Solange (Glenda Jackson) and Claire (Susannah York) are two sisters who work as servants for a strict Madame (Vivian Merchant). When Madame and Monsieur (Mark Burns) leave the house, the two women enact dramatic role playing games. To get out their sexual frustrations against their boss and each other, they alternate the parts of master and servant. They both love and hate the Madame passionately enough to plot her murder. During a particularly intense game of play, Claire accidentally drinks the poison that was meant for the Madame. The Maids is part of producer Ely Landau's American Film Theatre Series, which ran in select theaters from 1973-1975. In 2003, all 14 films in the series were given a wide release on home video from Kino International. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Luchino Visconti (Count don Luchino Visconti di Modrone) was a film director, true, but he was also a nobleman and a grand patron of traditional European culture: opera, art, music, crafts and literature. These interests enliven many of his films, but few have been so inspired as the four-hour epic, Ludwig, about the castle-building "mad king" of Bavaria. This long film, made very near the end of Visconti's life, suffers greatly when shortened, as every moment is essential to the story. There are at least four different versions of the film (from just under three hours to over four hours in length); the uncut four-hour version is the most coherent, even though many might find it rather long. The disintegration of aristocratic individuals is a continuing theme of Visconti's, though Ludwig's is the most thorough decay he filmed. The last ruling king of Bavaria (1845-1886) is noted for many things besides his eccentricities: he sold Bavaria to Germany, ending the rule of the Bavarian monarchy; he built amazing castles all over his country (with the proceeds from the sale); and he was Richard Wagner's main sponsor. He was also a notorious recluse, conducting a lifelong platonic love affair with Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and finally succumbing to his adoration of handsome men in a series of outrageous affairs and orgies. His excesses eventually led to his being declared mentally incompetent and being held prisoner in his own castle. The film depicts this incredible life from his coronation at age 19 to his (unproved) assassination well over 20 years later. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This low-budget horror production from South Africa features mad scientist Mark Burns conducting hideous occult experiments at the family estate of Brattling Manor, monkeying about with things man was not meant to know, including the transfer and containment of living souls. It's only a matter of time before he begins to experiment on the souls of human beings -- including just about every member of his family. The transference process enables him to assume his brother's identity, allowing him to continue his nefarious activities in secret. This hokey horror melodrama is replete with subplots about ancient magic and family curses, and features a villain who prances around in a cape for no good reason. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide