Pepper Martin Movies

An interstellar musician (Kyle T. Heffner) finds himself on board the spaceship Bounty after traveling through the cosmos as a light-beam for over 20 years. There, he must flee from two crooks (Scott Williamson, John Durbin) who are intent on unleashing a vial of deadly gas aboard the ship. ~ John Bush, Rovi

In 1982, Crippen High School was the scene of a gruesome series of dismemberment murders, but the killer was never identified. Five years later, Cosmic Pictures arrives at the long-abandoned campus to make a low-budget horror movie based on the tragedy, and suddenly the terror begins anew. The police department arrives at the school to find the building and grounds covered in gore and human body parts, the remains of the unfortunate film crew. The only survivor of this new massacre is the screenwriter, Arthur (Richard Brestoff), who tries to explain the horrifying events to the authorities. The troubled production's leading lady is angered over the demeaning nature of her role, the producer and director argue over the film's lack of artistic merits, and when cast members start disappearing, everyone else assumes that they're just quitting out of disgust. Who is the culprit? Is it the school's principal, appearing as himself in the film for the sake of realism? The janitor, who hopes to parlay his cameo into a pornography career? Or maybe Steven (Brendan Hughes), who was a student at Crippen during the original murder spree and finds himself reluctantly cast as the hero? This self-referential slasher parody features George Clooney in a small part as the film's first victim, and The Brady Bunch's Maureen McCormick as a policewoman with a lust for blood and hot dogs. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi

These bad guys are a couple of inept cops who, when kicked off the force, decide to make their living as professional wrestlers. They become "The Boston Bad Guys" and as such, are pitted against a wrestling team managed by their manager's arch rival. To add intrigue to this wrestling fan's release (who else would watch it?) -- are appearances by several big-name professional wrestlers. ~ Rovi

After the mysterious death of seven-year-old Christopher Reano, Quincy (Jack Klugman) checks into reports that a foster group home called Green Springs is endangering its charges with brutal treatment and unsanitary conditions. Pediatrician Dr. Curtis (played by former Leave It to Beaver cotar Tony Dow) hopes that Quincy will help him close Green Springs down: trouble is, the youngsters will then be shipped off to a reformatory that is even worse. It is up to Quincy's psychologist wife Elaine (Anita Gillette) to come up with a radical--but compassionate--solution to the problem. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While searching for an embezzler who disappeared after posting bail, Jim (James Garner) asks one question too many at an elite health club. As a result, he is knocked out, heavily sedated, and bundled off to a mental institution. Unable to convince anyone of his real identity and surrounded by delusional patients who imagine themselves to be everyone from "James Bond" to "Doc Holliday", Jim nonetheless manages to find the man he's looking for and to figure out who is responsible for his current predicament--and why. Now all he has to do is escape the institution and inform the authorities. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ostensibly a six-hour miniseries adaptation of Bert Hirschfield's novel Aspen, the program actually used only the title of the Hirschfield work; the plot proper was lifted from another novel by a different author, Bart Spicer's The Adversary. Set in the titular Colorado ski resort in the 1960s, the story line incorporated equal amounts of sex, greed, ambition, and murder, with the trial of accused rapist-killer Lee Bishop (Perry King) at the center of the storm, and the efforts by a gangster to grab up the local land, coupled with the amorous misadventures of a jet-setting glamour girl, taking up the slack whenever the plot threatened to lag. Despite a huge and varied cast, Sam Elliott emerged as the star of the proceedings in the role of straight-arrow attorney Tom Keating. Originally shown by the NBC network from November 5 to 7, 1977, Aspen was rebroadcast under the more lurid title The Innocent and the Damned. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Despite his animosity towards his former parole officer Marcus Hayes (Louis Gosset Jr. in his first series appearance), Jim (James Garner) agrees to take a case on Hayes' behalf. Jim is to investigate the possibility of criminal involvement in the high-stakes bidding for a valuable pro-basketball franchise, ostensibly to help out Hayes' employer, Athletics commissioner Martin Eastman (David White). It turns out, however, that Eastman never hired Hayes...and with the commissioner turns up murdered, Jim begins to wonder what exactly his old "friend" Marcus is really up to. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two Miami beach bums become notorious cat-burglars in this lively crime drama that is based on a true story. After successfully committing a series of burglaries of some of Miami's wealthiest, the two get bored and decide to steal the Star of India sapphire from the American Museum of Natural History, New York. One of the actual thieves, Allan Kuhn, served as the technical advisor. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Squad 51 guys enter a contest for the best new firefighting invention. This new diversion, however, does not cause them to neglect their workload, which this week includes an obese homehowner stuck in his own ceiling, a comatose man suffering from an inexplicable ailment, and a case of radiation poisoning which threatens to spread throughout the city. This final episode of Emergency!'s third season was directed by series regular Kevin Tighe (Roy Desoto). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A runaway box-office hit to the tune of 17 million dollars, Walking Tall is the unabashedly manipulative story of real-life Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser. As played by Joe Don Baker, Pusser can either be regarded as a tireless champion of justice or a baseball-bat-wielding hooligan. But with some of the most scurrilous villains this side of a Republic serial as the main targets of Pusser's wrath, the audience cannot help but applaud the sheriff's strongarm methods. When the town baddies seek vengeance by killing Pusser's wife (Elizabeth Hartman), the you-know-what really hits the fan! Never resorting to subtlety, Walking Tall was such a winner that it spawned two sequels, a made-for-television movie, and a weekly TV series -- none of which were enjoyed by the real Buford Pusser, who had long since died under questionable circumstances. At the time of the film's theatrical release, the MPAA rating system was comparatively new, so the studio launched an ad campaign aimed at parents, letting them know that the R-rated Walking Tall contained violence and not sex, and therefore was good family entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Abducted by a vicious band of outlaws and left for dead after being violated and tortured, a young teacher teams with the Apache chief who nursed her back to health to take revenge on her attackers in this violent western starring Michele Carey and Henry Silva. Alice (Carey) was an innocent passenger on a stagecoach when a gang of outlaws slaughtered her traveling companions and brought her back to their hideout as their own personal plaything, but when her captors left her for dead they should have made sure the job was finished. When a sympathetic Apache chief discovers Alice near death in the desert sun, he lovingly takes her under his wing to aid her in her grueling convalescence. Now back on her feet and thirsting for revenge, Alice and the chief track her tormentors as the vivid memories of her painful trauma push Alice to the edge of sanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

James Lake (Raymond St. Jacques) is an escaped black convict imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit. Leslie Whitlock (Kevin McCarthy) offers James money to kill his wife, Ellen (Dana Wynter). He declines and tries to look up his old flame Lily (Barbara McNair), but discovers his own brother is now married to the sultry nightclub singer. James returns to Leslie, and the trio travel towards a mountain retreat. James and Ellen escape and try to find the murderer who had framed James years before. He experiences prejudices from police and civilian alike before the trail leads to the dead girl's stepfather. Due to the constant sexual and racial overtones this film is considered an exploitation feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi