Mimi Craven Movies
Director John Webb and screenwriter Aaron Pope translate the true-life story of a Florida family murdered in 1996 into a low-budget horror/crime film in their 2002 production Vampire Clan. The parents of two teenaged young women are found ritualistically murdered and the family's community is sent into an uproar with rumors of Satanic worship occurring in their midst. The authorities quickly track down the culprits behind the murders -- a group of teens that believe they are vampires -- and make the horrific discovery that one of the teens is one of the victims' daughters. As the police piece together the evidence, the daughter recalls the details revolving around her involvement with this group of so-called vampires and how the Charles Manson-like leader of the group chooses his followers. Vampire Clan received its premiere screening at the 2002 Dances With Films Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drew Fuller, Alex Breckenridge, (more)
- 2001
Originally scheduled for September 27, 2001, this ER episode was moved back to October 4 due to network coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Weaver (Laura Innes) heads to Doc Magoo's on personal business and fails to answer her pager when Chen (Ming-Na) and Malucchi (Erik Palladino) need her. An off-duty Carter (Anthony Edwards) deals with victims of a rock-concert stampede, tries to rectify a fatal error made by Chen and Malucchi in Weaver's absence, and injures his back. Weaver fires Chen for her error. Benton (Eriq La Salle) learns that the mother of his son, Reese (Matthew Watkins), has been killed in an accident. Vondie Curtis-Hall, who guest starred as a transvestite in an earlier ER episode, here replaces Victor Williams in the recurring role of Roger, the man who claims to be the true biological father of Reese. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Under attack from the hostile Turei race, Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew take refuge on a war-ravaged planet. Here they find the ruins of the Vaadwar civilization, whose surviving warriors slumber in biopods, awaiting reanimation so that they may wreak vengeance upon their enemies. Electing to align herself with the awakened Vaadwar, Janeway soon has cause to regret her decision. First telecast November 10, 1999, "Dragon's Teeth" was written by Michael Taylor, Brannon Braga, and Joe Menosky, from a story by Taylor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roxann Dawson
- 1996
- R
The message of this direct-to-video thriller may be that it is possible for a daughter to love her father too much, especially when she will cheerfully murder anyone who threatens to come between them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Katt, Michele Greene, (more)
The relationship between an unproven lawyer and the female convict he attempts to save from execution is detailed in this death-row drama. Sharon Stone plays against type as Cindy Liggett, convicted of murder at the age of 19, who has spent over a decade in prison awaiting execution. Having resigned herself to her eventual death, she cares little when her case falls into the hands of newly appointed clemency board attorney Rick Hayes (Rob Morrow). Hayes devotes himself to her case, however, and uncovers several inconsistencies regarding her earlier trial. Seeing a chance to save Liggett's life, Hayes fights for a stay of execution but finds himself facing opposition from powerful political figures and even Liggett herself. Largely ignored at the box office, the film suffered in comparison to Dead Man Walking (1995), the Academy Award-winning drama whose treatment of the death penalty theme may still have been fresh in the minds of audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Stone, Rob Morrow, (more)
- 1996
- R
In this crime drama, a tough San Francisco policeman is shocked to discover that his recently murdered partner was actively involved in departmental corruption. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Elliott, Esai Morales, (more)
- 1995
Anxious for revenge against the corporation that has refused to promote her, an ambitious secretary beguiles a naive stockbroker into helping her enact a deadly plan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Harris, Sheila Kelley, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this supernatural thriller, an evil developer kills a Mexican Indian and finds himself possessed by the dead man's spirit. Though set in Mexico and Boone County, PA, the film was actually shot in Romania. The story begins as avaricious Leslie Chase is overseeing the construction of a high-rise in a small Mexican town. His efforts are hindered by a local tribe of Indians. Tired of their harassment, Chase has them massacred. One of them survives and ends up biting Chase in the neck before he too is killed. Six years pass and Chase has returned to the US to develop properties there. By day he is himself, but at night his body is possessed by the angry Indian who takes him out for murder and mayhem. He kills the owner of a restaurant one night. Later, the victim's wife, Nora Weeks, hires a cheap private eye to look into it. When he finds out more than he should, he too is axed. Now it is up to Weeks to solve the mystery. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
An innkeeper in a small Midwestern town is concerned about strange boarders, whom he believes are visitors from the future. He struggles to save his daughter from being taken by the aliens and to keep the town from being destroyed. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Daniels, Ariana Richards, (more)
Based on Dean R. Koontz's novel Twilight, Servants of Twilight is a made-for-cable horror film about a Christian cult that plots the assassination of a young boy who their leader believes is the Antichrist. A private detective (Bruce Greenwood) is hired to save the boy and his mother from the terrorization of the religious cult. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Belinda Bauer, (more)
This made-for-TV effort from horror director Wes Craven and Salem's Lot producer Richard Kobritz involves a case of cryogenic suspension gone horribly wrong. A wealthy industrialist (Michael Beck) arranges for his body to be kept on ice in a high-tech cryonic chamber with specialized instructions regarding his revival at a future date when medical science can restore him to life. Thanks to a computer malfunction, these instructions are not followed properly, and Beck emerges from the frozen crypt as an empty, soulless creature and a vessel of pure evil with an appetite for destruction. So evil, in fact, that his own mother (Beatrice Straight) decides he must be destroyed and sets out to do the deed herself. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
A decade of wisecracking sequels have not diminished the power of this striking horror film from the director of Scream. Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter (Heather Langenkamp) traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. The teenaged leads are sympathetic and intelligent, unlike the dumb victims presented in most films of the period, and they are ably backed up by veterans like John Saxon and Ronee Blakley. Director Wes Craven creates moments of real dread by examining the line between nightmares and reality, as well as the "sins of the parents" theme, and although the film is quite gory, it never resorts to cheap bloodletting for its effect. A unique and disturbing experience, this film is highly recommended for horror buffs. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Saxon, Ronee Blakely, (more)
Director Wes Craven, who went on to fame as the force behind blockbuster horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, departed from his favorite genre to film this unique cult classic -- a spoof on the mad scientist movies of the 1950s. Adrienne Barbeau stars as Alice Cable, a government agent sent to replace a man who has disappeared while guarding a secret experimental lab in the middle of the Louisiana bayous. Dressed in heels and a skirt, Cable professes unease at her strange new surroundings, but she is soon wooed by Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise). Holland is working on a concoction that combines plant and animal cells. Arcane (Louis Jourdan) is the criminal mastermind who is trying to steal the secret recipe for the potion. When Arcane and his mercenaries break into the government camp, they kill Holland's sister Linda (Nannette Brown) and the scientist is accidentally doused with his own formula and bursts into flames, then dives into the swamp. Arcane's men pursue Cable, but she is rescued by a mysterious green man. It takes several rescues for her to understand that the Swamp Thing (Dick Durock) is Dr. Holland, transformed by his own formula. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Jourdan, Adrienne Barbeau, (more)
