Marc Hayashi Movies

A stylish take on the woman in jeopardy and mad killer genres, White of the Eye poses the question, What would you do if you suspected your loving husband to be a serial killer? Arizonan Paul White (David Keith) is an expert at installing high-end stereo systems in the homes of wealthy citizens. He has been married to Joan (Cathy Moriarty) for ten years, having seduced her away from a violent criminal, Mike DeSantos (Alan Rosenberg). A series of brutal murders of well-to-do women has citizens of Paul and Joan's town on edge. When evidence at the scene of the second murder points to Paul, Joan tries to fend off the suspicions of police detective Charles Mendoza (Art J. Evans), even as she begins to see signs of violence in her husband that confirm the accusation. Director Donald Cammell, who co-wrote the script with his wife China, offers a fragmented narrative characterized by quick cutting; subjective, handheld camera work; and optical tricks that suggest the unraveling of Paul's mind. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Focusing on idiosyncratic characters and culture-clash comedy, rather than on the high-tech action its title might suggest, writer-director Peter Wang's The Laserman dramatizes the personal and professional struggles faced by a young Chinese-American scientist. When a bungled experiment leads to the death of his lab assistant, laser specialist Arthur Weiss (Marc Hayashi) is forced to reevaluate his life. His family provides little solace, as his attempts to deal with his mother (Joan Copeland), a Jewish woman obsessed with Chinese culture, and his brother (Tony Leung), a petty thief, lead only to more stress. Things begin to look up for Arthur when he receives a offer from a mysterious company to resume his research, but he soon discovers that his employers hope to use his developments for questionable ends, placing him in a disturbing moral crisis. Wang crowds the film with oddball personalities, opting for a quirkier sort of comedy than in his earlier A Great Wall, a more realistic look at the Chinese-American experience. Although the sheer number of these supporting characters and subplots often threatens to overwhelm the film, it attracted positive critical response for its offbeat humor. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

The original "honor student by day, hooker by night" melodrama, Angel stars Donna Wilkes in the title role. During the daylight hours, the 15-year-old Angel is known as Molly, a model prep school student. Devoid of parents, Molly must find some way to keep up the cash flow, so she hits the Hollywood mean streets as a prostitute. While we thankfully don't see Angel "in action", as it were, the film makes up in violence what it lacks in raw sex. Psycho John Diehl is on the loose murdering prostitutes; detective Cliff Gorman tries to stem the murder spree, but soon the hooker ranks are sorely diminished, leaving Angel the next likely target. With the help of such friends as ex-cowboy star Rory Calhoun and transvestite Dick Shawn, Angel manages to avoid becoming a statistic. We're not giving anything away here: after all, there was a 1986 sequel, Avenging Angel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi