Joe Chappelle Movies

A happy and successful family man is lured down the destructive path of revenge after his son is killed and his wife brutalized in a vicious home invasion. Thomas Archer (Ron Eldard) had it all, a successful career as a senior associate at a prominent architectural firm, a beautiful wife, and a wonderful child. Just when it seemed that things couldn't get any better for Thomas, however, his life was suddenly transformed into a waking nightmare. One night, a violent criminal breaks into Thomas' home, attacking his wife and senselessly murdering his innocent young son. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Thomas implores the police for help in catching the criminals while attempting to pick up the pieces of his broken life by visiting a highly respected therapist (Christopher Plummer). When local law enforcement fails to turn up any leads, Thomas' therapist suggests that the vengeful father contact a mysterious group with the resources to ferret out his son's killer and let the father exact the any kind of justice that he sees fit. His marriage failing, Thomas decides to take his therapist up on the offer, sending the lives of everyone involved down a dark path from which there is no escape, and no return. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The unit manages to decipher a message about the low rises being resupplied with a new shipment, which they manage to intercept. The young dealer arrested by the unit turns out to be the same boy that lost an eye due to the extracurricular activities of some members of the squad. Lieutenant Daniels (Lance Reddick) tries to reach out to the boy, to no avail. Rawls is determined to punish McNulty (Dominic West), but Santangelo doesn't want to dig up dirt for him. McNulty updates Judge Phelan (Peter Gerety) on the case, and he okays another 30 days on all the surveillance. McNulty and Bunk (Wendell Pierce) find another witness to the Gant shooting, who corroborates what Omar (Michael K. Williams) told them. Greggs (Sonja Sohn) helps get Johnny (Leo Fitzpatrick) out of a jail sentence, and later he and Bubbles (Andre Royo) attend an N.A. meeting, where Bubs decides to try to clean up. Stringer (Idris Elba) comes down to the low rises to shake things up after the bust, pulling out the pay phones the cops have tapped, and issuing new instructions about pay phone use. The disgruntled Orlando (Clayton LeBouef) wants to go behind Avon's (Wood Harris) back and make a dangerous deal with D'Angelo (Larry Gilliard Jr.). The cops arrest Bird (Fredro Starr), the suspect in the Gant shooting, and when he continually mouths off to them, the interrogation turns ugly. Santangelo's conscience gets the better of him, and he tells McNulty that Rawls is after his job. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

The red-robed Skulls are at it again. The exclusive, sinister college fraternity that makes hazing seem like pillow fights inducts Ryan Sommers (Robin Dunne), who later secretly witnesses what appears to be the death of a woman at the hands of a Skull member. But of course, he can't tell on a Skull because the motto is "A Skull above all others," which is how some of these guys get to be high government leaders and megalomaniacal industrialists. Ryan's conscience bothers him anyway but once he begins investigating how to report the crime, his girlfriend, Ali (Ashley Lyn Cafagna), rejects him and seemingly everyone in a position to help him is a Skull. With the inspiration of lovely, good-hearted Kelly (Lindy Booth), Ryan proceeds to do what's right, even if it's wrong for him. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Charles Band has been making horror movies in Rumania for several years, so it should come as no surprise to find his local collaborators, associate producer Vlad Paunescu and costume designer Oana Paunescu, among the crew of this ambitious historical epic from The Kushner-Locke Company and director Joe Chappelle (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers). It's an impressive attempt at rehabilitating the image of Vlad Tepes (Rudolf Martin), the famous Transylvanian prince who inspired Bram Stoker as the model for his vampiric count in the novel Dracula. That's part of the problem with Chappelle's film, because Martin plays Vlad as a sultry, pouting romantic figure in the Frank Langella mode rather than as a man who might have been capable of such astonishing savagery and physical strength on a battlefield. He pouts for money from the King of Hungary (Roger Daltrey being out-pouted for once), romances Jane March, speaks in a petulant growl, and generally looks like he'd be more at home on the dancefloor of a chic discotheque than on a corpse-strewn battlefield. Only the unavoidable feeling that he might be a vampire (he isn't) makes him seem even remotely threatening or dangerous. The rest of the film is better, with authentic-looking locations, some surprising gore, and nicely-handled battle scenes. Peter Weller comes off the best among the cast, playing the creepy Father Stefan with a suitable gravity and authority. It is very difficult to take the historical Dracula away from the vampire legends after over a century of Stoker-inspired over 150 films, but Chappelle and his cast make a game effort, and if they don't exactly succeed in removing the shadow of the vampire from their heroic prince, they have at least produced a rousing entertainment which is far better than anyone had a right to expect. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Picking up six years after the events of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, this competently produced but ultimately disappointing sequel attempts to tie up the uneven horror series' loose ends with a less-than-convincing resolution. This installment opens with Jamie Lloyd (J.C. Brandy), young niece of supernatural psycho-killer Michael Myers, giving birth on an altar amid a mysterious Druid ceremony. Before she is killed by her monstrous uncle, Jamie manages to leave her baby in the care of young Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), who has pursued a lifelong obsession with the horrific Myers family legacy in the town of Haddonfield, Illinois. Living with members of the Strode family, Tommy comes to suspect that one of them, little Danny Strode (Devin Gardner), is cursed with the same malevolent power that drove Michael to murder several members of his family. When Michael arrives in Haddonfield to find and destroy Jamie's baby, Tommy joins forces with Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), Michael's ex-psychiatrist and a life-long crusader against his sinister former patient, to find the connection between Michael and the Man in Black and end the curse once and for all. Released shortly after Pleasence's death, this confusing, horribly-edited blend of tired slasher clichés and X-Files-inspired subplots is a poor testament to the long career of the distinguished and compelling character actor. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide