Matt Greenberg Movies
Night of the Living Dead meets Gone with the Wind, in which the Blue and the Gray have to battle the Ghoulish and the Undead. When the Confederate army accidentally unleashes a supernatural voodoo baddie, the spirit starts organizing an army full of dead soldiers, and soon a take-no-prisoners Civil War battle ensues -- one not found in the Ken Burns documentary. This film stars reigning straight-to-video king Corbin Bernsen. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
The first season of The Invisible Man begins as lifelong criminal and chiseler Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca), facing life imprisonment courtesy of the "three strikes you're out" law, agrees to be paroled in the custody of his scientist brother Kevin (David Burke), who is conducting secret invisibility experiments on behalf of a shadowy (and perennially underfunded) government agency called--well, The Agency. No sooner has Kevin planted a quicksilver-filled "invisibility gland" in Darien's neck than terrorists burst in and murder the hapless scientist. As a result, Darien is left with the awkward gland permanently grafted to his person, enabling him to disappear from view whenever he becomes terribly frightened (which is often!). Unfortunately, Darien now faces the likelihood of succumbing to "Quicksilver Madness" unless he is regular injected with a temporary antidote by gorgeous government scientist Claire Keeply, aka The Keeper (Shannon Kenny). Thus, Darien is in no position to refuse an offer from The Agency's head man The Official (Eddie Jones) to use his invisibility on behalf of the United States' counterespionage activities--if he had refused, the antidote doses would have been immediately cut off (and of course there would have been no series). In the course of Season One, reluctant spy Darien is teamed with slovenly, neurotic veteran agent Bobby Howes (Paul Ben-Victor) and is regularly menaced by the sinister Chrysalis organization, whose minions include terrorists Arnaud DeThiel (Joel Bissonette) and Jarod Stark (Spencer Garrett). Darien also faces the danger of sudden exposure whenever a severe change in temperature renders him visible at the most inopportune moments. Season highlights included the poignant episode "Ralph", in which Darien pretends to be the imaginary friend of a little girl traumatized by witness an assassination; "Impetus", wherein Darien's troubles are doubled when he contacts a disease that causes rapid aging; "Liberty and Larceny", guest-starring Priscilla Barnes as Darien's criminal mentor Liz, who hopes to use his invisibility to her advantage; and "Ghost of a Chance" in which Darien poses as a ghost in order to persuade a South American prime minister to vote against a dangerous weapons system--only to face extermination at the hands of a real ghost! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Ventresca, Shannon Kenny, (more)
- 2001
Reluctant secret agent Darien Fawkes (Vincent Ventresca continues to use his ability to render himself invisible on behalf of the government agency known as--er--The Agency, in Season Two of The Invisible Man. Of course, Darien is doing this only in the hopes that some day, some how, sexy scientist Claire Keeply (Shannon Kenny) will come up with a method to remove the invisibility gland that has been grafted to his neck--thereby not only ending his forced servitude to the Official, but also rescuing him from the likelihood of succumbing to "Quicksilver Madness." Making things particularly difficult this season is the fact that the perennially underfunding Agency is shunted from one government regulatory bureau to another in order to keep it alive: First, it is taken over by the Bureau of Fish and Games, then by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, then the Department of Human Services, next the Post Office, and finally by the Bureau of Weights and Measures. It is during his tenure with Human Services that Darien gains a new boss, imperious secret agent Alex Monroe (Brandy Ledford), who turns out to have a connection with the Chrysalis, the sinister terrorist organization that murdered Darien's scientist brother in Season One. Among the Season Two highlights: Albert Eberts (Michael McCafferty), the bean-counting liason between the Agency and the Federal Government, is "possessed" by Darien's frequent nemesis, terrorist Arnaud DeThiel (Joel Bissonette); Darien uses DNA to channel his late brother in hopes of finding a permanent cure for his chronic invisibility; and in a particularly prickly situation, our hero falls into the clutches of an insane acupuncturist (Justine Micelli)! In the series' somewhat open-ended finale, Darien is finally cured--at least halfway--and he leaves the Agency to work for the FBI...sort of. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Ventresca, Shannon Kenny, (more)
- 2006
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A teenage misfit is kidnapped by a strange couple and forced into a basement with their curious 13-year-old son in director William Malone's (House on Haunted Hill) entry into the Masters of Horror series. Tara is an outcast who withdraws into her comfortable world of fantasy rather than deal with the harsh realities of high-school life. One day, while riding her bike home from school, Tara is struck by a van and knocked unconscious. When Tara awakens in what she believes to be a hospital, the nurse tending to her (Lori Petty) tells the girl that she was found miles away from home before launching into a series of increasingly intrusive questions. Upon discovering that she is not in a hospital but a remote and isolated home, Tara is locked in the basement with 13-year-old Johnny. Though kind and sensitive on the surface, Johnny harbors a dark secret. As the pair struggles to escape their dark prison while discovering the cryptic warnings about a "fair-haired child" scrawled on the basement walls, it soon becomes obvious that it was fate, not chance, that brought Tara and Johnny to this dark and terrifying place. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A writer renowned for debunking infamous paranormal events is confronted by a force that he cannot explain upon checking into room 1408 of the notoriously haunted Dolphin Hotel. Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is an author who specializes in horror, but who only believes in what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands. Having constructed an entire career on his ability to dispel superstitious "haunted house" rumors, Mike is convinced that the afterlife is a manmade construct designed to offer false comfort to the weak minded. Mike's latest project is a book entitled "Ten Nights in Haunted Hotel Rooms," and it seems that in room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel, this skeptical scribe may finally find proof of the supernatural. Implored by the hotel manager (Samuel L. Jackson) not to enter room 1408, Mike defiantly procures the key and prepares to dispel yet another spectral sham. Now, as is the case with many of life's most profound epiphanies, the writer who thought he knew it all is caught entirely off guard at the precise moment he least expected it. Subsequently faced with undeniable proof of an afterlife, Mike may have a best-seller on his hands if he can simply survive until sunrise. Mary McCormack and Jasmine Jessica Anthony co-star in director Mikael Håfström's (Derailed) adaptation of an original short story by horror icon Stephen King. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, (more)
- 2009
A young child is taught the ways of the wizard in this first installation of Joseph Delaney's children's series, headed by Enchanted director Kevin Lima. Screenwriter Matt Greenberg (1408) provides the screenplay for the co-production between Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures, and Thunder Road. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
