Norman Fell
- 1996
A has-been fighter finds himself extorted into becoming a hitman to save himself in this crime drama. The mess began while the opportunistic Marty was trying to convince a mobster to participate in his latest quick money scam. The would-be investor is suddenly shot and killed. Marty sees it all and promises to stay quiet. That's not good enough for Daryl, the mob boss behind the hit and to make sure he forces Daryl to kill another in exchange for his own life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
In this frenetic made-for-television outing, a young boy tries to get into the crazy, competitive spirit of his relatives' annual "Family Olympics," but finds himself more interested in the enigmatic runaway who seems to come out of nowhere. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Melissa Joan Hart, Jason Marsden, (more)
- 1994
In the conclusion of the series' two-part Season Five opener, up-and-coming singer Ashley (Tatyana M. Ali) has put her future in the hands of famous record promoter Gordy Berry (Obba Babatunde)--leaving her original manager Will (Will Smith) out in the cold--and, briefly, out of the Banks house. Predictably, Ashley's ego swells to gargantuan dimensions...and equally predictably, the girl is riding for a very painful fall. Former Three's Company regular Norman Fell shows up in his customary role as a grouchy landlord in this episode, which also features guest appearances by Quincy Jones and Little Richard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Hexed is a lame, low-budget comedy spoof of Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction -- both of which are funnier than Hexed. The film concerns Matthew Welsh (Ayres Gross), a scheming hotel clerk at the Holiday Park Hotel whose life changes for better and worse when famed super-model Hexina (Claudia Christian) checks into the hotel. Matthew manages to lure Hexina back to his apartment for what he thinks will be an uninhibited night of sex -- but Hexina has other things on her mind. It turns out that she is being blackmailed over a series of murders committed in her youth when she was fat and dumpy. Hexina, whose psychological profile hasn't changed since she began to grace fashion-magazine covers, is still a raving paranoid schizophrenic who thinks that Matthew is her blackmailer. So, she acquiesces to bed down Matthew in anticipation of murdering him in the afterglow. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arye Gross, Claudia Christian, (more)
Bette Midler stars as a Martha Raye-type entertainer during the World War II era in this big-budget nostalgia piece. Midler plays big-band singer Dixie Leonard, who is chosen to perform at an overseas USO Christmas show by her uncle Art Silver (George Segal), a comedy writer for famed comedian Eddie Sparks (James Caan). Dixie is shuttled to London, where she is thrown on-stage with Eddie, who takes an immediate dislike to her. But her performance is a sensation, and the audience can't stop howling at Dixie's smart one-liner comebacks to Eddie. Dixie is catapulted to stardom, and the repartee between Eddie and Dixie becomes the stuff of legend. The two spar together through World War II, the McCarthy era, and Vietnam. But Dixie stops speaking to Eddie when he fires a writer for being a communist sympathizer and, later, she doesn't speak to him again after he arranges for a reunion between her and her son on the battlefields of Vietnam. Finally, Dixie, now an old woman, is cajoled to appear on a television awards show to reunite with a now decrepit Eddie, age 91. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Midler, James Caan, (more)
In the tradition of Twilight Zone comes this supernatural/sci-fi anthology hosted by Norman Fell. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This anthology is set within a mental ward at a hospital where doctors try to cope with people suffering from a variety of ailments. Among the afflicted are a young man who believes his parents are really from outer space, a murderous television producer, and a prominent fashion photographer obsessed with a motivational record. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
This overlooked but entertaining direct-to-video oddity plunges into the nightmarish experiences of a portly, depressed psychic medium (Deborah Rose), whose involvement in a grisly child-murder case leads her and her detective partner (Ed Nelson) to an imposing, fortress-like mortuary. Chen (Robert Yun Ju Ahn), the owner of the funeral home and prime suspect in the case, claims the three mummified corpses in question are not children but ancient demons known as "kyoshi." It seems the little monsters have been around for centuries as a result of an age-old curse and can only be placated with offerings of human flesh -- with which the mortician has been supplying them his entire life. When Chen is jailed on murder charges, the under-fed ghouls awaken in search of dinner, trapping the staff inside the mortuary walls and munching down on them. The survivors, including Rose and Nelson, use every means at their disposal to combat the demons -- which have managed to possess the bodies of morgue attendant Mrs. Poopenplatz (Phyllis Diller) and her poodle, mutating them into hideous hell-beasts (not much of a stretch, really). Despite the presence of Diller and some rather outrageous set-pieces, director James Cummins plays the material remarkably straight. Standouts include a good performance by Rose and some truly creepy demon-attacks, marred only slightly by a clunky script and uneven pacing. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
Originally conceived as a Return of the Living Dead sequel and later inexplicably re-titled (despite the highly questionable marketing value of a C.H.U.D. franchise) this clunky attempt at a horror satire involves a pair of teenage do-nothings who abscond from a military base with a corpse who turns out to be a zombie, the by-product of a backfired military experiment. Despite the C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller) references, Bud (Gerrit Graham) is really a zombie of the George Romero variety, chomping down on human flesh and spreading the virulent zombie plague to those unfortunate enough to be onscreen long enough. Eye-rolling Graham is fun to watch, as always, and Robert Vaughn puts in a goofy performance as a rabidly gung-ho general, but they provide scarce gems of humor in a morass of reconstituted horror plot elements and lame jokes. The end product is more C.R.U.D. than C.H.U.D. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Robbins, Bill Calvert, (more)
- 1988
Having invested in a trendy New York seafood restaurant, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is delighted that her nephew Grady (Michael London) has chosen the restaurant to celebrate his engagement to the lovely Donna Mayberry (Debbie Zipp). Alas, murder casts a pall on the party when the restaurant's Maitre D' is murdered and his body is stuffed in the kitchen freezer. Now Jessica is faced with the double dilemma of recouping her investment and locating the killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
A dour Magnum (Tom Selleck) retreats to a mountaintop to mull over the recent failures in his life--specifically, an investigation from which he was fired, and the apparent loss of his most treasured friendships. In mid-meditation, Magnum stumbles upon the wreckage of a WW2-vintage airplane. Ultimately he finds himself helplessly pinned under the wreckage, miles from any help. . .or hope. The "flashbacks" in this episode consist of choice clips from such previous Magnum, P.I. entries as "Home From the Sea", "Distant Relative", "Paper War", "Did You See the Sunrise?", "The Man from Marseilles" and "Death and Taxes". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- R
Stripped to Kill is an exciting, low-budget, stylish mystery thriller where dancers at a local strip club are killed one by one. Detective Cody Sheehan (Kay Lenz) wants the case and is willing to go undercover as one of the dancers in order to catch her suspect. Stripped to Kill, directed with great style by Katt Shea Ruben, is a terrific thriller, despite its excessive gore and nudity. Kay Lenz seems somewhat uncomfortable in her role, which requires her to do a striptease, exposing her complete lack of dancing talent. However she is very effective as the ambitious Cody and has considerable chemistry with her partner Heineman (Greg Evigan). Despite the fact that the plot is routine and the ending implausible, the dancer's are gorgeous and photographed with flair, and there is a good deal of black humor that enlivens this erotic, highly-recommended fast-paced, lively thriller. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Lenz, Greg Evigan, (more)
- 1985
Jessica (Angela Lansbury) pays a visit her niece Tracey (Linda Grovenor), an up-and-coming jockey. After winning a race, Tracey has a confrontation with the horse's owner, indicating that she was supposed to have thrown the race. Not long after, the owner turns up murdered--and Tracey is the prime suspect. Naturally, Jessica isn't about to let her niece take the rap for a crime she didn't commit...and besides, she has a pretty good idea "whodunit" (especially since the revelation of the actual culprit follows the most reliable of the Murder She Wrote guidelines!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In a plot that combines Mary Shelley's mad Dr. Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, two yellow journalism reporters, Jack and Gil (Jeff Goldblum and Ed Begley, Jr.) head off to a castle in Transylvania. The intrepid duo is out to hunt down a story that proves Frankenstein's "monster" is still alive and sparking. What they find is an appropriately demented Dr. Malavaqua and his monstrous creations. Tame stuff for the hardcore groupie, this intended spoof falls a tad short of funny. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley, Jr., (more)
Dorian Harewood stars as the legendary black athlete in this made-for-TV biography that follows Jesse Owens from his collegiate career, to his pinnacle at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he won four gold medals--much to the dismay of Adolf Hitler and his squad of Aryan super-athletes. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1983
The pilot for an unsold weekly series, Uncommon Valor stresses the courage and resourceful of a team of firefighters in Salt Lake City, Utah. Headed by dauntless batallion chief Tom Riordan (Mitchell Ryam), the unit tries to drench a raging conflagration at County General Hospital (a disaster enhanced by some pretty good special effects). They also have to battle the villain of the piece, discreetly described in the original network press release as a "deranged arsonist." A production of Sunn Classic Pictures, the made-for-TV Uncommon Valor originally aired January 22, 1983, on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
The directorial debut of actor and stand-up comedian David Steinberg concerns a single man who decides that he wants to be a dad -- without the complication of a wife. Burt Reynolds stars as Buddy Evans, the manager of Madison Square Garden. A longtime lothario, Buddy has always been very content as a bachelor, but he has begun to feel lately that he'd like to experience fatherhood. His yearnings receive plenty of fuel from his best friends Larry (Norman Fell) and Kurt (Paul Dooley), and from his parental-mentor relationship with a young boy, Tad (Peter Billingsley). So Buddy decides to seek out a woman who will bear his baby for a price, with no strings attached. He finds Maggie Harden (Beverly D'Angelo), a beautiful young music student working as a waitress and yearning for the financial resources to study in Paris. She agrees to serve as Buddy's temporary companion, but as the months pass and her pregnancy progresses, Maggie begins to fall in love with Buddy, who doesn't return her affections -- at first. Steinberg would go on to have greater success as a television sitcom director, calling the shots for several episodes of hit series in the '80s amd '90s. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Beverly D'Angelo, (more)
Mark Warren's comedy Heartbreak High concerns the antics taken by students and faculty of rival high schools attempting to sabotage the other the week before their annual battle on the football field. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
In this drama, a homeless shoeshine boy who lives in a locker at the train station finds himself quite popular after he reveals a talent for picking winners at the racetrack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Coleman, Michael Lembeck, (more)
- 1981
- R
This comedy features the chaotic situations occurring between two high-school football teams. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Vernon, Norman Fell, (more)
- 1980
Actress and popular culture icon Marilyn Monroe is the subject of yet another made-for-television movie. This film, which aired as part of the on-going Moviola series, chronicles young Marilyn's (Constance Forslund) relationship in both business and her personal life, with agent Johnny Hyde (Lloyd Bridges) during the early part of her career. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Veteran comedy specialist Hal Kanter milks every chuckle, chortle and guffaw of Stanley Ralph Ross' teleplay for For the Love of It. The story gets under way when the bad guys surreptitiously plant top-secret documents on a model (Deborah Raffin) and a med student (Jeff Conaway). He's crazy about her, while she can't stand him. Even so, the two protagonists are compelled to join forces when the bad guys start pursuing them. The bulk of the film is a zany, Mack Sennett-style chase, replete with goofy sight gags. In addition, this may be the first made-for-TV movie to tap the comedy potential of Elvis imitators. For the Love of It was originally telecast September 26, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
This film profiles the early career of Marilyn Monroe when she develops a relationship with her Hollywood agent, Johnny Hyde. (AKA This Year's Blonde) ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Bridges, Constance Forslund, (more)
At the beginning of The End, Wendell Sonny Lawson (Burt Reynolds) is informed by his doctor that he's dying from "the same thing Ali MacGraw had in Love Story." Lawson's first reaction is to cry uncontrollably, much to the discomfort of his fellow elevator passengers. He heads to a nearby church to confess all his sins, only to be distracted by the wide-eyed fecklessness of the novice priest (Robby Benson). Attempting to resolve a few issues with ex-wife Mary Ellen (Sally Field), daughter Julie (Kristy McNichol), and his parents (Myrna Loy and Pat O'Brien), Lawson finds that they're all too absorbed in their own problems to pay him any attention. At the end of his rope, Lawson decides to kill himself -- with the help of a nutty mental patient (Dom DeLuise). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, (more)
