Sarah Keller Movies
This thriller is the second film based on the novel of the same name by Ira Levin. Matt Dillon stars as Jonathan Corliss, a lethal schemer from the wrong side of the tracks. Now a student at the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan has been obsessed since childhood with the fortunes of a company called Carlsson Copper. Jonathan plans to ingratiate himself with the wealthy family of magnate Thor Carlsson (Max von Sydow) and has begun secretly dating Carlsson's daughter Dorothy (Sean Young). When Dorothy learns that she's pregnant and informs Jonathan that she'll be cut off without her inheritance when her father learns the truth, Jonathan murders her, making it appear to be a suicide, and moves to New York. There, he makes the acquaintance of Ellen Carlsson (also played by Young), the late Dorothy's twin sister, and begins wooing her. This time he meets with success, winning Ellen's hand in marriage and a powerful position in his new father-in-law's company. However, Ellen has long nursed suspicions about her twin's death and as she probes deeper into the alleged suicide, she uncovers alarming facts about some other murders and the identity of her sister's unknown lover. Director James Dearden also wrote Fatal Attraction (1987), which contains similar themes. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matt Dillon, Sean Young, (more)
- 1981
A minor installment in the BBC's otherwise superb Hammer House of Horror television series, this installment details the woes suffered by a suburban family whose house displays the usual earmarks of rampant poltergeistism -- ranging from body parts in the fridge to literal geysers of blood bursting from overhead plumbing during the daughter's birthday party. The setpieces are obviously derivative of The Amityville Horror, with the only original twists arriving at the ending -- which turns out to be quite a groaner. Released in the U.S. first to cable TV, then to the "Thrillervideo" label, with bumper segments hosted by buxom horror vixen Elvira, who peppers the proceedings with her usual banter -- to wit: "When a house starts bleeding, it's darn near impossible to get a tourniquet on that sucker." ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- 1981
- NR
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This gruesome Louisiana-set horror film opens with a 1927 prologue featuring a Satanic artist being crucified and melted alive with quicklime in the basement of an old hotel. Half a century later, pretty Liza (Catriona MacColl) inherits the hotel, not suspecting that it is one of seven gateways to Hell. A workman breaks his neck, another has his eyeball gouged out by a zombie, a woman's head is melted by a vat of acid, and an architect has his face eaten by hungry tarantulas who chew out his tongue. Dozens of cannibalistic zombies attack Liza and her disbelieving lover (David Warbeck), who joins her in Hell in the film's downbeat conclusion. The gory special effects by Gianetto de Rossi and Germano Natali are nauseatingly effective, although the script (by Dardano Sacchetti, Giorgio Mariuzzo and director Lucio Fulci) tends to wander and the pacing is a trifle slow. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Katherine MacColl, David Warbeck, (more)
- 1979
- R
This horror feature should entertain fans of the blood and guts but ultimately fails to live up to its title. Royal ancestors feel the wrath of the curse of the condemned witch Mad Dolly L.E. Mack, who spews forth her prophetic venom while she is burned at the stake. The victims suffer death by having their heads removed in various fashions, getting their limbs caught in animal traps, knife wounds, and other methods of popular medieval torture. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Nolan, Carolyn Courage, (more)
