Charlie Messenger Movies
Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky's second American film may well be the only existential adventure flick in Hollywood history. Two prisoners, Manny (Jon Voight) and Buck (Eric Roberts), escape from a desolate Alaskan maximum-security facility. They hop aboard a speeding train, making a clean escape. But the engineer has suffered a heart attack, and the train goes out of control. To prevent a disastrous head-on collision, the railroad heads decide to derail the runaway train, killing its occupants to save the lives of hundreds of others. Once Manny catches on to what's happening, he tries to jump off the train, only to be talked out of such a foolhardy act by railroad employee Sara (Rebecca DeMornay). As doom approaches, Manny apparently goes mad, viciously preventing any attempts to stop the train or rescue its passengers: if he's to die, and if the others are to be saved, it will be on his terms, or no terms. Runaway Train was slated as a project for Akira Kurosawa in 1970, but for various creative and scheduling reasons, it remained on the back burner for 15 years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, (more)
- 1985
- R
This undistinguished comedy about life in prison features caricatures of inmates and law enforcement officers, as well as prison guards, in attempts at slapstick action. After Duke Jarrett (Jeff Altman) is put into prison because he had sex with the wife of a government VIP, he discovers that life in the prison is out of control -- until a disciplinarian takes charge. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Altman, Dey Young, (more)
This is an unusual entry in the knights-in-armor genre. Set in medieval England, the film follows the exploits of a young swordsman, Talon (Lee Horsley). Working as a mercenary knight, Talon possesses a unique three-bladed sword which fires its two extra blades when he touches a button. By chance, Talon learns that he is a prince who has forgotten his royal heritage. Using his sword and his wiles, he attempts to regain control of his kingdom, which has been taken over by a sadistic tyrannical knight and an evil sorcerer. In doing so, he can save a princess who has been taken hostage by the usurpers. Comedy is interspersed with gory and licentious drama throughout the film, which was directed and written by Albert Pyun. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, (more)
Immediately after his mysterious escape at the end of Friday the 13th, Pt. 2, Jason Vorhees (Richard Brooker, the third of many actors to fill the role) kills a hardscrabble store owner and his nagging wife before heading back to Crystal Lake, this time to terrify rich girl Chris (Dana Kimmell) and her band of summer-cottage guests. Chris, it seems, is haunted by an earlier encounter with Jason, and her romantic entanglements with local boy Rick (Paul Kratka) do little to ease her nightmares. Meanwhile, the gruesome antics of Shelly (Larry Zerner), a chubby practical joker who just wants to be loved (and get laid), leads to an escalating case of the boy who cried wolf. When he's not incurring the wrath of leather-clad motorcyclists, he's annoying the other guests with his mock mutilations. Soon, stage blood turns to real as guests and bikers alike fall prey to the killer lurking in the barn out back. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Kimmell, Richard Brooker, (more)
- 1981
- PG
In this comedy, a hotel becomes a chaotic place during the 1938 filming of The Wizard of Oz, when it is inundated with groups of midgets, secret agents, and Nazi and Japanese spies. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, (more)
