Peter MacNeill Movies

Brian Dennehy makes one of his many TV-movie appearances as Chicago homicide cop John Reed in the two-part Deadly Matrimony. Reed's quarry this time is mob lawyer Treat Williams, who murders his wife and then effectively covers his tracks. The closer Reed comes to the truth, the more he's in jeopardy of losing his job (and possibly his life) thanks to Williams' friends in high places. Based on a true story, part one of Deadly Matrimony was first telecast on November 22, 1992. In part two, which debuted November 23, Reed is victimized by the crooked cops under Williams' thumb, but refuses to knuckle under to mob pressure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When prison psychiatrist Bill Chrushank (Jeff Fahey) loses an arm in a car accident, he receives a revolutionary new transplant from an unknown donor, who is later discovered to have been a recently-executed psycho-killer. During his recovery, Bill is tormented by violent nightmares and aggressive new impulses -- and his limb seems to have developed a malevolent will of its own, acting independently and lashing out beyond his control. He eventually discovers that an artist named Remo Lacey (Brad Dourif) -- whose work is influenced by the same nightmares -- is the recipient of the killer's other arm. Before long, the same donor's legs turn up on yet another man, who harbors the same violent mood swings... and the inevitable "reunion" culminates in a violent, gory finale. Written and directed by Eric Red (based on the novel Choice Cuts by Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac), this is a stylish and tightly-paced film (the harrowing car chase is a definite nail-biter), but the ball is sadly dropped by a weak script that discards the twisted potential of its premise (is the donor arm influencing Chrushank's mind, or vice versa?), lapsing instead into standard slasher-think. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

While Love and Hate: A Marriage Made in Hell had its American network debut in July of 1990, it was not precisely a world premiere. The film had already been shown in 1989 on Canadian TV, where it was the highest-rated TV movie of that year. Small wonder: It was based on a true story that had dominated Canadian headlines since 1980. Kenneth Welsh stars as Colin Thatcher, a wealthy Saskatchewan rancher/ politician. Kate Nelligan plays his wife, who withstands years of physical abuse before filing for divorce. Using his political and financial clout, Thatcher carries on a brutal courtroom battle to gain custody of his children. His wife wins but the victory is brief, however; Mrs. Thatcher ends up murdered. Thatcher is almost immediately pounced upon as the prime suspect, and the film concludes with his trial--which develops into a real nail-biter. Based on a true story that had hogged Canadian headlines for nearly a decade, Love and Hate: A Marriage Made in Hell was the highest-rated TV movie to be shown on Canadian TV in 1989. Its below-the-border debut occurred on July 15 and 16, 1990; in syndication, the two-part film was trimmed to 153 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This bizarre adaptation of the superb horror novel by Dean Koontz details the mental collapse of writer Hillary Thomas (Victoria Tennant), who is relentlessly stalked by sadistic psycho Bruno Clavell (Jean Leclerc), whom she had once interviewed for her latest book. After he breaks into her apartment to attack her, she is forced to kill him in self-defense... but her torment doesn't stop there. After her apparently still-living tormentor returns to assault her again, she turns to cop Tony Clemenza (Chris Sarandon) for help, and the two form a romantic bond while working together to solve the mystery. The confusing climax tries to tie up the novel's far-flung elements of black magic, incest, drugs, and hordes of hungry cockroaches, but one is left wondering what exactly is going on. Violent, gory, and perverse, this adaptation is dulled by flat performances and a script that fails to keep track of Koontz's complex storytelling techniques. ~ Cavett Binion, 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

In this mystery-thriller based on a novel by Ruth Rendell, Eunice (Rita Tushingham, wife of director Ousama Rawi) is a housekeeper who gets a job working for an older doctor and his wife in the U.S. Eunice is super-sensitive, rather homely, and illiterate. But she makes friends with a religious fanatic (Jackie Burroughs) who is quite willing to go along with whatever she has in mind. When a murder occurs, could Eunice and her good buddy be a bit more disturbed than first assumed? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this above-average, exciting Canadian-made action thriller, four psychopaths, led by Christie (Robert Carradine) take over and vandalize a ritzy Manhattan apartment building during the New York power blackout. They move from apartment to apartment, victimizing the occupants until stopped by the police. This low-budget thriller has an exciting, well-written script by John C. Saxton, excellent photography by Jean-Jacques Tarbes and well-acted cameo performances by several well-known actors, including Jean-Pierre Aumont, Ray Milland and June Allyson. While highly derivative and predictable, this film is well worth watching if only to see James Mitchum give an unusually strong performance. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

For his second commercial feature, following a pair of experimental films and 1977's Shivers, Canadian horror auteur David Cronenberg continued to mine the themes of disease and mutation that were already becoming his perennial concerns. Marilyn Chambers stars as Rose, an attractive young woman who becomes horribly injured in a motorcycle accident. Spirited away to the clinic of Drs. Dan and Roxanne Keloid (Howard Ryshpan and Patricia Gage), a pair of experimental plastic surgeons, Rose becomes an unwitting guinea pig in an operation that grafts genetically modified tissue into her body. Waking from her coma to find she is unable to ingest normal food, Rose unwittingly feeds on human blood by means of a phallic organ that emerges from a vulval orifice in her armpit. Within hours of providing Rose with sustenance, her victims fall prey to an incurable, highly contagious disease that turns them into raving lunatics who foam at the mouth and attack others indiscriminately. Soon, Montreal is under martial law, but nobody can find the Typhoid Mary whose vampiric urges are driving the epidemic -- not even Hart (Frank Moore), Rose's befuddled boyfriend. Although she is best-known for her starring role in the crossover porn epic Behind the Green Door, Chambers actually received her start in features with 1970's The Owl and the Pussycat. Rabid also stars TV and stage veteran Joe Silver as Murray Cypher, a mutual friend of Hart and the Keloids. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide