Samuel Hadida Movies

Louis-Pascal Couvelaire's action thriller Sueurs (Sweat) stars Jean-Hugues Anglade as a man on a dangerous mission. Truck driver Harvey (Anglade), mechanic Victor (Cyrille Thouvenin), Noh (Joaquim De Almeida), and Simon (Sagamore Stevenin) are hired to drive stolen goods through the Moroccan desert. There is little loyalty between the members of the foursome. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

The director of Mortal Kombat (1995) adapts another popular video game for the big screen with this gory action thriller. Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez star as Alice and Rain, two members of a commando team assigned to infiltrate the Hive, an underground research laboratory owned by the faceless conglomerate known as the Umbrella Corporation. A bio-engineered virus has been released into the maze-like Hive, turning the facility's employees into mindless, flesh-eating zombies. A single scratch or bite from one of these rampaging ghouls dooms its victim, so the commandos have their work cut out for them as they attempt to reach the Red Queen, the lab's supercomputer -- and their sole hope of halting the spread of the contagion. Before they can complete their mission, however, the soldiers must overcome a variety of deadly obstacles, including mutant dogs, lasers, and a genetically altered beast known as The Licker, whose strength increases with every victim it slays. Alice and Rain also discover that the release of the virus may not have been an accident, and that a cure may exist somewhere in the deadly Hive. Resident Evil co-stars Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, and Colin Salmon. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

French legend has it that a creature known as the Beast of Gevaudan -- a huge, wolf-like monster -- was responsible for the violent deaths of over 100 persons in the mid-18th century, and this horror fantasy blends the lore of this fabled beast with a story of two men who set out to capture it. After a number of mutilated corpses begin appearing across the French countryside, naturalist Chevalier Gregoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan) is dispatched by the King to find and capture the animal responsible for the killings. Mani (Mark Dacascos), an Indian from Canada and an experienced hand in the wilds, is hired to assist de Fronsac in his work. Gregoire's assignment earns him the acquaintance of Marianne de Morangias (Emilie Dequenne), the lovely daughter of the idly wealthy Count de Morangias (Jean Yanne), but Gregoire receives a much chillier welcome from her brother Jean-Francois (Vincent Cassel), who, despite having lost an arm to a lion in Africa, is quite the huntsman himself. As Gregoire and Mani arrive in the village of Gevaudan, they're drawn to a local house of prostitution, where the animalistic allure and supernatural powers of Sylvia (Monica Bellucci) prove to have a profound effect on the naive Gregoire. Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the special-effects expertise for the creation of the Beast of Gevaudan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An unproduced screenplay written by the late Orson Welles (penned in collaboration with actress Oja Kodar, Welles' significant other in his later years) forms the basis of this drama of political gamesmanship and blackmail. Blake Pellarin (William Hurt) is running for governor of Missouri in a close race going into its final week when a figure from his past reappears. Kim Mennaker (Nigel Hawthorne) was Pellarin's one-time mentor and father figure (after Blake's dad died in the Korean war) who left the United States when public disclosure of his homosexuality ended his political career. This visit from an old friend soon proves less then welcome; when Pellarin was a teenager, he participated in a photo session organized by Mennaker in which he was snapped in sexually compromising positions with both a woman and a man. These photos could put a stake through the heart of Pellarin's life in politics, and Mennaker soon makes clear this is hardly the only dirt he has on Blake. Mennaker also has a ready audience for his stories -- Cela Brandini (Irene Jacob), a European reporter looking for scandal, even though she's having an affair with Pellarin. When Pellarin's wife (Miranda Richardson) and bodyguard (Ewan Stewart) get wind of Blake's indiscretions, his candidacy becomes a disaster waiting to happen. Director George Hickenlooper adapted Welles and Kodar's screenplay with critic F.X. Feeney; among his previous credits, Hickenlooper directed the short film Some Folks Call It A Sling Blade, a short film later expanded by Billy Bob Thornton into his award-winning feature Sling Blade. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A group of bullies terrorizing a small town meet their match in the Muscles From Brussels in this action drama. Eddie Lomax (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a drifter who has been in a suicidal funk since the death of his close friend Johnny (Danny Trejo). Riding his motorcycle into a small desert town where Johnny once lived, Lomax is confronted by a gang of toughs, who beat him and steal his bike. However, Lomax is not a man to take an injustice lying down, and soon he begins exacting a violent revenge on the men who stole his motorcycle, with local handyman Jubal Early (Pat Morita) lending a hand and several area ladies offering aid and comfort. Inferno (which was also released under the titles Desert Heat and Coyote Moon) was directed by John G. Avildsen, though Danny Mulroon is credited on some prints. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The title of this British-French production refers to the dream of the film's hero -- aka The Young Man (Glenn Fitzgerald) -- to hunt an African rhino. After a failed suicide, The Young Man treks across Europe in an effort to track the girlfriend who walked out on him. In Paris, he attempts to deliver a traveling child, but the boy's dad never arrives. Instead, the situation leads him to The Teen (Karine Adrover). In a New Age nod, The Young Man and The Teen make love in a chair with giant angel wings, but before their relationship can ripen, he gets a clue regarding his former girlfriend's whereabouts and takes off for Belgrade and more merry misadventures. Shown at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Based on a popular Japanese comic, this stylish, romantic French-Canadian actioner features many exciting pyrotechnic effects, elegantly executed murders, and some nifty-doodle gadgets, but very little on-screen bloodshed as it follows the adventures of Yo, one of the world's greatest hit men. Yo works for a mysterious Chinese organization and has been given the dubious honor of being called Freeman, the name the tong gives to its chief enforcer. Yo doesn't want the honor, but there is little he can do; obligation is more important than personal want. Still, after each killing, Yo sheds a few tears for the victims. One day he bumps into Emu O'Hara, a beautiful painter who has avoided people after mobsters killed her father, who was a rigidly honest judge determined to wipe out crime. Emu witnesses Yo's killing three Yakuza on a rugged stretch of California coastline where she is painting. Yo sees her see him, and though they never speak, both know that necessity dictates she be his next victim. Following the police investigation of the killings, Emu goes back to Vancouver, BC. Yo has also been sent there to kill her and a Yakuza don. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

An American ex-con gets caught up in a Parisian bank heist that goes wrong in this ultra-violent thriller. Zed (Eric Stoltz), a safe-cracking expert fresh out of prison, travels to France to participate in a robbery planned by his friend Eric (Jean-Hughes Anglade). But first, Zed decides to indulge in some relaxation with a gorgeous, kind-hearted prostitute by the name of Zoe (Julie Delpy). This idyll, however, is interrupted by Eric, who leads Zed and the other criminals on a long night of drinking, drugging, and debauchery. The next day, the thieves find themselves hung over and exhausted, and the plan soon goes disastrously wrong, turning into a hostage situation. Even worse for Zed, he discovers that the lovely Zoe also works as a teller at the bank, forcing him into a tricky moral dilemma. Writer and director Roger Avary, best known as the co-screenwriter of Pulp Fiction, creates a similar combination of black comedy, extreme violence, and hip attitude. Critics of Quentin Tarantino's films raised similar objections to Avary's reliance on bloody violence and a detached sensibility, while the film's fans acclaimed its fast-paced action. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Quentin Tarantino scripted this wild and wooly blend of action and dark comedy, which reached theaters a year before his breakthrough hit Pulp Fiction. Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is a well-meaning but socially unskilled comic-shop clerk whose idea of a big night out is catching a Sonny Chiba triple-feature at a downtown grindhouse. Clarence is celebrating his birthday in just such a manner when he meets a beautiful girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette), and it's love at first sight for both of them. Clarence's enthusiasm isn't dampened much when he discovers Alabama is actually a prostitute who was paid by his boss to bump into him; she's only been in the business for a few days, and is more than eager to give up streetwalking to be with Clarence. However, Alabama is certain her pimp, Drexl (Gary Oldman), will not be happy; he's an ill-mannered sort with mob connections and a fondness for violence. Chivalrous Clarence offers to break the news to Drexl and collect her belongings, but he doesn't tell her he also plans to kill Drexl while he's there; a melee breaks out that leaves Drexl and his henchmen dead. Clarence grabs a suitcase that he thinks contains Alabama's clothes, but he discovers it instead holds five million dollars' worth of cocaine. The couple hits the road for California, planning to sell the dope and enjoy the good life in South America with the proceeds, but soon a group of very unhappy underworld characters are after them, as well as the police. True Romance also stars Dennis Hopper as Clarence's father, Christopher Walken as a mob boss who wants his cocaine back, Brad Pitt as a cheerful stoner, and Val Kilmer as the ghost of Elvis Presley. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Director Peter Hollison has discovered a successful ploy for showing nude women and explicit sexual encounters of any kind in this originally 3-D softcore film. The ploy is first to have women compete to be the top model for Venus suntan lotion, next, they are seen liberally applying the stuff, and finally, they are put on a yacht where all can interact as they please. After that, Venus rises up from the sea (shades of Botticelli, what next?) to offer even more sensual pleasures if they will not denigrate her name by using it on the sun tan lotion. Apparently she had no comment about using it on this film itself (not the lotion, her name). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi