Peter Feeney Movies

Hard Candy director David Slade took the helm for this adaptation of Steve Niles' terrifying comic-book series of the same name. In Barrow, AK, one night can last an eternity. One month every year, this town is plunged into darkness for 30 days due to its location far north of the Arctic Circle. While extended periods of darkness are something that the locals have become accustomed to, this year something sinister is about to emerge from the long and unforgiving night. As a maniacal horde of vampires assumes control of the city streets and begins to feast freely upon the terrified citizens, the local sheriff (Josh Hartnett), his wife (Melissa George), and a small but resilient band of survivors will be forced to choose between saving themselves or helping the few remaining members of their community survive the blood-soaked siege. Original comic creator Niles collaborated with screenwriters Stuart Beattie and Brian Nelson to pen the film, which was produced under Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures banner. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Season One of the latest Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers spinoff Power Rangers SPD begins, appropriately, with the two-part "Beginnings." The year is 2020, and the fragile peace between earthlings and extraterrestrials is in danger of being shattered by the evil Troobian emperor Gruumm (Rene Naufahu) and his Krybot soldiers; worse still, Gruumm is assisted by malevolent youngster Mora (Olivia James-Baird), who can conjure up additional villains merely by drawing them on paper. As the elite A-squad of the Space Patrol Delta Power Rangers zooms off to do battle with Grumm in space, Cmdr. "Doggie" Cruger (John Tui) prepares a quintet of rookie B-squad members, fresh from New Ranger Academy, to safeguard the surface of the earth. Three of these novices are Blue SPD Ranger Sky (Chris Violette), Green SPD Ranger Bridge (Matt Austin), and Pink SPD Ranger Syd (Alycia Purrott). They are joined by Jack (Brandon Jay McLaren) and "Z" (Monica May), who are introduced as thieves but who quickly reformed and assimilated. "Z" is designated the Yellow SPD Ranger, while Jack is the Red SPD Ranger--and as such he is obliged to assume leadership of the "B-squad", which does not endear him to Sky, who'd expected to be given this honor. Season Highlights include the 2-part "Sam", in which Mora endeavors to win a lonely kid with teleportation powers over to the bad guys, while "Z" tries to convince the boy to stay on the side of Right. In another two-parter, "Shadow", Cmdr. Doggie has nightmares about alien attacks on his home planet Sirius, and will not be able to assume the mantle of Shadow Ranger until his overcomes his fears. Other 2-parters include "Messenger", replete with a dire warning from the future and an assault by the evil Morgana (Josephine Davison); and "Reflection", wherein the SPD's technology is stolen by a pair of two-bit crooks. The season's final episode, titled (what else?), "Ending", puts the B-squad's martial arts and survival skills to the ultimate test when the five SPD Rangers are captured by Gruumm. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Taking one of Xena's offhand comments a bit too literally, Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings) "helpfully" traps Xena (Lucy Lawless) into the body of Daphne (Rose McIver), a little girl on the verge of death. Once she has assumed Daphne's form, Xena struggles to restore the child's will to live, which she lost after the death of her mother. Meanwhile, Aphrodite and Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), posing as Swedish Siamese twins, desperately seek out the magic oil that will separate Xena's soul from Daphne's body before it is too late for both of them. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Autolycus (Bruce Campbell) steals the Chronos gemstone from King Qualius (Ian Watkins), enabling him to control the time-space continuum. As a result, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) travels backward five years to witness the first meeting between his lost love, the demigod Serena (Kara Zediker), and war god Ares (Kevin Smith). In his efforts to save Serena from Ares' grasp, Hercules inexorably alters the shape of the future. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Attending a reunion of Jason's Argonauts in Corinth, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Iolaus (Michael Hurst) discover, to their dismay, that the once mighty King Jason (Jeffrey Thomas), devastated by the bloody unpleasantness involving his bride Medea and their children, has become a dissolute drunkard. Worse still, the Blood-Eyes, a Hera-worshipping cult, have stolen the precious Golden Fleece. With Hercules' encouragement, Jason and the Argonauts set sail again to retrieve the Fleece and restore Jason's self-respect -- and along the way they encounter a familiar-looking band of skeleton warriors. (It is not for nothing that this episode is dedicated to movie special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen.) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi