Sandy Lipton Movies
A decade of wisecracking sequels have not diminished the power of this striking horror film from the director of Scream. Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop's daughter (Heather Langenkamp) traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger (Robert Englund), who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers' children, claiming their lives as his revenge. The teenaged leads are sympathetic and intelligent, unlike the dumb victims presented in most films of the period, and they are ably backed up by veterans like John Saxon and Ronee Blakley. Director Wes Craven creates moments of real dread by examining the line between nightmares and reality, as well as the "sins of the parents" theme, and although the film is quite gory, it never resorts to cheap bloodletting for its effect. A unique and disturbing experience, this film is highly recommended for horror buffs. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Saxon, Ronee Blakely, (more)
Breakdancing, hip-hop, rap, and a good time are the main stars of this standard teen movie about youths trying to raise money to save their community club from being razed for a shopping mall. Ozone (Adolfo Quiñones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers) are two master breakdancers who have started a community club to teach other teens how to manage the acrobatics of the dance without literally breaking anything. Their efforts create some choreographed, group breakdancing that is rather innovative. But an evil developer (Peter MacLean) sees their property as ideal for a shopping mall project -- and a crooked politician is willing to back him up for a fee. As the teens do their best to raise money to keep their center, some are also battling with restrictive parents or trying to ease into romantic liaisons that offer their own challenges. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lucinda Dickey, Adolpho "Shabba Doo" Quinones, (more)
- 1984
A 17-year-old boy (Chad Lowe) is killed in an automobile accident. As the facts begin to assert themselves, it appears that the boy actually took his own life. His mother (Mariette Hartley) and sister (Dana Hill) try to learn the truth, even as his father (Howard Hesseman) digs in his heels and refuses to face the possibility of a suicide. While this plot line is unravelling, the boy's best friend (Charlie Sheen) is tormented by the possibility that he could have prevented the tragedy. The emphasis in Silence of the Heart is the effect of suicide on the survivors rather than the victim, and the realization that one does not have to be "crazy" to end one's own existence. This made-for-TV movie was originally telecast October 30, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
For the first (and thus far the only) time in his career, Chevy Chase plays a genuinely sympathetic character in Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times. This time around, Chase is a divorced novelist who is abducted by crooks and set up as the fall guy in a bank robbery. Arrested, Chase manages to escape and to make his way to the home of ex-wife Goldie Hawn, now a highly respected liberal defense attorney. Chase's unexpected arrival coincides with an important dinner party on behalf of Goldie's current husband, district attorney Charles Grodin. At first making every effort to give Chase the boot, Hawn, ever the champion of the underdog finally decides to help him out of his dilemma--much to the discomfort of her politically ambitious husband. Wisely, Grodin does not play his character as an unpleasant stuffed shirt; he is as likeable as Chase and Hawn, giving the farcical plot convolutions a tinge of reality. We care about the people involved, thus the laughs spring as much from characterization as they do from the situation. If only Seems Like Old Times didn't have that lame-brained final close up..... ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, (more)
- 1971
- PG
Candice Bergen plays the title character, a naïve young woman from the countryside who ventures to the bright lights of Chicago in search of an interesting career, true love, and happiness. She ends up working a meaningless job and living in a drab apartment, and she remains lonely as her romantic entanglements also misfire. She has an affair with businessman Jack Mitchell (Peter Boyle), which ends terribly. Next she takes up with Larry Moore (James Caan), but that romance also goes nowhere. Peter Hyams wrote the script and produced the film, which was released in England under the title Date with a Lonely Girl. Director Herbert Ross had much better success with romantic-comedy material in later years when he filmed Neil Simon material such as The Goodbye Girl. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Candice Bergen, Peter Boyle, (more)
