Ken Hill Movies
- 1991
- R
A woman (Ginger Lynn Allen) is invited to a satanic ceremony--complete with human sacrifice--by her boyfriend (Jesse Kaye), and is accused of being a member when police raid the place. Taken under the wing of an attorney (Wings Hauser), the woman tries to bring the cult to justice before they can silence her. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1989
Zandy (Dunja Djordjevic) is a college student who has to do a research paper on the old days of the fishing industry on the California coast. She seeks out Dominic (Bill Ackridge), an elderly Italian who still earns a meager living from his tiny boat, and goes out on the water with him. They see things very differently, but gradually become friends. Zandy finds the earthy Dominic attractive in a one-night stand sort of way, and Dominic entertains notions of romance for the young woman as well. However, what he would really like is a long-term relationship and a young woman to come home to. Eventually they sort out the complications, as the fisherman is a level-headed sort. This film originally swept through the festival circuit in 1989 as Maddalena Z, then received a theatrical release in 1991 under the title Voyage of the Heart. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Ackridge, Dunja Djordjevic, (more)
Crime is the disease and Sylvester Stallone is the cure in Cobra, a high-octane rehash of the Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry films, burnished to a 1980s action sheen. Stallone is Marion Cobretti, a cop called in when regular police methods have failed. Cobra is sent to get a cult of Charles Manson-like serial killers and to protect Ingrid (Brigitte Nielsen), a beautiful, statuesque witness who is set to testify against them. Cobra deposits Ingrid in an out-of-the-way town for safe-keeping, but a mole in the police department tips off the killers. The gang comes racing into town to get Ingrid, but Cobra is there waiting for them, ready to spring into action. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, (more)
In this routine spoof of government and media foibles, Sunny (Goldie Hawn) is an ordinary cocktail waitress, someone who graduated in the top 75% of her class. When she dramatically prevents the assassination of a visiting dignitary, an Emir (Richard Romanus) from an Arab country. the event puts her dead center at a whirlwind of media attention, and she gets her a job in the protocol department of the government -- nothing that cocktail waitressing can really prepare one to do. Sunny's nemesis is the evil Mrs. St. John (Gail Strickland) who does not appreciate her inane blunders, and with a few cohorts, she schemes to ship Sunny off to join the Emir's harem, in exchange for a military base in his country. The daffy ex-cocktail waitress is not also blind and deaf, and before long, she suspects that something underhanded is in fact, underfoot. Now she has to find out what it is and how to stop it. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Chris Sarandon, (more)
- 1984
Convicted murderer Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald had hoped that, by telling his side of the story to investigative journalist Joe McGinniss, the authorities would be persuaded of MacDonald's innocence. Instead, McGinniss ended up unswerving in his belief of MacDonald's guilt, and the result was the devastating best-seller Fatal Vision. In this two-part TV adaptation of McGinniss' book, Gary Cole plays MacDonald, a former Green Beret officer, while Frank Dent essays the role of McGinniss. MacDonald's wife and two children are brutally murdered in their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home on February 17, 1970. The prime suspect, MacDonald insists that the killings were committed by a gang of stoned-out hippies, a story that at first is accepted in toto by the doctor's father-in-law Freddy Kassab (Karl Malden). But after MacDonald is officially exonerated, Kassab notices several holes in his son-in-law's story, and becomes convinced that MacDonald was in fact the murderer. Through Kassab's persistence, as well as the uncovering of new forensic evidence, MacDonald is ultimately convicted for all three murders in 1979. Since the TV premiere of Fatal Vision on November 18 and 19, 1984, there has been a growing movement by MacDonald's sympathizers to discredit McGinniss' book and to retry the case--a movement that has been hampered time and again by MacDonald's own erratic behavior. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, (more)
- 1984
Actress Theresa Saldana plays herself in this gut-wrenching fact-based TV movie. The film begins with Ms. Saldana being savagely attacked by a stalking fan in her own home in 1982. Sustaining multiple stab wounds, Saldana lies near death for quite some time, but eventually pulls together physically and emotionally. But that's only the first half of the story. In the second, Saldana, determined to assuage the pain of others who've suffered from violent attacks, establishes Victims for Victims. The most sobering realization vis-a-vis Victims for Victims is the fact that Theresa Saldana's assailant may very well be paroled someday--a contingency that the actress, and her organization, has been forced to counteract ever since that fateful evening in 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1983
In this detective drama set in Hollywood, a private investigator uses logic to solve the murder of a famous mystery writer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1980
The made-for-TV Fugitive Family questions the efficacy of the government's witness protection program. After sending syndicate kingpin Anthony Durano (Mel Ferrer) to prison, undercover agent Brian Roberts (Richard Crenna) and his entire family is marked for death by Durano's successor Peter Ritchie (Don Murray). Roberts and his brood are forced to change their names and move to a faraway city, there to start life anew. Vintner Olan Vacio (Eli Wallach) hires Roberts as a field worker, eventually making him his partner. This puts Vacio in the line of fire when Ritchie's hoods come calling. Fugitive Family first aired October 1, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1979
Apparently weary of playing victim-of-the-week, Elizabeth Montgomery goes the Joan Crawford route playing a fabulously wealthy and stupendously bored matron who is about to be divorced by her wealthy husband. Hubby conveniently expires while dallying with his mistress. The upshot is that Ms. Montgomery is made executive vice president of the boat-building business that she'd helped her husband establish. Moral: Marry well, ladies, and you too can become a CEO. Basically a very slight TV movie, Jennifer: A Woman's Story is bloated way beyond its worth into a Ross Hunter-type sudser; the British TV series upon which it was based, The Foundation, was more austere, and frankly more enjoyable. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1979
Announcing a contest held by WKRP during his deejay shift, Johnny (Howard Hesseman) makes a potentially disastrous slip of the tongue, declaring that the 50-dollar grand prize is $5000--which, as Andy (Gary Sandy) ruefully points out, is the station's contest budget for the entire year. Hoping to save the day, Venus (Gary Reid) conjures up a contest that will be impossible for anyone to win; alas, he soon finds out that in this day and age, nothing is impossible. Featured in the supporting cast are two of Hollywood's best--and most eccentric--character actors, Vincent Schiavelli and Tracey Walter. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1978
Diane Baker (best known to contemporary movie fans as the well-connected mother of the kidnap victim in the 1991 Oscar winner The Silence of the Lambs) stars as Carrie Williams in the ABC Afterschool Special entry One of a Kind. The focus of the story, however, is on Stephanie Brown, cast as Baker's daughter, Lizzie. Mother and daughter are in charge of a boardwalk concession, leaving them with little time and less money. The pressures of life have compelled Carrie to keep her distance from Lizzie, just when the girl needs her most. Will Lizzie be forced to do something drastic to get her mom's attention and care? The incidental music for One of a Kind was composed by Maurice Jarre. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Diane Baker, Stephanie Brown, (more)
