Ria Pavia Movies

Somewhere in San Francisco, Olya (Daphne Rubin Vega) is an exotic dancer who works at an upscale strip club. A mysterious woman who harbors numerous past lives, she lives with her lover Trisha (Ria Pavia), a novelist who is writing a book about none other than Olya. In her spare time, Olya engages in secret liaisons with Anna (Serena Scott Thomas), an advertising executive trapped in a stagnating marriage to Victor (Tony Denison). Victor, however, is no dummy and one day, after following his wife to her meeting, he confronts Olya. She has no idea who Victor is, but spontaneously engages in a liberating bout of open-air nookie with him, all of which she later relays to Anna, who is less than thrilled. When it becomes apparent that the two women met in a cancer support group, and that neither has told her respective spouse about her illness, an already complicated love triangle takes on added portent. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

In this postmodern exploitation flick loosely based on "Little Red Riding Hood," the uneducated daughter of a drug-addicted prostitute flees the foster-care system in search of her long-lost grandmother but meets up instead with a serial killer. Vanessa (Reese Witherspoon), a nearly illiterate firebug and serial shoplifter, desperately clings to normalcy even though her mother turns tricks, does drugs, and manages to ignore the fact that the girl's stepfather Michael T. Weiss has been abusing her for years. When both of her parents get arrested, Vanessa steals the car of her family-services caseworker (Conchata Ferrell) and heads up Interstate 5 in search of her paternal grandmother, who's never met her. Car problems force her to accept a ride from Bob Wolverton (Kiefer Sutherland), a youth counselor who uses charm and sympathy to get the girl to open up. Confessing the sordid details of her childhood to Bob, Vanessa is shocked when he suddenly declares that she's one of the "garbage people" and that he plans to murder her and have sex with her corpse. Bob, it turns out, is the "I-5 Murderer," who's been slaughtering young prostitutes in the Los Angeles area. Thanks to a gun borrowed from her fiancé, Vanessa manages to turn the tables on Bob, shooting him repeatedly and leaving him for dead. He survives, Vanessa is arrested, and the two meet up again in court -- with her unrepentant, even though the police disbelieve her story, him flanked by his prim wife (Brooke Shields) and the righteous indignation of the American legal system. Locked up in the juvie for psychological evaluation, Vanessa gets in touch with her wild side and eventually escapes, heading off to her fateful meeting with grandma. Although Freeway was originally filmed for HBO, vigorously positive critical response eventually earned it a theatrical release. Alanna Ubach, who portrays Vanessa's nemesis/accomplice Mesquita, would go on to appear with Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. Freeway also features two Clueless alumni: Dan Hedaya, as a police detective, and Brittany Murphy, as the disfigured lesbian who befriends Vanessa in lock-up. Michael T. Weiss, who previously appeared in gay indie Jeffrey, appears in both Freeway and its sequel, Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trickbaby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The lives of college students attending a beachfront university in California become mingled -- and mangled -- when the deranged former husband (Jack Scalia) of the beautiful former fashion model/pro volleyball player Stacey (Jacqueline Collen) finds her living on the campus. Meanwhile, Randy (Casper Van Dien), whose grades are suffering from his fixation on several lovely co-eds (Denise Richards among them), has been caught cheating on a test by his professor (Sally Kellerman) who threatens him with expulsion, despite the fact that Randy's father (Elliot Gould) is a major contributor to the school. What's worse, the big beach volleyball tournament hosted by the on-campus bar is threatened when a sponsor pulls out, unless something can be done to draw attention to the event... Perhaps having an assassin in the bleachers will do it. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Bernard Rose followed his moody fantasy-thriller Paperhouse (1988) with this modern horror tale, based on Clive Barker's short story "The Forbidden". Compiling a thesis on urban legends, University of Illinois in Chicago graduate student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) becomes aware of the prevalent superstition surrounding the legend of "Candyman" (Tony Todd)--a hook-wielding phantom who will appear if his name is recited five times into a mirror--among the tenants of Chicago's Cabrini Green project. A senior professor, hearing of Helen's research, explains the historical basis for the legend, detailing how Candyman is believed to be the vengeful spirit of a former slave who, though initially respected in academia, was set upon and mutilated by an angry mob when accused of taking a white mistress. When the clinically-detached Helen flaunts her intellectual confidence by reciting Candyman's name five times, she sets in motion an inevitable series of supernatural events -- culminating in a series of grisly killings, after which Helen is invariably found holding the bloody murder weapon. Though she is captured by the police, it becomes evident to Helen that Candyman is guiding her fate every step of the way. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In 1987-88, a quartet of films with the same basic body-switching premise deluged theaters: Like Father, Like Son (1987), Big (1988), Vice Versa (1988), and 18 Again (1988). One year later, Dream a Little Dream (1989) followed suit. Coleman Ettinger (Jason Robards) is forever scolding the local high school students who use his yard as a shortcut to and from their nearby school. Coleman is not a crotchety old coot, however. He's deeply in love with his wife Gena (Piper Laurie) and is good friends with his next-door neighbor Ike (Harry Dean Stanton). In fact, Coleman is looking for a mystical way to preserve his and Gena's lives forever by transferring their consciousness into the bodies of younger people. One day, student Bobby Keller (Corey Feldman) has a bicycle mishap with Coleman while cutting through the yard, and their minds change places. Now Coleman has the brain of a teenager, while young Bobby uses Coleman's wisdom and life experience to win over the girl of his dreams. Dream a Little Dream was the directorial debut of Marc Rocco, son of actor Alex Rocco, who costars in a supporting role. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Hide and Go Shriek is pedestrian stalker nonsense, this time featuring the usual group of sex-mad teens camping out overnight in a gigantic furniture superstore (owned by one of the kids' parents) and being picked off by a mysterious killer. The creepy ex-con, who both lives and works at the store, is presented as an obvious red herring, but the killer's true identity comes straight out of left field with a loopy homosexual subplot that serves virtually no purpose other than to tie up one of several dozen loose ends. Competently filmed but shamelessly derivative of countless other slasher films (which weren't particularly original in the first place), this non-thriller offers little of interest apart from a director with a cute name -- the one and only Skip Schoolnik. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide