Helen Shaver Movies

A woman is hunted by a killer in this made-for-TV drama. Jennie Garth stars as Meg Crane, a beautiful and strong woman who escapes a serial killer (Costas Mandylor). Neither are through with each other yet though -- she is determined to catch him and he is determined to finish the job. Peter Outerbridge stars as her boyfriend and Billy Dee Williams is the city-slick cop. Garth also served as a creative producer. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

In this tender made-for-television drama, a motorcycle racer changes his outlook on life after becoming close to a young mother and her dying son. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Creative casting sets this made-for-television movie slightly ahead of the pack, despite the somewhat familiar story found often in 1980s tough love movies. Jennie Garth stars as Laura Mills, an apathetic teen who's more of an aggravation to her parents than genuine threat. After some stern warnings prove fruitless and culminate with a drunk-driving accident, Laura's tired parents (Jill Eikenberry, Tom Irwin) send her off to a teen psychiatric center for some counseling. Soon after her arrival, Laura finds herself amongst drugged and restrained kids, admitted only for the value of their health insurance coverage. Paul Sorvino is effective as the cold hospital director and Helen Shaver is endearing in her small but memorable role as teen advocate. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Actress Deborah Raffin had a hand in the screenplay of this Southern melodrama, set in the Depression. Christopher Reeve plays ex-con Will Parker, who is looking for work in a small Georgia town. The pregnant Elly Dinsmore (Deborah Raffin) has placed an ad looking for a husband to tend her farm and look after her children. Will applies for the job, and proceeds to work as a handy man for Elly. He is anxious to appear respectable, since the local sheriff, Reese Goodloe (J.T. Walsh), is breathing down his neck, anxious for him to break parole. But Will gives him no cause for concern and, as he works Elly's farm, the two slowly fall in love and agree to marry. Will gets a job as a custodian in the library and his life appears to be heading back to normal. But one night in the library, Lula Peaks (Helen Shaver), the local waitress, throws herself at him, kissing him passionately. The following morning, Lula's body is found and Goodloe arrests Will for murder. Out of her love for Will, Elly seeks out a lawyer to defend him at his trial. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Tim Matheson plays a zealous prosecutor named Peter Hudson in the made-for-cable thriller Trial and Error. After sending a petty criminal to death row, Hudson pursues a political career, eventually becoming attorney general. Just before he is to be nominated for Lieutenant Governor, the criminal is about to be executed, and due to his wife's beliefs Hudson starts to suspect that the man was innocent. Hudson doesn't want to pursue his suspicions, since his political career is at stake. However, he is forced into action when the real killer begins stalking his wife. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

An interracial romance sparks social upheaval in this indie drama from first-time writer/director Anthony Drazan. Jewish high school student Zack Glass (Michael Rapaport) lives with his widowed, womanizing father (Ray Sharkey) in one of the nicer areas of Detroit. His pop and grandfather own a pair of vintage record stores full of everything from swing and jazz to soul and disco; Zack carries on the vinyl-centric family tradition by selling hip-hop mix tapes out of his locker and mixing fiddles and Puccini into his DJ sets at local parties. One day at school, beautiful New Jersey transfer student Nikki (N'Bushe Wright) witnesses Zack's girlfriend unceremoniously dumping him; when it turns out that Zack's best friend, Dee Wimms (DeShonn Castle), is Nikki's cousin, the stage is set for romance -- the first interracial pairing for each teen. Dee is happy to play matchmaker, but members of the Wimms clan aren't as pleased with the romance. Nikki's mother, Marlene (Candy Ann Brown), asks Zack point-blank if he's curious about black women -- or just slumming it. Such mild disapproval is nothing compared to the rage felt by Nut (Ron Johnson), a young troublemaker who wants to romance Nikki himself. When Nikki overhears Zack making a racially insensitive comment about her to his pals at a party, she questions the viability of their relationship; the next day, she finds herself making time with Nut, who displays an unexpected tender streak. When Zack shows up at the local skating rink to talk to Nikki and sees Nut pestering her, things spiral out of control. Soon, the lines are drawn in a community-wide debate about interracial dating and urban violence. Zebrahead earned a Filmmaker's Trophy for Drazan at Sundance in 1992 and launched the successful careers of Rapaport and Wright. Indie fans will notice Kevin Corrigan in an elliptical subplot involving the industrial disintegration of the Motor City. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Innocent Victim is a psychological thriller based on the Ruth Rendell novel Tree of Hands. London based, best-selling author, Benet (Helen Shaver), who has just written a controversial novel, lives alone with her young son. Benet's mother, Marsha (Lauren Becall), visiting from the United States, is a manic-depressive who has psychotic episodes. When Benet's young son dies, Marsha kidnaps a local child to serve as a substitute. Benet believes she should return the child but upon investigation she finds out that the child has been severely abused by his parents. After the child's disappearance, the parents are charged with the murder. A more skillful filmmaker might have dealt, as the novel does, with the moral issues of guilt and responsibility and the terrible moral dilemma faced by Benet. Instead, director Giles Foster presents the film in a rather straightforward, nonjudgmental fashion which allows for little character growth and diminishes the impact of what should be an ironic and disturbing ending. Innocent Victim, while at times compelling, and based on an interesting premise, would have been a memorable film if Foster had taken more chances and pushed his actors to give the performances that they are capable of but here are only hinted at. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This was one of the highest-rated of the Columbo 2-hour TV movies of the 1990s. The story begins as Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) solemnly attends his wife's funeral. Mrs. C. was poisoned, and the murderer is guest star Helen Shaver. When her husband died in prison, Shaver swore revenge on the three men responsible for his incarceration. She kills the first two men outright, but when she levels her sights at Columbo, Shaver decides to make the detective "feel her pain" through the loss of a loved one. A twist ending caps this intriguing entry. Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo was first presented March 31, 1990, as part of ABC's Saturday Mystery Movie anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Evil land developers, those most ubiquitous of 1980s movie villains, are the chief antagonists in the made-for-TV Mothers, Daughters and Lovers. Helen Shaver plays a truckstop/motel owner in the rural Northwest. She manages her business with the help of her two budding teenaged daughters--one studious (Perrey Reeves), one a rebel (Marcianne Warman). All three ladies ward off unwanted lotharios, entreat the attentions of those whom they care about, and band together to stop a new real estate development from eliminating their place of business. Mothers, Daughters and Lovers was written by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the team responsible for American Graffiti (73). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Several music and film celebrities recall their former lives in this reincarnation-oriented feature with musical accompaniment. K.D. Lang considers herself the reincarnation of the late country singer Patsy Cline, Martin Sheen gives a rambling monologue about his near-death experience while filming Apocalypse Now, and Willie Nelson sings songs about cowboys who come back to live another life. Also included are Rae Dawn Chong, Catherine Oxenberg, Donovan, The Dalai Lama, Ringo Starr, and James Coburn. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

A police psychologist and his school-age son become embroiled in the machinations of a mysterious cult religion in this thriller from director John Schlesinger. After his wife is electrocuted in a freak accident, Dr. Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) and his son, Chris (Harley Cross), move back to Manhattan, where Cal went to school. When not spending time with his son and surrogate extended family -- husband-and-wife anthropologists Kate (Elizabeth Wilson) and Dennis Maslow (Lee Richardson) -- Cal settles into his new job and romances his landlady, Jessica Halliday (Helen Shaver). Soon, though, a series of brutal murders of young children begins to take over Cal's life. Through the ravings of policeman Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits), who believes the killers have supernatural power over him after stealing his badge, Cal learns of Santeria, a voodoo-like Latin American sect that mixes elements of Christianity and pagan mysticism. Although the religion turns out to have ties to some of the richest men in the city and even Cal's well-meaning maid seems to be a practitioner, he can't get any straight answers as to whether the cult is responsible for the murders. But after a sinister African shaman (Malick Bowens) places a curse on Jessica, Cal finally begins to understand the danger that faces him -- and his son. The Believers was very loosely adapted from Nicholas Conde's 1982 novel The Religion. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide