Justin Louis Movies

Though not a true sequel to Paul Lynch's derivative slasher-dud Prom Night, this Carrie-flavored horror film begins in 1957 with the fiery death of bitchy prom queen Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) courtesy of a backfired stinkbomb stunt pulled by her jealous ex-boyfriend. Thirty years later, her killer has become the school principal (Michael Ironside), and sweet, innocent Vicki (Wendy Lyon) is a contender for the prom-queen title. Mary Lou's vengeful spirit spies the perfect opportunity to reclaim her crown once and for all. The rest of the film involves Vicki adopting Mary Lou's less-than-reputable habits and messily destroying anyone who stands between her and the coveted title. High points include a telekinetic "Tutti Frutti" locker-room squashing and a swirling demonic blackboard, all courtesy of FX wizard Jim Doyle, who worked previously on A Nightmare on Elm Street, to which this film bears some stylistic similarities. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The first new TV-movie of 1988 (it debuted January 1st), Drop-Out Mother is a belated follow-up to the 1983 Dick Van Dyke vehicle Drop-Out Father. Valerie Harper plays a busy executive who decides one day to turn her back on the business world to become a full-time mom. Problem is, her husband and kids have pretty full lives, thus they can't quite accommodate her. Wayne Rogers plays hubby, Danny Gerard and Alyson Court are the kids, and Carol Kane is the obligatory Best Friend. Drop-Out Mother passes the time, but it's a far cry from its consistently entertaining 1983 predecessor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Jack Sholder followed his surprise sleeper hit The Hidden (1987) with this action drama that re-teamed Young Guns (1988) co-stars Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips. Sutherland stars as Buster McHenry, a Philadelphia cop working undercover as a thief in the gang of wealthy, sadistic Marino (Rob Knepper). When the gang's heist of some diamonds goes awry, a few innocents are shot, and a valuable Native American spear is stolen landing Buster in bureaucratic hot water. Along comes Hank Storm (Phillips), intent upon retrieving the relic of his Sioux tribesmen and avenge the death of his brother. Hank and Buster team up to take Marino down and expose police corruption in the process. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Written and directed by John Bradshaw, The Big Slice stars Casey Siemaszko and Justin Louis as a pair of aspiring mystery novelists. Knowing next to nothing about crime, the two writers decide to "live" their adventures. Venturing out into the Big Bad World, the boys pose as a cop and a criminal-and, not surprisingly, get in way over their heads. Heather Locklear makes a token "femme fatale" appearance in this frenetic farce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This cinematic/literary hybrid fuses motifs from Beat writer William S. Burroughs's novel of the same name with elements of the author's biography and plenty of the cerebral alienation and biomorphic special effects fans of creepy cult director David Cronenberg have come to expect. Bill Lee (Peter Weller) wants to write, but he exterminates bugs to pay the bills. His wife, Joan (Judy Davis), becomes addicted to Bill's bug powder dust, and soon he joins her in a world of unorthodox hallucinogens; he visits the kindly yet sinister Dr. Benway (Roy Scheider) and walks away with his first dose of the black meat -- a narcotic made from the flesh of the giant aquatic Brazilian centipede. Soon, monstrous beetles are whispering conspiracy theories in Bill's ears and his nebbish writer friends Hank (Nicholas Campbell) and Martin (Michael Zelniker) are sleeping with Joan under his nose. When a party trick involving a liquor glass and a gun goes awry, killing Joan, Bill flees to Interzone, a Mediterranean city full of talking insectoid typewriters, double agents, offbeat aesthetes, and plots within plots. As he navigates this paranoid landscape, Bill begins ingesting another drug called mugwump jism and writes fragments that Hank and Martin soon assemble into a novel under the title Naked Lunch. As beat literature aficionados know, Interzone is based on Tangiers -- the city where Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch. The incident in the film in which Hank and Martin appropriate Bill's writing and have it published closely approximates the real-life circumstances of the novel's publication, although it was Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac who helped out the real-life Burroughs. The William Tell incident that kills Bill's wife is also drawn from the author's real life. "William Lee" is both Burroughs' literary stand-in and the name under which he published his first autobiographical novel Junky. Ian Holm, who plays Joan Frost's husband, Tom, would appear in Cronenberg's similarly experimental eXistenZ several years later. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Justin Louis, Eugene Lipinski and Andrew Miller star in this gritty thriller from Canada about the owner of an after-hours club who finds himself pursued by a obsessive undercover policeman. Also features Jan Rubes and Kenneth Welsh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This Canadian production stars Gordon Currie as a charming but awkward vampire who is awakened from a decades-long nap by a runaway golf ball and eventually tries to readjust to life in the '90s with the help of a nutty, philosophical cab driver (Justin Louis) and the lovely proprietor of an all-night downtown donut shop (Helene Clarkson). The prospect of a relationship with the smart and spunky pastry wrangler is hindered, however, by the presence of Currie's former lover (Fiona Reid), to whom the last 25 years have been somewhat less kind. Director Holly Dale gleaned a surprising amount of humor from this premise, including a cameo from Toronto's duke of dementia David Cronenberg as a sleazeball gangster who constantly berates his underlings. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

A mother-in-law's propensity for meddling goes to extremes when she decides to murder her son's wife so she can have custody of her grandson. This made-for-TV drama is based on a true story. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ron Cosentino writes and directs this gangland screwball tragedy about a young street smart kid trying to protect his family. Though his mother (Karen Black) is an alcoholic, Duke Romano (Carmine D. Giovinazzo) is primarily concerned with his loser brother Frankie, who makes the monumentally stupid decision to rob a truck full of designer shoes from trigger-happy local mobster Nicky Kaplan. When Nicky puts a hit out on Frankie, Duke does everything in his power to keep the mafia from killing his sibling. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Returning from maternity leave, Carol (Julianna Margulies) has problems getting back with the program. Greene (Anthony Edwards) tries to nullify the abusive relationship between a gay couple. Carter (Noah Wyle) and Chen (Ming-Na) launch into another argument, this one over admitting an elderly woman (Peg Phillips) into the ER (Diane Baker guest-stars as the woman's apparently long-suffering daughter). Complications arise during a heart transplant for Lucy's (Kellie Martin) patient Valerie (Myndy Crist). Luka (Goran Visnjic) treats a group of truly colorful patients. Malucci (Erik Palladino) launches a one-man crusade against an illegal pharmacy. And two of the series' main characters may be on the verge of a warm relationship. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide