C. Thomas Howell Movies
American actor C. Thomas Howell (the "C" is for Christopher) began his acting career at the age of four, when he was a regular on the TV series Little People; he went on to appear on two other series: Two Marriages and Into the Homeland. This led to a big break when he was cast at the age of 16 in a secondary role in Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), one of the most successful films of all time. Following that, Francis Ford Coppola gave him the lead (in part due to Howell's "pretty-boy" good looks) in The Outsiders (1983), which has led to a consistent film career. However, most of his movies (with the exception of The Hitcher, 1986, in which he is stalked by a killer) have fared badly at the box office. Besides being an actor, Howell is also a former junior rodeo circuit champion. He is married to actress Rae Dawn Chong, with whom he co-starred in Soul Man (1986). The two divorced in 1990, but Howell remarried Sylvie Anderson in 1992.Howell would continue to appear in several projects a year, playing such notable roles as Lt. Thomas D. Chamberlain in 1993's Gettysburg, and the title role in 1995's Baby Face Nelson. In 1995, he tried his hand at directing, helming the drama Hourglass. In 1996 he directed The Big Fall and Pure Danger, and later, Howell added writing and producing to his resume as well, earning both screenwriter and producer credits for 2004's Hope Ranch and 2005's Blind Injustice. Howell also never gave up acting, appearing in such varied films as 2004's Hidalgo and 2007's Hoboken Hallow.
~ All Movie Guide
When Dallas attorney Addison Terrill (C. Thomas Howell) arrives home late one night to discover his wife savagely murdered and the words "we're even now" crudely scrawled across the bedroom wall, his nightmare is only beginning in this taut tale of suspense from first-time filmmaker Brad Heller. Hunted as a suspect by police, Addison enlists the aid of his old friend Sam in seeking out the true killer in the seamy underbelly of the city. As the bitter ex-cop who's no stranger to street justice begins to discover that there's more to the story than meets the eye, Sam becomes a crucial ally to Addision and may be able to help him find the killer before time runs out and the law closes in. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Sean Young, (more)
- 1987
- R
Set in a small town in Texas, a young man begins to lose interest in his sex-brained girlfriend and begins falling for her mother instead. This romantic comedy-drama features C. Thomas Howell, Ann-Margret, Kelly Preston and Charles Durning. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, C. Thomas Howell, (more)
- 1993
In this behind-the-scenes thriller, a movie actress finds herself accused of hacking up her producer. She tries to flee with two lovers preparing to marry. The three get into all sorts of trouble that ends with the death of the fiancee. Once again, the actress finds herself accused of the crime, but did she do it? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Fiorentino, C. Thomas Howell, (more)
This variation on the themes of 9 to 5 (1980) and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) presents one philandering man as the target of revenge for all scorned women everywhere. When Brian Hartley (Zach Galligan) has been unfaithful yet again to his fiancée Linda Alissio (Teri Hatcher), he shows up at her Malibu beach house expecting to beg for and receive forgiveness. Except that this time, Brian is going to get the lesson of his life. Lisa's housemates Kim (Lara Harris) and Sharon (Tracy Griffith) take him hostage, tying him to a bed. For three days, the trio of vengeful women inflict Brian with a series of psychological tortures, including using his credit cards, shaving him with a rusty razor, getting him fired from his job, and forcing him to watch a home shopping cable channel. When they're convinced that Brian will sin no more, they put him in a skirt and release him. Brian's got a few surprises for them, however. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Galligan, Teri Hatcher, (more)
Director Thomas Elliott made his feature debut with this 2001 thriller about a movie star who comes face to face with her haunted past. C. Thomas Howell plays Nathan, a deranged convict who gets out of the joint and reunites with his brother, Daniel (Jason Widener). As it turns out, Daniel has grown obsessed with Laurie, an actress played by Deborah Zoe. Once Nathan comes into the picture, he decided to take Daniel's fixation to the next level, abducting Laurie and thrusting her back into a life of abuse she thought she'd left behind. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell
- 1999
- PG13
Alaskans may be used to a big snowfall every once in a while, but not the sort that hits Juneau in this disaster picture. Jack (C. Thomas Howell), his wife Lia (Caroleen Feeney), and their friend Neil (Thomas Ian Griffith) all work for the Environmental Protection Agency in Juneau, Alaska's capital city. One day, while they are tagging animals for a research project in the mountains near Juneau, a sudden avalanche occurs; Jack is immediately killed, and Lia is believed dead by search party leader Grant (R. Lee Ermey). Neil eventually finds and rescues Lia, but he sinks into a deep depression, convinced that he's responsible for Jack's death. A few years later, a large petroleum concern wishes to install a large pipeline through Juneau's mountain range to transport oil. Lia, who had moved away, comes back to Alaska to protest the proposed pipeline, believing that this will mean more avalanches and more loss of life. Neil is certain that she's right, and together they fight the all-powerful oil company, which is not above using violence to get its way. Avalanche was shot on location in Alaska, with the state's pristine natural beauty one of the film's most notable features. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Ian Griffith, Caroleen Feeney, (more)
- 1995
- R
This exciting crime drama recounts the life and times of one of the Prohibition's most famous and feared gangsters as he engages in a territorial battle with his nemesis Al Capone. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Lisa Zane, (more)
- 2005
After she is savagely attacked by a rapist, blind lawyer Diana Scott (Jamie Luner) is determined to help the police nail the perpetrator. Using her heightened non-visual senses, she narrows the search down to one Malcolm Humphries (Tood Sandomirsky), who on the bais of Diana's testimony is thrown into prison. While thus incarcerated, Malcolm meets fellow con Anthony Davis (Thomas Mitchell), who freely boasts that it was he who attacked Diana. Ultimately, DNA testing proves that Malcolm is innocent, whereupon a mortified Diana tries her best to make amends. However, any hopes for a early happy denoument are dashed when Anthony Davis escapes, fully intending to brutalize Diana all over again! The made-for-cable Blind Justice was originally telecast March 10, 2005 on the Lifetime network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A laid back college student who favors quiet gatherings with close friends over wild nights out on the town finds himself at the center of a centuries old war between vampires and mortals in this low-budget frightener starring Tony Todd and C. Thomas Howell. Will is an average college student whose low-key lifestyle is about to get more interesting than he could ever imagine. After being bitten by a vampire seductress whose clan secretly scours the campus for fresh blood, Will begins to make a startling transformation. Meanwhile, among the legions of the undead, powerful coven leader Julian (Todd) is looking to name a successor to the throne. In order to qualify for such an honor, however, a vampire from Julian's coven must first hunt and kill a sentry. The sentries are an elite order of vampire hunters who have been quietly keeping humanity safe from the vampire threat for millennia, carefully maintaining the delicate balance between good and evil. Suddenly, a college student who never thought he would amount to anything finds himself at the center of a supernatural war between the world he once knew, and the secret society that he never knew existed. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Todd, A.J. Draven, (more)
- 1992
- R
Dying of leukemia, Phil is given only one more month to live, so he gathers together his two childhood friends and travels to California where he intends to audition for a television trivia game show. While on their road trip, they encounter various situations and meet a middle-aged woman with a free spirit who decides to join them. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Bateman, C. Thomas Howell, (more)
- 1984
Call to Glory was intended as an ABC miniseries, depicting the turbulent 1960s as seen through the eyes of an Air Force family. A pre-Coach Craig T. Nelson stars as Colonel Raynor Sarnac, with Cindy Pickett as his wife Vanessa and Elizabeth Shue and Gabriel Damon as the Sarnac children. The 2-hour pilot concentrates on the 13 fateful days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the Fall of 1962. This pilot, and the miniseries itself, was originally slated for telecast in May of 1984, but ABC smelled potential in the project and ordered that it be expanded to a 13-week series. The premiere was moved up to August 13, 1984, with the pilot film unveiled right after ABC's Olympics coverage. Call to Glory was a huge ratings hit at the outset; alas, ABC's decision to move away from the historical aspects of the program to concentrate on the soapish goings-on within the Sarnac family prompted a severe drop-off in viewer interest. The program was finally axed in February of 1985. Later that year, scenes from the untelecast Call to Glory episodes were stitched together into another 2-hour TV "movie", Call to Glory: JFK. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this crime thriller, Jason Chandler (Patrick Muldoon) is an FBI agent who is trying to hunt down a serial killer nicknamed "The Silencer" for his habit of cutting out the tongues of his victims. As Chandler tries to uncover the trail of "The Silencer," he is recruited for an elite FBI unit called the "Red Team," which is devoted solely to hunting down serial killers; however, the more Chandler studies their methods, the more he finds himself thinking the Red Team may be doing more harm than good. Chandler also finds himself developing a very non-professional relationship with his new partner, Stephanie Dobson (Cathy Moriarty). As Jason and Stephanie do research on The Silencer, they discover evidence that there's another unusual killer on the loose -- a multiple murderer who is targeting serial killers. Red Team was also released under the title The Crimson Code. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cathy Moriarty, Patrick Muldoon, (more)
- 1990
In this graphically violent and taut made-for-cable actioner an aspiring photographer teams up with a sexy sculptress to take down the hit man who lives in the loft next door. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In 2017, the survivors of a worldwide apocalypse do battle for supremacy in this sci-fi adventure. Most of the Earth has been reduced to ruins, and the pitiful few who have survived have moved underground and organized themselves into religious cults who wage war among themselves for dominion over what's left of the planet. A self-ordained holy man (Roddy Piper) kills the family of a roving mercenary (C. Thomas Howell), and the warrior swears revenge. He joins forces with a beautiful female killer-for-hire (Heidi Von Palleske) and they set out to win back the world for the forces of good. Cybercity also features David Carradine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Roddy Piper, (more)
Between 2014 and 2064 the space station U.S.S. Legacy has quietly circled an uninhabitable Earth. Contained within the station are the last remnants of the human race. Scientist Kendall Forster is among them. Her mission is to help clean up the planet's toxic atmosphere in order to start humanity anew. In this taut space thriller, made especially for the Sci-Fi Channel, trouble comes when one of Kendall's fellow passengers goes crazy and begins murdering the other people. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matt Frewer, Colin Cunningham, (more)
- 1997
A condemned man's benevolent act turns out to be a desperate bid for freedom in this action thriller. Rudy Salazar (Danny Trejo) is a multiple murderer who has been sentenced to death, but an unexpected act of generosity takes him off death row. Rudy's bone marrow type matches that of a young girl suffering from a rare form of leukemia; he volunteers to donate his marrow for the girl's treatment in exchange for having his sentence reduced to life without parole. The courts agree, but Thomas Quinlan (C. Thomas Howell), the detective who cracked the Salazar case and put him behind bars, is convinced something is afoot. Sadly, Quinlan turns out to be right; as Salazar is being transported to the hospital for the marrow donation, he puts into motion a carefully organized escape plan, and soon the murderer is back on the street, with a number of dead police officers left in his wake. Now Quinlan and his partner Lydia (Sofia Shinas) have to capture Salazar for the safety of the public, as well as giving a little girl her last chance at survival. Dilemma marked the feature debut for director Eric Larsen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Both a classic movie for kids and a remarkable portrait of childhood, E.T. is a sci-fi adventure that captures that strange moment in youth when the world is a place of mysterious possibilities (some wonderful, some awful), and the universe seems somehow separate from the one inhabited by grown-ups. Henry Thomas plays Elliott, a young boy living with his single mother (Dee Wallace), his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton), and his younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore). Elliott often seems lonely and out of sorts, lost in his own world. One day, while looking for something in the back yard, he senses something mysterious in the woods watching him. And he's right: an alien spacecraft on a scientific mission mistakenly left behind an aging botanist who isn't sure how to get home. Eventually Elliott puts his fears aside and makes contact with the "little squashy guy," perhaps the least threatening alien invader ever to hit a movie screen. As Elliott tries to keep the alien under wraps and help him figure out a way to get home, he discovers that the creature can communicate with him telepathically. Soon they begin to learn from each other, and Elliott becomes braver and less threatened by life. E.T. rigs up a communication device from junk he finds around the house, but no one knows if he'll be rescued before a group of government scientists gets hold of him. In 2002, Steven Spielberg re-released E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in a revised edition, with several deleted scenes restored and digitally refurbished special effects. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, (more)
- 1998
- R
After a top-secret weapon is stolen, it's up to a military intelligence officer to find it before it can be turned against the U.S. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Starring many of his family members, this is Tommy Chong's (of the well-known duo, Cheech and Chong) first solo production. As an outdated hippie, Far Out Man (Tommy Chong) searches to relive his lost youth by traveling across the country. C. Thomas Howell, Judd Nelson, and Cheech Marin all make cameo appearances in this far out film. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Chong, Shelby Chong, (more)
A spitfire coffeehouse poet catches the attention of a conservative publisher, only to find that her attempts to get him to take part in an underground poetry-reading contest mask a much deeper motivation in the feature directorial debut of longtime television writer E. Paul Edwards. To Jake Thompson, poetry is the purest way of expressing his inner rage. Marni Elliot is an attractive publisher who is drawn to Jake's use of words, and convinced that he could take home the top prize at the Los Angeles Poetron -- a competitive poetry contest that has set the underground literary community ablaze. Though Jake at first refuses on the grounds that competition spoils the purity of art, he is intensely drawn to Marni and soon relents after the pair fall into bed together. When Marni reveals to Jake that she is HIV-positive, he quickly breaks the relationship off. As the Poetron draws near and Jake learns that he will be competing against Marni's former lover, however, he comes to realize that he cannot get the publisher out of his mind, and that his sympathy for her condition has helped him to overcome his anger as it transforms him into both a better poet, and a more capable competitor. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Tara D'Agostino, (more)
Los Angeles suburbanites Quinn (James Wilder) and Laura (Kimberly Kates) host a backyard barbecue of co-workers, including a doctor (C. Thomas Howell), his wife (Erika Eleniak), rough-edged Barry (Jack Scalia), and winsome Jude (Karen Black), who was recently widowed when her executive husband was killed in a botched kidnapping. A confrontation with an irate neighbor (James Russo) turns ugly, and it seems there is more to the guest list than first thought. And then it gets uglier once the accusations fly -- much uglier. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- 2009
- NR
- Add Fuel to Queue
A talented young track runner finds his longtime plans to escape his tyrannical stepfather and rescue his girlfriend from a dead-end existence thrown into jeopardy by his incontrollable temper, the result of overexposure to gasoline fumes. As a young boy, Emilio promised Sandy that they would one day run away together, and start a new life somewhere else. When Emilio discovers that he can run like the wind, he sees his gift as his ticket out; if he can just land a scholarship, then he can quit working at his stepfather's gas station and keep his promise to Sandy. Unfortunately for both Emilio and Sandy, the temperamental track star's unpredictable violent streak may be the one fatal flaw in his otherwise foolproof plan. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Esparza, C. Thomas Howell, (more)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara becomes this sprawling historical epic. As in Shaara's novel, director Ronald Maxwell focuses on a handful of major players to dramatize the events of July 1863, when the armies of the Union and Confederacy clash at the small Pennsylvania town of the title. Among them are Martin Sheen as General Robert E. Lee, who disagrees with his top advisor, General James Longstreet (Tom Berenger) over battle strategy, and Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a college professor whose unorthodox techniques save the day (and possibly the war) for his beleaguered army. Other cast standouts include Richard Jordan in his final film appearance as the ill-fated General Lewis Armistead, and cameo roles for Civil War buff Ken Burns and media mogul producer Ted Turner. Filmed on-location at Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg was shot as a television miniseries for Turner's TNT cable channel, but earned a limited theatrical release. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Jeff Daniels, (more)
