Billy Drago Movies
Supporting actor Billy Drago first appeared onscreen in the '80s. ~ All Movie GuideHunter's Blood is a bloody action thriller reminiscent of Deliverance or The Hills Have Eyes in which an innocent, peaceful group of people is pitted against a clan of bloodthirsty savages. Five men set out to do some deer hunting in a remote area of Arkansas. David (Sam Bottoms) and his father, Mason (Clu Gulager), experienced hunters, lead a group of city-bred amateur hunters into an area where there have been a series of mysterious disappearances. Soon, they find themselves in danger as they are themselves stalked. While Hunter's Blood is not of the quality of the films that inspired it, the acting is uniformly excellent and the direction by Robert Hughes is fact-paced and exciting. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel Bottoms, Kim Delaney, (more)
Like the TV series that shared the same title, The Untouchables (1987) was an account of the battle between gangster Al Capone and lawman Eliot Ness, this time in the form of a feature film boasting big stars, a big budget, and a script from respected playwright David Mamet. Kevin Costner stars as Ness, a federal agent who has come to Chicago during the Prohibition Era, when corruption in the local police department is rampant. His mission is to put crime lord Capone (Robert De Niro) out of business, but Capone is so powerful and popular that Ness is not taken seriously by the law or the press. One night, discouraged, he meets a veteran patrolman, Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery), and discovers that the acerbic Irishman is the one honest man he's been seeking. Malone has soon helped Ness recruit a gunslinger rookie, George Stone (Andy Garcia), and, joined by nebbish accountant Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith), the men doggedly pursue Capone and his illegal interests. At first a laughingstock, Ness soon has Capone outraged over his and Malone's sometimes law-bending tactics, and the vain mobster strikes back in vicious style. Ultimately, it is the most unexpected and minor of crimes, tax evasion, which proves Capone's undoing. All of the credits for The Untouchables boasted big names, including music from Ennio Morricone and costumes by Giorgio Armani. Director Brian De Palma continued his tradition of including a homage to past masters of the cinema with a taut stairway shoot-out reminiscent of a similar sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, (more)
Predating the 1990s cycle of vampire-stripper films (From Dusk Till Dawn, Bordello of Blood, etc.) this cynical entry from director Richard Wenk concerns frat boys looking for a go-go girl to perform at their upcoming party. Wandering to the wrong side of town, the randy youths enter a seedy strip joint populated by vampires. Grace Jones is the nasty ringleader, Katrina, who acknowledges the film's debt to Hammer's Vampire Circus by performing an erotic dance painted in zebra-stripes. Among the heroes, co-star Robert Rusler is far more interesting than the bland lead (Chris Makepeace), while Gedde Watanabe manages to be both unfunny and offensive by turning in the most ridiculously stereotyped Asian performance since John Wayne assayed Genghis Khan in The Conqueror. This is the least of the comedic vampire films that came out in the mid-'80s, and although Billy Drago is menacing as the evil Snow and Greg Cannom's special effects are striking, Vamp remains unfunny and not frightening in the least. Famed female bodybuilder Lisa Lyon appears as a stripper named Cinnamon, and Dedee Pfeiffer, Hy Pyke, and Simmy Bow are among the recognizable supporting cast. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Makepeace, Sandy Baron, (more)
Starring Dean Stockwell and Charles Dierkop, Banzai Runner concerns a modern-day phenomenon, common among the very rich. Each year, an every-man-for-himself race is staged in the desert, with fat-cat motorists driving the custom cars at supersonic speed up and down the supposedly deserted highway. During one of these contests, a policeman is killed. With no witnesses, it's up to the cop's brother (Stockwell) to see that justice is done. He accomplishes this by assuming a false identity and joining the race. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Stockwell, John Shepherd, (more)
Hunter (Fred Dryer) knows that the murder of a hooker is somehow connected with a huge pharamaceutical theft, but he can't figure out why the woman was killed. In order to get the answers and flush out the villains, McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) goes undercover as a "working girl." This strategy may ultimately prove fatal to both Hunter and McCall, thanks to the deadly persistence of sadistic soldier-of-fortune Johnny Zajak (Vernon Wells). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This red-baiting action film stars Chuck Norris as Matt Hunter, a retired CIA agent who lives in the Florida Everglades. A communist invasion of Miami brings Hunter out of retirement to fight the encroaching hordes led by everyone's favorite low-budget bad guy, Richard Lynch. The film is extremely jingoistic, presenting the evil communists staging an invasion on Christmas, demolishing a church, and attempting to blow up a school bus full of children. From the same school of thinking which produced Rambo and Red Dawn, this film at least features some convincing gore by makeup wizard Tom Savini (Friday the 13th), working on his third gig for director Joseph Zito. Zito and Savini returned with Red Scorpion. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chuck Norris, Richard Lynch, (more)
A mysterious and possibly otherworldly stranger comes to the rescue of a frontier town in this Western, which was strongly influenced by the George Stevens classic, Shane. The peace of a small mining community is shattered when Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart), the ruthless proprietor of a powerful strip-mining company, arrives in town with his son Josh (Christopher Penn) and a posse of hired guns to drive out the townspeople and take control of the territory. Megan (Sydney Penny), a young girl whose pet was killed in the melee, prays to God for someone to defend the village from the marauders; soon, the Preacher (Clint Eastwood) arrives on a pale horse, and joins forces with Hull Barrett (Michael Moriarty), the unofficial leader of the miners and one of the few who attempts to defend himself, to take a stand against LaHood and his men. As the Preacher and Barrett try to organize the miners to fight the invaders, both Megan and her mother Sarah (Carrie Snodgrass) find they're drawn to the Preacher, who keeps to himself and seems to have more than his share of secrets. Pale Rider was also directed by leading man Clint Eastwood; it was his first Western as both director and star since the acclaimed The Outlaw Josey Wales. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, (more)
After emigrating to the United States in 1969, Czech-born director Ivan Passer finally broke through to American audiences with his fourth film, a unique blend of mystery and social commentary. Cutter's Way is set in Santa Barbara, CA, a community of wealth and power. Its main characters, however, are among the town's have-nots: Richard Bone Jeff Bridges, a beach-boy gigolo starting to go to seed; Bone's best friend Alex Cutter (John Heard), a Vietnam veteran maimed in body and spirit; and Mo (Lisa Eichorn), Cutter's alcoholic wife. When Cutter spots one of the community's most prominent citizens in the act of covering up a murder, Bone insists that the police would never take their word over that of a man of wealth and prestige. Cutter seizes the opportunity to blackmail the killer, as a means of striking back at a system he thinks sent him off to an unjust war and ruined his life. The film was fortunate to fall into the hands of United Artists Classics, a new division of the company crippled by the financial disaster of Heaven's Gate. UA Classics adroitly marketed Cutter's Way, riding a wave of rave reviews and good word-of-mouth among more discriminating filmgoers to modest box-office success. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, John Heard, (more)
Trevor Howard, of all people, stars as the titular Native American chief in Windwalker. Told in flashback, the film relates the early life of the Cheyenne chief, with particular emphasis on the deaths of his wife and son at the hands of the Crow tribe. In the interests of authenticity, the actors converse in the Crow and Cheyenne languages, compelling the producers to fit the film out with English-language subtitles. James Remar plays the young Windwalker, while James Remus dubs in Trevor Howard's voice as narrator. Windwalker was based on the novel by Blaine M. Yorgason. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Trevor Howard, Nick Ramus, (more)
The made-for-TV No Other Love stars Julie Kavner as a marginally retarded young adult. Sent to live in a hostel for the mentally challenged, Julie falls in love with similarly afflicted Richard Thomas Jr. Despite the misgivings of their families and the prejudices of outside world, Kavner and Thomas vow to marry. Cast as one of the hostel's directors is Norman Alden, who'd played a retarded man himself in the 1965 theatrical feature Andy. No Other Love was originally telecast March 24, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide


















