Erika Katz Movies
More than anything else, 13-year old New Jerseyite Josh (David Moscow) wants to be "big". That's the wish he makes at an odd-looking amusement pier fortunetelling machine. The next morning, Josh wakes up-only to discover that he's grown to manhood overnight! (At this point, the part is taken over by Tom Hanks). Still a 13-year-old mentally and emotionally, Josh decides to hide out in New York City until he can figure out what to do next. He lucks into a job with a major toy company run by kid-at-heart McMillan (Robert Loggia). By cannily bringing a child's eye view to McMillan's business, Josh rises to the top-and in process, he falls in love with fellow employee Susan (Elizabeth Perkins). But he's still a kid, and he'd like to go back to his own world and own body. Written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg, Big proved a crucial success for budding director Penny Marshall, who'd work harmoniously with Hanks again on the radically different A League of Their Own. The cinematography was by Barry Sonenfeld, who went on to become a director himself with The Addams Family. That Big was heavily reliant upon the input of Tom Hanks and Penny Marshall was proven by the failed attempt to turn the property into a Broadway musical. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, (more)
- 1985
Downbeat, morbid, and dark, this well-wrought suspense drama stars Farley Granger as Doug Andrews, a chief medical investigator with a not-so magnificent obsession. In 1970 the body of a four-year-old boy was found in the woods and his killers were never brought to justice. The examiner joins forces with a local policeman as they try to track down the identity of the boy and his murderer, but they get nowhere and the case is dropped. Spurred on by the need to exorcise his own demons after the drowning death of his own daughter, Andrews carries the deathmask of the four-year old with him and never gives up on the case. This engaging drama is based on a true story. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Farley Granger, Lee Bryant, (more)
Delving into the horrific history of the infamous Long Island haunted house, this prequel to 1979's popular chiller The Amityville Horror is loosely based on the DeFeo murders but is at heart a straightforward horror-exploitation film with an Exorcist twist. When the violently dysfunctional Montelli family moves into the rustic abode (claimed to have been built on an Indian burial ground), the standard haunted-house clichés (bleeding walls, swarms of flies, bubbling black goop) give way to a more direct demonic attack on the eldest son -- who develops an unhealthy interest in his nubile younger sister, followed by a much more lethal attraction to dad's shotgun. In a desperate attempt to purge the evil, the local priest tries to perform an exorcism...with unexpected results. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, (more)
