Steve Johnson Movies
When an unexplained trucking accident knocks out phone lines in the town of Pueblo, New Mexico and blocks the only route out of town, an investigation into the cause of the crash reveals an otherworldly creature that could pose a threat to the entire human race. Awakening from her usual hangover to investigate a herd of cattle that has been mutilated almost beyond recognition, Pueblo Sheriff Annie is summoned to the scene of a mysterious semi accident. Though the only clue as to the identity to the driver is a severed limb, Sheriff Annie does discover a bizarre, crab-like leg stuck in the grill of the scorched tanker. Meanwhile, on another stretch of the same highway, vacationing sisters Ally and Caya stop to pick up a ruggedly handsome ranch hand named Charlie whose car has stalled out miles away from a gas station or repair shop. Upon arriving at the only gas station in Pueblo, the trio is greeted by Nodin and her grandfather and informed that not only are the pumps dry, but that the only route out of town is blocked by the accident as well. Also trapped at the station is traveling salesman Frank, who specializes in synthetic urine. As night draws near Sheriff Annie arrives at the gas station to share her strange find with botany specialist Nodin, who can find no earthly explanation for the unidentified appendage. Later, when Ally decides to pitch in by taking out the trash, she is savagely mauled by a vicious creature that has just torn the patrons of a local bar limb from limb. As the night drags on and the bloodbath continues, the frightened group discovers that their only hope for survival may the very same Native American girl responsible to unleashing the relentless beast in the first place. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emmanuelle Vaugier, Luke Goss, (more)
Following up on the success of 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Imagine Entertainment presents The Cat in the Hat, their second live-action adaptation of a classic Dr. Seuss book. Starring Mike Myers, the film follows the adventures of Conrad (Spencer Breslin) and Sally Walden (Dakota Fanning), a young brother and sister who find themselves visited by the titular mischievous cat (Meyers) and his entourage when their mother (Kelly Preston) leaves them home alone. Also starring Alec Baldwin and the voice of Sean Hayes, The Cat in the Hat is the directorial debut of Oscar-nominated art director Bo Welch. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, (more)
Four years after scoring a box-office touchdown with Blade (1998), actor Wesley Snipes returns to portray the Marvel Comics character again in this sequel that teams him with Mexican horror director Guillermo del Toro. A half-vampire, half-human hybrid, Blade (Snipes) is a merciless vampire hunter bent on destroying the bloodsuckers that feed on humanity. The keys to Blade's success are a serum that allows him to resist the urge for blood and an array of inventive, deadly weapons, both of which were once supplied by his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Since Whistler's death, Blade has relocated to Prague and recruited the pot-smoking slacker Scud (Norman Reedus) to take the place of his father figure, but then he discovers that Whistler's not dead after all: He's been infected with the vampire virus. Reunited with Whistler, Blade is dealt an even bigger surprise: His greatest enemy, vampire leader Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann), wants to make peace with him. It seems that the vampires are facing a greater threat than Blade and hope to persuade him to fight the Reapers, a mutated super-race of vampires on a rampage of murder, indiscriminately killing both humans and their fellow bloodsuckers while sucking their victims dry. Blade agrees to a truce and joins the Bloodpack, an elite squad of commandos originally formed to fight Blade himself. Soon, the vampire soldiers discover that the virus responsible for creating their enemies is spreading rapidly and can be traced back to a mysterious "Patient Zero." Blade 2 (2002) co-stars Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Donnie Yen, and Matt Schulze. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, (more)
This feverishly energetic comedy combines stop-motion animation and live action from director Henry Selick, creator of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and James and the Giant Peach (1996). Brendan Fraser stars as Stu Miley, a cartoonist who created a randy monkey character called Monkeybone that has taken off in popularity, making him a celebrity. Stu's set to launch a TV series based on Monkeybone and marry his beautiful fiancée Julie (Bridget Fonda) when he's injured in a freak accident that puts him in a coma. He travels to Dark Town, a holding area for the comatose who wait to either regain consciousness or move on to the afterlife with the help of Death (Whoopi Goldberg). Dark Town is also a realm where fictional characters reside and before long Stu has met the vulgar Monkeybone, who travels back to the land of the living to inhabit Stu's body. Aided by Kitty (Rose McGowan), Stu must find a way to reclaim his body and put Monkeybone back in his place before the raunchy primate ruins his charmed life. Monkeybone is based on the cartoon graphic novel Dark Town by Kaja Blackley. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brendan Fraser, Bridget Fonda, (more)
If a robot spends enough time around humans, can he learn to become one of them? The Martin family purchases a domestic android as a servant and names him Andrew (Robin Williams). Andrew comes to know the man of the house as Sir (Sam Neill), his wife as Ma'am Wendy Crewson, and their daughter as Portia (Embeth Davidtz); before long, the Martins suspect that they do not have an ordinary robot on their hands. Andrew seems capable of expressing emotion and generating original thoughts, and the longer he stays with the Martins, the more strongly these human traits manifest themselves. Over the next 200 years, Andrew becomes less a machine and more a member of the family, until a mechanic (Oliver Platt) tells Andrew that he might be able to turn him into a human being. Based on a short story by renowned science fiction author Isaac Asimov (surprisingly, it's only the second Asimov story to be brought to the screen), Bicentennial Man was directed by Chris Columbus, who previously worked with Robin Williams on Mrs. Doubtfire. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Williams, Sam Neill, (more)
When the salvage tug Sea Star is caught unprepared in a violent storm, it slowly sinks, and the crew, led by Captain Everton (Donald Sutherland), wander upon another ship for refuge. The ship, apparently deserted, turns out to be a Russian research vessel loaded with high-tech electronics. The Sea Star crew, which includes hot-head Kelly "Kit" Foster (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Steve Baker (William Baldwin), soon find that they are not alone, and they also learn the horrible fate of the original crew. The ship had taken on an energy-based alien life-form capable of constructing bodies out of human tissue as easily as electronic parts. The life-form wants to inhabit the planet earth but first must rid the world of the virus that infects it and could kill it -- man. John Bruno, special effects supervisor on Terminator 2 tries to reinvent the haunted house sub-genre in his directorial debut, much as Ridley Scott did in Alien. ~ Ron Wells, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Lee Curtis, William Baldwin, (more)
In the science-fiction thriller Species (1995), Natasha Hentsridge appeared as the beautiful but deadly Sil, a human-alien DNA combo. In this sequel, Hentsridge portrays Eve, a government experiment concocted to gain an understanding of how to combat future aliens, while Michael Madsen and Marg Helgenberger repeat their roles from the earlier film. When astronaut Patrick Ross (Justin Lazard) returns from the first manned Mars expedition, he's infected with the same DNA that spawned Sil and Eve. Hailed as a hero, Ross is pressed into politics by his father (James Cromwell), a senator. Any woman who beds the sexually active Ross is immediately impregnated, with embryos quickly developing and killing the mother. Ross hides the offspring on a family estate, as LA cops begin to detect a pattern in the female deaths. At the lab where scientists are monitoring Eve, Dr. Laura Baker (Helgenberger) realizes that Eve has a telepathic link with Ross, and that these two hybrids hope to couple. Press Lennox (Madsen) and Colonel Burgess (George Dzundza) figure Eve can be used to lead them to Ross. Cleared as a murder suspect, Mars mission astronaut Dennis Gamble (Mykelti Williamson), joins Lennox and Baker and gets in on the action as everyone involved closes in on Ross. Richard Belzer does a cameo as the President of the U.S., while Peter Boyle makes an uncredited appearance as a scientist. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Madsen, Natasha Henstridge, (more)
Like The Vanishing (1988 and 1993), Nightwatch is an English-language version of a foreign-made film with the original director hired to remake his own movie. Ole Bornedal was the writer-director of the suspenseful 1994 thriller, Nattevagten, which had no U.S. release immediately on the heels of its success in Denmark. For the second time around, Bornedal directed, but Steven Soderbergh wrote a new script based on Bornedal's original film. Both were produced by Michael Obel. Nattevagten was Bornedal's directorial debut, and reviews praised the film for the claustrophobic atmospherics and suspense generated from the very first establishing scene. For the 1998 English-language remake, the artistic elements of the original gave way to name actors, slicker production values, and the more conventional grindhouse genre approach, opening with a brutal prostitute murder in a pre-credit sequence. University student Martin (Ewan McGregor) ignores warnings to take a city-morgue night watchman job for extra cash. Odd happenings at the morgue are linked to a serial killer, and Inspector Thomas Cray (Nick Nolte) investigates. Soon Martin's girlfriend Katherine (Patricia Arquette) learns that Martin has become a key suspect. However, some might suspect Martin's edgy friend James (Josh Brolin). Brad Dourif fills the role of a doctor, and young Alix Koromzay portrays vulnerable teen hooker Joyce. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte, (more)
Needles figure prominently in this blood-soaked entry in the slasher genre. It begins as psycho scientist Dr. Stein begins implanting things in baboons. Dr. Theresa McCann, a colleague at the hospital where they both work is suspicious as to the nature of the perverse professors experiments. Those suspicions increase when one of the apes suddenly dies. Then Stein steals one of her patients. When that patient is found murdered, with only a lollipop left as a clue, McCann gets blamed and suspended. When McCann spies the abandoned sucker she suddenly realizes it belongs to Dr. Matar, an ex-lover in search of revenge against her because she squealed on him and his illicit experiments in tissue regrowth. Matar goes on a killing spree and now only she and her new lover Hendricks can stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isabel Glasser, James Remar, (more)
Fine special effects, eclectic casting, and the freeze-frame-worthy, clothing-free debut of a blonde bombshell made this cheesy science fiction/horror hybrid a cut above its B-grade roots. At a top-secret Utah facility headed up by Dr. Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley), scientists have created "Sil" (Natasha Henstridge), a half-human, half-alien product of experiments with DNA codes obtained from beyond the stars. Unfortunately, Sil has escaped. Her primary objective is to mate, and, with the ability to transform herself into an incredibly powerful alien creature, puny humans can't stop her. So Dr. Fitch calls in a quartet of specialists (Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, and Alfred Molina), to attempt Sil's capture. At the same time, Sil is leaving a trail of mostly male corpses in her hormonal wake. The organic-flavored alien designs for Species were provided by H.R. Giger, the artist responsible for the memorable creatures and spaceships of Alien (1979). When MGM decided to cut the spectacular "train birth" sequence in the interest of budget-trimming, Giger personally financed this $100,000 showcase of his work. Those who look closely will notice that "Young Sil" is played by future Dawson's Creek star Michelle Williams. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, (more)
Unlike most teen horror movies, Brainscan relies more on atmosphere and plot than gore and bloodsoaked effects. Edward Furlong plays Michael, a 16-year-old horror movie fan, computer whiz, and misfit who responds to an ad for Brainscan, an CD-ROM virtual reality game that promises to "interface with your unconscious." Once involved with the game, Michael dreams that he brutally stabs a stranger and slices off his foot -- only to awaken and find the foot in his refrigerator. Out of Michael's computer comes Trickster (T. Ryder Smith), a sardonic, malevolent creation who advises Michael to keep playing new editions of Brainscan to evade capture by a suspicious cop (Frank Langella). With a death count that is relatively low and mostly offscreen (amputated feet notwithstanding), Brainscan doesn't make up for its lack of onscreen violence with a particularly original script, although it should be commended for not taking the easy way out. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Furlong, Frank Langella, (more)
With a large infusion of black humor that was missing from the first outing, his well-wrought but gory horrorfest centers on a group of teens from Catholic school who find themselves facing an unholy terror when they accidentally engineer the return of a particularly deadly she-devil. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christi Harris, Bobby Jacoby, (more)
A more straightforward horror film than the darkly comic Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988), this third chapter in the "Living Dead" saga was directed by Brian Yuzna and is quite similar plot-wise to his earlier film, Bride of Re-Animator (1990). J. Trevor Edmond and Mindy Clarke star as Curt Reynolds and Julie Walker, a young couple in love. Curt's father is Col. John Reynolds (Kent McCord), a scientist working on a top-secret project at a nearby military compound. When Curt steals his dad's security pass and sneaks Julie into the base, they discover that the project involves bringing corpses back to life using the powerful gas Trioxin, responsible for events in the previous films. The military hopes to use the mindless, flesh-consuming zombies as weapons, but the experiment goes gruesomely awry. Later, Julie is killed in an accident on Curt's motorcycle and the grief-stricken boyfriend brings her to the base and exposes her to the gas. As she begins craving human flesh, Curt must try to keep her alive while also facing down a local street gang he's unintentionally crossed, as well as the soldiers seeking Julie, led by his father. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mindy Clarke, J. Trevor Edmond, (more)
An uneven but entertaining blend of graphic horror and black comedy from John Landis, very much in the mode of the director's successful An American Werewolf in London. French actress Anne Parillaud -- star of Luc Besson's acclaimed thriller La Femme Nikita -- plays Marie, a lithe and lovely vampire with a conscience who will not take "innocent blood" and maintains a low profile by dining exclusively on criminals and lowlifes. She finds a virtual smorgasbord in Pittsburgh's criminal underworld, arriving in the thick of a bloody mob war sparked by ruthless kingpin Sal Macelli (Robert Loggia). After preying on one of Macelli's hoods (Chazz Palminteri), Marie fumbles her attack on the boss himself and he manages to escape, eventually transforming into a vampire himself. Macelli soon comes to appreciate his new superhuman condition and hatches a diabolical scheme to control the syndicates by turning his underlings into vampires -- including his beleaguered lawyer, Emmanuel Bergman (Don Rickles). Marie, faced with a new and powerful undead enemy, is forced to take matters into her own claws. To this end she enlists the reluctant aid (and eventual affection) of undercover cop Joe Gennaro (Anthony LaPaglia), whose cover has just been leaked to the press, making him a target for Macelli and his growing army of blood drinkers. Landis has crafted a dark and brooding film, pumped up with bouts of extreme gore and gangland violence -- but where American Werewolf's occasional comic touches helped to ground the story and give the "straight" horror scenes more punch, most attempts at humor here seem jarring and out of place. The film's highlights come from numerous horror in-jokes, including cameos from Sam Raimi, Clive Barker, Dario Argento and Linnea Quigley; Rickles' explosive death scene ranks among the weirdest in cinema history. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Parillaud, Robert Loggia, (more)
This follow-up to the sizable horror hit concerns a Maine teenager who discovers the eerie power of a legendary local haunt. Edward Furlong stars as Jeff Matthews, who, with his veterinarian father Chase (Anthony Edwards), moves to latter's small hometown of Ludlow, Maine, in order to escape unhappy memories. Jeff's divorced mother, low-budget horror movie actress Renee (Darlanne Fluegel), was recently electrocuted and killed in a freak accident -- the entire incident was witnessed by Jeff. In his new community, Jeff hears stories of an ancient Indian burial ground nearby where dead pets that are interred come back to life. Jeff also becomes friends with pudgy Drew (Jason McGuire), whose abusive, bullying dad Gus (Clancy Brown) is Ludlow's sheriff. When Gus kills his son's dog, Drew and Jeff bury the animal, which returns from the dead. When the vengeful dog kills Gus, Drew and Jeff bury the lawman in the cemetery and he comes back significantly the worse for wear, wreaking evil havoc that temporarily puts several of Ludlow's residents six feet under. The original Pet Sematary (1989) was based on a novel by Stephen King, who did not participate in the sequel. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 1990
- R
In this horror film, a vamp masquerades as a fashion model and uses her feminine wiles to suck the souls and life from wimpy men. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Isa Anderson, Karen Black, (more)
- 1988
- R
- Add A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master to QueueAdd A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master to top of Queue
This fourth trip down Freddy Lane was the most successful at the box-office, but although it has some impressive visuals, it is mostly an empty film. Credit must go to the effects team for some fine work, but otherwise, this entry from the director of Cutthroat Island (Renny Harlin) is extremely weak. Roland Kincaid falls asleep and awakens in the Springwood junkyard, where his dog -- named "Jason" in a sad foreshadowing of the film's giggly tone -- pees fire on Freddy's grave. The pyro-urinary baptism causes Krueger (Robert Englund) to reassemble from bones outward in an admittedly impressive sequence. Predictably, Freddy guts Kincaid, then appears in Joey's waterbed as a naked pinup girl (Hope-Marie Carlton) before slicing him to ribbons. And so it goes. The film has a few interesting ideas kicking around, but no real identification points. This is a video game, not a movie, and the characters seem to exist only in order to move the film from one effects sequence to another. There is a lot to be said for special effects, and the ones here are extraordinary and vivid. However, the wonderfully grim mood and subtle performances of Chuck Russell's outstanding third entry in the series are gone, abandoned by Harlin in favor of a splashy, comic book approach which would, unfortunately, dominate the series' later installments. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Englund, Lisa Wilcox, (more)
Although many genre filmmakers have managed to blend horror and humor with great success, movies employing this formula often run the risk of both elements canceling each other out, resulting in a horror comedy that is neither scary nor funny. Alas, Dead Heat is a textbook example of this kind of failure. It details the weird misadventures of a pair of mismatched L.A. cops -- the straitlaced and by-the-book Roger Mortis (Treat Williams) and wisecracking loose cannon Doug Bigelow (muscle-headed Saturday Night Live alum Joe Piscopo). Their quest is to reach the heart of a sinister crime ring that employs indestructible undead henchmen. In a strange twist, their inept handling of the case results in both cops -- first Williams, then Piscopo -- being killed in action and subsequently reanimated in a secret laboratory managed by the barely seen Vincent Price (whose walk-on role is more entertaining than the combined performances of the two leads). The potential for "splatstick" comedy in the mode of Evil Dead 2 or Peter Jackson's Bad Taste is defeated by two major obstacles: first, the painfully unfunny mugging of Piscopo, who was unwisely allowed to ad-lib much of his performance; and second, the MPAA's trimming of several minutes from Steve Johnson's sensational makeup effects in order to avoid the dreaded X rating -- including a clever scene involving a zombie go-go girl played by Linnea Quigley. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, (more)
- 1988
- R
- Add Howling IV: The Original Nightmare to QueueAdd Howling IV: The Original Nightmare to top of Queue
Shot in South Africa, this direct-to-video installment of the werewolf series continues that franchise's tradition of generating sequels light-years distant from the quality of Joe Dante's witty and frightening original. The fourth chapter even attempts to rewrite the original film's premise, which admittedly took grand liberties with the novel by Gary Brandner. The revamped tale involves successful author Marie (Romy Windsor), who visits the scenic woodland town of Drago to find respite from constant nightmare visions involving werewolves and a mysterious nun. Needless to say, her stay in the village does nothing to dispel the visions, which increase in frequency and seem to suggest strange portents of evil events to come... and a warning to get out of town before the next full moon. Director John Hough has yet to surpass his horror masterpiece The Legend of Hell House, and this deadly dull exercise is hardly a step in the right direction. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Windsor, Michael T. Weiss, (more)
A group of teens plan a Halloween party at an abandoned funeral parlor in this well-crafted horror film. The home is rumored to be haunted after the owner slaughtered his family and killed himself years before. The teens plan on scaring their classmates, unaware that demons from hell are released for a night of terror for bad behavior. One by one, the teens fall victim to the evil that dwells within the parlor. The audience is left guessing who, if anyone, will be alive the following morning. This fright feature is rife with references to other teen slasher flicks. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lance Fenton, Cathy Podewell, (more)
- 1985
- R
- Add Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf to QueueAdd Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf to top of Queue
The brother of a slain werewolf newscaster joins the battle against a lycanthropic femme fatale in this sequel to 1981's horror/humor update. Shortly after the events of the original The Howling, Ben White (Reb Brown) attends the funeral of his sister, journalist Karen White (played here by Hana Ludvikova and by Dee Wallace in the original). There, he meets both Jenny Templeton (Annie McEnroe), one of Karen's colleagues, and Stefan Crosscoe (Christopher Lee), a mysterious interloper who claims the slain reporter was a newscaster. Providing videotaped evidence of the transformation -- and turning up to destroy Karen as her undead body rises from the grave -- Crosscoe convinces Ben and Jenny to accompany him to Transylvania to battle Stirba (Sybil Danning), an immortal werewolf queen. Along the way, the do-gooders encounter Mariana (Marsha Hunt), another lusty werewolf babe, and her minion Erle (played by Fearless Vampire Killers veteran Ferdy Mayne). Arriving in the Balkans, Ben and company wander through an ethnic folk festival, unaware that Stirba is off in her castle having sex with other werewolves and plotting their downfall. Eventually, the adventurers do battle with Stirba in an assault that involves disguised dwarves, mutilated priests, supernatural parasites, and surprise revelations. Howling II is variously known as Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf and Stirba the Werewolf Bitch. Director Philippe Mora, who previously helmed The Return of Captain Invincible, would return for Howling III: The Marsupials. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Annie McEnroe, (more)
