Michael Ironside

Wrong Turn director Rob Schmidt takes the helm for this thriller inspired by the grim, true life exploits of an alphabet obsessed New York serial killer and starring Timothy Hutton, Cary Elwes, Eliza Dushku, and Michael Ironside. When Rochester, NY-based police investigator Megan Paige (Dishku) discovers that ten year old Carla Castillo was brutally raped and murdered in nearby Churchville, she becomes convinced that the department is dealing with a serial killer. Paige is a driven detective whose devotion to her job often crosses the border into obsession. Her fiancé Kenneth Shine (Elwes) is a lieutenant with the Rochester Police Department, and as both jockey for the same promotion, the cracks in their relationship begin to show. Later, when Megan becomes haunted by visions of Carla and fails to solve the case, a concerned Captain Gullikson (Tom Noonan) takes her off of the case. Suffering a nervous breakdown shortly thereafter, Megan is diagnosed with adult onset of paranoid schizophrenia and placed in a psychiatric hospital, where she promptly breaks off her engagement to Kenneth. Two years later Megan has returned to the precinct as a records clerk, and Kenneth is now the head of the department. Over time Megan begins developing a friendship with wheelchair bound Richard Ledge (Hutton). When a local girl named Wendy Walsh is abducted, raped, and murdered in Webster, Megan convinces Kenneth to let her ride along with Detective Steven Harper (Tom Malloy) as an advisor to the case. But the gruesome nature of the case once again prompts strange visions for Megan. Now she is haunted by two murder victims, and to make matters worse she's beginning to develop embarrassing involuntary ticks and stops taking her medication. As the hallucinations get worse and the case starts to run cold, Megan struggles to find the one piece of evidence that will lead them to the killer before her dark side takes over once again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Michael Ironside, Costas Mandylor, and Alexandra Paul attempt to avert disaster when a volatile volcano threatens to turn New York City to ashes in director Robert Lee's made for television disaster film. A volcano has been discovered beneath the Big Apple, and it's about to blow. As the impending eruption continues to build in intensity, a bold group of unlikely heroes band dig a series of underground tunnels designed to safely filter the lava away from residential areas. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The low-budget, direct-to-video sci-fi/horror fest Vampire Wars: Battle for the Universe opens in the year 2210. After draining the life from millions of human bodies, bloodsuckers not only worm their way across the face of the earth but sit poised on the edge of conquering the universe. To squash the problem for all time, intergalactic rulers order the assembly of V-SAN crews, or anti-vampire sanitation teams, to cruise the galaxy and stamp out the undead. The rough riders on the Hieronymus Unit - men and women prized for their brutality and their bull-by-the-horns, take no prisoners mindset - have among them Quintana (Natassia Malthe), a half-human, half-vampiress endowed with psychic powers that enable to foresee her prey; Captain Nicholas Churchill (Joe Lando), and second-in-command Damian Underwood (Dominic Zamprogna) - who, together, have enough force to meet the vampires on a level playing field. But they unknowingly careen head-first toward a nasty trap led by the vampire captain, Muco (Michael Ironside), which risks extinguishing the Hieronymus crew for eternity and giving the vamps limitless power. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Five students driving through the desert encounter the inescapable stench of death in director David Payne's retro-inspired slasher/monster/supernatural horror hybrid. The highway has been inexplicably closed, forcing five young travelers into a mysteriously abandoned travel oasis where they are soon confronted with disturbing visions of maimed travelers. Disturbed by the grisly series of visions and determined to escape the spooky motel and diner before whatever killed the previous customers returns, the frightened travelers soon meet a frantic stranger who claims to have recently lost his wife to a terrifying entity that seems to hover between life and death. As the night falls, a blind grad student with heightened senses proves the only hope for survival as the body count begins to rise and the smell of death becomes too suffocating to endure. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

American filmmaker Tim Hunter (River's Edge) directs the dark comedy The Failures, shot in HD video with a script from first-time screenwriter Hal Haberman. Chad Lindberg plays William, an alcoholic who works as a parking lot attendant. He makes up comic book stories about antidepressant drugs that come to life in the form of superheroes Depressor (Michael Ironside) and Elatia (Heather Marie Marsden). Ashley Johnson plays Lilly, a former cheerleader who starts to hate life after her mother commits suicide. William and Lilly start up a romance of sorts. The Failures was shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival as part of the market screenings. It also stars Babylon 5 cult figure Claudia Christian. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Dylan (Kevin Sorbo) and his crew conduct a search for a missing space colony. Also joining the search is Constantine Stark (Michael Ironside), the "patriarch" of a small band of freedom fighters and the ancestor of a legendary guerilla leader. Dylan's confusion over the fact that he has never heard of Stark or his followers gives way to terror when a deadly virus figures into the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Phillip Roth's action/disaster film Maximum Velocity concerns the efforts of a group of military men and scientists to thwart an oncoming storm that would devastate the planet. He group must utilize a still unproven new weapon to dissipate the storm before all is lost. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In this noir-flavored thriller, Desmond Craine (Stephen Baldwin) is cursed with insomnia; on nights when he can't sleep, he takes long walks through the city streets, hoping to clear his mind and allow himself to relax. However, quite the opposite occurs one evening when he unwittingly becomes a witness to murder, and suddenly getting a good night's sleep becomes the least of his worries. Dead Awake also features Michael Ironside and Macha Grenon. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The seventh in the series of films loosely based on a short story that appeared originally in Stephen King's Night Shift, Children of the Corn: Revelation continues the saga of a Nebraska town where the young citizens all fear a mysterious higher power that emerges from the ever-present cornrows. FBI agents have come to the mysterious town in an attempt to capture a serial killer that is hiding in the town. While there, the officers stumble across a force more powerful and evil than any serial killer. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Navy SEAL Brascoe (Dan Andersen), is forced out of the service in disgrace after being framed by his partner Cody (Olivier Gruner) regarding a conflict gone wrong. Now a civilian without direction, Brascoe learns that his bad luck hasn't run out yet: His young son is dying from cancer and Brascoe needs $5 million to finance a radical new treatment that may save his life. Brascoe asks an arrogant billionaire, Baker (Michael Ironside), for a donation, but is stiff-armed by burly body guards. Desperate for the money, Brascoe rounds up a gang of crack thieves -- including Sparks (Michael Madsen) and Brady (Grand L. Bush) -- to steal the cash from Baker. The heist completed, Brascoe's men are slaughtered one at a time -- but it's not by a vengeful Baker. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

In this steamy thriller, Taylor Lewis (Patrick Bergin) is a district attorney who is assigned to prosecute Angela Carter (Joan Severance) when she's accused of murdering her husband -- who just so happens to be the mayor's cousin. However, the longer Lewis investigates the case, the more he begins to question the widow's guilt; what's more, he imagines he may be compromising his integrity when he finds himself falling in love with her. Cause of Death also stars Michael Ironside and Larry Day.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Recalling both The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and American Beauty (1999), this teen drama recounts the trials and tribulations of one very dysfunctional family. Roseanne Skolnik (Monica Keena) is a popular high school student who is dating Jimmy (James DeBello), the football captain. She also lives in a family where her embittered mother Maggie (Ellen Barkin) is plotting to murder Roseanne's violent drunken stepfather Fred (Michael Ironside). After a smashed Fred rapes her, Roseanne starts plotting her stepfather's demise too. She ropes her boyfriend into doing the deed, and soon she finds herself under arrest and on trial for the crime. With all of her friends shunning her, she confides in her creepy voyeuristic neighbor. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This futuristic animated adventure is based on the graphic novel The Melting Pot, created by noted comic artists Kevin Eastman, Simon Brisley, and Eric Talbot and published by the creators of the well-known graphics magazine Heavy Metal. In a distant universe, the acronym F.A.K.K. (Federation Assigned Ketogenic Killzone) is used to designate places of extreme danger to all life forms. In a bid to keep out unwelcome visitors, the quiet civilization of Eden has designated itself as F.A.K.K., level two. However, a lunatic named Tyler (voice of Michael Ironside) invades Eden, and when he discovers Eden's secrets -- life-preserving if respected, deadly when abused -- he lays waste to the civilization, leaving behind only a female warrior named Julie (voice of Julie Strain). Julie sets out to find Tyler, determined to see the secrets of Eden returned to safety and eager to take her revenge for the slaughter of her people. Unlike the 1981 film Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal 2000 tells one long story rather than several shorter ones; in keeping with the first movie, it does features a soundtrack by a number of noted rock bands, including Monster Magnet, Pantera, Days of the New, Insane Clown Posse, System of a Down, Coal Chamber, and others. Heavy Metal 2000 was released in Europe as Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide