Donald Pleasence Movies

In this unexceptional thriller, not released theatrically, Cristina Carver (Angelica Maria) finds herself in dire straits after she arrives to spend some time with her TV-reporter husband (Dean Stockwell) who is visiting a Latin American country run by a military dictator. After a car accident one day, Cristina brings the helpful Col. Kostik (Donald Pleasence) home and then kills him in self-defense when he violently attempts to rape and murder her. Terrified, she covers up her act and hides the body -- yet in spite of her husband's efforts to protect her, a crafty local police detective starts to figure out what really happened. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This is a very enjoyable tongue-in-cheek horror film about some homicidal maniacs who break out of an asylum and terrorize a psychiatrist's family on a dark and stormy night. Martin Landau and Jack Palance are particularly funny, but there are some genuine scares as well. One scene, in which a frightened woman is menaced on her bed by a maniac thrusting a butcher-knife up through the mattress, is a clever send-up that will nevertheless linger in the memory. The coda, in which the crazy Palance has a bizarre encounter with a spaced-out punk chick in a nightclub, is a real gem. Recommended. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a series of novels by Anthony Trollope, the Masterpiece Theatre production of The Barchester Chronicles features Donald Pleasence as Reverend Harding. Scandal taints the town of Barchester after the local church becomes the object of a scathing investigative report about the use of church funds. The husbands of Harding's daughters are feuding with each other and each manipulates Harding for their individual purposes. A change in church leadership brings Harding into contact with Reverend Obadiah Slope (Alan Rickman), an unpleasant man who may be hiding some deep secrets. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The year is 1997. Manhattan Island is now a heavily guarded maximum-security prison, where the scum of the earth have converged. When Air Force One crash-lands in Manhattan, the president (Donald Pleasence) is held hostage by its denizens. One-eyed mercenary Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is strong-armed into rescuing the chief executive. He is aided, not always willingly, by a tough gal (Adrienne Barbeau) and a manic cab driver (Ernest Borgnine). Escape from New York was followed by a sequel of sorts in 1996, Escape From L.A., again starring Kurt Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1981 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Donald Pleasence and features musical guest Fear. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

While John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic Halloween irrevocably changed the style of horror cinema with its simple but relentlessly tense story, it triggered more than a decade's worth of uninspired, exploitative knock-offs, and one could easily list Halloween II among these failures. As with its predecessor, this film was written and produced by Carpenter and Debra Hill, but the terse style and unbearable suspense of the first film are missing, replaced by a more simplistic stalk-and-slash scenario. Directorial duties were handed over to Rick Rosenthal, whose lack of expertise is quite evident (though he managed to hit his stride two years later with the prison actioner Bad Boys). The plot picks up exactly where the original left off: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), shaken and injured from her battle with unkillable psycho Michael Myers, is taken to the Haddonfield Hospital for observation, while Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) continues his desperate search for his monstrous patient. An interesting plot twist has Loomis' investigations revealing Michael's true identity (some of these sequences incorporate footage of young Michael originally shot for the television version of Halloween, which contained scenes hinting at the link between Michael and Laurie). After slashing his way through the town, Myers manages to track Laurie to the hospital, where the remainder of the action takes place. Numerous night-shift employees are slaughtered in a variety of gruesome ways before Loomis catches up with his quarry, leading to an explosive -- and seemingly conclusive -- confrontation. Pleasence is compelling as usual, but Curtis, who made an auspicious debut in the original, is sadly wasted here, her character reduced to shuffling half-drugged through darkened hospital corridors and screaming helplessly. Carpenter's active involvement in the Halloween franchise continued to dwindle steadily from one sequel to the next, getting scarcely a mention by the time producers Hill, Moustapha Akkad and Irwin Yablans revived the series in 1988 for three more sequels. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this Italian sci-fi fantasy, super hero Puma Man endeavors to stop the creepy Dr. Kobras from using his golden mask to take over the world and destroy it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Released to video under the title Amazon Women, this made-for-TV movie follows two explorers as they discover a forgotten tribe of wildly attractive Amazons in the jungles of South America. Things really start to heat up when the women follow the men back to Manhattan. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

The elderly residents of a nursing home tire of being oppressed and stage a revolution in this made-for-television comedy. Following the ensuing riot they rush out and commandeer a passing train to go out for a few final adventures. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Karate champion Joe Lewis stars as a special agent on a worldwide mission to put the skids on a drug cartel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Produced for the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" series, The Bastard is the first of John Jakes' "Kent Family Chronicles" (followed by The Rebels and The Seekers). Presented in two parts, the story begins in 1771, with 17-year-old French commoner Philippe Charboneau (Andrew Stevens) discovering that he is the illegitimate son of a British Duke. He goes on a long journey, girdling several countries, to claim his birthright, with his mother (Patricia Neal) along for the ride. Settling in America in 1772, our hero--now known as Phillip Kent--becomes involved with the American Revolution. The all-star cast includes Buddy Ebsen, Barry Sullivan, Harry Morgan, Lorne Greene, Donald Pleasence, Tom Bosley (as Ben Franklin), William Shatner (as Paul Revere) and William Daniels (as Samuel Adams). Distributed nationally beginning May 22, 1978, The Bastard was re-titled Kent Family Chronicles in the more conservative TV markets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In an attempt to sell his manuscript, a writer tries to persuade a prospective publisher that cats are ultimately evil by providing him with three different stories of kitty brutality in this anthology of horror. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

It was "The Night HE Came Home," warned the posters for John Carpenter's career-making horror smash. In Haddonfield, Ilinois, on Halloween night 1963, 6-year-old Michael Myers inexplicably slaughters his teenage sister. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can't penetrate Michael's psyche after years of institutionalization, but he knows that, when Myers escapes before Halloween in 1978, there is going to be hell to pay in Haddonfield. While Loomis heads to Haddonfield to alert police, Myers spots bookish teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and follows her, constantly appearing and vanishing as Laurie and her looser friends Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Annie (Nancy Loomis) make their Halloween plans. By nightfall, the responsible Laurie is doing her own and Annie's babysitting jobs, while Annie and Lynda frolic in the parent-free house across the street. But Annie and Lynda are not answering the phone, and suspicious Laurie heads across the street to the darkened house to see what is going on ... . ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide