Mark Taylor Movies

Three American students studying art in Rome are drawn into a grim world of torture and suffering in director Eli Roth's blackly comic sequel to the horror hit that shocked the world. Beth (Lauren German), Whitney (Bijou Phillips), and Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) have ventured outside of their stateside surroundings in order to get a more worldly appreciation of the arts. But sketching nudes all day can take its toll on even the most talented artist, and when class is over the three girls jump at the opportunity to experience Europe firsthand. As they set out on the train for an impromptu weekend trip, however, the coeds are surprised to cross paths with the beautiful model they had just been sketching. It appears that she, too, is preparing for a vacation that promises to be both relaxing and rejuvenating, and a generous invitation to join her at a remote hostel surrounded by soothing hot springs ultimately proves too tempting for the adventurous Americans to pass up. Unfortunately for the unsuspecting students, one person's idea of relaxing can be another's worst nightmare. Now on an unavoidable collision course with two American businessmen who long to get an edge on their competition by experiencing the thrill of the kill and a scythe-wielding woman who maintains her youthful visage using the Elizabeth Bathory method, these unsuspecting students are about to fall into a trap that remains one of the sadistic and wealthy elite's most well-guarded secrets. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Cabin Fever director Eli Roth skips the humor of his freshman feature and goes straight for the jugular in this unrelenting scare-fest about a pair of libidinous American backpackers seeking cheap thrills in the European countryside. Their carefree college days close behind and the responsibility of the real world looming ever closer on the horizon, Josh (Derek Richardson) and Paxton (Jay Hernandez) strap on their backpacks and prepare for a stratospheric last hurrah of booze, babes, drugs, and debauchery halfway across the globe. It's during a visit to Amsterdam that the pair meets up with raucous Icelandic backpacker Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson), and after the three globe-trotting thrill seekers catch wind of a Slovakian city whose male population has dwindled as a result of civil strife -- leaving the ladies ready and willing to accept any male companionship that might turn up at the local hostel -- the trio quickly beats a hasty retreat to the out-of-the-way oasis. Upon check-in, the trio is greeted by a bevy of beautiful locals and is quickly convinced that the hedonistic hideaway is indeed the real deal. Hazily awakening the following morning to find no trace of backpacking buddy Oli, Paxton chalks his former traveling companion's disappearance up to capriciousness and prepares for another day of debauchery, despite Josh's rapidly elevating sense of unease. Now trapped defenselessly in a foreign land without any means of escape and no way of anticipating the unimaginable hell that lies ahead, the pair is plunged into a torturous netherworld where the screams of the damned fill the air with dread and the warm rays of the sun are little more than a fading memory. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Mike Mignola's acclaimed comic book series about a creature from Hades who joins the battle against evil arrives on the screen in vivid form in this adaptation directed by distinctive horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy's supporting cast also includes Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Evans, and Brian Steele. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this fantasy adventure tale, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) and his kinsman Duncan (Adrian Paul) are "Immortals," members of a secret clan who can be killed only through decapitation. Connor and Duncan find themselves thrown into a tournament where Immortals both good and evil battle one another in a bid to become the last of their kind. Highlander: Endgame was the fourth feature film in the Highlander franchise, but its narrative draws from the storyline of the Highlander television series and ignores the events of the second and third films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Celebrated indie filmmaker Eddie Israel (Harvey Keitel) heads to California to shoot his latest movie, Mother of Mirrors, an examination of a marriage in which the wife pressures her husband to abandon their formerly mutual sex-and-drugs lifestyle and seek the same kind of religious conversion she has experienced. Leaving behind his own wife Madlyn (Nancy Ferrara) and his young son, Eddie explains the impetus of his latest project in a series of behind-the-scenes interviews. Meanwhile, Sarah Jennings (Madonna), a TV actress, has taken the wife role in Eddie's film, and her first item of business on the set is to sleep with Francis Burns (James Russo), who is set to play her husband. Things go sour between the two players and their conflicts spill onto the set, adding even more tension to a shoot in which Eddie alternately bullies and cajoles his actors to elicit more authentic performances. Perhaps Eddie manipulates Sarah onscreen because he's ashamed of having bedded his "very L.A." star just minutes before his wife and son arrived early for a weekend visit. Eddie soon finds the existential dilemmas of his film seeping into his own life, forcing him to question the compulsive adultery he practices. One of the first movies overseen by the film arm of Maverick, the record label and media company Madonna founded in the early '90s, Dangerous Game was produced by the singer's longtime manager, Freddy de Mann, alongside Mary E. Kane, who produced several earlier Ferrara efforts. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide