Steven Memel Movies

This commendable horror effort from Tibor Takacs is a stylish and more entertaining follow-up to his directorial debut The Gate. Employing a novel twist to the story-within-a-story convention, the plot involves meek but intense bookstore clerk Virginia (Jenny Wright), who develops an overpowering affection for the works of the late pulp horror author Malcolm Brand. A deranged murderer who removed parts of his body as offerings to his unrequited love, Brand had once claimed to his publisher that the bizarre supernatural tales in his books were purely autobiographical. After plunging into Brand's final novel I, MADMAN, Virginia soon becomes convinced that elements from the book are haunting her in the real world. It turns out that's only the half of it: it seems Brand himself (played by Randall William Cook, who also designed most of the effects for the film) has apparently returned to life to pursue her, believing her to be the woman who once jilted him. Pulp horror elements dominate this atmospheric and clever film, which boasts fine performances from Wright and Clayton Rohner as her detective boyfriend, and features a genuinely creepy villain. There's even a bit of excellent stop-motion animation, depicting one of Brand's ghastly storybook monsters, which tears its way into the real world for the ultra-violent climax. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas team up one last time in Tough Guys. Harry Doyle (Lancaster) and Archie Lang (Douglas) are two old-time train robbers, who held up a train in 1956 and have been incarcerated for thirty years. After serving their time, they are released from jail and have to adjust to a new life of freedom, now as old men. Harry and Archie realize that they still have the pizzazz when, picking up their prison checks at a bank, they foil a robbery attempt. Archie, who spent his prison time pumping himself up, easily picks up a 20-year-old aerobics instructor named Skye (Darlanne Fluegel). Harry, on the other hand, has to waste away his days in a nursing home. They both have festering resentments --Archie for having to endure a humiliating job as a busboy; Harry for having to endure patronizing attitudes toward senior citizens. The two old pals finally go back to what they know best. After successfully robbing an armored car, they decide to rob the same train that they robbed thirty years ago. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide