Famke Janssen Movies

In this remake of William Castle's campy 1958 classic, an eccentric millionaire named Steven Price invites a diverse group of people to a reputedly haunted mansion that was formerly the site of an insane asylum. Steven offers his guests $1,000,000 each if they can spend the entire night at the old house without fleeing in terror. It sounds simple enough, but when those stories about ghosts haunting the mansion turn out to be true, the guests may no longer opt to stick around. In this version, Steven is played by Geoffrey Rush, and his guests include Jeffrey Combs, Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher, Chris Kattan, and Bridgette Wilson; Famke Janssen plays Evelyn Price. Sadly, this remake does not feature the original's memorable special-effects gimmick, "Emergo," an inflatable plastic skeleton that rolled on wires through the theater during showings. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

John Dahl directed this exploration of New York private clubs devoted to high-stakes poker, with first-person narration from the film's central figure, law student Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), who loses his entire savings to Russian club owner Teddy KGB (John Malkovich). Mike then turns away from cards, devoting his attentions to his law studies and his live-in girlfriend Jo (Gretchen Mol), who's concerned when Mike's former gambling buddy Worm (Edward Norton) is released from prison. She has good reason to worry, since it takes Worm only a matter of minutes to draw Mike back into poker action. When she learns Mike has returned to the poker clubs, she moves out, and Mike begins to lose interest in his studies. Worm has a pre-prison debt, and the threatening Grama (Michael Rispoli) wants the money. Mike not only indulges the irresponsible Worm, he gets involved in Worm's debts. When Grama demands $15,000 on a five-day deadline, the two buddies go into high gear with a non-stop, no-sleep gambling binge that spirals downward toward an ultimate confrontation with Teddy KGB. Darkened club interiors and New York nights are captured by the cinematography of Jean Yves Escoffier, who moved from French films (the 1991 Les Amants du Pont Neuf) to American movies with the reflective surfaces of Excess Baggage (1997) and the patina of pathos found in Harmony Korine's experimental Gummo (1997). Shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival and the 1998 Montreal Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Robert Altman directed this John Grisham tale that begins at a party where Savannah attorney Rick Magruder (Kenneth Branagh) celebrates his successful defense of a man who shot a local cop. The partygoers include his ex-wife Leeanne (Famke Janssen), the mother of his two children; his law partner Lois Harlan (Daryl Hannah); and caterer Mallory Doss (Embeth Davidtz). After Mallory finds her car stolen, Rick gives her a ride home where things turn sexual. Attracted to Mallory, he learns that her crazed father Dixon Doss (Robert Duvall) has been threatening her. Getting too closely involved with this woman he hardly knows, Rick has the police round up her unstable father, and he next subpoenas her ex-husband Pete (Tom Berenger) to testify against Dixon, who is institutionalized.

The crazed Dixon manages to escape from the asylum, intent on revenge against all his betrayers and enemies. As a potent hurricane blows into Savannah, Mallory's car is torched, and Rick receives threats. Believing his children are in danger, Rick removes them from school, prompting a warrant for his arrest. When his children disappear, Rich goes on the counterattack against Dixon. Chinese cinematographer Changwei Gu (of Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine and Zhang Yimou's Ju Dou) captured the soaked Savannah sites. The script is not an adaptation from a John Grisham novel; Grisham wrote it as an original screenplay just before the success of The Firm (1993), and it was acquired by producer Jeremy Tannenbaum. After Island Pictures came into the project at $1.4 million, Grisham returned for rewrites. Altman did even more drafts, so the pseudonym Al Hayes was created as the scripting credit. When Polygram suggested to Altman that the electronic score could be replaced with a traditional score, Altman had friends call reporters to say he had been dismissed. Polygram began re-editing the $25 million movie, but their edit didn't test much better than Altman's version, so they handed the reins back to Altman. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Miramax Films darlings Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Kevin Williamson teamed up for a high-school alien-horror film that they described as The Breakfast Club meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Dilapidated Herrington High is the location for a story about a school faculty taken over by outer-space creatures, forcing the students to take charge and kick some alien butt. School faculty members (Robert Patrick, Bebe Neuwirth, Salma Hayek, and Jon Stewart) are infested with rapidly reproducing space worms that take over their minds and bodies. But never fear, because at this school, between hazing the student body and having sex in the locker room, a Scooby-Doo-ish group of high school students is ready to fight back. The up-and-coming acting talent includes R&B singer Usher Raymond, Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Laura Harris, and Jordanna Brewster. The story is nearly irrelevant, as the real stars are the action and lots of special effects. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi

Love and larceny travel the same road in this high-speed comedy-thriller. Luke (David Arquette) is a car thief who is sent to an auto show in France with a special assignment -- to steal the RPM, a prototype of a new high-tech supercar that doesn't need gas to run. Luke soon leans he has competition when he discovers a beautiful female thief, Claudia (Famke Janssen), trying to steal the same vehicle. RPM also features Emmanuelle Seigner and Stephen Yardley. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A private investigator hired to protect a popular stage magician finds himself drawn into a dark, occult underworld in this supernatural horror film from writer-director Clive Barker. With several nods to film noir tradition, the danger begins for detective Harry D'Amour (Scott Bakula) when he is approached by a beautiful woman, Dorothea Swann (Famke Janssen). Dorothea is married to Philip Swann (Kevin J. O'Connor), a wealthy illusionist who has found fame by disguising real magic as stage trickery, and believes that her husband may be in danger. Harry reluctantly agrees to investigate, and he discovers that Swann has made enemies of a bizarre religious cult who wish to resurrect their leader, an evil sorcerer killed by Swann. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

If Ms. Famke Janssen is a Model By Day in this TV movie, what does she do by night? If this were a USA cable movie, perhaps she'd be walking the streets. But since it's network movie, Famke spends her evenings as a masked crimefighter. She runs into trouble with the law when a murderer appropriates her alter ego and costume for a mayhem spree. Sean Young costars in this busted pilot film. Model by Day was first telecast March 21, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Captain Picard tries to settle a centuries-old war between the Kriosians and the Voltans. As part of the treaty arrangements, the beautiful Kamala (Famke Janssen) is chosen by her people as a peace offering. Picard's diplomatic mission is sorely compromised when he falls in love with Kamala. Further complicating matters, the duplicitous Ferengi insinuate themselves into the negotiations. Written by Rene Echevarria, Gary Perconte, and Michael Piller, "The Perfect Mate" was first telecast May 2, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi