Sarah Brackett Movies

The prolific filmmaker Pim de la Parra has once again managed to put his bag of improvisational tricks to use in this for-men-only romantic fantasy, set in the Caribbean resort island of Bonnaire in the Dutch Antilles. Naked flesh and softcore couplings abound. In the story, Paul has a full-time lover, an older English woman whose common sense and down-to-earth qualities more than compensate for her relative lack of passion. After all, he is surrounded by women clamoring for time with him in bed. So are all the other men in the story. When one of his sons dies suddenly during an operation, Paul is devastated and cannot make out what has gone wrong in his life. None of his current crop of friends has any insight to offer. Some of these questions become clearer when his sister, with whom he is almost unnaturally close, comes to visit. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The later years of the life of author D.H. Lawrence are dramatized in this screen biography. Following the controversial reception of his novel The Rainbow, David Herbert Lawrence (Ian McKellen) and his wife Frieda (Janet Suzman) leave England for the U.S., where they hope that Lawrence's bold themes will be received in a more tolerant climate. Such is not the case, and the Lawrences travel first to Mexico, and then to Italy while David attempts to complete and then publish his best known (and most controversial) work, Lady Chatterley's Lover. However, as the furor over the book taxes David's well being, tuberculosis saps his physical health. The supporting cast includes John Gielgud as censorship crusader Herbert G. Muskett and Ava Gardner as Mabel Dodge Luhan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this rabid anti-communist science fiction tract, scientist Arnold Kramer (Peter Arne) convinces the Pentagon that the communist Chinese are digging a complex series of tunnels from China and beneath the United States, from which they plan to detonate nuclear weapons and destroy the free world. Kramer enlists Commander Jonathan Shaw (Kerwin Mathews) to assist Kramer in trying to prevent the literal and final collapse of the U.S.A. Shaw sets up shop inside an extinct Hawaiian volcano, attempting to destroy the main supply tunnel coming from China. But before the team can complete their mission, they are captured y the evil Chinese. Now it is up to Shaw and Kramer to escape the clutches of the Chinese in order to activate a nuclear stockpile inside the tunnel and incinerate the Chinese forces. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Though based on two Edgar Allen Poe stories, Masque of the Red Death relies more upon its mood and atmosphere than its story values for its success. During a devastating 12th-century plague called "The Red Death," the decadent, devil-worshipping Prince Prospero (Vincent Price) holds court over a bizarre masked ball. Already established as a sadistic torturer, Prospero insists that his "guests" indulge in numerous depraved games, most of them ending with someone's death. Only two innocents are permitted to escape intact, but they go through the torments of the Damned to do so. Hazel Court is on hand as a Satanist who brands her breast for Price's bored amusement, while Patrick Magee is horribly burned to death by "Hop Frog" (Skip Martin), Price's demonic flunkey. The literally diabolical performance of Vincent Price is superbly complemented throughout by the crimson-dominated cinematography of Nicholas Roeg. Unlike many of Roger Corman's economical Price/Poe projects, The Masque of the Red Death boasts a generous budget, which the canny filmmaker exploits to the utmost. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide