Lee Arenberg Movies

When a group of ruthless, demonic hunters known as the Scourge begin killing a family of helpless half-demons because of their mixed blood, it brings back painful memories for Doyle (Glenn Quinn) of the years he spent denying his own half-demonic nature. Angel (David Boreanaz) swiftly moves into action, going undercover in the Scourge and also arranging safe passage on a ship for the half-demons. But when one of the half-breeds, a troubled teen, runs away, Doyle must find and rescue him, delaying the ship's departure. By then, a double-cross has tipped off the Scourge to the ship's location and they show up, bloodthirsty, before it can leave port. Meanwhile, Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) learns of Doyle's true nature and responds not with the disgust he was expecting, but with shock that he avoided telling her. She agrees to go out with Doyle, fulfilling his greatest wish, but it's not to be. The Scourge unleash a terrible weapon designed to destroy everyone with human blood in a quarter-mile radius. Doyle sacrifices himself to turn the weapon off, leaving Cordelia with a passionate goodbye kiss. Originally broadcast November 30, 1999, on the WB network, "Hero" marked season one, episode nine of the supernatural comedy drama. Although some reports indicated a rift between actor Glenn Quinn and the show's producers, his character's death was actually planned early in the show's development. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Brain Dead was based on a script by Charles Beaumont, leading some obtuse fans to hail the "return" of that frequent Twilight Zone contributor. Actually Beaumont has been dead since 1967, so this cookie spent a long time in the oven. Stalwart supporting actor Bill Pullman is given star billing as a brilliant brain surgeon who agrees to perform an operation on a psychotic mathematician. This surgery, ostensibly, is to "adjust" the patient's attitude--and, incidentally, to unlock the corporate secrets secreted within the patient's brain. But as Pullman probes about, he begins experiencing first-hand the psycho's fevered, paranoic dreams. Pullman drifts farther and farther from reality, and the audience is implicitly invited to do the same. Bill Paxton also stars in this Roger Corman-style thriller, produced by Corman's daughter Julie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this campy, nostalgic comedy based on a popular TV series from the early '60s, the two bungling cops Toody and Muldoon are assigned to guard a key witness who is planning to testify against a crime lord. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Mark L. Lester's follow-up film to his Class of 1984 is a rancidly violent peek at a near-future high school world of terror -- The Jetsons meet The Terminator. In Lester's world, total anarchy rules (at least in Seattle). Classrooms are sinkholes of violence, and around the kill-zone high schools "Free Fire Zones" are set up that look like re-creations of Dachau. Rival youth gangs roam these areas with enough artillery for a second Vietnam War. The gangs' insane violence is exacerbated by a drug called Edge. When the Department of Educational Defense needs to supply new teachers, they look to a secret government agency headed by Dr. Bob Forrest (Stacy Keach) who sends new teaching recruits (Pam Grier, John P. Ryan, Joshua Miller) to the beleaguered high school. These novice teachers are not your ordinary teaching-college graduates, however. They are "tactical education units" -- cyborgs reprogrammed to teach readin' and writin' and 'rithmetic. If the students don't learn their daily assignments, they learn an even bigger lesson -- learn or die. The strict disciplinarian robots compel the student gangs to unite and fight the new educational menace. Under the leadership of Cody Culp (Bradley Gregg), who has just gotten out of reform school and has seen that there is more to life than killin' and cuttin' and Edge, the punks take up arms against the cyborgs who are invading their high-school turf. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The imaginary world of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game comes to life in this special-effects laden adventure. In the Empire of Izmer, magic is the key to power in both the supernatural and political realms. The Mages are a sect who know the secrets of magic and use it to hold sway over the masses. The youthful Empress Savina (Thora Birch) wants to use her powers to bring justice and prosperity to all, but Profion (Jeremy Irons) is an evil Mage who wants to use his knowledge of magic to overthrow Savina and establish his own despotic rule. Through deceitful means, Profion wins away the special scepter that allows him to control the nation's Golden Dragons; Savina's only hope to recover the scepter and the rule of Izmer is to obtain the Rod of Savrille, a talisman that will give her powers over the Red Dragons, even more powerful than their golden counterparts. As Savina sets out to gain control of the Red Dragons, she gains a number of unlikely allies, including a pair of thieves, Snails (Marlon Wayans) and Ridely (Justin Whalin); a powerful dwarf, Elwood (Lee Arenberg); and Norda (Kristen Wilson), an elf with a gift for finding lost objects. Dungeons & Dragons also features Zoe McLellan, Bruce Payne, and Richard O'Brien, the latter of whom is best known as the writer and co-star of the perennial cult item The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The manic writing-directing comedy team of Tom Stern and Alex Winter (the latter of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) followed up their deranged short-film collaborations and the short-lived MTV series The Idiot Box with this comic fantasy, which amounts to a virtual car crash of anarchic, mind-blowing weirdness. The brain-damaged plot follows self-centered sitcom actor Ricky Coogin (Winter), official spokesman for the E.E.S. (Everything Except Shoes) corporation, into the jungle-bound South American nation of Santa Flan. Coogin has been sent as an emissary on behalf of E.E.S. to placate the media uproar over a substance called Zygrot-27, a chief ingredient in many E.E.S. products which has been decried as a fatal environmental toxin. Accompanied by his friend Ernie (Michael Stoyanov) and environmental activist Julie (Megan Ward), Ricky takes a detour into the jungle to a bizarre amusement park overseen by bombastic barker/inventor Elijah C. Skuggs (Randy Quaid), who specializes in the display of "Hideous Mutant Freekz" (the film's original title). The trio soon discover that Skuggs manufactures his oddities himself, and they find themselves at the mercy of his hideous freakmaking factory -- which coincidentally uses Zygrot-27 as a catalyst. Once he has the hapless heroes strapped down, Skuggs reveals his intention to transform Coogin into an evil mega-freak who will destroy all the others in a slam-bang, standing-room-only closing event. Miffed at the notion of sustaining an acting career as a spine-covered, pus-gushing monster, Coogin joins a rebellion within Skuggs' captive stable of other man-made freaks -- whose ranks include such monstrosities as effete human worm; a bearded lady (Mr. T in a frilly dress); a man with a sock-puppet for a head (voiced by Bob Goldthwait); and Ortiz the Dog-Boy (an uncredited Keanu Reeves). Their plans to turn Ricky into a zygrot-powered superhero go astray, however, leading to a hilariously apocalyptic finale. Doomed to home-video status by lethargic distribution from Twentieth-Century Fox, this unappreciated gem deserves a second look; packed with hilarious visual gags, ultra-gross setpieces and body-function jokes, Freaked is a hallucinogenic funhouse of a movie. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Roger Corman's production company does it again with this fast-paced, funny send-up of grade "B" movie-making. Like the first Hollywood Boulevard, this story is set at the kitschiest production company in Tinsel Town, Miracle Pictures. The trouble begins during the filming of Barbarian Goddesses of the Amazon It seems someone has been bumping off the studio's buxom starlets. Poor studio head Max Miranda is frantic to find new ones. When toothsome Candy Chandler slinks in, someone mistakes her for an extra and rushes her into the set for Barbarian, where Max becomes instantly enamored and begins promising her that she will be the studio's brightest young star, something that doesn't set well with jealous diva Mary Randolph. Corman fans will again be delighted by the many clips from earlier New World films and by the many inside jokes. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Bundy family enjoys an unexpected streak of fabulous luck. Well, not everyone enjoys the streak: Al Bundy (Al Bundy) is convinced that his unexpected good fortune is merely a manifestation of the family curse. . .which invariably ends with death. Highlights of this episode include a fleeting Twilight Zone reference, and the announcement by Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate) that her waitressing career has come to an end. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Angry over the demolition of his home, eccentric Mr. Willard (Stephen Root) begins buying up major New York City landmarks--including the Night Court building. When it turns out that Willard is within his legal rights, Harry (Harry Anderson) is put on the trail of a serious financial snafu made by the city government. Meanwhile, Dan (John Larroquette) savors the prospect of judging the annual "Miss Mass Transit" beauty pageant. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) returns to the screen for another round of supernatural adventures on the high seas in this spirited sequel to the 2003 Disney hit, which re-teams original director Gore Verbinski with original screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. As Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) prepare to exchange vows at the altar, their wedding plans hit rough waters with the arrival of sea-bound scallywag Jack Sparrow. It seems that Sparrow owes a substantial blood debt to half-octopus sea captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), and that the only way for the flamboyant sea rover to elude the wrath of his otherworldly pursuer is to seek the aid of mysterious and powerful voodoo priestess Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), whose ability to resurrect the dead and gaze into the future may provide just the advantage needed to avoid a waterlogged fate in the locker of his legendary nemesis. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Screenwriter/electrician Abbe Wool makes her directorial debut with the offbeat road movie Roadside Prophets. Brooding factory worker Joe (X front man John Doe) takes a road trip in order to scatter the ashes of his co-worker Dave Coleman (David Anthony Marshall). Riding his vintage Harley Davidson, Joe leaves Los Angeles and heads for a small Nevada town called El Dorado to fulfill Dave's final wish. His journey is complicated by a small fry named Sam (the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz), a wannabe biker who continually lights off fireworks and nurtures an odd obsession with Motel 9. Joe also has to cope with making daily phone calls to Angie (voice of Sonna Chavez), his co-worker back in L.A. who is giving him sick days in exchange for the promise of a hot date. While traveling through the desert, Joe and Sam meet various eccentric characters played by the likes of David Carradine, John Cusack, Timothy Leary, and Arlo Guthrie. They eventually end up at their destination, which turns out to be a washed-up gambling town called Jackpot. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Roseanne stays home while everyone else goes out to a Halloween party. She gets visited by the ghosts of Halloween Past (Lee Arenberg), Halloween Present (Mario Roccuzzo), and Halloween Future (Garry Bullock). Laurie Metcalf's daughter Zoe Perry plays Jackie as a little girl. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi