Christien Anholt Movies

George Milton directed and co-wrote this quirky and riveting British thriller set in a crumbling old hotel run by a suspicious-looking manager named Jay (Trevor Eve, who played Harker in the 1979 Dracula). A group of strangers, gathered by an obnoxious young sailor (Christien Anholt) to celebrate his birthday, plays cards to determine which of them will spend the night in Room 207. The room is reputed to be haunted and a place where one "dreams the dreams of the ones who slept before you." Susie (Yse Marguerite Tran), an Asian woman who came to the hotel ostensibly to meet "someone special" is first, witnessing an appalling scene combining apparent oral sex and childbirth. She was dreaming the same dream the manager had when he slept there last. As the days and nights progress, more of the guests' dark secrets begin to come to light, leading them all to know far too much about each other's personal lives. One is there to avenge his dead son; another is seeking the birth-mother who rejected her; another is a suicidal former centerfold. There's robbery, drug abuse, perverse sexual behavior, and it's all somehow tied in to the hotel's creepy chef (George Lentz) and his dull-witted assistant (Detlef Bothe), leading inevitably to murder. Ute Lemper stands out as the mysterious Greta, Milton's direction is assured, and the film's look and feel often bring to mind a self-contained variant on Twin Peaks at its best. George Harris and Edward Hardwicke co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Nightmares blend with dreams to offer a surreal and terrifying portrait of one woman's rapidly deepening psychological malaise in first-time writer/director Ray Gower's tale of a troubled young woman pursued by malevolent creatures led by a mysterious villain known as Needletooth. Upon awakening to the shriek of her alarm clock in the early hours of the morning, Karen Clarke (Thora Birch) gets out of bed, walks to the bathroom, and receives the shock of her life upon glancing at the mirror and discovering that she has been badly beaten. With no memory of the violent confrontation that led to her apparent pummeling and nothing but a mysterious locker key to guide her, the young mortuary worker attempts to go about her daily duties preparing bodies for pre-funeral viewings. Soon after a corpse suddenly sits upright and curses Karen for an unknown transgression, the frightened girl finds herself being relentlessly pursued by a villain who seems to have escaped from her worst nightmares. When Karen falls back asleep, however, she is surprised to find that she has taken on the persona of Susan (also Birch), an average girl with a normal job and a decidedly sane existence. Now, if she could only figure out which is the dream, and which is the true reality. Perhaps the strange locker key she has recently discovered will help to unlock this troubling mystery. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the four-part story "The Curse of Fenric," the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) have arrived at a Northumberland secret naval base in the waning days of WWII. The ongoing efforts of a group of Russian commandos to steal a British code-breaking device has inadvertently triggered an ancient Viking curse -- and the results could prove fatal for everyone at the base, including the two time-travelers. Written by Ian Briggs, "The Curse of Fenric, Episode 2" originally aired on November 1, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

As World War I rages in Europe and Allied forces in France, Italy, and England find their resolve quickly diminishing due to the overwhelming force of the German juggernaut, a handful of brave American soldiers volunteer to join their French counterparts in learning to fly and fighting for freedom from above as the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille comes to the screen in a breathtaking war adventure from Academy Award-winning director Tony Bill and famed producer Dean Devlin. They have come from all over the United States, ready and willing to put their lives on the line despite their country's initial pledge to not get involved with the all-consuming war that rages throughout Europe. Few could have foreseen the challenges faced by the world's first fighter pilots, however, and upon arriving at their aerodrome in France, the aspiring aviators are assigned to a new squadron under the command of war-ravaged Captain Thenault (Jean Reno) and battle-weary American pilot Reed Cassidy -- the sole survivor of his devastated former air brigade. With little encouragement from their fellow aviators and nothing to drive but their unifying goal of taking to the skies and offering up their lives in the name of freedom, the determined airmen of the Lafayette Escadrille set out to make history by embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. James Franco, Martin Henderson, and David Ellison star in a script penned by Phil Sears, Blake T. Evans, and David S. Ward. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The difficult realities of life in Britain during the early Industrial Age are explored in this made-for-television adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens. Thomas Gradgrind (Bob Peck) is a schoolteacher working in Coketown, a grim industrial town in the North of England, who believes that facts are of supreme importance and imagination is folly. Gradgrind imposes his philosophies on his children, arranging for his daughter, Louisa (Beatie Edney), to marry Josiah Bounderby (Alan Bates), a businessman old enough to be her father, who also employs her brother, Tom (Christien Anholt). As Louisa tries to find a way out of her relationship with Bounderby, she finds herself pursued by the even more repellant James Harthouse (Richard E. Grant). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This award-winning TV production tells the true story of a heroic woman's underground operation to spirit Allied soldiers out of Nazi-occupied France. Her name is Mary Lindell, a British-born Red Cross nurse living in France with her two teenage children, Maurice and Barbé, by Lindell's marriage to Count de Melville. The story begins in Paris in 1940 when a downed British flier, Maj. James Legatt (Sam Neill), stumbles to a table at a sidewalk cafe. Dressed in a shin-to-shoulder overcoat and dizzy with fatigue, he plops into a chair. At a table nearby, Lindell (Judy Davis) notices his boots -- British issue and a dead giveaway. When German soldiers approach the flier, Lindell walks to his table and slaps him smartly, pretending he is her drunken husband. The ruse works. Lindell then takes Legatt to her home in a taxi and nurses him to health. During their time together, they fall in love -- chastely, without overtly disclosing their affection for each other. Using her feminine wiles and forceful personality to bamboozle SS hounds, she effects his escape back to England, then dedicates herself to rescuing other allies. All goes well until a flier botches his escape. An investigation and trial send Lindell to prison for nine months, which she barely survives. After her release, her son and daughter hide her and restore her to health, and Lindell goes back to work smuggling Allies across the border -- this time with the aid of a priest (Denholm Elliot) and Maj. Legatt, who tracks her activities from his headquarters in England. She eventually ends up in the Ravensbrück concentration camp north of Berlin, and in the conclusion of the production, viewers learn the ultimate fate of Lindell and Legatt. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Jason Robards plays an older Jewish man who returns to Stuttgart, Germany which he left in 1933 during the onslaught of the Third Reich. He reunites with a German man who, as a boy, was his childhood friend. ~ All Movie Guide

The life of Ferdinand, an aspiring German novelist, changes dramatically on the day he spies a beautiful harpist floating upon a seashell off the shore of the Baltic island where he lives. It is not a vision he sees, but a photo shoot featuring Rebecca, a popular Irish musician. He decides to try to be near her but is constantly thwarted. When she goes to Hamburg to give a concert, the young writer follows. It is the enigmatic and sinister Henry who gives him a ride. With Henry's entrance, the story becomes a thriller as both men seem to be obsessed with Rebecca. The difference is, while Ferdinand simply wants to meet her, Henry has much darker intentions. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Little Lucy McLaughlin is very sad. Her father lost his job and, unable to support her adequately, sends her to live with her grandmother. Seeing her sorrow, the wise granny gives Lucy a special ruby ring, one that will grant the little girl two wishes. Unfortunately, as is the case with most movies about wishes, things don't turn out exactly as Lucy had hoped, and she ends up learning a few valuable life lessons. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide