Paul Nicolas Movies
Two young hipsters go to Las Vegas to chase their dreams, but neither is happy with what they find in this dark comedy-drama. Lidda (Kirsten Dunst) is a young woman who hasn't heard in many years from her father Charlie (James Caan), a gambler working the casinos in Las Vegas. On her 18th birthday, Charlie sends her a check as a present, and Lidda, excited to finally hear from her dad again, heads out to Vegas to see him face to face. En route, Lidda picks up Colonel (Vincent Kartheiser), a convenience store clerk who fancies himself a cool hand with a deck of cards. Once in Vegas, Lidda goes looking for Charlie, while Colonel ends up in a high stakes poker game; he wins, but that turns out to be bad luck on his part when he sees how Tony (Robert Miano), the owner of a strip joint, reacts to losing a big hand. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirsten Dunst, James Caan, (more)
- 1994
- R
When the leader of a wealthy family is killed at an archery tournament, a traveling competitor finds himself the prime suspect, even though many of the other contestants have clearer motives. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Griggs, Barbara Carrera, (more)
In this complicated police film, a police detective, who still grieves for the child he accidentally shot during a gun fight, finds distraction when a streetwalker approaches him and asks him to help her get out of the dark world in which she is hopelessly mired. Soon the cop finds himself involved with extortion, drugs and a serial killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armin Mueller-Stahl, Morgan Fairchild, (more)
- 1986
- R
The Naked Cage offers a glimpse of the stark realities of prison life while at the same time acknowledging the issue of prison corruption. Young and naïve Michelle (Shari Shattuck) has just been thrown in the slammer for a bank heist she definitely did not commit. The inmates warn her about the warden (Angel Tompkins), whose lesbian lifestyle is forced on inmates of her choosing. No one has to warn Michelle about the guard who rapes and kills the inmates, or about the woman who framed her and is now also in jail. These three threats to Michelle's inherent virtue are nothing she can fight off alone, and so some new characters step into the picture to help tip the scales. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shari Shattuck, Angel Tompkins, (more)
- 1983
- R
The B-grade genres of sexploitation, blaxploitation, and jailhouse flicks mixed with this grotesque sex- and violence-filled melodrama. Linda Blair stars as Carol Henderson, a naïve and inexperienced teenager who is sentenced to 18 months in a women's prison after accidentally killing a man. Once she arrives, Carol meets sadistic, perverted Warden Bacman (John Vernon), who keeps a hot tub in his office. She also encounters the two top-dog prisoners, Ericka (Sybil Danning) and Duchess (Tamara Dobson), who are at war with each other, the leaders of factions in the facility's simmering racial tensions. Then there are the drug-dealing lesbian rapists and the prostitutes, who answer to the warden's snugly-outfitted assistant, Captain Taylor (Stella Stevens). In the meantime, Taylor's lover is secretly carrying on an affair with Ericka. It's a cauldron of fear and rage, but when the prison's corrupt management goes too far, race considerations are set aside as black and white convicts band together. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Blair, John Vernon, (more)
- 1982
- R
This sombre European melodrama was also released as Julie Darling. A teenaged girl witnesses the rape and murder of mother. Because she hated her mom, the girl feels responsible for her death. Later on, her dad remarries. Despising her stepmother as much as she did the original article, Julie begins plotting her new mom's demise. Anthony Franciosa and Sybil Danning also star in Daughter of Death, but the bulk of the film is in the hands of newcomer Isabelle Mejias. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Franciosa, Isabelle Mejias, (more)
