Kristen Cloke Movies
A few innocent women experience a nightmare before Christmas in this bloody thriller. Billy Lenz, a severely maladjusted child, finally snaps under years of brutal treatment by his family, killing and eating them in an explosion of violence on Christmas Eve. For years, the Lenz house stands vacant, but in time it's purchased and renovated as the new home for a college sorority. A few days before Christmas, a handful of sorority sisters -- Dana (Lacey Chabert), Melissa (Michelle Trachtenberg), Kelli (Katie Cassidy), and Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) -- are enjoying a quiet evening with their house mother, Barbara MacHenry (Andrea Martin), exchanging gifts and swapping stories before heading home for holiday break. While Barbara remembers the story of Billy's crimes, the atmosphere is peaceful until the young women receive the first in a series of disturbing telephone calls. Before long, they learn that Billy has escaped after years in a mental institution, and has come back to the house where he grew up to once again spill blood for the Christmas season. Black Christmas is a remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name by director Bob Clark, who later made a less-threatening film about the Yuletide season, A Christmas Story; Andrea Martin, who plays the house mother, also appeared in the 1974 film as one of the sorority girls. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, (more)
- 1992
- R
Because of her thieving new husband, a young woman is thrown into jail where she is harassed by fellow prisoners and by the warden. Before long, hubby gets a chance to take on the identity of a guard so he can help her escape. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1993
The proud possessor of a new camcorder, Cliff (John Ratzenberger) teams up with Norm (George Wendt) to videotape a family reunion being held at Cheers -- or at least the two buddies promise to do the job. Another family gathering is in store for Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), only he doesn't know it yet. It seems that Frasier, newly divorced from Lilith, assumes that his much-younger secretary Shauna (Kristen Cloke) wants to go on a date with him -- but Shauna has something entirely different in mind. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this teenage horror film, a young man avoids the hand of death, only to find that he can't get away from it so easily. On the way to Paris with his high-school French club, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) has a vivid premonition of the plane crashing and killing all its passengers. After Alex and some other passengers demand to be let off the flight, his premonition turns out to be true, and the jet explodes during takeoff. While the FBI is convinced that Alex was involved in some kind of foul play, the passengers who got off the flight are all dying in horrible ways, as if whoever determined that the passengers would perish is punishing those who cheated death. Final Destination marked the feature directorial debut of James Wong, a producer and director for the TV series The X Files. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Devon Sawa, Amanda Detmer, (more)
- 1994
After a fight with his wife over the proverbial "other woman," building super Mr. Wicker (Jerry Adler) moves in with Paul and Jamie Buchman (Paul Reiser, Helen Hunt). An additional crisis arises when it develops that Jamie needs glasses -- or would contact lenses go better with her "trapezoidal face?" Best moment: the faux Dickens recital. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
In a futuristic world, the U.S. is ruled by a repressive government that bans most forms of media. As part of the enforcement, a cop (Billy Zane) is sent to the rebel state of Megaville on an undercover mission to infiltrate an unlawful media organization. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Zane, J.C. Quinn, (more)
- 1996
Created by Chris Carter of X-Files fame, the Fox sci-fi crime thriller series Millennium starred Lance Henriksen as Frank Black, a former Washington, D.C.-based FBI agent who in the opening season returned to his native Seattle with wife Catherine (Megan Gallagher) and daughter Jordan (Brittany Tiplady). Gifted with a sixth sense enabling him to "see" through the eyes of dangerous criminals, thereby helping him keep one step ahead of those criminals in order to stop their reigns of terror, Frank utilized his talent on behalf of the Millennium Group, a secret organization purportedly dedicated to thwarting serial killers and also preparing humanity in case one of the various "end of the world" scenarios floating around turned out to be true. Frank also offered his services as a criminal profiler to his old friend Lt. Bob Bletcher (Bill Smitrovich), a Seattle homicide detective. Catherine provided indirect assistance to her husband in her capacity as a counselor to crime victims and trauma patients. During the series' first season, Frank dealt mainly with straightforward murder cases, but after the bizarre death of Bob Bletcher, he devoted more and more of his time to cases involving the supernatural. In these, he was occasionally aided by Millennium Group representative Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn).
Later on, the pressures of their work led Frank and Catherine to separate, whereupon Frank and his daughter Jordan (who had apparently inherited vestiges of her dad's "gift") were left alone in their Seattle home. Replacing Bletcher as Frank's police liaison was Det. Bob Geibelhouse (Stephen James Lang), while Frank's new Millennium Group contact was Lara Means (Kristen Cloke). It gradually dawned on Frank that the Millennium Group was not as beneficent and altruistic as it first appeared, and in fact may have been using Frank's psychic talents as part of a campaign to take over the world. Things got curiouser and curiouser as the series progressed, culminating in an apocalyptic second-season finale in which a deadly virus was decimating the populace, killing Catherine and rendering Frank insane.
When Millennium was unexpectedly renewed for a third season, the producers hastily "re-invented" the events of season two, so that the virus was not nearly as all-consuming as it had been cracked up to be; also Frank had completely recovered from his mental breakdown (many of the horrific sights he and the audience had witnessed were written off as "delusions"), and had moved to the Washington, D.C., suburb of Falls Church, VA, with his daughter Jordan in tow. Despite having developed a deep mistrust for bureaucracy, Frank nonetheless utilized his psychic skills on behalf of the FBI, working with agents Andy MacLaren (Stephen E. Miller) and Emma Hollis (Klea Scott) as well as Barry Baldwin (Peter Outerbridge) of the Critical Incidents Response Group. All the while, Frank conducted a personal investigation of the Millennium Group, his suspicions having been confirmed that the organization was up to no good. First telecast October 25, 1996, Millennium officially ended its network run on May 21, 1999, though the series' "true" final episode was seen later as an entry on The X-Files. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Later on, the pressures of their work led Frank and Catherine to separate, whereupon Frank and his daughter Jordan (who had apparently inherited vestiges of her dad's "gift") were left alone in their Seattle home. Replacing Bletcher as Frank's police liaison was Det. Bob Geibelhouse (Stephen James Lang), while Frank's new Millennium Group contact was Lara Means (Kristen Cloke). It gradually dawned on Frank that the Millennium Group was not as beneficent and altruistic as it first appeared, and in fact may have been using Frank's psychic talents as part of a campaign to take over the world. Things got curiouser and curiouser as the series progressed, culminating in an apocalyptic second-season finale in which a deadly virus was decimating the populace, killing Catherine and rendering Frank insane.
When Millennium was unexpectedly renewed for a third season, the producers hastily "re-invented" the events of season two, so that the virus was not nearly as all-consuming as it had been cracked up to be; also Frank had completely recovered from his mental breakdown (many of the horrific sights he and the audience had witnessed were written off as "delusions"), and had moved to the Washington, D.C., suburb of Falls Church, VA, with his daughter Jordan in tow. Despite having developed a deep mistrust for bureaucracy, Frank nonetheless utilized his psychic skills on behalf of the FBI, working with agents Andy MacLaren (Stephen E. Miller) and Emma Hollis (Klea Scott) as well as Barry Baldwin (Peter Outerbridge) of the Critical Incidents Response Group. All the while, Frank conducted a personal investigation of the Millennium Group, his suspicions having been confirmed that the organization was up to no good. First telecast October 25, 1996, Millennium officially ended its network run on May 21, 1999, though the series' "true" final episode was seen later as an entry on The X-Files. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Henriksen, Megan Gallagher, (more)
Season two of Millennium finds former FBI agent Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) utilizing his special gift -- that of "seeing" through the eyes of violent criminals -- to root out villains of a supernatural nature on behalf of the Seattle PD in general and detective Bob Geibelhouse (Stephen James Lang) in particular. Frank also continues utilizing his talents as an unofficial operative of the Millennium Group, a private concern allegedly devoted to capturing serial killers and investigating various "end of the world" scenarios; Frank's contact man with Millennium continues to be Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn), though he works more closely with Watts' new associate Lara Means (Kristen Cloke). Meanwhile, the pressures of his job have caused a rift between Frank and his wife, Catherine (Megan Gallagher), especially since she was nearly murdered by a stalker whose moves Frank had been monitoring. Catherine moves out of the couple's Seattle home, their daughter Jordan (Brittany Tiplady) remaining with her father. Frank's ever-growing suspicion that the Millennium Group is up to no good intensifies when the organization seems to be involved in a deadly, Ebola-like virus that spreads throughout the nation in the closing episodes of season two. During this apocalyptic crisis, Frank is reunited with Catherine -- but, tragically, not for long. The season finale finds Catherine dead and Frank on the brink of insanity -- and it looks as though the series has come to an abrupt and catastrophic climax! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Henriksen, Brittany Tiplady, (more)
- 1994
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) installs herself in the offices of a San Francisco paper, there to concentrate on serializing one of her novels. At the same time, the paper's advice columnist has become the target of a campaign of harassment. Jessica warns the columnist to take the situation seriously, but it's too late--a mysterious gunman already has the ink-stained wretch in his sights. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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. Stay Tuned contains several inspired delights, in particular 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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Ritter, Pam Dawber, (more)
Neil Simon forgoes his typical urban East Coast kvetchers and replaces them with sunny Californian kvetchers in The Marrying Man, a film which became a beacon of gossip in 1991 due to the alleged shenanigans of stars Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger), who fell in love during production. Simon based his script on a true story concerning the love affair between shoe tycoon Harry Karl and actress Marie (The Body) McDonald during the 1950s. Married to each other four times, McDonald still managed to carry on an affair with mobster Bugsy Siegel. In this Simon-ized version, Baldwin plays Charley Pearl, a sharp and handsome Hollywood millionaire, engaged to Adele Horner (Elisabeth Shue), the daughter of dyspeptic movie studio executive Lew Horner (Robert Loggia). The day before their wedding, Charley heads off to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, and in a sleazy casino on the outskirts of town, he sets his eyes on sexy singer Vicki Anderson (Basinger) and falls for her hard. He wants her immediately and even though she warns him she's the property of Bugsy Siegel (Armand Assante), he crawls into her bedroom window to be with her. Caught with his pants down by Siegel, Bugsy, instead of killing him, forces him to marry Vicki ("I was about to dump her anyway," he says). But after their marriage, Charley and Vicki discover they're more attracted to the danger of their relationship than in each other. Charley's friends -- Phil (Paul Reiser), Sammy (Fisher Stevens), Tony (Peter Dobson), and George (Steve Hytner) -- form a Greek chorus commenting on the crazed love affair and are reportedly inspired by Phil Silvers, Sammy Cahn, Tony Martin, and Leo Durocher. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, (more)
This silly, over-the-top action film has a great hammy performance by Gary Busey as the insane leader of a militia group intent on revenge against the government for doing psychotropic experiments on them after Vietnam. Busey also had his privates mutilated by a Viet-Cong prostitute, so he's a vicious razor-blade rapist, too. Lorenzo Lamas and Kristen Cloke are FBI "mindhunters" trying to stop him, but they lose their badges because of evil boss Roy Scheider, who still blames Lamas for his career troubles after a botched Ruby Ridge-type standoff. There are way too many plot threads dangling everywhere -- including the hesitant romance between Lamas and Cloke -- and the screenplay seems to reference every news item concerning the FBI in the last ten years to no good end. Still, those in search of mindless shootouts and hissable villains will find enough to enjoy over beer and pork rinds. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorenzo Lamas, Gary Busey, (more)
A young man uses his vermin pals to exact revenge upon the people who've domineered his life in this remake of the 1971 cult classic. Starring Crispin Glover in the role originated by Bruce Davison, Willard concerns the mundane, repressed existence of the twentysomething title character, who lives at home with his nagging mother (Jackie Burroughs) and works at a shipping company for a stern, authoritarian supervisor (R. Lee Ermey). When Willard becomes fascinated with a gaggle of rats living in his decrepit home, they become both his friends and his aggressors, as he sics them upon anyone who crosses his path. But one rat, Ben, isn't so amenable to Willard's orders, and a horrifying test of wills begins. Willard was brought to the screen for the second time by writer/director Glen Morgan and producer James Wong, who previously worked together on episodes of The X-Files as well as the features Final Destination and The One. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Crispin Glover, R. Lee Ermey, (more)
