Candace O'Connor Movies
The "Moonie" cult of the 1970s and '80s has been cited as the principal inspiration for the 1981 Canadian production Ticket to Heaven. Nick Mancuso plays impressionable youth David Kappel, who, after breaking up with his girlfriend, tries to find an emotional balm by joining a religious sect. The first portion of the film details David's indoctrination into the group. The remaining portion concerns the efforts made by his parents to locate their thoroughly brainwashed son. R.H. Thomson dominates the final scenes as a "deprogrammer" hired to shake David out of his religious euphoria. Ticket to Heaven was based on Moonwebs, a novel by Josh Freed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nick Mancuso, R.H. Thomson, (more)
- 1980
Up on Bear Island -- somewhere off the northeast American coast -- a U.S. meteorological team discovers German submarines stashed with gold. Though the plot is difficult to follow, it does involve murder and a certain amount of intrigue, though many have felt that this movie version of the excellent Alistair MacLean novel left most of the intrigue between the covers of the book. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
In this Canadian-made action thriller, four psychopaths, led by Christie (Robert Carradine) take over and vandalize a ritzy Manhattan apartment building during the New York power blackout. They move from apartment to apartment, victimizing the occupants until stopped by the police. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Mitchum, Robert Carradine, (more)
The Canadian "sleeper" The Silent Partner stars Elliott Gould as a teller, Miles Cullen, who figures out psycho Harry Reikle's (Christopher Plummer) scheme to rob his bank, several days ahead of time. Cullen providently squirrels away 50,000 dollars in a safety-deposit box before Reikle strikes. After the robbery, the papers report the amount of the bank's loss. Reikle realizes that there's 50,000 extra bucks floating around that he hasn't gotten his hands on. The soft-spoken but sadistic Reikle puts the screws on Cullen to fork over the dough -- but Cullen has lost the deposit-box key. Be forewarned: this one gets extremely brutal and bloody at times, with sudden bursts of graphic violence. Also featured is Susannah York as the fluctuating-loyalty heroine, and a very young and hairy John Candy. Future L.A. Confidential scribe Curtis Hanson loosely adapted the Danish novel Think of a Number, by Anders Bodelsen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, (more)
