Paul Freeman Movies

James Caan stars in this made-for-cable Western as John Flinders, a former outlaw who by the year 1910 has settled down as the warden of Arizona's Red Rock Prison. Priding himself on his fair and humane treatment of his prisoners, Flinders finds his values -- and his loyalties -- sorely tested upon the arrival of convicted murderer Mike Sullivan, who happens to be John's old saddle pal from his wilder days. As Flinders resists Sullivan's never-ending efforts to escape, he also embarks upon a romance with the widow of executed convict Carl McVale. Executive producer Brian Dennehy appears in a small but significant role. Warden of Red Rock made its Showtime network premiere on March 18, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

After being released from an institution, a manic-depressive attempts to get custody of her 5 children and struggles with the opposition of her oldest daughter and the foster parents. ~ Rovi

A wealthy invalid discovers her husband's scheme to have her killed in this made-for-cable thriller--remade from the 1948 feature starring Barbara Stanwyck. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

The hobo in the made-for-TV A Hobo's Christmas is played by Barnard Hughes. Drifting from place to place, Hughes finds himself in his hometown of Salt Lake City at Christmastime. Here he hopes to close old wounds and be reunited with his unforgiving son Gerald McRaney, and get to know the grandchildren he has never met. McRaney, still resenting the fact that Hughes ran out on his family 25 years earlier, gives his father only one day with his grandkids; after that, he's expected to leave and never come back. Everything that usually happens in a feel-good film of this nature does happen, but getting there is half the fun. If you missed the location-filmed A Hobo's Christmas when it was first telecast on December 6, 1987, despair not: the film is sure to pop up again on cable during the Yuletide season. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Sam Elliot stars as Sam Houston, the visionary who nearly single-handedly forged the state of Texas into a powerful entity in its own right. Refusing to forget the Alamo (as if anyone could), Houston led the military in Texas' rebellion against Mexico. G.D. Spradlin co-stars as President Andrew Jackson, with Michael Beck appearing as Jim Bowie, James Stephens as Stephen Austin, and Richard Yniguez as Mexican General Santa Anna. Lensed on location in the Lone Star state, this sweeping made-for-TV film originally occupied three hours' screen time on November 22, 1986. Its title at that time was Houston: The Legend of Texas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The five-hour miniseries The Mystic Warrior began life in 1979 when producer David L. Wolper announced plans for a ten-hour adaptation of Hanta Yo, an epic historical novel by Ruth Beebe Hill. Using as her main source a full-blooded Sioux named Chunksa Yuha, Hill fashioned what amounted to a Native American version of Roots, chronicling the history of the Matho tribe of the Ogala Dakota Sioux. Although Hill was briefly the darling of the literary cognoscenti, her book was ultimately attacked and discredited by a veritable army of Indian historians, teachers, and activists, who accused her of distorting and falsifying truths in order to promote her own (and Yuha's) sociopolitical agenda. Suddenly, all of the Native American support that had been promised to the miniseries version of Hanta Yo evaporated; even the filming location had to be changed from New Mexico to Thousand Oaks, CA, so as not to offend the Indian tribes in the former state. When the project finally aired on May 20 through 21, 1984, its running time (and budget) had been cut in half, and the producer was obliged to qualify the credits by noting that the teleplay was based partially on Hill's book, but mostly on "other sources." Judging by the results, those sources would seem to have been such Hollywood fictional films as Cheyenne Autumn and A Man Called Horse. Set in the years 1802 to 1808, the finished film focused on a young brave named Ahbleza (Robert Beltran), the son of a Matho chief. Blessed with supernatural visionary powers by the ancient Mahto seer Wanagi (Ron Soble), Ahbleza set about to save his people from the devastations of the future, among them the invasion of the white man. After a lengthy, truth-seeking odyssey fraught with tragedy and sacrifice, Ahbleza assumed his rightful place as spiritual leader of his tribe. Mystic Warrior was entertaining enough, but failed to draw viewers away from such formidable competition as The Jeffersons, Alice, and One Day at a Time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this made-for-TV adventure, six men end up marooned on a remote South Sea island and find themselves having to deal with a tribe of murderously man-hating bikini-clad babes. The film is also titled Island-Sister Theresa. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Producer/director Mel Stuart, who'd previously worked with David L. Wolper on the historical-recreation series Appointment with Destiny, applies the same docudrama techniques to the feature length Ruby and Oswald. Framed in the form of a documentary, the film recounts the days just prior to the Kennedy assassination, then traces the events leading to the fatal confrontation between Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald. There is a smattering of "conspiracy" speculation, but the script generally sticks to the known facts. The dramatized recreations are interspersed with actual footage of the dark days in November, including JFK's funeral. Made for TV, Ruby and Oswald has been rereleased as Four Days in Dallas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Masked serial killer Michael Myers makes his seventh appearance in the eighth installment of this long-running slasher series. Although the climax of the previous installment, Halloween: H20, depicted heroine Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally finishing off her brother/tormentor, the opening sequence of Halloween: Resurrection reveals that Laurie actually beheaded the wrong guy. Now confined to a mental institution, she quickly falls victim to her brother and longtime foe (played this time out by Brad Loree). Cut to Haddonfield, IL, where a sextet of college students is assembling for the production of an online reality show in which they'll spend the night locked up in the killer's childhood home being filmed by dozens of cameras and broadcast over the Internet. Presided over by fast-talking producer Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes) and his girlfriend/business partner, Nora Winston (Tyra Banks), the players range from fame-hungry Jen (Katee Sackhoff) and food-obsessed Rudy (Sean Patrick Thomas) to rakish Jim (Luke Kirby) and cerebral Donna (Daisy McCrackin). As these photogenic youngsters hunt for clues about Michael's tortured childhood, engage in on-camera sexual escapades, and discover the phony props planted by Freddie and Nora, Michael arrives to stalk them relentlessly one by one. To complicate matters, Freddie himself is skulking around in a Michael Myers mask hoping to scare up some ratings. As the bodies begin to pile up, thoughtful cast member Sara (Bianca Kajlich) manages to survive thanks to wireless email instructions from high-school dork Myles (Ryan Merriman), but even the latest technology might not be enough to outwit Michael Myers. Halloween: Resurrection was directed by Rick Rosenthal, who previously helmed 1981's Halloween 2. The cast also features Thomas Ian Nicholas of American Pie and Billy Kay of L.I.E. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Picking up six years after the events of Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, this competently produced but ultimately disappointing sequel attempts to tie up the uneven horror series' loose ends with a less-than-convincing resolution. This installment opens with Jamie Lloyd (J.C. Brandy), young niece of supernatural psycho-killer Michael Myers, giving birth on an altar amid a mysterious Druid ceremony. Before she is killed by her monstrous uncle, Jamie manages to leave her baby in the care of young Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), who has pursued a lifelong obsession with the horrific Myers family legacy in the town of Haddonfield, IL. Living with members of the Strode family, Tommy comes to suspect that one of them, little Danny Strode (Devin Gardner), is cursed with the same malevolent power that drove Michael to murder several members of his family. When Michael arrives in Haddonfield to find and destroy Jamie's baby, Tommy joins forces with Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), Michael's ex-psychiatrist and a life-long crusader against his sinister former patient, to find the connection between Michael and the Man in Black and end the curse once and for all. Released shortly after Pleasence's death, this confusing, horribly edited blend of tired slasher clichés and X-Files-inspired subplots is a poor testament to the long career of the distinguished and compelling character actor. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This easy-going television movie is about Chris McBride (Michael York), a real-life naturalist who brings his wife and daughter to an African wildlife preserve to join him in a research project. The area has a special meaning to him because he was born there. His wife is not as enthusiastic as he is about leaving their familiar and comfortable world behind but changes her mind when she starts getting involved in the photography part of the project. A chance discovery of a pair of white-hued lion cubs (not albinos) raises disagreements on whether the family should do everything to help them survive, or just leave them alone. Eventually a compromise is reached that bodes well for the family and the fledgling lions and strengthens the family's resolve to fight off a poacher who wants to use the unusual cubs for his own profit. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi