Phil Penningroth Movies
Based upon an allegedly factual story featured in the paranormal reality series Sightings, this made-for-cable chiller stars Beau Bridges as Derek, a cynical TV producer. Despite his own personal skepticism concerning supernatural activity, Derek agrees to visit a supposedly haunted house in Kansas for the purposes of a television documentary. With his field director Lou (Nia Long) and prominent psychic Allen (Miguel Ferrer) in tow, Derek launches his investigation of the "bad" house. Not unexpectedly, the trio soon learns that the haunting is genuine -- and in so doing, they solve a mystery that has baffled local authorities for 100 years. Heartland Ghost made its Showtime Network debut on October 27, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Randy Birch, Beau Bridges, (more)
In this made-for-TV thriller, a train hauling a cargo of radioactive waste is passing through Colorado when its brakes fail in the Rocky Mountains. The train begins rolling out of control and is headed for Denver with no way to stop it. John Seger (Rob Lowe), an agent with the National Transportation Safety Board, has to find a way to bring the train safely to a halt, and he soon learns that the stakes are even greater than he imagined -- a faulty Russian atomic bomb is also on board, which could blow the city sky high in the event of a wreck. Atomic Train also stars Kristen Davis, Esai Morales, and Mena Suvari, the latter shortly before she bolted to stardom with roles in American Pie and American Beauty. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rob Lowe, Kristin Davis, (more)
- 1997
Nine years ago, the teenaged son of Idaho woman Zalinda Dorcheus (Blair Brown) was shot and killed by another teen, Jeff Parker (Cameron Bancroft). Now Jeff is up for parole, and the grimly vengeful Zalinda is determined to keep him behind bars. Going so far as to visit the jail where Jeff is held, she prepares to confront and condemn her son's killer--only to find out that Jeff is hardly the monster she imagined him to be, and that it is now up to her to move on in life, let go of the past, and forgive. Adapted from a true story, the made-for-cable Convictions debuted November 10, 1997 on the Lifetime channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Originally made for cable, this drama chronicles the ordeals endured by those endeavoring to be the first men on the moon. Set in 1969, the story pays particular attention to the three astronauts who embarked upon the dangerous, historic mission. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Xander Berkeley, Jeffrey Nordling, (more)
Singer Paula Abdul makes her acting debut in this tense ABC TV movie. Recovering from a vicious attack by a serial rapist, businesswoman Ellen Collier (Paula Abdul) finds comfort and security in her relationship with her loving and supporting new boyfriend, car salesman Jerry Braskin (Adrian Pasdar). But as Ellen slowly comes out of her self-imposed shell, events conspire to persuade her that Jerry is harboring an unsavory secret. By the time Ellen has been confronted with rock-solid evidence that Jerry is the very man who sexually assaulted her, it may be too late to save herself. Based on a true story, Touched by Evil was originally telecast on January 12, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paula Abdul, Adrian Pasdar, (more)
- 1993
$Arlene Sanford's docudrama Seeds of Deception stars Melissa Gilbert as the female half of an infertile couple who seek help conceiving from a doctor who specializes in fertility issues. While by all appearances everything seemed to work well, the couple discovers that they, and many of the doctor's other patients, actually were impregnated with the doctor's own semen. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Gilbert, George Dzundza, (more)
- 1993
This made-for-television drama first aired on NBC and was made shortly after the tragic stand-off in Waco, Texas when a conflict between the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a group of cultist led by charismatic leader and self-proclaimed messiah David Koresh turned into a bloody battle that left the believers' compound burned and many dead. Soon after the dust settled, investigations revealed that the bloodshed may have been unnecessary. Filmed on location, near Tulsa, Oklahoma, the film recounts events before, during and after the catastrophe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Daly, Dan Lauria, (more)
- 1992
In this drama, a convicted rapist is released from prison and immediately returns into the lives of his victim and the son he sired during the rape. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1988
Ryan White was the teenaged hemophiliac who contacted AIDS through a blood transfusion, then was barred from attending school in Kokomo, Indiana. All but ostracized by the community, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) engages the services of a high-powered attorney (George C. Scott) to win back her son's basic rights. While the film ends with Ryan triumphing over his human adversaries, no effort is made to sugarcoat the situation. Even after he has been welcomed by another school, we see how the boy is shunned by certain students and their parents; nor is there any glossing over the fact that Ryan's days are numbered, despite the boy's enthusiastic plans for the time he has left (young White died shortly after this TV movie was first telecast in 1989). Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner. While Lukas Haas portrays the title character, the real Ryan White appears in the small role of Chad, another hemophiliac AIDS victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Raquel Welch's astonishing performance in the made-for-TV Right to Die compensates for any number of script deficiencies. Ms. Welch plays a successful psychologist with a happy home life who is suddenly stricken with the dreaded neurological affliction ALS (aka "Lou Gehrig's Disease"). At first, she is determined to fight for her life, but as her conditions deteriorates and she becomes more of a human vegetable, Ms. Welch begs her husband (Michael Gross) to help her die. The producers of Right to Die chose Raquel Welch not so much for her resemblance to the real-life person upon whom the story is based, but in the hopes that this "offbeat" piece of casting would attract a large TV audience. Ms. Welch accepted the role to counter industry accusations that she was impossible to work with. Thus the motivations behind Right to Die were more commercially oriented than the film's subject matter deserved, but this can be excused in the light of Welch's harrowingly accurate portrayal of a woman literally dying by inches before our eyes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raquel Welch, Michael Gross, (more)
- 1986
Jonathan Kellerman's Edgar Allan Poe Award-winning novel When the Bough Breaks was evocatively adapted for the TV screen in 1986. Ted Danson plays a clinical psychologist, brought in to tend to an emotionally withdrawn little girl (Rachel Ticotin). There's a possibility that the child may have witnessed an unsolved double murder. As Danson and the girl draw closer, he becomes enmeshed in a homicidal conspiracy sparked by a clique of wealthy, well-connected men. Ted Danson also coproduced When the Bough Breaks. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Danson, Richard Masur, (more)
- 1984
A 17-year-old boy (Chad Lowe) is killed in an automobile accident. As the facts begin to assert themselves, it appears that the boy actually took his own life. His mother (Mariette Hartley) and sister (Dana Hill) try to learn the truth, even as his father (Howard Hesseman) digs in his heels and refuses to face the possibility of a suicide. While this plot line is unravelling, the boy's best friend (Charlie Sheen) is tormented by the possibility that he could have prevented the tragedy. The emphasis in Silence of the Heart is the effect of suicide on the survivors rather than the victim, and the realization that one does not have to be "crazy" to end one's own existence. This made-for-TV movie was originally telecast October 30, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
In a rare television appearance, Dorothy McGuire plays a farm widow who has been impoverished by the siphoning of her water supply. A nearby big-city aqueduct has priority over water rights, leaving the rural outskirts virtually dry. Attempting to bring her cause to the forefront, McGuire dynamites the reservoir, half-hoping that she'll be "martyred" in the process. When she fails to arouse public support, she targets the local power plant for her next blast (Don't look for this film to be rebroadcast in the light of more recent bombing tragedies). Assistant DA Victoria Racimo, who as an orphaned Indian girl had been virtually raised by McGuire, decides to challenge the water-department bureaucracy on McGuire's behalf. Filmed on location in Utah, Ghost Dancing was a winner of the ABC Theatre Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
