Michael Heath Movies
Director Roman Polanski gives one of Charles Dickens' best-loved stories a new and dynamic interpretation in this period drama. Oliver Twist (Barney Clark) is a young orphan in Victorian England who has been sent to a dank workhouse run by the miserly Mr. Bumble (Jeremy Swift) when it is learned there is no one to care for him. When Oliver dares to ask for more gruel, he is sent away to live with an undertaker, who treats him poorly. Preferring life on the streets to the treatment he's been receiving, Oliver runs away to London, where he falls in with the Artful Dodger (Harry Eden), a youthful pickpocket. The Artful Dodger is one of a gang of young thieves overseen by Fagin (Ben Kingsley), a paternal but sinister criminal mastermind. While Oliver finds a home of sorts with Fagin and his young cohorts, he also falls into a dangerous life made all the more threatening by the presence of Fagin's menacing overlord, Bill Sykes (Jamie Foreman). Oliver Twist was Polanski's first feature film after enjoying a major career resurgence following the international success of his Oscar-winning World War II drama The Pianist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Barney Clark, (more)
- 1992
- PG
A grandfather joins the undead and delights his grandson with his many new talents in this Australian comedy set in New Zealand. Fortunately, those talents do not include bloodsucking. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1983
This funky and intelligent sci-fi-horror sleeper from New Zealand features Gary Day as the maniacal Dr. Howell, director of the Trans-Cranial Applications Hospital, who conducts bizarre brain experiments in a subterranean laboratory on a remote island -- most of which backfire and turn his patients into murderous zombie slaves. Onto this island of weirdness ventures a group of youths -- including the troubled son (Michael Hurst) of the doctor's former scientific rival, whom the mad doc had hypnotized into murdering his father several years ago. The resulting confrontations between the dirtbike-riding kids and armies of rampaging mutants are action-packed and splattery as all get-out. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Hurst, Margaret Umbers, (more)
- 1982
- PG
This gothic hillbilly horror thriller was produced in New Zealand and centers around a small rural town, circa 1953, where unusual events lead a teenager to cross paths with a serial killer. Ned (Jonathan Smith) and his pal Les (Daniel McLaren) are a pair of teens in trouble with local bullies after they steal some prize chickens. Their troubles are compounded by the arrival of a carnival, employing the sinister Salter (John Carradine), an evil magician and sideshow hypnotist. The presence of Salter seems to bring out the worst in the local citizenry, inspiring nascent lust and perversion to surface in disturbing ways, much of which is centered on Ned's nubile sister Prudence (Tracy Mann). When a girl is slain in the woods, the trial leads to Salter, who is not only guilty of the crime, but of many more. The Scarecrow (1982), based on the novel of the same name by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was the feature debut of co-writer and director Sam Pillsbury, who went on to direct numerous television movies and series episodes in the U.S. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Smith, Daniel McLaren, (more)
- 1982
Elderly residents of an Australian retirement home fight for their lives after a crazed slasher comes to call in this horror movie. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Kerin, John Jarratt, (more)
