Stephen Mendel Movies
- 1997
- R
This juicy made-for-television drama provides the lurid details of a gem merchant's sleazy lifestyle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Cattrall, Sean Young, (more)
In yet another version of The Most Dangerous Game, a champion boxer (Lorenzo Lamas), his girlfriend and a former baseball star are stalked by sadistic killers in an industrial complex. This time, however, the "hunt" is being followed and broadcast via computer to a select worldwide clientele, which makes multi-million-dollar bets as to the outcome. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorenzo Lamas, Kathleen Kinmont, (more)
Ralph Bakshi's last stab at epic fantasy takes place shortly after the Ice Age. The evil queen Juliana (voice of Eileen O'Reill) plots to conquer the world and raises her son Nekron (Sean Hannon) as a master of sorcery and arcane mental powers. Together the two conquer the Ice Kingdom, and from their stronghold Nekron commands massive glaciers to destroy everything between them and their ultimate goal: Fire Keep, ruled by the wise and powerful King Jarol Leo Gordon. Nekron's latest advance destroys a Northern village, leaving Larn (Randy Norton) the sole survivor, bent on revenge; it also exhausts Nekron, who resorts to sending emissaries to coerce Jarol into surrendering. When words fail, they resort to kidnapping Jarol's daughter Teegra (Cynthia Leake), who escapes and accidentally hooks up with Larn. Aided by the mysterious masked warrior Darkwolf (Steve Sandor), they attempt to return to Fire Keep and mobilize their warriors to bring the fight to Nekron. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Tyrrell, Maggie Roswell, (more)
- 1985
The career of boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini is the subject of the made-for-TV biopic. Doug McKeon plays Mancini, while Robert Blake co-stars as his father, Lenny Mancini. An excellent pugilist in his own right, Lenny's career is cut short by his wartime service. Son Ray carries on the tradition into the 1980s, battling his way towards the WBA crown. Heart of a Champion's executive producer was Rocky star Sylvester Stallone, who (it says here) staged the boxing sequences. This heartwarming "do it for the old man" effort was first telecast May 1, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Doug McKeon, (more)
In this low-budget horror outing, a psychopathic killer loses the last of his warm feelings for humanity after he is involved in a freak accident. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Allport, Stephen Mendel, (more)
- 1993
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is shocked when her computer technician is murdered--and even more so when it turns out that the dead man was actually a rookie cop, working undercover. Investigating the situation, Jessica forms a strong bond with the late cop's veteran partner. At the same time, the murderer plans to strike again...and this time the target may be the victim's girlfriend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
- R
Jane March (Color of Night) stars in this entertaining thriller as a North Korean spy working in the South Korean home of an American military man and his family. Half espionage thriller and half trashy coming-of-age story, the film spends as much time on March's budding romance with the teenage son (Stephen Mendel) as it does with her growing conflict over carrying out the agenda of Kim il Sung. Nick Mancuso turns in a campy, over-the-top performance as a crippled CIA specialist brought in to plug the nearby base's sudden security leak, and genre fans will be happy to see Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa in another sneering villain role. Despite its pretentiously arty flashback and dream sequences, Provocateur is popcorn junk, but it's a lot of fun. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane March, Stephen Mendel, (more)
- 1994
In this sequel to Scanner Cop, Sam (Daniel Quinn) is out to discover who his mother really was. Meanwhile, a new kind of ephemeral drug has been developed that doesn't have the side effects of the previous ones, and a serial killer -- who is also a scanner and is sapping the power from other scanners -- is after it. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Quinn, Patrick Kilpatrick, (more)
- 1992
- R
The final entry in the "Stepfather" saga, this time the psycho stepdaddy has escaped from an insane asylum after receiving massive reconstructive surgery on his face and moves to a peaceful little town where he gets a job working with plants in a nursery. The trouble begins when he decides that human mulch makes plants grow much faster. Blood, gore, and terror ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Wightman, Priscilla Barnes, (more)
Shot almost entirely on a two-and-a-half-story recreation of a full-size operating airport terminal, this romantic comedy from director Steven Spielberg revolves around an Eastern European man by the name of Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), whose plans of immigrating to New York were hastened by a violent coup in his home country. Unfortunately, Viktor finds himself on the wrong end of a nasty technicality while en route to America: His passport was issued from a country, which, during its upheaval, ceased to exist in an official capacity. Unauthorized to leave Kennedy Airport upon his arrival and unable to return home, Viktor finds himself exiled inside the terminal's international transit lounge. Though airport official Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) views Viktor as an annoying bureaucratic glitch, other airport employees -- including a beautiful flight attendant by the name of Amelia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) -- come to see him as a welcome, if unofficial, addition to their numbers. As the days stretch on into months, the terminal transforms from an intimidating atmosphere of forced assimilation into a country within itself, complete with culture, ambition, status, complex diversity, and the need for love. The supporting cast includes Diego Luna, Chi McBride, Kumar Pallana, Zoe Saldana, Eddie Jones, and Jude Ciccolella. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, (more)
- 1988
Based on the play by actor/playwright Harvey Fierstein, this drama is about a man (played by Fierstein) whose companion dies of AIDS. He then confronts his lover's ex-wife (Stockard Channing) and the two end up building a friendship while coping with the emotional aftermath of the death. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
This police melodrama is set in a coastal resort where a young man becomes insanely jealous after learning that his girl has been with another. He takes her hostage in the town hotel and threatens to kill her. Now a hot-tempered police chief and his peace-loving lieutenant must somehow team-up to resolve the situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oliver Reed, Susan George, (more)
