Christine Baur Movies

A teenage horror film addict is shocked to discover that his new next-door neighbor is a vampire in this delightful mix of horror and comedy. The problems only grow for young Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) when he expresses his thoughts about fanged new neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon). His girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse), thinks Charley is avoiding their relationship issues, his single mom thinks Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) could be a potential boyfriend, and his buddy "Evil" (Stephen Geoffreys) just thinks Charley's losing it. Worst of all, Dandridge and his nasty assistant, Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark), are on to Charley's wild notions -- and have plans to pay him a late-night visit to silence him. With no one to help him, Charley turns to the one man he knows has faced the wrath of the undead and lived, the fearless vampire killer Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall). A washed-up actor who has just been fired from his job as the host of a late-night horror show, Vincent is not about to believe in the rantings of an impressionable teen. However, lured by Amy's cash offer, he agrees to help her convince Charley that Dandridge isn't a vampire. There is just one problem: Dandridge is a vampire and when Amy falls under his evil spell, its up Charley and Peter to drive a stake through their potential romance. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide

The Witches of Eastwick, a memorable comedy with a dark edge, is based upon a novel by John Updike. On Thursday nights three female friends -- Alex (Cher), Sukie (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Jane (Susan Sarandon) -- meet to chug martinis, learn Chinese aphrodisiac cooking and lament the scarcity of eligible men. As they sit around, they fantasize about and describe their idea of the ideal male. Arriving in town the following day is Satan, disguised as mysterious stranger Darrell Van Horn (Jack Nicholson). One by one, Van Horne seduces each of the women. Then, strange things begin to happen. When the town matriarch Felicia (Veronica Cartwright) publicly denounces Van Horne, she sustains a nasty compound fracture. When she forces her editor husband to publish a story about Van Horne's sexual antics, Darrell gets his revenge with revoltingly large amounts of cherries. The women now see that they may be in danger and begin to plot their escape. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Texasville is Peter Bogdanovich's much-delayed sequel to The Last Picture Show. Adapted from Larry McMurtry's novel and told as a series of episodes, Texasville follows the characters from The Last Picture Show as they reunite in a small Texas town nearly 30 years after the end of the last movie, and face a number of adult problems, as well as confronting lingering emotions and memories from adolescence. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Jodie Foster made her directorial debut (with a script by Scott Frank) in this tale of a child prodigy's search for social acceptance. Fred Tate (Adam Hann-Byrd) is a precocious fourth grader who has no problem with the most complex mathematical problems or in banging out a Rachmaninoff concerto on the piano, but is totally inept at playing baseball or dealing with children his own age. His mother Dede (Jodie Foster) is a cocktail waitress who acts more like a child than Fred, but cares passionately about her son. Fred comes to the attention of child psychologist Jane Grierson (Dianne Wiest), who runs a summer camp for child prodigies called Odyssey of the Mind. She invites Fred to attend the summer session, creating a rift between Fred and Dede. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Stephen Frears' Hero is a contemporary re-working of a Frank Capra-styled fable about a two-bit criminal named Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) who saves several passengers from a plane crash and leaves the scene without being identified, leaving only a lost shoe for identification. One of the passengers happens to be news-reporter Gale (Geena Davis) who is intent on finding her savior, and offers a million dollars to the "hero" of the crashed flight. Bernie has since given his remaining shoe to a homeless man named John (Andy Garcia) who decides to cash in on the offer. A handsome, charming man, John wins the hearts of the entire city. Soon, Bernie realizes that he's been cheated out of a million dollars, and he begins an effort to get his proper recognition--and his money. Hero manages to be quite funny and satirical while sticking to a story that is essentially a Hollywood fable. That is to the credit of director Frears and the cast, who turn in uniformly excellent performances. Nevertheless, Hoffman is superb as a bitterly comic and spiteful variation on his classic Ratso Rizzo character. By the way, be on the lookout for Chevy Chase in a very funny cameo. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

After a bad day at work, a man suddenly gets a new job -- as the world's new Heavenly Father -- in this comedy. Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) is a television reporter working in Buffalo, NY, who has been growing increasingly dissatisfied with his existence, and after an especially bad day, he flies into a rage and curses God for making his life miserable. To Bruce's great surprise, the Supreme Being Himself (Morgan Freeman) appears, and tries to convince Bruce of the enormity of his task. Bruce, however, isn't buying it, so God gives him a chance to find out what he's up against; God bestows all of his powers on Bruce for a week, to see how he'd handle things. At first, Bruce has a great time bending the world around him to his will, much to the puzzlement of his girlfriend, Grace (Jennifer Aniston), but after six days God stops by to remind Bruce he hasn't done much to make the Earth a better place. Disappointed, God presents Bruce with an ultimatum -- he has one day to improve the world in a concrete way, or God will toss the planet back into the void. Bruce Almighty was directed by Tom Shadyac, who previously teamed with Jim Carrey for Liar, Liar and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide