Kimberly Beck

An American ex-con gets caught up in a Parisian bank heist that goes wrong in this ultra-violent thriller. Zed (Eric Stoltz), a safe-cracking expert fresh out of prison, travels to France to participate in a robbery planned by his friend Eric (Jean-Hughes Anglade). But first, Zed decides to indulge in some relaxation with a gorgeous, kind-hearted prostitute by the name of Zoe (Julie Delpy). This idyll, however, is interrupted by Eric, who leads Zed and the other criminals on a long night of drinking, drugging, and debauchery. The next day, the thieves find themselves hung over and exhausted, and the plan soon goes disastrously wrong, turning into a hostage situation. Even worse for Zed, he discovers that the lovely Zoe also works as a teller at the bank, forcing him into a tricky moral dilemma. Writer and director Roger Avary, best known as the co-screenwriter of Pulp Fiction, creates a similar combination of black comedy, extreme violence, and hip attitude. Critics of Quentin Tarantino's films raised similar objections to Avary's reliance on bloody violence and a detached sensibility, while the film's fans acclaimed its fast-paced action. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

A rising young executive is ecstatic to learn that he is to be acting president at the small-town bank his company just purchased until he gets there and realizes that it is a sperm bank. This base little comedy centers on his attempts to make the place profitable and also chronicles the growing love between himself and the uptight but pretty biologist who works there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this creepy horror movie, an archaeologist gets in over his head when he goes searching for the burial place of a young medieval prince. It is the same tomb his parents were looking for when they were mysteriously murdered. Unfortunately, he finds the tomb. The trouble comes when the malevolent spirit of the boy prince rises up to wreak havoc on the scientist and his expedition. The film is also known as Schizo. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Exposure to a chemically-contaminated water supply turns scientists into raving lunatics who begin terrorizing a tiny desert burg in this violent actioner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy adventure. Jacques (Jean-Marc Barr) and Enzo (Jean Reno) are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passion for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men (he even considers a school of dolphins as his extended family). As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest - determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear - Jacques meets Johanna (Rosanna Arquette), a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea. Le Grand Bleu ran 132 minutes in its original French version, but it was trimmed to 118 for American release, with the original score by Eric Serra replaced by music from Bill Conti. While the film did middling business in the U.S., it was a huge success in Europe, and director Luc Besson released an expanded 168 minute version in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Originally shown in two parts, this four-hour TV movie stars Michael Biehn as the outwardly "perfect" doctor husband of Madolyn Smith. But Biehn is actually a psychopath, who is carefully plotting the murder of his wife. As the horrible truth slowly dawns upon Madolyn, she must find some way to prevent her murder--and to alert disbelieving authorities of her husband's duplicity. Based on a true story, Deadly Intentions first took shape as a book by William Randolph Stevens. The two-part format permitted the film's narrative to build up suspense in the first half, then concentrate on detection and courtroom proceedings in the second. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hockey-masked killer Jason Vorhees returns to terrorize a lakeside family and their rowdy teen neighbors in this fourth installment of the long-running slasher series. After the events of Friday the 13th, Part 3, Jason's seemingly lifeless body is brought to the morgue, where horny attendant Axel (Bruce Mahler) is trying to score with foxy Nurse Morgan (Lisa Freeman). The pair quickly meet a grisly end. Meanwhile, at Crystal Lake, estranged wife Mrs. Jarvis (Joan Freeman) and her kids -- young Tommy (Corey Feldman) and teenaged Trish (Kimberly Beck) -- find their quiet invaded by a group of hard-partying kids moving into the rental house next door. The youngsters include curious virgin Sara (Barbara Howard), hot-to-trot Samantha (Judie Aronson), and nebbish Jimmy (Crispin Glover). Tommy, a monster makeup enthusiast, enjoys watching the scantily clad young ladies through his window, while Trish toys with the idea of joining in their revelries. Also lurking around the area is Rob (Erich Anderson), who claims to be hunting bear but actually has mysterious ties to the events of Friday the 13th, Part 2. As the house full of teens begins to pair off -- aided by the addition of local twins Tina (Camilla More) and Terri (Carey More) to the mix -- an unseen killer begins to pick them off one by one. The bloodshed climaxes with a tense showdown in which Tommy disguises himself as a bald, lumpy boyhood version of Jason in hopes of distracting the relentless psychopath who hunts him. Feldman would return for a cameo in Friday the 13th, Part V: A New Beginning, only to be replaced by another actor in a grown-up version of the role. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

A high-school boy's ho-hum summer at the beach turns into a dream-come-true when he is befriended by a beautiful but depressed singer whose career is on the wane. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Dutch cult director Rene Daalder's fascinating debut was this unfairly neglected and richly idea-laden political allegory set in an American high school. Derrel Maury stars as David, a new student at Central High School who is shocked at the degree of control wielded by three preppie thugs who run the school with an iron fist. At first befriended by Mark (Andrew Stevens), David is soon the victim of bullying when Mark believes that he is courting his girlfriend, Teresa (Kimberly Beck), and points him out to the "ruling class." The worst is still to come, however, when David threatens the pecking order by foiling the three boys' attempted gang rape of a female student and has his leg crushed for his efforts. Eventually, the crippled David politicizes the underclass to fight their oppressors, and all three are killed by falling (from political power, the analogy clearly suggests). Daalder then takes the film in a different direction, with the newly liberated student body becoming an oppressive force themselves, and David enraged to the point of mass murder, deciding to wipe out the entire school. Stirred to action, it is up to the formerly apolitical Mark and Teresa to stop him. Daalder shrinks the entire political spectrum into the crucible of what seems on the surface to be a standard exploitation film. There are representatives of the extreme left, extreme right, disaffected center, intellectual bourgeoisie, and so forth, and all are nicely sketched without sacrificing the film's visceral appeal. Beyond the portraits, however, Daalder also skillfully shows the transitions which occur in many political movements, notably those which start as populist and develop into oppressively hierarchical castes. Perhaps disheartened by the failure of Massacre at Central High at the box office, Daalder did not direct again for nearly two decades, but returned with two more conceptually challenging (if equally unsuccessful) genre films, Hysteria and Habitat, in the mid-'90s. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Vera Miles guest-stars as Ben Cartwright's longtime friend April Christopher. While visiting the Ponderosa, April is bitten by a rabid wolf. As the story progresses, both April and Ben must come to grips with the agony April is in for-and even more importantly, the woman's daughter Lori (Melissa Newman) must also face the cold, cruel facts. First shown on March 21, 1971, "A Time to Die" was written by Don Ingalls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jeannie (Barbara Eden) writes a book about how to be a perfect mother. To conceal her magical identity, Jeannie signs the volume with the name of her master, Tony (Larry Hagman). Suspicious Dr. Bellows (Hayden Rorke) forces Tony to prove his authorship by putting the luckless astronaut in charge of two bratty children (one of whom is none other than "Eddie Munster", aka Butch Patrick). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide