Lance Guest Movies

While John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic Halloween irrevocably changed the style of horror cinema with its simple but relentlessly tense story, it triggered more than a decade's worth of uninspired, exploitative knock-offs, and one could easily list Halloween II among these failures. As with its predecessor, this film was written and produced by Carpenter and Debra Hill, but the terse style and unbearable suspense of the first film are missing, replaced by a more simplistic stalk-and-slash scenario. Directorial duties were handed over to Rick Rosenthal, whose lack of expertise is quite evident (though he managed to hit his stride two years later with the prison actioner Bad Boys). The plot picks up exactly where the original left off: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), shaken and injured from her battle with unkillable psycho Michael Myers, is taken to the Haddonfield Hospital for observation, while Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) continues his desperate search for his monstrous patient. An interesting plot twist has Loomis' investigations revealing Michael's true identity (some of these sequences incorporate footage of young Michael originally shot for the television version of Halloween, which contained scenes hinting at the link between Michael and Laurie).

After slashing his way through the town, Myers manages to track Laurie to the hospital, where the remainder of the action takes place. Numerous night-shift employees are slaughtered in a variety of gruesome ways before Loomis catches up with his quarry, leading to an explosive -- and seemingly conclusive -- confrontation. Pleasence is compelling as usual, but Curtis, who made an auspicious debut in the original, is sadly wasted here, her character reduced to shuffling half-drugged through darkened hospital corridors and screaming helplessly. Carpenter's active involvement in the Halloween franchise continued to dwindle steadily from one sequel to the next, getting scarcely a mention by the time producers Hill, Moustapha Akkad and Irwin Yablans revived the series in 1988 for three more sequels. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Per the title of this ABC Afterschool Special, teenaged Amy (Karlene Crockett) has two loves in her life: her boyfriend (Lance Guest) and her music. A brilliant violinist, Amy has staked all her dreams on winning a major music scholarship. A crisis looms, however, when Amy realizes that she will be competing against her youthful sweetheart -- who is just as determined to win. Between Two Loves is based on Sandra Peden Miller's novel Two Loves for Jenny, which is also the alternate VHS title of this film. ~ Rovi

Neil Simon based his screenplay for I Ought to Be in Pictures on one of his more serious theatrical pieces. Walter Matthau is top-billed as Herbert Tucker, a struggling screenwriter who suddenly finds his 19-year-old daughter, Libby(Dinah Manoff), on his Hollywood doorstep. Having deserted his family years earlier, Herbert isn't keen on having his daughter around to cramp his lifestyle, which at this point consists of drinking his meals and telling lies to his faithful girlfriend, Stephanie (Ann-Margret). Libby takes it upon herself to put Herbert's life in order. There are plenty of angry outbursts and recriminations between father and daughter before the tearful, upbeat conclusion. Incidentally, Dinah Manoff is the daughter of actress Lee Grant, who'd previously co-starred with Walter Matthau in Neil Simon's Plaza Suite -- which, like I Ought to be in Pictures, was directed by Herbert Ross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this standard human interest comedy, Susan Berlanger (Kristy McNichol) has been crippled since a child and has to wear a leg brace in order to get around, but that does not in any way prevent Sam (Robert Carradine) and several other men from being very attracted to her. Susan is a professional flautist with a ballet-company orchestra and is given a chance to travel to Europe for a concert tour, which she is more than happy to accept. Since she has doubts about relationships (do these men feel sorry for her?), she puts a cast on her leg and goes to a ski resort to find out what it is like to be treated "normally" by others. Once there, she meets a captivating photographer (Michael Ontkean) and falls in love -- but does not tell him the truth about her leg. Making matters even worse, a wealthy Frenchman courting Susan's roommate at the resort is an amputee -- he lost a leg in an automobile accident. Sooner or later, Susan will have to come to grips with her deception, her forthcoming marriage, and her interest in the photographer. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Trailer-park teenager Lance Guest regularly escapes from his humdrum existence by playing the video game Starfighter. His expertise at this recreational endeavor attracts the attention of affable stranger Robert Preston. Before he knows what's happening, Guest is whisked by Preston into the outer reaches of the galaxy! It turns out that the Starfighter game is being played in deadly earnest in outer space, and that Guest is expected to join Preston's Star League, then do battle with the wicked Kodan forces. Guest's principal ally is the lizardlike Grig (Dan O'Herlihy--and we didn't recognize him either). His great rival is the traitorous Xur (Norman Snow). The contrast between Guest's earthbound life as the son of single-mother Barbara Bosson and his new position as Starfighter is daunting at first, but soon the boy is manning a spacecraft and zapping the baddies as though he's been doing it all his life. The Last Starfighter was clearly designed with "sequel" in mind: giveaways include the resurrection of a "dead" character and the surprisingly casual escape of the villain. While the film didn't stir up enough business to warrant a sequel, the Starfighter video game remained a much-sought-after commodity by joystick-happy "warriors" all over the country. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A stellar cast distinguishes this chillingly cautionary ABC Afterschool Special about the perils of drunk driving. Told in flashback, this is the tale of two couples: sensible Beth (Mare Winningham) and Tim (Lance Guest), and footloose Annie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Eric (Val Kilmer). The latter duo drink champagne on their first date, and continue imbibing at a dangerous rate during their subsequent double dates with Beth and Tim. Finally, Beth confronts Eric about his liquor problem, but he angrily blows her off -- with tragic results. Filmed several years before its network-TV debut in 1985, One Too Many has since become a staple of driver's-education classes throughout America. ~ Rovi

In this film, based on the novel by John Nichols, young Wendall Olet (Lukas Haas) is sent to live with his Aunt Sybil (Lea Thompson) and Uncle John (Lance Guest) when is father is called on to fight in World War II. Lonely and unhappy, Wendall harbors the delusion that he possesses amazing powers and becomes involved in some family secrets. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

A group of 20-somethings try to sort out their romantic, personal, and professional dilemmas in this sardonic independent comedy. Stuart Winer (Jon Cryer) is an alternately charming and annoying nerd who is struggling to complete his first novel. Gina (Sara Mornell), who works at a successful clothing company, is the model of strength and savvy at work, but at home she's pathetically eager to bend to the will of her latest boyfriend. Jack and Claire (Lance Guest and Lisa Darr) are newly marrieds whose relationship is collapsing under the weight of their unsuccessful attempts to have a baby. And Ricky (Mark Matheisen) is a self-centered actor whose biggest role to date is not doing much for his resume; he played the Ty-D-Bowl man in a TV commercial. Director Gary Leva also appears in a small role. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This made-for-cable comedy, based on a novel by Douglas Preston, concerns an American family who have adopted a chimpanzee brought back from the wilds of Africa. As an experiment, the family, headed by a pair of anthropologists, raises the chimp as if it were a child, teaching it to communicate using American Sign Language. Produced for The Disney Channel, The Jennie Project stars Lance Guest, Alex D. Linz, and Sheila Kelley; the film first aired on July 13, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Six teens on a quiet camping retreat are forced to fight for their lives after a mysterious virus transforms the local birds into monstrous flying predators capable of spreading a highly contagious plague and killing every human in their line of flight. Later escaping from the woods into a secure military bunker on the outskirts of town, the teens attempt to draw up a workable escape plan with the help of some scheming local survivors. But the birds have spread their virus throughout the nearby town, rendering escape without infection virtually impossible. Though they have enough supplies to stay safely put for the time being, it won't be long before a desperate situation calls for desperate measures, and the group must venture outside to confront a winged menace that may well be a flying harbinger of the apocalypse. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi