Brad Dourif

A mysterious magician has some very unpleasant secrets in this gory tale of terror. Edmund Bigelow (Kip Pardue) is the publisher of Cacophony Gazette, a journal that covers the cutting edge of art and performance in California. Jaded Bigelow thinks he's seen it all until he and his girlfriend Maggie (Bijou Phillips) take in a show by Montag the Magician (Crispin Glover), who with the help of his sidekick the Geek (Jeffrey Combs) delivers a stomach-turning show in which he brings volunteers on stage and dismembers them, only to have his victims stagger off stage at the end of the show, shaken but still very much alive. Bigelow soon becomes obsessed with Montag's show and wants to know more about him and his illusions, but he suspects that there might be more to the magician's show than he imagined when maimed bodies start appearing all over L.A., and with the help of his pals Jinky (Joshua Miller) and Dr. Chong (Brad Dourif) they discover the bizarre secret behind Montag's hold over his audience. Based on a cult-favorite gore film from Hershel Gordon Lewis, The Wizard of Gore also features several members of the contemporary burlesque troupe the Suicide Girls as Montag's volunteers. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Oscar nominees Ed Harris and Robert Forster star in self-taught identical twin filmmakers Logan and Noah Miller's autobiographical family drama about a pair of twin brothers who return to their small town after failing to find success as major league baseball players. Their dreams of becoming professional athletes dashed, the brothers attempt to rethink their lives while reconciling their love for their homeless father (Harris). Deeply shamed by their derelict dad's chronic shameful behavior, the brothers find themselves in a personal crisis after going to work at the local rock quarry and having to contend with their ne'er do well friends. Foster co-stars as the sympathetic town sheriff in a film also featuring Brad Dourif and Lee Meriwether. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When wireless technology puts humans into contact with an unstoppable force that's determined to claim the lives of the living for the souls of the damned, it's up to a group of determined teens to close the gate before it's too late in director Jim Sonzero's remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's apocalyptic horror classic. A doorway between the human realm and the spiritual realm has been opened, and now the technology that once made humankind the ruler of the planet has become its digital Achilles heel. With every call made and every e-mail checked, life is slowly being stolen from the living and claimed for the dead. With no way of turning off the connection and no means of reasoning with a force they cannot understand, a desperate group of college students must discover a means of stopping the takeover before the entire planet is transformed into a cosmic haunting ground for wayward souls in search of a home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

(Rolling Stone) "The Best Drama on Television" is back with the third season on DVD! Timed to coincide with Father's Day, HBO will release Deadwood: The Complete Third Season DVD on June 12, 2007. Watch as the lawless era of Deadwood comes to an end. This DVD is loaded with bonus features including two featurettes, audio commentaries and more.

Martha (Anna Gunn) and William Bullock (Josh Eriksson), Seth's (Timothy Olyphant) wife and son, make their way to the camp in a coach accompanied by Maddie (Alice Krige), Joanie's (Kim Dickens) new partner in an upscale brothel. In Deadwood, Seth is dealing with a shooting at the No. 10, involving a prank that went wrong. Al (Ian McShane) is angry to learn that the feds have appointed three commissioners to oversee the territory, and all of them are from Yankton. He expects Seth to be playing a prominent role in the camp's future, and is disappointed that Seth seems preoccupied with the worst-kept secret in camp -- his affair with Alma (Molly Parker). Al expresses his disappointment to Seth in the crudest terms, and from the balcony of the Gem, prompting Seth to pay a visit. Al questions Seth about why Alma is sending her gold out of town instead of putting it to use in the camp, but it's too late for rational conversation. Seth is insulted, and is determined to fight with Al. Their brutal combat is interrupted by the arrival of the coach, but not before Dan (W. Earl Brown) intervenes, prompting both Sol (John Hawkes) and Charlie (Dayton Callie) to take a run at Johnny (Sean Bridgers), who, unfortunately, wields a shotgun. Cy (Powers Boothe), meanwhile, is less than thrilled at the new arrivals in camp -- Maddie and her new whores -- and enraged that Joanie did not notify him of her plans, finding another backer for her move. "It's kill you or let you go," Cy tells her as he bitterly mulls his options. "Could I make it with you dead?" ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Planet Earth has been decimated, and as mankind searches space for a new planet to inhabit, a race of aliens attempt to make a new home on the now-inhospitable planet abandoned by the human race in director Werner Herzog's strange sci-fi saga. Filmed in collaboration with NASA musician/photographer Henry Kaiser, The Wild Blue Yonder travels light years into the stars, and fathoms deep into the Antarctic Ocean, and speaks with noted scientists to offer a unique view of the universe and a cautionary tale which stresses the importance of preserving our natural resources for future generations. Oscar-nominated actor Brad Dourif plays the role of the alien who arrives on Earth only to discover that the planet hasn't fared much better than the dying world that he once called home. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by Rolfe Kanefsky, the horror thriller The Hazing begins with a group of college kids attempting to spend the night in a spooky deserted mansion as part of an attempt to pledge fraternities and sororities. A deranged instructor at the college begins murdering the students. Those still alive must figure out not only why they are being murdered, but also if one or more of them are working with the evil professor. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Al (Ian McShane), cleaning a bloodstain off the floor of the Gem, offers some advice. "You might, Dan (W. Earl Brown), want to learn how to indicate interest in a girl without murdering another person." E.B. (William Sanderson) has murder on his mind, suggesting to Al that offing Seth (Timothy Olyphant) and Alma (Molly Parker) in their sleep might be the best way to gain control of Alma's gold claim. But then smallpox vaccine arrives in the camp, along with news of a probable treaty with the Sioux, and Al, sensing a change of times, preaches patience. "We are about to be swimming in money," he tells E.B. Alma, having taken Trixie's (Paula Malcolmson) words to heart, is ready to accept E.B.'s bid and return with the girl (Breeseanna Wall) to New York, but Seth insists on assaying her claim first. Ellsworth (Jim Beaver) is just the man to do it, but at the claim, he lets Seth get far enough ahead of him that he can say to Dan, "If I'm to get my throat cut...I'd rather not exert myself further." With Dan's reassurance, Ellsworth points out a rich vein of gold to Seth. Trixie, meanwhile, has apparently decided that her prospects for continued survival in Deadwood are poor. On returning to camp, Seth meets with Al, who tells him, "If a treaty is signed, it'd be wise for you and me to paddle in the same direction." Seth wants Al to guarantee Alma's safety, and he does. Flora (Kristen Bell), knowing that Cy (Powers Boothe) suspects her, convinces Miles (Greg Cipes) that it's time for them to make their move. Joanie (Kim Dickens) tries to protect her, but as Cy puts it to one dismayed onlooker, "You could help your delicate sensibilities by turning the f*ck away." ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Forget Gunsmoke and Bonanza. The HBO series Deadwood was as close to the "real thing" as any Western fan was ever going to see on television -- and in its pursuit of reality, the series was not afraid of smashing icons or skewering sacred cows. Could anything less be expected of executive producer David Milch (NYPD Blue)? The series began its story in 1876, two weeks after Custer's demise at the Little Big Horn, and in the midst of "gold fever" brought about by a major ore strike in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. Into the wide-open and illegal settlement of Deadwood rode a terrifying variety of hard-bitten men and hard-living women. Keith Carradine headed the cast (at least in the early episodes) as gunfighter and Indian scout Wild Bill Hickok -- not the clean-cut hero of movie and TV fame, but an embittered, disillusioned, cold-hearted killer who trusted no one, least of all himself. Traveling to Deadwood with old friend Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie) and devoted, foul-mouthed sidekick Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert), Hickok quickly met and befriended former lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), the archetypal man with a past who held out hope (but not much) that Deadwood would permit him a new start in life. The destinies of both Hickok and Bullock were gradually intertwined with that of self-styled town boss Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the manipulative, cheerfully decadent owner of Deadwood's biggest "saloon," the Gem. Several major and minor characters passed through Deadwood, some for a long time, some only as long as it took to be shot down in the street. One of the more fascinating peripheral characters was gimlet-eyed cardsharp Eddie Sawyer, well played by real-life magician and master card manipulator Ricky Jay. Festooned with sex, sadism, sudden death, rampant profanity, and mud, mud, mud, Deadwood was not your father's "cowboy" show. The series drew huge ratings and enthusiastic critical plaudits from the moment it made its first appearance on March 21, 2004 -- and within a few weeks of this debut, all audience expectations were dashed to bits when one of the series' "stars" paid homage to historical accuracy by being abruptly killed off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Welcome to Deadwood...a hell of a place to make your fortune." These are the words that serve as greeting for saddle-weary former lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) as he rides into the illegal Dakota Territory settlement of Deadwood, a scant few weeks after Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn. Before long, Bullock makes the acquaintance of another displaced Westerner, the cynical, burnt-out gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) -- and not long after that, both men have had their first run-in with town boss Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), the confident, corrupt owner of the Gem Saloon (an establishment largely populated by flint-hearted whores). Thus begins season one of the iconoclastic HBO Western series Deadwood, arguably the most realistic program of its kind ever seen on American television. In the 11 episodes that follow the season opener, a group of vicious outlaws tries to foment another Indian war; Swearengen's status as the lord of the flies on the Deadwood dungheap is challenged by a Chicago "syndicate" (yes, they had them as far back as 1876); a valuable land claim held by feisty, wealthy frontierswoman Alma Garret (Molly Parker) becomes the focus of a deadly serious power struggle; the notorious Black Jack McCall (Garret Dillahunt) kills Hickok during a poker game (quite a jolt, to knock off one of the series' main characters so early in the game!); Deadwood is ravaged by an epidemic, during which the rambunctious but compassionate Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert) becomes a legend; Bullock is marked for death after bringing a murderer to heel; Swearengen is double-crossed by duplicitous "working girl" Trixie (Paula Malcomson); the town's criminal element tries to block annexation of the Dakotas, which would bring much-despised law and order to the territory; a minister finds himself less welcome in town than an opium dealer; and at season's end, Seth Bullock becomes Deadwood's official sheriff -- a position that offers neither job security nor much chance for survival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1979, Michael Cimino went from being a director with one obscure Clint Eastwood action film and a handful of television commercials to his credit to one of the hottest talents in Hollywood, all on the strength of one film, The Deer Hunter. A multiple Oscar winner, a box-office success, and a controversial critical favorite, The Deer Hunter made Cimino a director to watch, and United Artists, a studio in need of both critical prestige and a box-office blockbuster following the departure of their longtime management team, signed up Cimino for his next project, a historical Western drama called The Johnson County War. However, by the time the film reached theaters in 1981, Cimino had exceeded his shooting schedule by nearly a year, the budget had swelled to a then-scandalous 40 million dollars, and the movie had a new title, Heaven's Gate. Originally premiered in a version running nearly four hours, Heaven's Gate was savaged by American critics, and had developed a reputation as a nearly total disaster before it went into wide release in a 160-minute edit. As one might expect, the film was a box-office flop, and the bad publicity and financial debacle led Transamerica, United Artists' parent company, to sell the studio later that year, essentially putting them out of business. Steven Bach, one of the United Artists executives who oversaw the project, wrote a book about the making of the movie, and Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate is a documentary adaptation that looks at where Cimino's ambitions and United Artists' management style went wrong, as well as asking if the meticulously crafted film is the unmitigated disaster it's chalked up to be. Final Cut: The Making and Unmaking of Heaven's Gate was screened at the 2004 Toronto Film Festival, where it was shown in tandem with a restored print of the 220-minute cut of Heaven's Gate. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A charismatic, modern-era healer must reconcile his relationship with his creator after his life and ministry are threatened in this religious-themed drama starring Brad Dourif, Robert Wagner, and Faye Dunaway, and based on the real life exploits of self-professed holy man Leroy Jenkins. Leroy Jenkins (Damian Chapa) has been touched by "The Spirit," and his mission in life is to pass on the good word to a population enraptured by sin and decadence. As Jenkins' empire rapidly evolves into the largest ministry in America, his burgeoning friendship with actress Mae West (Dunaway) soon paves the path for the minister himself to achieve celebrity status. Blessed with the stage presence of Elvis and imparted with a flamboyant sense of style that would make even Liberace envious, Jenkins' intolerance for anyone who voices descent finds his list of enemies multiplying almost as fast as his list of followers. When betrayal comes knocking at the headstrong holy man's door, Jenkins is forced to face up to his all-consuming pride and turn to The Spirit in hopes of reconciling his situation before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide