Jennifer C. Cooke Movies
- 1978
Famed for their supporting performances in Sylvester Stallone's Rocky, Burt Young and Talia Shire struck while the iron was hot to star in the made-for-TV Daddy, I Don't Like It Like This. Young also wrote the screenplay for this middling domestic drama. He and Shire play an endlessly bickering middle-class couple; the husband, an ex-boxer, is frustrated by his inability to fulfill his dreams, while the wife is hampered by emotional and intellectual immaturity. Both Young and Shire take out their hostilities on their son (Doug McKeon), who reacts to the ongoing strife by retreating into his own imagination. Daddy, I Don't Like It Like This was the first directorial assignment for Adell Aldrich, daughter of "cult" director Robert Aldrich. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- R
- Add Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives to QueueAdd Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives to top of Queue
This impressive entry in the popular horror series brings back the relentless killer Jason Voorhees, this time as a supernatural zombie. Tommy Jarvis, now played by Thom Matthews, accidentally resurrects Jason when he impales the killer's corpse with a metal pole during a lightning storm. Numerous murders follow, beginning with Tommy's friend (Ron Palillo) having his heart torn out of his chest by the zombie killer. Implicated in the crimes by a mean-spirited sheriff (David Kagen), Tommy is freed from jail by the sheriff's daughter, spunky Megan (Jennifer Cooke). The cast converges on Camp Crystal Lake, which has been renamed "Camp Forest Green" by superstitious locals, in time for Tommy to send Jason back to the bottom of the lake, if only temporarily. Harry Manfredini's score is among his best, and the makeup by Martin Becker, Gabe Bartalos, R. Chris Biggs, and others is outstanding. Cooke makes an appealing heroine as Megan, although Matthews' Tommy has lost the interesting mental disturbances of previous entries and becomes just another bland hero. Tom McLoughlin's direction is effective, and the film has a memorably funny supporting turn by Bob Larkin as a grumpy drunken caretaker. Alice Cooper sings the title song, "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)." Although no classic, this is a solid horror film with a witty script and engaging characters. Jason would rise again to face a telekinetic teen in the disappointing Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer C. Cooke, David Kagen, (more)
- 1984
- R
This predictable teen movie combines cheerleading and dancing but does not add a viable storyline or characterization to carry the entertainment past those activities. The plot centers on a competition between high-school cheerleading squads -- and one squad in particular, the Moline Ducks, is definitely abysmal. The competition takes place at a camp run by middle-aged Bucky Berkshire (John Karlen), who this year decides to place a bet with his best instructor Tom Hamilton (Stephen Shellen) that he cannot make the woeful Ducks into a team that can beat the top-rated Falcons. If Berkshire loses, he pays up $10,000, and if Hamilton loses, he has to work another five years at the camp. As the teams get ready for their rounds of competition, several dance sequences, various teen pranks, and the usual sexual situations weave their way through the storyline. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Shellen, Mark Keyloun, (more)
