Cyrus Elias Movies

Legendary low-budget mogul Roger Corman made a somewhat inauspicious return to the director's chair for the first time in nearly twenty years (unless one counts his uncredited participation in "pickup" shoots for several New World Pictures productions) for this quaint sci-fi/horror outing, based on the popular novel by Brian Aldiss. Opening in the year 2031, the story begins with scientist Joseph Buchanan (John Hurt) working on a top-secret military project that creates a rift in time in space, hurtling him and his ultra-high-tech hotrod backwards through time to the early 19th century. Buchanan manages to adapt quite well to his new surroundings, particularly after making the acquaintance of fellow scientist Baron Frankenstein (Raul Julia). Curiously, the Baron is presented here as an authentic historical figure, and his monster-making efforts the basis for the famed book by Mary Shelley (Bridget Fonda), which was a work of fiction. After ruminating about his situation with Mary and her future husband Percy Shelley (late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence) at the villa of mad poet Lord Byron (Jason Patric), Buchanan is approached by the Baron to help construct a mate for his intelligent but homicidal creature (Nick Brimble). Unfortunately, things do not go according to plan, leading to an ironic denouement that finds Buchanan pondering the apocalyptic results of his life's work. The film boasts solid production values and some beautiful location photography (most of the film was shot in Italy); however, the classy look and high-profile casting can't disguise the overall feel of an early New World outing, albeit with a much larger budget. The script, adapted by Corman and writer F.X. Feeney, eliminates many of the novel's intellectual twists and turns; much of the remaining dialogue comes off as merely pretentious. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Father Joseph Mohr (Steve Bond) comes to stay with the family of Franz Guber (Cyrus Elias) in this romantic costume drama. The region is plagued by the evil Baron Von Seidl (David Warner) who delights in persecuting everyone including his own family. Magdalena (Nastassja Kinski) works at the local inn and falls in love with the unavailable Father Mohr. Janza (Franco Nero) is the insurgent who tries to incite a revolution against the despotic Baron. This drama of unrequited love contains nudity. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this lusty romantic adventure, a young wanderer returns to his Venice home and discovers that his wealthy father has squandered the family fortune on gambling and is deeply indebted to a cruel countess from Germany. When she sees the young man, she decides she wants him and decides to make one final wager with his father with the young man as the stakes. The father is unable to resist and promptly loses, causing the hapless lad to flee the terrifying Teutonic tart and take up with a beautiful runaway. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Italy, The Inquiry uses the Bible as a launching pad for speculative fiction. Shortly after the Crucifixion, Roman investigator Titus Valerius Taurus (Keith Carradine) is dispatched to the Holy Land. His mission: to find out who removed the body of Jesus Christ. Carradine is hampered in his investigation by governor Pontius Pilate (Harvey Keitel), who is anxious to keep the details of Jesus' last moments on Calvary from becoming public knowledge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this pretentious erotic thriller an American forest ranger heads for Rome to search for his sister, a model who has mysteriously disappeared and later turns up murdered with a pair of scissors. The police know it is the work of a serial killer, but they have few leads. The young brother begins his own investigation and slowly solves the murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this political drama, Hannah Kaufman, a Jewish-American attorney, must defend Selim Bakri, a young Palestinian suing Israel for the right to live on his Left Bank ancestral land. The government's lawyer, a cocky Israeli attorney, is Hannah's lover and the father of her unborn child. Conflict ensues when Hannah and Selim also become lovers. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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 fantasy, Hercules and Ulysses end up marooned on an island when they lose a battle with a sea monster. On the island Hercules kills a lion with his hands and winds up being mistaken for Samson. To prove that he is really Hercules, he must battle with the real Samson. They grunt, groan, and draw some blood before the fight is called a draw. Later the three team up and defeat the Philistines. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This penultimate film by director Michael Curtiz, perhaps best known for his 1942 Casablanca, is a verbose, routine religious drama on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. After quickly passing over St. Francis' early life as the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, the story notes his talents in and out of battle. St. Francis hears the call to the cloth (in his hagiography, the call was repeated several times before he finally responded completely), and gives up all his worldly goods to dedicate himself to God. The main focus of attention is then on his relationship to Clare (Dolores Hart) a young aristocratic woman who was so taken with St. Francis that she left her family and became a nun. St. Francis by this time (1212 A.D.) had a well-established reputation for his vows of poverty, and aside from the dubious aspersions cast on his interest in Clare, the drama goes on to note miracles and other aspects of his life, up to and including his death on October 3, 1226. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide