Mark Metcalf Movies

James Caan stars in this made-for-cable Western as John Flinders, a former outlaw who by the year 1910 has settled down as the warden of Arizona's Red Rock Prison. Priding himself on his fair and humane treatment of his prisoners, Flinders finds his values -- and his loyalties -- sorely tested upon the arrival of convicted murderer Mike Sullivan, who happens to be John's old saddle pal from his wilder days. As Flinders resists Sullivan's never-ending efforts to escape, he also embarks upon a romance with the widow of executed convict Carl McVale. Executive producer Brian Dennehy appears in a small but significant role. Warden of Red Rock made its Showtime network premiere on March 18, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It's a Wonderful Life echoes throughout this episode as Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) makes a fateful wish. Anya, (Emma Caulfield) a new girl at school, bonds with Cordelia over their mutual loathing of Harmony (Mercedes McNab). Anya also does not seem critical of Cordelia's now ended relationship with Xander (Nicholas Brendon). Cordelia then goes to The Bronze to prove to Xander that she is over him. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) tries to put in a good word for Xander, but a vampire attack cuts the discussion short and Buffy pushes Cordelia aside. Angry at everyone -- especially the Slayer -- Cordelia later complains to Anya that she wishes Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. Besides being a good listener, Anya is a rascally demon -- Anyanaka -- and grants Cordelia her wish. Suddenly the town is infested by vampires who have the upper hand -- students must dress in clothes that won't attract vampires and the Master vampire holds court at The Bronze. Cordelia tries to adjust, but obviously regrets her wish. Soon, a vampire Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and a bloodsucking Xander drain Cordelia, and it is up to Giles (Anthony Head) and Angel (David Boreanaz) to reverse Anyanaka's spell. ~ All Movie Guide

Ostensibly picking up where the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer left off, episode one finds the vampire-stiffing Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland), recently moved from Los Angeles to the ironically named suburb of Sunnydale, CA. During her first day at Sunnydale High School, Buffy meets a group of people who will define the course of her new life. Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), a popular girl at school, proffers her friendship by testing Buffy's "coolness factor." "James Spader?" Cordelia inquires. "He needs to call me," replies Buffy, without missing a beat. But Cordelia is soon dismayed when Buffy begins hanging out with the shy computer nerd Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), her friend Xander Harris ( Nicholas Brendon), and his buddy Jesse (Eric Balfour). Also among her new acquaintances is the school librarian, the very British Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), who just happens to be Buffy's Watcher, a sort of guidance counselor for vampire slayers. Giles informs Buffy that the earth is much older than commonly accepted and was once populated by demons and vampires; only vestiges of the great evil still exist. Through Giles, we also learn that after every slayer dies, another is born to take her place, and 17-year-old Buffy is the Chosen One. That night, Buffy meets the enigmatic and mysterious Angel (David Boreanaz), who warns her that Sunnydale is located on the Hellmouth -- a kind of mecca for demons and vampires of all sorts -- and the accompanying "Harvest," when vampires will attempt to take over the earth, is soon approaching. Buffy is resistant to donning her mantle as the Slayer, unaware that in catacombs beneath Sunnydale, the Master (Mark Metcalf) -- a very old and powerful vampire, trapped for 60 years underground -- is now being awakened by his minion Luke (Brian Thompson) to be set free by the Harvest. Originally aired on March 10, 1996, "Welcome to the Hellmouth" is part one of the show's two-part pilot episode. ~ All Movie Guide

Episode five of the series finds the Master (Mark Metcalf) attempting to fulfill another prophecy. This time, an Anointed One will be turned into a vampire and become the Master's frontline weapon against the Slayer. In the meantime, the Master sends the Order of Aurelius -- special warrior vampires -- to kill Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar). She subsequently kills one them, and in reporting the incident to Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), learns of the prophecy. While Giles attempts to determine the identity of the Anointed One, Buffy attempts to have a date with Owen Thurman (Christopher Wiehl), a sensitive, good-looking student who likes the poetry of Emily Dickinson -- because it's so morbid. The date is interrupted halfway due to the pressing issue of having to save Giles from some vampires at a funeral home, where he went in search of the Anointed One. In coming to Giles' rescue, Buffy fights a large vampire spouting prophecy-like rhetoric, and she assumes that he's the Anointed One. The upside is that Owen, jazzed by their violent date, can't get enough of Buffy. The downside is that Buffy, realizing the danger she put him in, has to break up with him. Unbeknownst to Buffy and Giles, the Master has actually anointed a young boy and taken him into the catacombs below Sunnydale. ~ All Movie Guide

The last episode of season one begins with the pronunciation of Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) impending death -- talk about bad timing -- right before the class prom! The revelation comes courtesy of a prophecy discovered by Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), stating that the Master (Mark Metcalf) will rise and kill the Slayer. Giles attempts to hide the bad news from Buffy, but she overhears him speaking about it with Angel (David Boreanaz). Hearkening back to the pilot episode, Buffy is reticent to fight the Master. Meanwhile, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) discovers the corpses of some dead students in the audiovisual room, obviously killed by vampires. Wearing her prom dress (everyone, including the Master, comments on how good it looks), Buffy realizes she must fulfill her duties as the Slayer. Angel and Xander (Nicholas Brendon), worried about her safety, chase after her, only to find her barely alive after a drowning attempt by the Master. Xander revive Buffy with CPR, and the group runs back to Sunnydale High to find the Master opening the Hellmouth with the help of the Anointed One (Andrew J. Ferchland). A large, tentacle-flailing demon almost escapes from the Hellmouth, but Buffy slays the Master, closing it. It is to be noted that, unlike most vampires, the Master's bones remain intact after his death, leaving his story line open-ended. This episode was written and directed by the show's creator, Joss Whedon. ~ All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the series, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and friends Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon), Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), and Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) band together to stop a group of vampires from fulfilling an ancient prophecy called "The Harvest." The Harvest will allow Luke (Brian Thompson), a vampire supernaturally connected to The Master (Mark Metcalf) -- a very old, powerful, and angry vampire -- to feed on humans and thereby give him strength. The Master, viewers learn, was imprisoned in catacombs underneath Sunnydale 60 years earlier by an earthquake while attempting to open the Hellmouth, and is trapped underground until The Harvest is complete. When Luke sends some vampires out for food, they subsequently capture Xander's buddy Jesse and use him as bait to lure Buffy into a trap. Buffy, who now understands her destiny to be the Slayer, dutifully chases after Jesse. Buffy and Xander find Jesse in the catacombs only to realize that he has already been turned into a vampire. Meanwhile, Luke and his vampires are attacking all the club-going teens at The Bronze to fulfill The Harvest prophecy. Buffy and her cohorts come to the rescue just in time to stop them, during which Xander accidentally kills Jesse. Most of the vampires (including Luke) are killed, but Darla (Julie Benz), a vampire who figures heavily in future episodes, gets away. Originally aired on March 10, 1996, "The Harvest" is the second half of the two-part pilot episode. ~ All Movie Guide

The tragic wreck of the super-tanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24, 1989 was one of the most devastating ecological disasters in recent history. Immediately after the ship ran aground and began pumping over 11 million gallons of suffocating oil from its ruptured hold, experts were sent out to assess the damage and clean up the mess. This gripping docudrama tells their story. Much centers on the conflict between local officials, the fishing industry, and the Exxon official sent out to oversee the clean-up and take the rap. With unflinching moral outrage, the filmmakers point out that much of the aftermath could have been minimized had the officials in charge been better prepared and not spent so much time involved in useless red-tape and petty bureaucratic bickering. Most of the film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, but it also utilizes archival filmclips of the actual disaster and clean up efforts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After Griffin Dunne's wife Brooke Adams is injured in a car crash, Dunne begins an affair with Adams' nurse Karen Young. You think that takes gall? Dunne also becomes best friends with Young's boyfriend Marty Watt. Believe it or not, Griffin Dunne is the most likeable character in the movie. After testing poorly at 110 minutes, Almost You was whittled down to 96 minutes. Those who have trouble wading through this prime example of mid-1980s self-indulgence are advised to keep an eye out for the brilliant monologist Spalding Gray in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director John Landis put himself on the map with this low-budget, fabulously successful comedy, which made a then-astounding 62 million dollars and started a slew of careers for its cast in the process. National Lampoon's Animal House is set in 1962 on the campus of Faber College in Faber, PA. The first glimpse we get of the campus is the statue of its founder Emil Faber, on the base of which is inscribed the motto, "Knowledge Is Good." Incoming freshmen Larry "Pinto" Kroger (Tom Hulce) and Kent "Flounder" Dorfman (Stephen Furst) find themselves rejected by the pretentious Omega fraternity, and instead pledge to Delta House. The Deltas are a motley fraternity of rejects and maladjusted undergraduates (some approaching their late twenties) whose main goal -- seemingly accomplished in part by their mere presence on campus -- is disrupting the staid, peaceful, rigidly orthodox, and totally hypocritical social order of the school, as represented by the Omegas and the college's dean, Vernon Wormer (John Vernon). Dean Wormer decides that this is the year he's going to get the Deltas expelled and their chapter decertified; he places the fraternity on "double secret probation" and, with help from Omega president Greg Marmalard (James Daughton) and hard-nosed member Doug Neidermeyer (Mark Metcalf), starts looking for any pretext on which to bring the members of the Delta fraternity up on charges.

The Deltas, oblivious to the danger they're in, are having a great time, steeped in irreverence, mild debauchery, and occasional drunkenness, led by seniors Otter (Tim Matheson), Hoover (James Widdoes), D-Day (Bruce McGill), Boon (Peter Riegert), and pledge master John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi). They're given enough rope to hang themselves, but even then manage to get into comical misadventures on a road trip (where they arrange an assignation with a group of young ladies from Emily Dickinson University). Finally, they are thrown out of school, and, as a result, stripped of their student deferments (and, thus, eligible for the draft). They decide to commit one last, utterly senseless (and screamingly funny) slapstick act of rebellion, making a shambles of the university's annual homecoming parade, and, in the process, getting revenge on the dean, the Omegas, and everyone else who has ever gone against them. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

This mediocre slasher film from director Andrew Davis is worth watching more for its cast than for its cliched story. The film is set in the usual isolated forest, where a ratty-looking killer (who seems to be covered with Spanish moss) makes survival difficult for some foul-tempered campers. Among the doomed are future luminaries Rachel Ward, Daryl Hannah, and Adrian Zmed. The leaders, played by Joe Pantoliano and Mark Metcalf, are some of the most irritating characters in any 1980s slasher film, bickering until they sound like tenderfoot versions of Barnes and Elias from Platoon. The characters' constant ill temper is designed to add to the tension, but serves only as a distraction. The murders are low-key and dull, save for Metcalf's well-handled death scene, and the obligatory "telling of the legend" is less spooky than obnoxious. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel, How I Created My Perfect Prom Date, by Todd Strasser, Drive Me Crazy stars Melissa Joan Hart as Nicole, a trend-conscious teenager living next door to Chase (Adrian Grenier), a self-conscious, downbeat type who reads poetry and spouts political platitudes. Needless to say, Nicole and Chase have nothing in common and little to say to each other. But when the boy of Nicole's dreams asks someone else to the prom, she decides to remake Chase into worthy date material as a way to make her old flame jealous. Before long, Nicole and Chase aren't just pretending that they like each other. Drive Me Crazy presented Sabrina, the Teenage Witch star Melissa Joan Hart in her first leading role in a feature film; it was produced under the title Girl Gives Birth to Prom Date and test-screened as Next to You before the producers settled on Drive Me Crazy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This film is based on The Stupids series of children's books by Harry Allard and James Marshall, which are about a family that takes things very, very literally. In this film, the Stupids attempt to discover what happens to the garbage that disappears from their lawn every week (they think it has been stolen) and accidentally save the world. The father, Stanley (Tom Arnold), goes undercover posing as a tree and unknowingly stumbles into an international arms-smuggling scheme. He believes that the garbage theft is perpetrated by his old enemy from the Post Office, "Sender" (Christopher Lee). His absence worries his equally befuddled children, who go looking for him. Meanwhile he is chased by both the weapons smugglers and beings from outer space. Directed by John Landis, known for his hit films Trading Places and The Blues Brothers. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide