Ernie Lively Movies

Produced for the USA cable service, Accidental Meeting stars Linda Purl as Maryanne and Linda Gray as Jennifer. Meeting by chance, the two women begin discussing the men in their life. Maryanne expresses a wish to see her boss dead, while Jennifer would sooner see an odious male of her acquaintance drop dead. When Maryanne's hateful employer is killed, Jennifer re-enters her life, admitting to the murder and demanding equal reciprocation. While Accidental Meeting's 1951 role model Strangers on a Train is virtually suitable for the whole family, the later film is laden with "parental guidance suggested" violence and sex. Accidental Meeting premiered March 17, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Peter Yates' crime drama An Innocent Man, Tom Selleck plays Jimmie Rainwood, a stock figure airline maintenance supervisor with a perfect family. Then, one day, Jimmie decides to take a shower. While scrubbing himself clean, two crooked cops are getting themselves dirtier. Mike Parnell (David Rasche) and Danny Scalise (Richard Young) are the kind of bad cops who bust the drug dealers, steal their supply, and sell it back to the local drug lords. On this day, unfortunately for Jimmie, they get the wrong address and bash down his door. When Jimmie comes out of the bathroom wielding his hair dryer, Parnell and Scalise think it is a gun and shoot him. Realizing their mistake, they cover themselves and frame him as a drug dealer. Jimmie refuses to take a plea and he is sentenced to six years in the slammer. In the brutal prison environment, he is taken aside by long-timer Virgil Kane (F. Murray Abraham), who gives him a bleak collection of options to chose from in order to survive prison. After seeing a prison gang rape, Jimmie chooses the kill-or-be-killed selection and stabs to death the nasty black convict who has been bothering him. After three years, Jimmie is released on parole, and he tries to pick up his life again. But Parnell and Scalise return to threaten Jimmie and his family. Realizing that his prison lessons must be carried over into civilian life, he sets up a situation in which the bad cops' drug dealings are revealed, and Jimmie prepares for a final reckoning between the cops and himself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Frequent TV-movie costars Stephanie Zimbalist and Gregory Harrison are teamed once more in Breaking the Silence. Harrison plays a lawyer defending a teenager (Chris Young) accused of murdering his father. As the boy details a lengthy history of abuse at the hands of his father, Harrison flashes back to his own miserable childhood. Zimbalist costars as Harrison's law partner (and former lover), who must not only contend with mounting an adequate defense for their client, but also must come to grips with her bitter childhood memories. Breaking the Silence first aired January 14, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Action star Steven Seagal crosses Rip Van Winkle with Clint Eastwood in this belabored revenge odyssey. Seagal plays L.A. Detective Mason Storm and, over the opening credits, Storm is seen busily eavesdropping on crooked politician Vernon Trent (William Sadler). Once he has the goods on Trent, Storm phones his partner Kevin O'Malley (Frederick Coffin) to report on his progress. Unfortunately, crooked cops in the same room pick up the extension phone and listen in, thereby dooming Storm. Soon killers show up at Storm's home and blow away Storm's wife Felicia (Bonnie Burroughs) and their young son. Storm himself is also assumed dead, but when he is taken to the hospital, he lapses into a coma. O'Malley spirits him away, and everyone else, for all intents and purposes, thinks Storm has died. Seven years later, under the tutelage of incredibly beautiful nurse Andy Stewart (Kelly LeBrock), Storm rises from his coma and plots his revenge. With the able assistance of Andy, Storm heads off on a killing spree, becoming (as one character describes him), "the most unstoppable sonuvabitch I ever met." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Plagued throughout his life by fuzzy, disturbing memories, Coloradoan William Coit Jr. (Neil Patrick Harris) realizes that these memories may put a crimp in the happiness of his recent marriage. In his efforts to get at the root of his anxieties, Coit ruminates over his unhappy, unstable childhood -- and his much-married mother Jill (Bonnie Bartlett), who, in addition to her other peccadillos, has cheated her children out of their late father's inheritance. Can it be possible that the wanton Jill actually murdered William's father? And if so, what horrors are in store for Jill's brand-new husband (number ten!) if William does not take immediate action? Based on a true story, Legacy of Sin: The William Coit Story first aired October 3, 1995, on the Fox network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The ladies of Cabot Cove are enchanted by a newcomer to the community, handsome gym instructor Wayne Bennett (Jason Beghe). Especially fascinated by Bennett is Eve Simpson (Julie Adams), who naturally is an old friend of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). When Bennett's onetime partner, con artist Fred Kepper (Hugh O'Brien), turns up dead in Eve's bedroom, Jessica can't bring herself to believe that her friend had anything to do with this awkward turn of events--and as always, Jessica knows best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) serves as narrator for tonight's story, which centers around working-class private eye Frank Albertson (a pre-Politically Incorrect Bill Maher) and his wife Sunny (Faith Ford). After years of sponging off Frank and Sunny, Frank's uncle Charlie (John Finnegan) suddenly inherits a fortune--and just as suddenly disappears. Later on, a mangled corpse is found on a local railroad track, whereupon Frank attempts to claim the body as that of Uncle Charlie.. However, there seems to be several other people interested in claiming the corpse--and the aforementioned inheritance--themselves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This time we're off to the Canadian Rockies, where vacationer Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is stranded in a small town. At the same time, a bitter turf war has developed between a local Native American tribe and a powerful mining company. Not one but two murders result from this conflict, whereupon Jessica really cuts her vacation short to solve the mystery. The episode is distinguished by the presence of two leading Native American actors, Graham Greene and Ned Romero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story stars Jean Smart as the title character. One of the rare female serial killers on record, Wuornos was eventually charged with murdering seven men on lonely Florida roads. The killing spree took place between 1990 and 1991, thus this 1992 TV movie could pat itself on the back for its timeliness. At the time Overkill was made, there was some public doubt concerning Wuornos' guilt (she was then on death row). The script suggests that her crimes were a by-product of childhood sexual abuse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this thriller a man falsely imprisoned for murdering his wife, finishes his 15 year sentence and then falls in love with his lovely parole officer who believes in him. Things go well until someone threatens the officer and begins trying to get him back in prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Wes Craven's Shocker takes media manipulation to a new level in this story of an evil force emitted from television sets that has the power to kill. The film centers on high school athlete Jonathan Parker (Peter Berg). His estranged father is homicide detective Don Parker (Michael Murphy), who has been working on capturing an elusive serial killer plaguing the town. One night, during a particularly vivid nightmare, Jonathan dreams that while Parker is away on an assignment, his family is murdered by the serial killer. In the dream, Jonathan can identify the killer -- local television repairman Horace Pinker (Mitch Pileggi). Amazingly, it turns out that Jonathan's nightmare was reality. Using Jonathan's dream as evidence, Pinker is brought to trail, found guilty, and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Before his execution, Pinker makes a pact with the devil so when he is electrocuted, the electricity from the chair will give his spirit powers of evil. At first, Pinker's murderous spirit travels in and out of people's bodies, prompting the host to commit murder. But when it seems more effective to communicate with people by television signals, the spirit is willing and soon people suddenly become possessed by Pinker's spirit through TV screens and engage in murderous atrocities. All this is done by Pinker to exact retribution upon Jonathan, who was responsible for sending him to his death. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Danger comes in pairs in this gruesome horror story. Kate (Margo Harshman), Zack (Greg Cipes), Ashley (Kelly Vitz), Riff (Artie Baxter) and Vicky (Carrie Finklea) are five college students who are heading out together for a spring break camping trip. Hoping to add some excitement to the proceedings, they set up camp at the Heathers, a remote wooded location where a notorious murder took place years before. Legend has it a young boy killed his parents and beat his twin brother into a state of severe brain damage in the Heathers, but the students, attracted to the spooky ambience, don't imagine any real danger still lurks in the forest. En route, the kids stop for supplies at a ramshackle general store, where they meet Stanley (Crispin Glover), an eccentric shopkeeper with a mentally feeble brother, Simon (also played by Glover). What they kids don't realize until it's too late is that Stanley is the murderous youngster of legend, and with the help of Simon, he's still in the business of murdering strangers when the opportunity presents itself. Simon Says also stars Bruce Glover (Crispin's father), Lori Lynn Lively and Erica Hubbard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide