Nina Landis Movies
Michael Lantieri made his reputation in film as a special effects man, helping to create the dinosaurs for Jurassic Park, so for his directorial debut, it's only fitting that he should find himself working with big lizards again. In Komodo, teenager Patrick (Kevin Zegers) is visiting an island off the coast of North Carolina when his parents (and his dog) are attacked and killed by a pack of large Komodo dragons. The reptiles were brought to the island by workers from an oil company, who foolishly allowed them to breed at will and run free. A psychiatrist treating the boy (Jill Hennessy) tells him (in one of the most poorly considered bits of advice in medical history) that he must face his fears by returning to the place where his mom and dad were attacked. With his aunt (Nina Landis) in tow, Patrick returns, only to discover that the dragons are out in force -- and quite hungry. As in Lantieri's previous work, the killer lizards were actually the product of the special effects department -- not real Komodo dragons (who might not be inclined to kill on command). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jill Hennessy, Billy Burke, (more)
In the wake of their surprise hit Malcolm, Australian screenwriter/photographer David Parker and director Nadia Tass concocted an equally delightful follow-up, Rikky & Pete. Rikky (Nina Landis) and her brother Pete (Stephen Kearney), feeling like misfits in their hometown (as indeed they are), head for a remote mining community. Here it is hoped that Rikky will at last discern her direction in life, and that Pete can work on his Rube Goldberg-ish inventions in peace. Well, now, if everything went as planned, there wouldn't be any movie, would there? Not quite as fresh and spontaneous as Malcolm, Rikky and Pete still possesses an eccentric charm all its own. Be advised, however, that the film is rated R, and may not be altogether appropriate for kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Kearney, Nina Landis, (more)
- 1985
Nick Mancuso stars in the made-for-TV Embassy. Cast as an American ambassador stationed in Rome, Mancuso's life is thrown into turmoil by a crucial computer chip. When not trying to keep U.S. defense secrets from falling into the wrong hands, he must juggle the affections of his press-attache-girlfriend, (Mimi Rogers), and his girlfriend's chief rival (Blanche Baker). Embassy was intended as the 2-hour pilot for a weekly series; it didn't sell, but Nick Mancuso's next venture in the TV-pilot field, Stingray, proved successful. Embassy was initially telecast on April 21, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
Filmed in Berlin in 1981, Stage Fright has been described as "an essay" by its creator, Jon Jost. The film stars Jenny Newman as an aspiring actress. Outwardly calm and collected, Jenny's true self is unleashed when she assumes her stage character. It is then we learn that she has the potential to be a homicidal psycho-and she wastes little time acting on her impulses (at least, this is the generally accepted synopsis; Jon Jost is seldom this linear). Originally lensed in 16 millimeter, this largely adlibbed 75-minute character study was blown up to 35mm for theatrical exhbition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Jenny Neumann, star of the cult/trash classic Mistress of the Apes, stars in this tedious slasher movie from director John D. Lamond. A little girl named Cathy tries to keep her mother from making out with a man while driving one day, and she inadvertently causes her mother's death in the ensuing crash. Sixteen years later, Cathy is somehow named Helen and has become a psychotic actress. Since her mother died with a shard of glass in her throat, Helen begins hacking through the cast of her new play, "Comedy of Blood," in similar fashion. This is a torpid, slavish slasher film where sex equals death (there is copious nudity) and Colin Eggleston's script equals boredom. Lamond further mucks up matters with the standard subjective-camera shots during the murders, which are doubly pointless here because the killer's identity is obvious from the beginning. There is, however, some nice music by Brian May. Lamond returned with the smarmy sex-comedy Pacific Banana. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
