Charlotte Chatton Movies
- 2001
In this impressionistic independent drama, Hilbert (Bruce Ramsay) is a successful young man living in San Francisco who learns that his father is hovering near death after a massive heart attack. The news has a seismic impact on Hilbert, who is emotionally shattered by the prospect of his father's mortality. Hilbert abandons his comfortable home and leaves his attractive girlfriend, taking up new digs in a cheap hotel along the city's skid row and begins jarring his mind and body with drugs, alcohol, and a series of anonymous relationships with cheap women. As Hilbert tries to sort out the turmoil in his mind, he keeps looking back to his often combative relationship with his mother. Musician Juliana Hatfield also appears in a supporting role. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Ramsay, Charlotte Chatton, (more)
- 1997
The actress Peg Entwistle (aka Lillian Millicent Entwistle) appeared as Hazel in David O. Selznick's Thirteen Women (1932), and tragically, on September 18, 1932, she leaped from the letter "H" of the Hollywood sign. An opening re-creation of Peg Entwistle's fatal plunge establishes the mood for this dark Hollywood drama, and then the action moves to a bar, operated by Jack (Costas Mandylor). The bar is the haven for a group of aspiring actresses who came in search of the Hollywood dream but instead serve as stand-ins for well-known screen stars. After three days on pills and alcohol, Garbo stand-in Shirley (Daphne Zuniga) has a run-in with mean-spirited Bette Davis-double Monica (Jordan Ladd). The stand-ins assemble at Jack's bar to stage a bitchy birthday party for Jean Harlow-look-alike Martha Anne (Sammi Davis), dysfunctional at age 30. Mae West-stand-in Peggy (Charlotte Chatton) and Dietrich-double Rhonda (Missy Crider) are also on hand for the festivities. The screenplay by Ed Kelleher and director Harvey Keith expands and embellishes Kelleher's one-act play. Shown at the 1997 Hamptons Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daphne Zuniga, Costas Mandylor, (more)
Clive Barker's horrific creation Pinhead (Doug Bradley) returns to the screen for the fourth (and purportedly final) time in this time-juggling horror opus. In 18th century France, Phillip Lemarchand (Bruce Ramsay) constructs a black puzzle box for the wizard Duc de L'Isle (Mickey Cottrell); however, the box has potentially deadly consequences when it's discovered that it can be used to open the gates of hell, freeing the demonic Pinhead. Two hundred years later, the box finds its way into the hands of John (also played by Bruce Ramsay), a New Yorker and distant descendant of Lemarchand who is being pursued by Pinhead and his minions, while another 200 years hence, Dr. Paul Merchant (Ramsay again) is trying to make his way aboard a space station in hopes of reclaiming the puzzle box, hoping to destroy it before it can be used to once again release the demons upon the world; Merchant is also attempting to build a second box that can close the gates that the first box opens. While makeup artist Kevin Yagher made his directorial debut with this film, the final cut was taken away from him and considerably shortened, which in his mind severely compromised the film's complex, time-traveling narrative. He opted to instead credit his work to Alan Smithee, which was the Directors Guild's official pseudonym for directors who feel their work has been tampered with. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Ramsay, Valentina Vargas, (more)
- 1990
In this finely observed low-key drama, Alan Brandon lives by himself. Compared to his employee Bernard, he's practically upper-crust, but in reality he is just a small property holder. He has had his eye on Bernard's abused wife and teen-aged older daughter for some time and has yearnings for some kind of romantic contact with them. For a variety of reasons, Alan lets Bernard go and hires his wife Maud instead as his housekeeper. Meanwhile, Maud's older daughter has been carrying on a lackluster affair with Raif, an apparently parentless lad who lives in the town postmistress' house. When she discovers that she is pregnant, the last thing that she thinks of is marrying the boy, who could very well be the illegitimate son of a local priest. In typically British fashion, nobody admits to his or her real feelings, and fantasies abound. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amelda Brown, Jason Carter, (more)
