Terry Loughlin Movies

This gory exploitation actioner from drive-in schlockmeister Earl Owensby was originally released in 3-D and centers upon a vagabond who comes to town in search of work and ends up taking a murder rap and sent to a horrific jail where he is brutalized. He gets a chance for revenge during a violent riot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Character actor Charles Martin Smith directed this quirky horror film about a dead rock star who wreaks vengeance on a small town. When a rock musician is banned from performing at a high school Halloween dance and ends up perishing in a hotel fire, he vows vengeance on the town and comes back from beyond the grave to obliterate the population. He does this through one of his most rabid fans, the nerdy Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price), a high school outsider. He is such a fan that he plays the rock star's final album "Songs in the Key of Death" in reverse, looking for instructions on how to live his life. The rock star willingly obliges Eddie with helpful hints and soon Eddie is able to face down the high school bullies and gain the attention of an attractive girl. But soon Eddie begins to suspect that the ghost is using him. With the ghost intent on destroying the town, Eddie uses his newfound self-confidence to stand up to the ghost and save the town from destruction. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Rutherford County Line is the real-life story of an even-tempered North Carolina sheriff who intends to discover who killed his deputies. Earl Owensby plays Sheriff Damon Husky of Rutherford County, North Carolina. ~ All Movie Guide

Ryan White was the teenaged hemophiliac who contacted AIDS through a blood transfusion, then was barred from attending school in Kokomo, Indiana. All but ostracized by the community, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) engages the services of a high-powered attorney (George C. Scott) to win back her son's basic rights. While the film ends with Ryan triumphing over his human adversaries, no effort is made to sugarcoat the situation. Even after he has been welcomed by another school, we see how the boy is shunned by certain students and their parents; nor is there any glossing over the fact that Ryan's days are numbered, despite the boy's enthusiastic plans for the time he has left (young White died shortly after this TV movie was first telecast in 1989). Despite its inherent sadness, The Ryan White Story is a celebration of an exceptional young human being whose short life touched so many others in a positive, uplifting manner. While Lukas Haas portrays the title character, the real Ryan White appears in the small role of Chad, another hemophiliac AIDS victim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three rebellious bickersome brothers reunite to drive their father's title car from their Detroit homes to Florida. The auto is to be a gift to celebrate their mother's birthday party. Along the way, their adventures are punctuated by pop tunes from 1963 that include "Louie, Louie," a song that inspires a hilarious debate as the three attempt to fathom the song's meaning. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this film version of E. L. Doctorow's Billy Bathgate, Loren Dean plays the title character, a street-smart kid who inveigles his way into the confidence of 1930s gangster Dutch Schultz (Dustin Hoffman). Billy is ordered to look after Schultz' new moll, Drew Preston (Nicole Kidman), while Dutch fends off tax evasion charges and such up-and-coming rivals as Lucky Luciano (Stanley Tucci). Even though they know they're playing with dynamite, Billy and Drew fall in love. In attempting to escape Schultz' wrath, Billy succeeds only in putting himself in the thick of a gun battle between his boss and Luciano. When "Charley Lucky" emerges triumphant, Billy is forced once again to rely on his wits to escape being sent to the bottom of the briny in a cement overcoat. Bruce Willis shows up in an extended cameo as Dutch Schultz' former business associate. Billy Bathgate was adapted for the screen by British playwright Tom Stoppard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this complex, gripping made-for-TV courtroom drama, the new DA of a small town is given the job of prosecuting the alleged murderer of a stripper. Unfortunately, his own father is in charge of the defense. To make matters worse, both attorneys are in love with the wife of the accused. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This fact-based made-for-television drama follows a policewoman's fight for justice after she is raped by colleague. Though there is no denying the offending officer's guilt, he stands protected by an unspoken code of silence by his peers, a code that the woman herself feels obligated to honor. Her attitude changes, however, when she learns that the bad-apple cop has raped a civilian. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television movie is based on the true story of a landmark Supreme Court decision. Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) stars as Carrie Buck, a woman who was used as the test subject in a 1927 experiment to sterilize mentally-challenged women. The test was allowed after a controversial Supreme Court ruling came down in favor of the procedure. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Carl Lee Hailey (Samuel L. Jackson) takes the law into his own hands after the legal system fails to adequately punish the men who brutally raped and beat his daughter, leaving her for dead. Normally, a distraught father could count on some judicial sympathy in those circumstances. Unfortunately, Carl and his daughter are black, and the assailants are white, and all the events take place in the South. Indeed, so inflammatory is the situation, that the local KKK (led by Kiefer Sutherland) becomes popular again. When Hailey chooses novice lawyer Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) to handle his defense, it begins to look like a certainty that Carl will hang, and Jake's career (and perhaps his life) will come to a premature end. Despite the efforts of the NAACP and local black leaders to persuade Carl to choose some of their high-powered legal help, he remains loyal to Jake, who had helped his brother with a legal problem before the story begins. Jake eventually takes this case seriously enough to seek help from his old law-school professor (Donald Sutherland). When death threats force his family to leave town, Jake even accepts the help of pushy young know-it-all lawyer Ellen Roark (Sandra Bullock). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In Moscow, after FBI deputy director Carter Preston (Sidney Poitier) and scarred Russian intelligence officer Valentina Koslova (Diane Venora) bring down a key figure in the Russian Mafia, they are threatened by the criminal's powerful brother who swears vengeance on the FBI and immediately hires a professional assassin, the Jackal (Bruce Willis) to kill a leading American political figure. A master of disguises, the Jackal believes in total perfectionism and demands $70 million for the job. The FBI suspects the Jackal is aiming for the FBI director, so they consult with former Basque terrorist Isabella (Mathilda May), in Virginia, and Isabella's former lover, IRA operative Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), serving a prison sentence. Promised leniency, Mulqueen agrees to help. Meanwhile, the Jackal prepares false passports, secures a customized computer system to run his Gatling gun, and heads toward his target in Washington, D.C. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide