Bibi Besch

It would seem that the producers of the made-for-cable chiller Rattled had not only used Joseph Gilmore's novel Rattlers as their inspiration, but had also supped full of such horror movies as Poltergeist and Arachnophobia. The scene is Eden Valley, a luxurious housing development carved from a mountainous wilderness by architect Paul Donohue (William Katt). But things are hardly Eden-like in the valley (or, on second thought, perhaps they are!) when the development is suddenly invaded by a swarm of deadly rattlesnakes. Guilt-ridden by the realization that this serpentine invasion has been brought about by the explosives used to excavate the valley, Donohue takes it upon himself to stop the snakes -- and to overcome his mortal terror of the slimy predators. Rattled debuted February 14, 1996, on the USA network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Upon learning that her wealthy father has suffered a severe stroke, an independent, willful and successful Wall Street accountant leaves her high-powered job and heads down to her family's Texas ranch in hopes of guaranteeing her inheritance. While back home, the woman feels a strange stirring in her heart and begins remembering how much she once loved the land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A murder has been committed in Cabot Cove, and the body is found in the garage of Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). Actually, two murders take place, and the cause of it all is the illicit affair between a married woman and the town bully. All the members of the couple's bowling league are suspected, but Jessica deduces that it took only one person to score the two strikes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV drama, a New England family's secrets all come tumbling out at once as they spend a weekend together to celebrate the engagement of their youngest son. Lisa Carter (Bibi Besch) and her military husband, Phil (James B. Sikking), couldn't be happier when their youngest son, Matt (William McNamara), brings his rich bride-to-be, Allison (Lori Loughlin), home from Yale. Col. Carter views Matt as the perfect son, especially given the way his other children have turned out. Tim (Jim Carrey) has sunk into alcoholism after dropping out of college, while Karen (Jayne Brook) must support her husband, Tom (David Byron), a struggling art photographer who wants to start a family despite his father-in-law's financial misgivings. As Allison gets acquainted with the Carter clan and its dysfunctions, her fiancé's artfully constructed facade of perfection begins to crumble, ultimately threatening his family's reputation, his impending nuptials, and his very life. Doing Time on Maple Drive debuted March 16, 1992, as a "Fox Night at the Movies" feature on the Fox network; it was later nominated for several Emmy awards. Directed by thirtysomething star Ken Olin, the film features a number of additional television staples among its cast, from Loughlin, star of Full House, to Carrey, then best known as Fire Marshal Bill on In Living Color. Two additional TV personalities from the cast -- Hill Street Blues actor Sikking and Northern Exposure actress Besch -- both share the distinction of being Star Trek vets, Besch in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Sikking in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Lonely Hearts is a modern film noir in which a lonely woman meets and falls for a man whom she refuses to let go. Alma (Beverly D'Angelo) is a wallflower who lives with her mother and works at a Social Security office. In her desperation to make some sort of social life for herself, she answers a personal ad and meets Frank (Eric Roberts) with whom she falls in love. Frank turns out to be a con man and a swindler, but Alma is obsessed with him. She begins to help him by posing as his sister while he cons other women, until she and Frank are forced to flee when one of the victims hires a private detective. Beverly D'Angelo plays Alma with the perfect mixture of both predator and victim and director Andrew Lane understands and directs his actors well, making Lonely Hearts a very well-thought-out and executed thriller despite a somewhat languid pacing. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Offbeat fashion student Betsy Hopper (Molly Ringwald) and her straight-laced investment-banker fiancé, Jake Lovell(Dylan Walsh), just want an intimate little wedding reception, but Betsy's father, Eddie (Alan Alda), a Long Island construction contractor, feels so threatened by Jake's rich WASP parents (Nicolas Coster and Bibi Besch) that he blows the ceremony up into a bank-breaking showpiece, sending his wife, Lola (Madeline Kahn), into a financial panic. Pressure from Betsy's extended family to include their joint Jewish and Italian-Catholic heritage in the ceremony doesn't do much to assuage the title character's worries, nor does the lovelorn bitterness of her older sister, Connie (Ally Sheedy), who's single, her parents assume, because she has the audacity to pursue the unfeminine profession of police officer. With all of his funds tied up into the money pit of a house he's building, Betsy's dad has to turn to his crooked brother-in-law, Oscar (Joe Pesci), for financial assistance, and soon a soft-spoken but menacing young mobster named Stevie Dee (Anthony LaPaglia) is supervising Eddie's construction project and casting his romantic aspirations toward the clueless Connie. Underworld hijinks and unconventional matrimonial practices ensue in this broad domestic comedy written and directed by star Alan Alda. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Tremors is actually two movies in one. On its own terms, it's an enjoyable modern sci-fi horror-thriller, with good pacing and a sense of humor; but it's also a loving tribute to such 1950s low-budget desert-based sci-fi-horror films like Them!, It Came From Outer Space, Tarantula, and The Monolith Monsters. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are the stars, a pair of small-town handymen living in a small desert community, who stumble upon several difficult-to-explain phenomena, including a couple of people who've died under extremely strange (and, in one instance, very grisly) circumstances. Eventually, they and a handful of their neighbors find the cause: gigantic prehistoric worm-like creatures that streak under the desert the way fish swim through oceans, reaching up and grabbing anything they need for food. Cut off from the outside world, they have to figure out how to get across the desert alive while these creatures -- that are smart as well as fast -- close in on them, stalking them like monster sharks. The film benefits from the presence of special effects that are good enough to pull this all off, keeping the shock value high, and also from a subtly humorous script and performances to match by the entire cast, and director Ron Underwood's breezy pacing of the whole picture. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable series features comedy performers starring in various skits and satires. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

In his film debut, novice director John Dahl (who would later make The Last Seduction), weaves a quirky tale of love, murder and deception. Jack Andrews (Val Kilmer), a seedy private detective is hired by Fay Forrester (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), to help her fake her own death in a clever scheme to escape from her mob pursuers, whom she double-crossed stealing money she had been sent to pick up, and are now intent on killing her. There then ensues a series of complicated plot-twists, double-crosses and surprises as Fay and Jack race each other to escape the mobsters, who have found them, and to get the money before the other does. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) heads to wine-growing country to help wealthy vintner Salvatori Gambini (Eli Wallach) celebrate his 75th birthday. Unfortunately, Gambini's fractious family isn't in a celebratory mood, and the festivities come to a grim climax when a corpse is found in the wine cellar. In her efforts to solve the mystery, Jessica is heartbroken over the likelihood that she might have to turn an old and cherished friend over to the authorities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy fantasy, an angel (Emmanuelle Beart) with a heavenly body falls into the swimming pool of Jim Sanders (Michael E. Knight). Hung over from his bachelor party, his encounter with the angel has Jim questioning his upcoming marriage to Patty (Phoebe Cates), the daughter of a wealthy cosmetics mogul (David Dukes). After he helps the injured celestial being, Jim must protect her from his lecherous friends and his curious fiance. Beart's beauty and performance is the highlight of the film even though she does not speak. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry was especially written by playwright James Prideaux for Katharine Hepburn. It would have been impractical to attempt a live staging, so the script was committed to a TV movie, under the direction of Hallmark Hall of Fame veteran George Schafer. Hepburn plays another variation on the indomitable elderly lady that has become her forte in the past decade. Here she is Margaret Delafield, a wealthy WASP widow who falls in love with the divorced Jewish doctor (Harold J. Stone) who has saved her life. The clucking tongues of both her family and the doctor's will not dissuade her: Mrs. Delafield stands her ground in a climactic scene reminiscent of the actress' earlier Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (67). Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry is formula all down the line, but every latter-day Katharine Hepburn performance deserves to be treasured (though the film itself hardly warranted the three-page TV Guide article written by Ms. Hepburn herself). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide