Robert Tapert Movies

When a family moves into a suburban home built on the grounds of an Indian burial site, they find themselves attacked by agents of the supernatural world in this remake of Tobe Hooper's seminal 1982 horror film. Sam Raimi produces with Monster House's Gil Kenan helming. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Nearly a year after the vampire siege of Barstow, Alaska, lone survivor Stella (Kiele Sanchez) discovers that she isn't alone when she's recruited to eradicate the vampire menace once and for all. Her waking hours filled mourning the death of her late husband and her dreams haunted by visions of the creatures that turned him into a monster, Stella becomes the subject of much ridicule when she makes it her mission to convince the public that vampires truly exist. But just as the embarrassment is becoming too much to handle, three strangers (Harold Perrineau, Diora Baird and Rhys Coiro) present Stella with an opportunity to seek revenge by killing Lilith (Mia Kirshner), the vampire queen behind the Barstow massacre. Armed to the teeth and ready to die fighting, the brave quartet descends into the sewers beneath Los Angeles and begins their search for the elusive Lilith. But should she manage to find them first, the vampires will once again gain the upper hand. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The ghosts of Kayako and Toshio return to spread terror as the Grudge saga continues in this sequel featuring Saw star Shawnee Smith. Jake (Matthew Knight) may have survived the previous supernatural onslaught, though the sheer terror of his harrowing ordeal has rendered him nearly insane. Hospitalized, Jake is haunted by visions of his ghostly attackers as his caretaker Dr. Sullivan (Smith) sets out to investigate his incredible tales. In the midst of exploring Jake's Chicago home, Dr. Sullivan discovers that Kayako and Toshio have targeted a new family. Should Dr. Sullivan fail in convincing a mysterious Japanese woman to help in banishing the vengeful spirits, everyone involved faces a fate worse than death. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A young woman attempts to cure her phobia of the boogeyman by checking herself into a mental health facility, only to realize too little too late that she is now helplessly trapped with her own greatest fear. Editor-turned-director Jeff Betancourt takes the helm for this Ghost House Pictures shocker scripted by Brian Sieve and starring Tobin Bell, Danielle Savre, David Gallagher, Michael Graziadei, and Mae Whitman. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A group of aspiring musicians working as cooks at an institute for the criminally insane must fight for their lives when a violent thunderstorm traps them in the asylum with some of the most disturbed and deranged criminals ever committed. Spanish director Daniel Calparsoro helms a screenplay penned by The Brigands of Rattleborge scribe S. Craig Zahler. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A woman who joins the undead against her will seeks vengeance against the ghouls who transformed her in this thriller. Sadie Blake (Lucy Liu) is a journalist who becomes acquainted with a group of beautiful but doomstruck partiers while following a story, led by the charismatic Bishop (James D'Arcy). While Sadie is taken with Bishop's good looks and sinister charm, she senses there's something dangerous about him, but it's not until she wakes up in the city morgue that she learns his secret -- Bishop is a vampire, and Sadie has joined his underlings as one of the undead. Angry and betrayed, Sadie is determined to stop Bishop and his compatriots, and she prowls the city with bow and arrow, ready to stake them from a distance when she spies them. Sadie finds an unlikely ally in her crusade in Detective Rawlins (Michael Chiklis), a police investigator whose daughter was transformed into a night creature by Bishop. However, Sadie is finding it increasingly difficult to resist her growing thirst for the blood of the living, becoming the sort of being she has grown to hate. Also featuring Carla Gugino, Robert Forster, and Nick Lachey, Rise: Blood Hunter received its world premiere with a special midnight screening at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Japanese horror specialist Takashi Shimizu returns to the mythology that terrified audiences the world over with this terror-inducing sequel to the hit 2004 frightener. When a cursed Tokyo home is burned to the ground, the baneful spirit once confined within its walls is suddenly unleased to terrorize anyone and everyone who crosses its dark path. Original producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Taka Ichise return to help Shimizu realize his hair-raising vision with this tale that finds Karen's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) sister, Aubrey (Amber Tamblyn), teaming with spellbound journalist Eason (Edison Chen) to investigate the spectral mystery. Meanwhile, the ghostly grip of Toshio (Oga Tanaka) and Kayako (Takako Fuji) tightens on a Chicago housewife (Jennifer Beals) halfway across the globe. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This American remake of director Takashi Shimizu's popular Japanese movie franchise The Grudge puts Buffy the Vampire Slayer alumna Sarah Michelle Gellar back into the line of supernatural fire. When Karen (Gellar), an American student working with a Japanese health center for college credit, comes across a mysterious curse, she quickly finds herself embroiled in a fight for her own sanity, and, ultimately, her very survival. Known as a "grudge," the curse was born inside of a house after its inhabitants died while consumed by rage -- according to legend, the curse touches all who come into contact with it, and will torment those unlucky individuals until they, too, become part of the grudge . Each time the curse finds a new victim, it is, in a sense, reborn, and will continue on its path unless Karen can free herself from its control over her. This version of The Grudge is also directed by Shimizu, and features Jason Behr, Clea DuVall, Kadee Strickland, William Mapother, and Bill Pullman in supporting roles. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

In the concluding episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, Xena (Lucy Lawless) has agreed to the terms of battle set down by evil samurai ghost Yodoshi. In other words, she allows herself to be killed so that she can fight Yodoshi over the souls of some 40,000 murdered Japanese. The grieving Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) races against time to revive Xena by putting her ashes in a magic spring before the next sunset. Only one problem: Even if she manages to defeat Yodoshi, Xena must remain dead in order to undo the samurai's past evil. This episode's climactic disclaimer advises the viewer to hold out hope for a happier ending in the future. We're still waiting. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) heads off to the North African land of Poteidaia, there to rescue her kidnapped niece, Sarah (Tandie Wright), from the warlord Gurkhan (Calvin Tuteao). Unfortunately, Gurkhan is something of an archaic Saddam Hussein: Not only has he managed to elude everyone who's ever tried to nab him, but no one is certain what he looks like, or even if those who claim to be Gurkhan are telling the truth. Figuring that the cards are stacked against Gabrielle, Xena (Lucy Lawless) slips her a mickey and attempts to track down Gurkhan herself. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Xena (Lucy Lawless) squares off against the Olympian gods in a battle to the death, with the survival of both sides in the balance. At the same time, Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) swears to avenge the death of Joxer (Ted Raimi) at the hands of Xena's daughter, Eve, and never mind that Eve has cast off her evil former identity as Livia, the Bitch of Rome. And Gabrielle's own departed daughter, Hope, makes an appearance -- in a manner of speaking. This was the final episode of Xena: Warrior Princess' fifth season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Picking up where season five of Xena: Warrior Princess left off, season six begins with Xena (Lucy Lawless) handily defeating the combined forces of the Olympian Gods, who had hoped to forestall their prophesied demise by killing both Xena and her reformed warrior-princess daughter, Eve (Adrienne Wilkinson). The end of Olympia left but a few survivors, among them Xena's old nemesis Ares (Kevin Smith), the God of War -- now rather comically reduced to pathetic mortal-hood. Together with her traveling companion, Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), and the ladies' new cohort, Virgil (William Gregory Lee), the son of their late friend Joxer, Xena embarks upon a whole new series of globetrotting adventures, taking her to Africa and to the Land of Norse, where she finds herself smack-dab in a Wagnerian "Ring Cycle" (mostly of her own making). Xena also does her best to avoid the prognostications of the Heavens Above that she is next in line to the Throne of Hell upon the "retirement" of reigning demon Mephistopheles. Occasionally digressing from the standard Xena format, a handful of episodes were set in the Present -- that is, the 21st century A.D. One of these was a satirical spoof of the old radio and TV series You Are There, while others dealt with the misadventures of Xena's contemporary fans and the familiar cast members' modern-day, lookalike descendants. The season ends with a two-parter set in faraway Japan, where Xena is voluntarily slain so that she may do battle in the Afterlife with the ghost of a malevolent samurai. Gabrielle's efforts to revive Xena, so often so successful in the past, come a cropper this time, and it looks as though Xena: Warrior Princess is definitely, permanently over and done with. However, hope is held out that a sequel or a spin-off may still be in the works, so stay tuned. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

For all intents and purposes, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys had run its course by the end of season five. Even so, the producers wanted to generate a larger syndication package, thus the program was renewed for a sixth season -- consisting of a whole eight episodes. With Hercules' traveling companion Iolaus (Michael Hurst) having returned from the dead at the end of the previous season, there is no reason for Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) not to persist in his mission to right wrongs and champion noble causes during his handful of remaining journeys. Again wandering far afield from his native Greece, the mighty muscleman finds himself in ancient Dacia (a.k.a. Transylvania) for a too-close encounter with the infamous Vlad the Impaler, and in Egypt, where Hercules saves Queen Nefertiti from an assassination attempt. Closer to home, Hercules attempts to aid King Oedipus of Crete to regain his throne from the usurping Creon and even prevents a holdup at the First Bank of Greece in Thracia. The climactic episode finds Hercules' immortal father, Zeus (formerly played by Anthony Quinn and Roy Dotrice, now enacted by Charles Keating), attempting to patch up his differences with his wife, Hera (Meg Foster), whose jealousy toward Zeus's half-human son Herc served as motivation for the entire series. As had occurred in virtually every previous episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, the 111th and final installment ends with a humorous "disclaimer," assuring the viewers that nobody was really hurt -- not even gods, demigods, or monsters -- throughout the entire six-year run, though Ancient Mythology itself was given something of a beating! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi