James Robinson Movies

Mel Gibson, long-time heartthrob of the silver screen, came into his own as a director with Braveheart, an account of the life and times of medieval Scottish patriot William Wallace and, to a lesser degree, Robert the Bruce's struggle to unify his nation against its English oppressors. The story begins with young Wallace, whose father and brother have been killed fighting the English, being taken into the custody of his uncle, a nationalist and pre-Renaissance renaissance man. He returns twenty years later, a man educated both in the classics and in the art of war. There he finds his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack), and the two quickly fall in love. There are murmurs of revolt against the English throughout the village, but Wallace remains aloof, wishing simply to tend to his crops and live in peace. However, when his love is killed by English soldiers the day after their secret marriage (held secretly so as to prevent the local English lord from exercising the repulsive right of prima noctae, the privilege of sleeping with the bride on the first night of the marriage), he springs into action and single-handedly slays an entire platoon of foot soldiers. The other villagers join him in destroying the English garrison, and thus begins the revolt against the English in what will eventually become full-fledged war. Wallace eventually leads his fellow Scots in a series of bloody battles that prove a serious threat to English domination and, along the way, has a hushed affair with the Princess of Wales (the breathtaking Sophie Marceau) before his imminent demise. For his efforts, Gibson won the honor of Best Director from the Academy; the movie also took home statuettes for Best Picture, Cinematography, Makeup, and Sound Effects. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

Wisconsin "B"-movie wizard Bill Rebane (the mastermind behind Monster a Go-Go! and The Giant Spider Invasion) cranked out this occult cheapie, set in the New England burg of Ludlow, which is cursed by the malevolent spirit of an executed warlock. The foul fellow returns with his demonic armies to wreak havoc on the town during its Bicentennial festivities; the title nasties accomplish this by animating a variety of weird objects -- including a piano, which serves as a vessel for the warlock's soul and triggers supernatural deaths when it's played. Overlooking the fact that the basic premise borrows heavily from John Carpenter's The Fog, there is little original material here to keep one's interest. The theme of vengeful colonial ghosts was better served in Ulli Lommel's The Devonsville Terror, on which Rebane served as associate producer. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide