Charles Napier Movies

Larry Cohen, who directed a number of interesting and subversive exploitation films in the 1970s and 1980s, including Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem, reunited some of the biggest stars of the blaxploitation era for this tough-minded action opus. John Bookman (Fred Williamson) is a successful football coach who was born in Gary, Indiana but now lives in Los Angeles. When Bookman's father is shot, he returns home for the first time in years to discover that Gary has been all but taken over by a number of brutally violent youth gangs. Bookman learns that his father was shot in retaliation for going to the police after a young man was killed by gang bangers outside his grocery store; even worse, the kid who pulled the trigger was a member of the Rebels, the gang that he helped form as a teenager. Outraged, Bookman joins forces with the boy's parents, who also happen to be old friends: Jake Trevor (Jim Brown) and Laurie Thompson (Pam Grier). John, Laurie, and Jake organize the neighborhood against the gangs, with John's old gang brothers Bubba (Ron O'Neal) and Slick (Richard Roundtree) tagging along to show the young gangstas what the old school can do. If Williamson, Brown, Grier, O'Neal, and Roundtree all look a bit older than they did in their glory days, they all still boast charisma to spare, and anyone who liked their older films will have a good time with this one. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An eccentric police detective takes the case after a group of CIA agents go nuts and slaughter a dozen New Orleans cops during a drug bust. Somehow, a television cameraman managed to film the melee. Since then, the poor photo-journalist has been on the run with his damning tape. By the time the detective finds him, the reporter will have been victimized in several devastating ways. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this youth-oriented made-for-cable adventure, 12-year-old Max accompanies his family on a vacation to ancient Incan ruins. While there he discovers an ancient and valuable mask. Suddenly the trip becomes lots more exciting, and dangerous. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this action thriller, Nick Adams, an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, goes undercover to enter a prison run by the tyrannical but efficient warden, Pike. He does this after his partner is killed doing undercover work in the same prison. The prison presents a harsh environment and fighting between inmates is rampant. Luckily, Adams was trained to fight in the Marines and he can take on any of them. But then his nemesis Jimmy Wong, a prominent mob leader, enters the facility. There the crooked wheeler-dealer has set up a gun-running arrangement with prison officials who let him have the run of the place. Wong uses this to exact his revenge on Adams. Action ensues, culminating in a prison break where the two fight it out while hanging from a fleeing helicopter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In yet another sequel to the surprise family hit 3 Ninjas, the three young Ninja brothers, Rocky (Michael Treanor), Colt (Max Elliott Slade), and Tum Tum (Chad Power), are spending the summer with their grandfather (Victor Wong), who is tutoring them in the martial arts. However, there are foul doings afoot -- Jack (Charles Napier), an unscrupulous business tycoon, has been dumping toxic waste on a nearby Indian burial ground and keeping the matter quiet with kickbacks to the local police. When the Ninja brothers try to come to the aid of the local Indian tribe, Jack tries to intimidate them and their Native American friends, a plan that only makes the boys more determined to see that justice is done. 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up was actually shot in 1994, a year before 3 Ninjas Kick Back, and features the same three actors who played the Ninja brothers in the first film. However, 3 Ninja Kick Back, which replaced two members of the original cast, was released first. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this sci-fi/horror outing a polluted pool of water spawns a deadly strain of gigantic mosquitoes eager to quaff human blood. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Horror virtuoso John Carpenter hosts this goofy horror anthology, originally produced for Showtime as a gory stepchild of HBO's Tales from the Crypt series. Playing an emaciated, eye-rolling "coroner," John introduces the audience to a triptych of creepy vignettes in the EC horror-comics mode while paddling about in the guts of assorted cadavers and cracking jokes more gag-inducing than anything oozing on the slab. Two of the stories are directed by Carpenter himself: "The Gas Station" is a retread (pun intended) of Halloween-style scare tactics as a pretty gas-station attendant watches various oddballs pass by her window after hearing that an escaped killer is on the loose; "Hair" is a morbid, hilarious look at man's obsession with his own virility in which Stacy Keach turns to a bizarre hair-growth clinic (run by David Warner & Debbie Harry) which promises instant results, but at a horrific price. The third segment, directed by Tobe Hooper, involves a baseball player (Mark Hamill) who receives an eye transplant after a car accident and soon begins having optical flashbacks revealing (you guessed it) the identity and tendencies of the eye's former owner -- a serial killer. The second segment is by far the most entertaining, featuring a wonderfully neurotic performance by Keach, but the first and last chapters are too derivative to offer much for the discriminating horror buff, although the same fans will enjoy several cute cameos from other genre directors, including Wes Craven, Sam Raimi and Roger Corman. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This bargain-basement budgeted sci-fi horror movie pays a kind of tribute to 1930s sci-fi serials such as "King of the Rocket Men." It is set just after the Frog Wars of the preceding film Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988). Following that terrible battle, the Froggie mutants were placed on the special Frogtown Mutant Reservation. The story begins as the leader of Frogtown, Zar abducts Professor Tanzer and forces him to perfect a terrible serum that will turn the Earth's remaining population into croaking, fly-eating amphibians. Zar then sends out an android version of Commander Toady (a character who died in the first film) to bring in some subjects to test. Toady's first catch is the muscle-bound Rocket Ranger Jones who is injected by the lovely Nurse Cloris. To save Jones from a terrible fate, fellow rocketeers send out the courageous Ranger Sam Hell to save them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Action genre veteran David A. Prior wrote and directed this thriller that unfolds like a B-movie version of Midnight Run (1988). David Keith stars as Mace, a former cop now working as a bounty hunter or "skip tracer." When his daughter is murdered, the mayor (Charles Napier) of a small Southern town hires Mace to find the killer, who's suspected to be Mitch (Robert Hays), the victim's date from the evening of her death. Mace tracks down his target but when Mitch is nearly killed in an explosion, it becomes clear that he's innocent and the real killer is trying to wipe him out. After being ambushed and nearly killed, Mace and Mitch are joined by Sarah (Pamela Anderson), a hooker who witnessed the attack. As the three of them try to stay alive, they uncover a political conspiracy involving the deputy mayor (Stacy Keach) and the corrupt police force that Mace once quit in disgust, led by a crooked detective (Leo Rossi). Also known as Skip-Tracer. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Institutionalized serial killer Janice Bickle (Lenny Von Dohlen) volunteers to undergo a radical medical experiment. If the operation is successful, he will be cured of his homicidal tendencies. Instead, the surgery goes horribly awry, turning him into a worse basket case than before. And then he escapes, heading straight to the home of the doctor who masterminded the experiment. It's Desperate Hours redux, and pretty good at that. The cast of Eyes of the Beholder includes one-time "James Bond" George Lazenby and veteran heavy Charles Napier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this thriller that begins with a case of mistaken identity, a man is abducted and thrown into a mysterious car; he is assumed to be a professional assassin--who happens to be dead. After he becomes more involved in an investigative effort by the CIA, he and his girlfriend find themselves in the titular position amid schemes of political machinations and murder. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

A rich woman's new husband vanishes soon after they board a cruiseboat on their honeymoon--at least that is what she claims. This made-for-television movie is based on John Dickson Carr's radio play, Cabin B-13. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Former boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler stars as a U.S. Marine sergeant who aids an Amazon rain forest tribe in their battle against land developers. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide