Norman Forsey Movies

The scene is Brittania in the Middle Ages. To teach the despotic warlord Arthur of Camelot (Neill Rea) to mend his ways, Merlin the magician (Norman Forsey) sends him back 1,000 years in time. Here, the young Arthur recruits Hercules (Kevin Sorbo), who has likewise been transported to ancient Brittania by Merlin. Unfortunately, also on hand is Arthur's evil advisor, the sorceress Mab (Sara Wiseman), who is not about to relinquish her control over the "one and future king." Need it be added that the Sword Excalibur figures prominently into the outcome of the story? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Once again, series star Lucy Lawless essays the dual role of Xena and her lookalike, Princess Diana. To protect Diana as she prepares to assume the throne from her dying father, Xena switches places with the Princess, and vice versa. As a result, Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) and Joxer (Ted Raimi) become hopelessly confused -- and even more so when another Xena lookalike, a barmaid named Meg (played -- surprise, surprise -- by Lucy Lawless) arrives on the scene with an agenda of her own. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Deric the Centaur (Peter Muller), his human bride Lyla (Lucy Lawless), and their "half-breed" son Kefor (James Croft) are subjected to the cruel bigotry of a group of Cretans promoting "Athenian Purity." In the course of events, Lyla is killed, Deric is forced to commit murder, and Kefor is kidnapped by the Cretan Jakar (Jon Brazier), who is determined to lynch both Deric and his son. It is up to Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) to save Jakar's intended victims from the crowd's wrath and to teach an important lesson in tolerance (with a little help from Hercules' immortal father, Zeus). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Queen Camilla (Ilona Rodgers) summons Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) to tell him of her premonition that dire calamity will befall the annual festival of Dionysus. Reunited with the Seer (Norman Forsey) from the previous episode, "The Road to Calydon," Hercules is warned that the festival will be safe from harm only if Dionysus approves of the reigning king (Noel Trevarthen); if not, woe betide the hapless revellers. To make certain that the festival proceeds smoothly, Hercules must tangle with royal intrigue, the treachery of a certain warlike god, a deadly eel...and ten gorgeous virgins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by David Morrell, the made-for-TV Brotherhood of the Rose is unabashedly old-fashioned escapist espionage fare. Peter Strauss and David Morse play polar-opposite CIA agents, code names Romulus and Remus. Their superior-and father figure-is crusty CIA official Robert Mitchum. Though Romulus and Remus are devoted to Mitchum, he is only concerned with the greater good of the service-a philosophy that has become despotic over the years. Now Mitchum has determined that Romulus is expendable. Escaping from CIA assassins, Romulus and Remus stumble into a vast rule-the-world conspiracy called The Brotherhood of the Rose. Filmed in New Zealand, this was originally a long miniseries broadcast in two parts, on January 22 and 23, 1989 - and then edited down to feature length. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

New Zealand educator Sylvia Ashton-Warner (played by Eleanor David) is the subject of this informative and slightly uneven biography, based on the events in Ashton-Warner's adult life. During the 1930s Ashton-Warner moves to a remote village with her husband who has been appointed to be the headmaster in the school there. She tries to teach the Maori children but is having absolutely no luck at all -- that is especially discouraging considering that she is also fighting off culture shock and the effects of a recent emotional breakdown. Driven to find some solace in music, painting, and sculpting, she one day realizes she can use these types of creative activities as teaching tools -- and begins to develop an innovative way to reach her students. She is surprisingly successful, a fact which does not interest the all-male administrators at the school who insist she teach using traditional methods. The stand-off is severe enough that the men burn the manuscript for a new primer Ashton-Warner wrote, insisting later that this was an accident. No one seems to have come out a winner in Sylvia Ashton-Warner's battle with the provincial educators, least of all the students. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This gothic hillbilly horror thriller was produced in New Zealand and centers around a small rural town, circa 1953, where unusual events lead a teenager to cross paths with a serial killer. Ned (Jonathan Smith) and his pal Les (Daniel McLaren) are a pair of teens in trouble with local bullies after they steal some prize chickens. Their troubles are compounded by the arrival of a carnival, employing the sinister Salter (John Carradine), an evil magician and sideshow hypnotist. The presence of Salter seems to bring out the worst in the local citizenry, inspiring nascent lust and perversion to surface in disturbing ways, much of which is centered on Ned's nubile sister Prudence (Tracy Mann). When a girl is slain in the woods, the trial leads to Salter, who is not only guilty of the crime, but of many more. The Scarecrow (1982), based on the novel of the same name by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was the feature debut of co-writer and director Sam Pillsbury, who went on to direct numerous television movies and series episodes in the U.S. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi