Adrienne Barbeau Movies
American actress Adrienne Barbeau was encouraged by her mother to take dancing and singing lessons. Adrienne was active in theatre both in high school and at Foothills Junior College; by age 19 she was touring Pacific military bases as a member of the San Jose Light Opera. After an unprepossessing job with a termite-control company, Adrienne set out for New York, paying the bills with a variety of jobs including go-go dancing in New Jersey nightclubs. In 1968 she was cast as Hodel in the long-running Broadway production Fiddler on the Roof, and three years later was featured in Grease, winning a Tony nomination through her rendition of "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee." From here, Adrienne was hired by Norman Lear to replace first-choice actress Marcia Rodd in the role of the divorced daughter on the controversial TV sitcom Maude. She played the role from 1972 through the series' cancellation in 1978, after which she began a whole new career as a successful horror-film star and sexy pin-up model. Adrienne married film director John Carpenter in 1979; most of her subsequent screen appearances were in such Carpenter-directed terrors as The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981) and Creepshow (1982). Perhaps Adrienne Barbeau's most enjoyable performance was as the Marlon Brando counterpart (!) in an uproarious distaff parody of Apocalypse Now, sublimely titled Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Daryl Goldberg's Unholy stars Adrienne Barbeau and Nicholas Brendon as a mother and son who must save their family from a complicated conspiracy involving elements as disparate as a witch, the United States government, and Nazi occultists. The script, by Samuel Stephen Freeman, is based loosely on actual events described in Nazi papers seized by the Allied forces. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrienne Barbeau, Nicholas Brendon, (more)
A ne'er do well father and ex-husband who always raced his way through the holidays is forced to relive Christmas Day time and again until he gets it right in this family oriented fantasy comedy starring Jay Mohr. It's Christmas time once again, and as usual Kevin (Moore) is scrambling to get his son Ben a last minute gift before stopping by his ex-wife Jill's house for a quick swig of eggnog. Ben can't stand Jill's impossibly perfect new boyfriend, and the prospect of spending the entire evening with his former inlaws is nearly too painful to ponder. But this Christmas things are going to be different, because this Christmas might just last forever. At first Kevin resists the curious development by simply reverting to his childish ways, though he is about to find out that sometimes in order to build a better future one must finally make amends with the past. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jay Mohr, Daphne Zuniga, (more)
As the final war between Good and Evil looms two powerful avatars divided by fate share one mission. For Ben Hawkins and Brother Justin, the race is on to find the elusive Henry Scudder--and the fate of the world depends on who finds him first.
- Starring:
- Nick Stahl, Clancy Brown, (more)
When the singer of a popular rock band disappears under mysterious circumstances, a contest to find a replacement soon turns from dream-come-true to waking nightmare for the young singer who hopes to take the job. For years young musician Shawn (Stephen Martimes) has awaited his big break in the music industry, and when his talents land him in the final three it appears as if his efforts may have finally paid off. Swept away to a remote island with his girlfriend Stacy (Ryan Starr) and the other finalists, their joy quickly turns to terror as one by one the contestants disappear into the darkness. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2004
Originally telecast in tandem with "The Passion of the Wick", this aptly titled episode marks the series finale of The Drew Carey Show. At virtually the same moment that she agrees to marry Drew (Drew Carey), Kellie (Cynthia Watros) goes into labor. Racing against time so that Kellie's son won't be born a bastard, Drew hastily arranges a hospital-room wedding, then seeks high and low for a priest to perform the ceremony. Unfortunately, the only priest available is currently administering the Last Rites to a dying patient--and he isn't about to be distracted by anything as mundane as marriage until the aforementioned patient expires! In the tradition of Seinfeld, this climactic episode goes full circle by repeating the final gag of the very first episode--just before the "fourth wall" is smashed for the umpteenth time, and the Drew Carey Show cast streams out of the studio to greet their many fans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2004
The ninth and final season of The Drew Carey Show was what is known in showbiz as a "burnoff", with ABC running the last 28 episodes as quickly as possible to compensate for higher costs and lower ratings. Thus, the season opener, "Drew Hunts Silver Fox", was shown in tandem with the second episode "Eye of the Leopard", just as all of the Season Nine episodes would be telecast back-to-back over a fourteen-week period in the Summer of 2004. The plot of "Silver Fox" finds both Drew (Drew Carey) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader) attempting to marry off their respective mothers Beulah (Marion Ross) and Kim (Adrienne Barbeau) to a wealthy widower named Woody. Unfortunately, Woody turns out to have a lot of "baggage", making him a most unappealing catch indeed. (Incidentally, this episode reveals that Drew's dad George has died, but the actual episode in which this occurs would not be seen for several more weeks). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
1934. The Dustbowl. The last great age of magic. In a time of titanic sandstorms, vile plagues, drought and pistilence - signs of God's fury and harbingers of the Apocalypse - the final conflict between good and evil is about to begin. The battle will take place in the Heartland of an empire called America. And when it is over, man will forever trade away wonder for reason. See the conflict of good vs. evil played out against a pair of vivid and unusual backdrops: a traveling carnival working the American Dustbowl circuit, and an evangelical ministry in California.
- Starring:
- Nick Stahl, Clancy Brown, (more)
- 2002
It's Mother's Day in Cleveland, and all of the gang's moms have arrived to celebrate--including Kate's new stepmom, who looks just like her. The ladies' arrival coincides with the launching of an anti-pornography website which publishes a list of Ohio's biggest porn users--and among those listed are Drew (Drew Carey), Kate (Christa Miller), Oswald (Diedrich Bader), Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Mr. Wick (Craig Ferguson). Mortified, the moms move back in with children to exert a "good influence", but succeeding only in driving everyone crazy. The whole thing ends up in court, with Drew and his friends suing the anti-porn site, and their moms defending it! The episode's best gags are self-referential comments about the glittering array of "guest moms", including June Lockhart, Marion Ross, Adrienne Barbeau, Phyllis Diller)...and Richard Chamberlain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
- Add John Carpenter: Fear is Just the Beginning... The Man and His Movies to QueueAdd John Carpenter: Fear is Just the Beginning... The Man and His Movies to top of Queue
Filmmaker John Carpenter helped redefine the American horror film in 1978 with Halloween, a low-budget thriller which became a major box office success. Since then, Carpenter has devoted his career to bringing a fresh perspective to genre filmmaking, striving to maintain the freedom of an independent while working within the studio system. (Carpenter not only writes and directs his own projects, but often also serves as producer and composer as well.) John Carpenter: Fear Is Just the Beginning...The Man and His Movies is a documentary about this two-fisted maverick auteur, which offers a look at the making of such favorites as Escape From New York, The Thing, The Fog, and many more. The documentary includes interviews with Jamie Lee Curtis, Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Debra Hill, and other friends and colleagues. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Carpenter
After discovering an alien that just crash landed on Earth, two teenage siblings due the best to keep their extraterrestrial secret under wraps as they help the desperate star man find his way back home. Mel and his brother Mac were simply going about their business when the sky was suddenly set ablaze by a blinding celestial explosion. Later, when the curious teens discover that the flash in the sky was actually a UFO crashing through the atmosphere, they meet a mysterious figure (Geoff Stults) from beyond the stars. Now, as the kids seek the advice of nearby Navajo descendent Evie (Adrienne Barbeau) while attempting to keep the otherworldly visitor a secret from their inquisitive father (Judge Reinhold), a local law enforcer (Richard Moll) and a tenacious government agent (Joanna Pacula) do their best to ferret out the truth and be the first to get undeniable proof of life on other planets. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judge Reinhold, Joanna Pacula, (more)
Adrienne Barbeau stars in this campy horror flick about dead nuns and the undead. The film opens with the legendary massacre at the St. Francis Boarding School for Girls. One night in 1960, a disgruntled former student saunters into the school chapel and kills a bunch of nuns and a priest with a shotgun. The deranged student, young Christine (Oakley Stevenson), then douses the mother superior with gasoline and sets her on fire with the flick of a lit cigarette. Forty years later, the shuttered school is a popular haunt for drunken frat boys and pasty-faced goths. When the cops make their usual bust of trespassing revelers, black-bedecked Mo (Megahn Perry) sticks around, only to be kidnapped for a Satanic human sacrifice. The inept devil worshippers inadvertently call up a real live demon when they stab Mo. Most of the ersatz Satanists are either butchered or rendered evil ghouls. Fortunately, Clarissa (Joanna Canton), the obligatory "nice-girl" in the band, manages to flee the school and find refuge with Christine (Barbeau), who was recently released from a mental asylum. With some coaxing, Christine agrees to break out the armaments and fight against the demons. Rap star Coolio appears as a freaked-out cop in the film. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrienne Barbeau
- 1999
Quitting her job (again!), Kate (Christa Miller) goes to work at the new beauty salon owned by Oswald's mother Kim (Adrienne Barbeau). Figuring that everyone should get into the act, Drew (Drew Carey) talks Sharon (Jenica Bergere) into doing some repairs on the salon's roof, resulting in trouble all around when the roof is destroyed in a storm. The ensuing hostility between Sharon and Kim spills over into the relationship between roomies Oswald (Diedrich Bader) and Lewis (Ryan Stiles), with the latter leaving their apartment in a huff--and moving into a storage locker! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
One of several made-for-TV movies originally seen as part of NBC's off-and-on "Moment of Truth" series, this film is adapted from Lurlene McDaniel's novel Don't Die My Love. Katie Harrod and Scott Vickaryous head the cast as Julie and Luke, brilliant students and high-school sweethearts (Luke is the school star athlete in the bargain). When Luke is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the trickle-down effect of the tragedy brings out the best and worst in the couple's friends and family members. Originally titled Champion's Fight for its January 7, 1998 TV debut, the film has been renamed Shattered Hearts for cable-TV rerun play. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beth Broderick, Katie Harrod, (more)
- 1998
With this episode, Charlie O'Connell) becomes a regular in the role of Colin Mallory, long-lost brother of seasoned "slider" Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell). Having arrived on an agrarian alternate Earth which is bereft of modern technology, Quinn is finally reunited with Colin--who, as the only scientist on the planet, is regarded as a pariah. Joining Quinn, Maggie (Kari Wuhrer) and Remmy (Cleavant Derricks) in their search for the Mallorys' home planet Kromagg Prime and the brothers' birth parents, wide-eyed Colin is ill prepared for the "outside universe". Indeed, his naivete proves to be his undoing when he ends up in the clutches of a predatory female and a gang of renegade body-snatchers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Oswald (Diedrich Bader) gets some disturbing news about his mom (Adrienne Barbeau), even as she's trying to digest the equally disturbing news about his "man-boob" transplants. Elsewhere, Steve (John Carroll Lynch) and his fellow transvestites (isn't that a contradiction in terms) take over the Warsaw Bar, driving all the female customers away. So as not to lose his most fertile mating ground, Drew (Drew Carey) talks the Warsaw bartender into offering half-price drinks for women--thereby incurring the wrath of Steve, who is denied the lowered price even though he's decked out in his most gorgeous dress and most alluring makeup! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
After an animated opening sequence wherein Drew (Drew Carey) does battle with Daffy Duck, this final episode of The Drew Carey Show hunkers down to the business at hand: namely, the wedding of Kate (Christa Miller) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader). Trouble is, Kate doesn't want to go through with the ceremony, and enlists Drew's aid in breaking the bad news to her would-be groom. But Oswald has prepared for such an eventuality by planning a surprise "ambush" wedding--and just in case this doesn't work, Oswald's formidable mother Kim (Adrienne Barbeau) certainly seems capable of breaking a few bones to ensure her son's happiness! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This softcore exploitation effort from the Roger Corman stable is a peculiar attempt to reinvent Bram Stoker's story as a T&A film featuring marauding babes in rat-pelt bikinis. The story posits an Amazonian group of Victorian-era lesbians who have formed a colony under Queen Adrienne Barbeau. Barbeau is sort of a Pied Piper to a group of vicious rats used in the women's murderous raids on men who have wronged them. In one such attack, the women capture writer Bram Stoker (Kevin Alber), who is recruited to chronicle the women's activities. But the plot is really secondary here. The main point of this film is to show scantily-clad women running around in bikinis, having swordfights and performing topless veil-dances. Barbeau is particularly over-the-top, saying things like "I am the Queen of the vermin!" and sporting hairdos which get progressively bigger and sillier as the film goes on. An amusing second-rate attempt at a Hammer-style historical horror film, this is a fun, trashy timekiller for genre fans. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
A 15-year-old cheerleader named Angel (Shannon Doherty) falls for Tony, a dope-smoking, leather-clad punk (Antonio Sabato Jr.). He robs two stores, making her a local pariah. Her family moves to Bakersfield to make a new beginning, and she falls in love with a local jock. But Tony breaks out of jail, kills a cop and comes hunting for her. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Business executive Taro Isogi (James Shigeta) meets with Mars Conglomerate representative Amanda Carter (Adrienne Barbeau), in hopes establishing the Mars colony as an independent entity. But before negotiations can begin, Isogi is murdered. Witnessing the tragedy, Talia suddenly experiences a telepathic mindflash which may or may not reveal a widespread conspiracy. Orginally titled "A Trick of the Mind," "Spider in the Web" was written by Lawrence G. DiTillio; the episode first aired on December 7, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
- 1993
Two federal agents are assigned to protect the beautiful star of a television series who was the witness to a terrorist murder. The agents decide to take her to a remote country lodge, but the terrorists find out where their hideout is and make plans to kill her, the agents, and any other witnesses. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1992
This made-for-TV movie was originally offered in two parts under the title Scott Turow's Burden of Proof. Adapted by John Gay from Turow's bestselling novel, the film stars Hector Elizondo as defense attorney Alejandro "Sandy" Stern, the same character played by Raul Julia in the 1990 cinemazation of Turow's Presumed Innocent. This time, Stern's private and professional life have merged, as he investigates the suspicious suicide of his wife. He also comes to the aid of his rather unsavory brother-in-law Dixon Hartnell, a commodities broker who is under federal investigation. Hartnell is played by Brian Dennehy, who also appeared in Presumed Innocent, albeit in a different role. Part One of Burden of Proof first aired February 9, 1992; Part Two, wherein Sandy Stern is confronted with numbing revelations of sexual and economic misconduct, was telecast February 10. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1991
Based on the true-life adventures of the late Drug Enforcement Agency spy Barry Seal, this exciting espionage adventure chronicles the events that lead up to his death in 1984. Before coming to work for the DEA, smooth-talking Seal (Dennis Hopper) had been a drug smuggler for the notorious Medellin Cartel in Colombia. The DEA captures him and he agrees to become their informant. Unfortunately, though he is a master con artist, he is no match for the con men running the U.S. government agency. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper
- 1991
This made-for-TV western stars Rick Schroder as a hotheaded cowboy who guns down the man responsible for the death of his parents. On the run from his victim's powerful father, Schroder is sheltered by old codger Wilford Brimley. Brimley seems to be operating out of friendship, but his reason for keeping Schroder alive is deliberately obscured until close to the end. Blood River was written by John Carpenter, a name usually associated with science fiction and horror. Though set in the Wild West, the film was lensed in Alberta and British Columbia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Schroder, Wilford Brimley, (more)
