Billy Jayne Movies

In this dark comedy, a group of retirees wants to save their homes -- but they're not typical senior citizens trying to make the most of their Social Security checks. Four aging former mobsters -- Joey "Bats" Pistella (Burt Reynolds), Bobby Bartellemeo (Richard Dreyfuss), Mike the Brick (Dan Hedaya), and Tony "The Mouth" Donato (Seymour Cassel) -- live in the same rundown Miami apartment complex, the Raj Mahal. New owners hope to clear out the current tenants and replace them with a younger, more lucrative clientele. But the veteran gangsters don't want to move, so to scrape up the extra rent money, they take a job executing the father of a Miami mob boss. They happen to know he's already dead, so all they have to do is make it look like they did the hit. Their problems start when loudmouthed ladies' man Tony tells too much to Ferris (Jennifer Tilly), a stripper, and soon she's talked him into murdering her mother (Lainie Kazan) in exchange for her silence. The Crew also features Carrie-Anne Moss as a detective and Jeremy Piven as a mob kingpin out to avenge his father's death. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A film student discovers the action movie project of his dreams is happening around him in real life in this offbeat independent drama. Alex (Erik Palladino) is a nerdy student studying film production and not doing especially well with it. One day, Erik and his roommate Lars (Billy Jayne) discover they have a new neighbor, an attractive and self-confident woman named Blue (Jennifer Rubin). After they share a few beers and discover a mutual fondness for the films of Sam Peckinpah, Alex makes a startling discovery about Blue -- she's a hired killer, who has a hit scheduled the following week in Miami. After that, Blue plans to get out of the business and leave the United States for good. Alex has a brainstorm: he'll tag along for Blue's last "project" with a camera and make a documentary about her. Blue agrees to cooperate, but en route Alex finds out more about Blue than he was planning on, and when the killing doesn't go smoothly, he finds himself suddenly aiding Blue and not just recording her actions. Jennifer Rubin gives a standout performance in this film, which also features Brian Vander Ark from the rock band The Verve Pipe in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Teenage spring-break hijinx highlight this made-for-TV comedy. Joyce DeWitt stars as Linda Hayden, a teacher assigned to take an all-male class on a trip to L.A. After a series of typical road trip shenanigans, the gang winds up at a hotel owned by her former boyfriend George (James Eckhouse). ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

This comical, erotic sci-fi adventure is every nerd's fantasy come true as it tells the story of ultra-geeky Wesley Littlejohn who readily volunteers to participate in his voluptuous substitute biology professor Ms. Xenophia's (an alien from outer space) extra credit research experiment. Once in her lab, Drax, her faithful assistant jabs him with a needle and suddenly wimpy Wesley becomes the campus stud-muffin and finds himself surrounded by cooing crowds of scantily clad coeds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Moronic teens vacationing in Demonwood Forest are terrorized by a shambling Neanderthal -- not the director, but a big goon in a fuzzy ape suit who attacks George Kennedy and hauls his daughter off into the woods to a fate worse than death... perhaps to a screening of this movie. As it turns out, the rampaging beastie (which looks like a soiled feather-duster on legs) is not the local monster of mountain legend but merely a front for the subterranean activities of a cult of devil-worshipping aliens (they could have just called the tabloids if they needed better PR), who pass the time turning the locals into zombies... not a difficult task, especially with this brain-dead bunch. Cheap sets, dime-store costumes and Dinner Theater thesping lend a certain chintzy Ed Wood charm to the proceedings, but even this level of absurdity can't cover up the fact that the film's investors -- to say nothing of the audience -- probably felt profoundly rooked. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The acronymic B.R.A.T. Patrol originally aired as a 2-hour entry on The Disney Sunday Movie. The appropriately named title characters are the children of a group of Marine non-coms. Running roughshod around a UMC base, the "patrol's" reputation is so bad that no one believes the kids' story about overhearing a plot to steal valuable government equipment. In true Disney fashion, the kids take on the baddies themselves. Sean Astin is cast as the head BRAT, while Brian Keith (the ostensible "star," though he's billed fifth) does his usually over-loud overacting as the General. The B.R.A.T. Patrol first assembled for inspection on October 26, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Reckless is the word for rebellious teenaged Johnny Rourke (Aidan Quinn). With a drunken dad and a police-blotter rap sheet as long as his arm, Quinn pursues an "impossible" romance with Tracey Prescott (Daryl Hannah), a girl from a wealthy, highly respected family. Tracey is thrilled at the prospect of kicking over the traces with Johnny, and soon proves to be as big a hellraiser as he is....if not more so. Reckless was written by Chris Columbus, just before he hit pay dirt with Gremlins and The Goonies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The wife (Jenny Sullivan) of Vietnam veteran Richard Gaines (James Whitmore Jr.) is delighted when Richard's 15-year-old Vietnamese daughter Nguyen (Denice Kumagai) comes to the United States to live with their family. Alas, Richard's spiteful son Brad (Billy Jayne) wants nothing to do with his "new" half sister, and before long his hostility has spread to everyone else in his sphere of influence. It is up to Jonathan (Michael Landon) to defuse Brad's anger and bitterness. Longtime fans of series star Michael Landon will enjoy the many "inside" jokes made at his expense in this episode. ~ All Movie Guide

Divided into four separate independent films originally made as a television pilot, Nightmares begins with "Terror in Topanga," a story about a young woman who goes out one night to buy a pack of cigarettes, knowing full well that the infamous "canyon killer" is on the loose -- and sure enough, a subtly menacing store clerk (Anthony James) begins to loom large in the woman's journey. The second story, "Bishop of Battle" is a sequence with animation that details the saga of a video games champion who comes up against a supernatural opponent. The next vignette, "The Benediction" is about a priest who gives up on his faith and takes off down the highway, only to be confronted with a demonic minivan and good reasons for remaining a believer. The last story, "Night of the Rat" has the rodent that ate Manhattan looming large over the home of a young couple, but never fear, the husband is blasé enough to handle anything, or so he thinks. As might be expected, the low-budget production and facetious scripting of a few of these sequences work against the intended scary effect of the stories. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This low-budget entry into the sword-and-sorcery cycle of the early '80s wasn't successful during its initial release, but has steadily built a strong cult following over the years. The Beastmaster tells the story of Dar (Marc Singer), the son of a king who was stolen from his mother's womb by a witch under the command of vicious sorcerer Maax (Rip Torn). A poor villager saves Dar from being sacrificed and raises him as his own son, teaching Dar how to fight and witnessing the boy's ability to telepathically communicate with animals. Their happiness is destroyed when their village is attacked by the evil Jun horde, a race of beast-like warriors controlled by Maax. Dar vows revenge and journeys to his father's former kingdom to destroy Maax. Along the way, he falls in love with gorgeous slave girl Kiri (Tanya Roberts) and teams up with former royal guard Seth (John Amos). Dar also uses his powers to enlist the aid of an eagle, a panther and two adorable ferrets named Kodo and Podo. Together, Dar and his unlikely but brave team square off with Maax in an impressive two-part finale that involves a swordfight on the side of a pyramid and a showdown with the Jun horde near a flaming moat. The resulting film was full of action and eccentric surprises, but failed to make an impression at a box office already glutted with fantasy films. However, The Beastmaster eventually became a serious cult favorite thanks to home video and extensive exposure on cable (it is the second most aired movie on TBS after Gone With the Wind). This enduring popularity led to two sequels and a syndicated television series chronicling the further adventures of Dar. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

In this socially conscious drama, set in 1955, three tough New York youths must learn to deal with a troubled world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sort of a triple-threat Bad Seed with a more overtly violent streak, this film tells the tale of trio of cherubic youngsters whose births all coincided with a solar eclipse, which somehow initiated a kind of time-release evil reaction that reaches its climax on the kids' tenth birthday, causing them to transform into miniature homicidal psychopaths. These darling little tykes then proceed to beat dad's brains out with a baseball bat, gun down their teacher, and otherwise beat, stab and strangle anyone who even looks cross-eyed at them. They also seem to be strangely fond of leering at naked teenage girls... or maybe that's just the director's favorite pastime. Produced in 1980, this proto-slasher opus was shelved for six years, then released to video to capitalize on the already-waning trend of Friday the 13th sequels and their hellish offspring. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide