Michael Ironside Movies

American Nightmare would seem to have been inspired by the 1979 George C. Scott feature Hardcore. In that film, Scott was a midwesterner who discovered that his beloved daughter was appearing in X-rated movies. In Nightmare, we find young Lawrence S. Day in search of his sister Lora Staley. His odyssey takes him into the seamiest recesses of the porn and prostitution scenes in the Big City. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The city's latest serial killer has got it in for priests, nuns, and other pious people, and the method of dispatching them is nasty: crucifixion. Detective Henry Smith, played by Andrew McCarthy, investigates the repulsively grisly crimes but his own moral crisis at home -- he and his wife (Jayne Heitmeyer) have a terminally ill daughter -- overtakes his emotions and complicates his investigation. The clock starts ticking once Smith's drifter brother (Sean Day Michael) becomes a suspect and the police want the case closed quickly. But when Smith discovers the real reason the cops want to shut the case in a hurry, the most unlikely of suspects emerges. Or is it Smith's fevered imagination?
~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

Currie Graham, Michael Ironside and Tahnee Welch star in this suspense thriller about a blind woman with psychic powers who is recruited by the police to help them track down a killer at large. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A boy's world is turned upside down when his parents split up in this emotional drama. When Vicky and Benjamin Walling (Stephanie Zimbalist and Corbin Bernsen) file for divorce, their son Jeremy (Robin Dunne) finds himself caught in the middle of an emotional tug of war. Benjamin has decided to stay in his hometown of Detroit with his oldest son Buddy (Will Sanderson), while Vicky is moving to Windsor, Canada, and is taking Jeremy with her. Jeremy has trouble fitting in at his new school, and he begins attending a support group for children of divorced parents. At his meetings, Jeremy meets Beth (Catarina Scorsone), a girl whose tough-as-nails exterior hides the fact that she's still coming to terms with her folks' breakup. Jeremy and Beth start dating, and he decides to give the school's track team a try, where he has to deal with a very demanding coach (Michael Ironside). Between his parents, his brother, his girlfriend, and the track coach, Jeremy finds himself in a position where he isn't sure how to satisfy the demands of everyone around him -- or even make himself happy. ~ 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

After her child is abducted by her ex-husband, a woman hires a contract killer to find the man and rescue her son. ~ John Bush, 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

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

A Canadian production from 1991, Deadly Surveillance concerns two police officers investigating a series of killings linked to drugs. The main suspect is the attractive lover of one of the cops, and the obvious tensions flare. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Morgan J. Freeman directed this comedy-drama that takes place in the desert town of Baxter Beach, California, where the locals, lookers, visitors and slackers include dreamer Blue (Brendan Sexton III), pipe-bomb babe Ely (Christina Ricci), all-terrain-vehicle champ Pete (Casey Affleck), nerdy Sandy (Sara Gilbert), TV star Skye (Kate Hudson), and chubby Cale (Ethan Suplee). Blue's dad, who had hoped to bring water to the town, died mysteriously in a hotel fire, leaving an abandoned water slide, and Blue hopes to fulfill his father's dream by completing the water slide attraction. Actress Skye is just passing through with her father, a pop-culture prof. (John Heard), but they're forced to stay in town after a truck-spill leads to a quarantine and the presence of both an FBI agent (Michael Ironside) and an EPA agent (Aunjanue Ellis). Skye gets caught up in local fun and games (orange baseball, potato cannon salvos), while her dad reminisces about the '60s with UFO fanatic Caroline (Lucinda Jenney). Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, 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

Michael Ironside makes his first appearance as new ER chief Dr. William Swift, who immediately sets the staff on its ear with his bizarre management style and intense perfectionism. Meanwhile, the rivalry between med student Carter (Noah Wyle) and Deb (Ming-Na) reaches a new height of absurdity. Greene (Anthony Edwards) has a lot of trouble shaking his guilty feelings after the death of his pregnant patient Jodi O'Brien. And Benton (Eriq La Salle) must face the realization that his mother's days are numbered. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide