Nita Talbot Movies

The supernaturally animated demonic puppet creations of a mad puppeteer spring back to life in hopes of reanimating their master with an ancient Egyptian formula that utilizes brain serum in this gory horror thriller. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When her grandfather the mortician goes on holiday, a young woman must run the family business. The comedy begins when she goes through grandpa's books and finds out that he is a wanted man and is nearing bankruptcy. Hoping to save him, the clever girl comes up with a few crazy ideas and begins staging extremely creative funerals. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The "movers and shakers" in this weak comedy limned by Charles Grodin do not refer to a religious sect, but the big-wigs in Hollywood who determine how the next many millions are to be spent. Two parallel stories occupy center stage. On the one hand, Joe Mulholland (Walter Matthau) has made a promise to a dying producer that he would put together a film on "Love in Sex." The problem is that there is no script to go with that title -- a minor hurdle by Hollywood standards. On the other hand, Herb Derman (Grodin) is hired to make up the story, but he is neck-deep in marriage woes and will have a hard time holding down his personal life long enough to write. Mixed into both of these tales are parodies of behind-the-scenes Hollywood at its worst. These scenarios are helped along by a fine cast of actors and actresses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In an unusual comedy by Joan Darling, Brian Dennehy and Anne Archer star as the Richard, a druggist, and his wife Peggy, a pair of debt-ridden parents who rebel against the system. Nothing goes right while they try to uphold the system, then things get even worse when they leave it. Richard decides to pull the plug on modernity when he cannot meet his utility bills and creditors are at his door like wolves. He shuts off the electricity and sets up candles, buys a goat, and digs a well in the back yard. He finally does hit water, but it happens to be the city's water main. Peggy is not quite as crazed as her husband so she goes to see a shrink -- who promptly dies on her. If anything can go wrong for Richard and Peggy, it will. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This uneven attempt at horror parody, direced by Norman Thaddeus Vane, gets off to a fairly promising start with a fun performance from Ferdinand Mayne (the imposing lead vampire in Roman Polanski's Fearless Vampire Killers) as the impossibly flamboyant horror superstar Conrad Radzoff -- whose idea of a memorable promotional stunt for his latest film involves the murder of its director. Though this proves a hard act to follow, Radzoff manages to do so by kicking the bucket himself. Then enter the annoying young members of a horror-film society who decide to steal Radzoff's corpse to use as a macabre centerpiece at their next hootenanny. Big mistake. Mrs. Radzoff is none too pleased and consults a spirit medium to reanimate her husband's body and avenge the desecration of his crypt. Sadly, what began as a clever comic nod to horror films of yore (and their die-hard fans in particular) collapses completely into routine slasher formula as Radzoff floats his coffin around the house in pursuit of his enemies, dispatching them in outrageously gory ways. Distributors released a title on video, shortly after the run of this film, entitled 'Frightmare II.' It was in fact a 1974 Pete Walker film all but unrelated to this one and erroneously advertised as the sequel to Vane's film. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

When she's wrongfully convicted for participation in a drug-smuggling ring, a woman (Tracy Bregman) winds up in a women's prison, where she toughens up during several brutal encounters. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

A virtual remake of Roger Corman's drive-in classic Attack of the Crab Monsters, this Florida-lensed cheapie is more than just a throwback to low-budget monster movies of the 1950s -- it's a throwback in every sense of the word. The claw-wielding killer crustaceans here are the product of a nuclear plant accident off the Florida coast, which causes crabs used in a nearby growth-research experiment to bulk up to the size of sport-utility vehicles. Strangely, there's only one mega-crab on display, and even that one's not visible until the film's climax. In the meantime, we're treated to dull scenes of the clawed critters scampering around in search of human meals. Star Robert Lansing had already garnered a bit of experience battling giant mutated animals in similarly ridiculous movies such as Empire of the Ants. Also released as Night of the Claw. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

There are no cliff-hanging moments in Serial, but there's plenty of laughs in this trenchant comedy comment on 1970s lifestyles. Martin Mull plays the father of a Marin County family that succumbs to every silly fad coming down the pike. Mull tries to distance himself from his family's idiocies, but it's always the man who pays the piper. The film, based on a collection of newspaper essays by Cyra McFadden, is neatly tied up with a Capraesque ending allowing Mull to finally prevail. Some of the best moments involves Mull's tiltings with his trend-happy neighbor Bill Macy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a sheriff gets tired of upholding the law and retires to a quiet ranch. Unfortunately, he ends up saving his homesteader neighbors from a corrupt Wyoming land grabber. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Much against his will, Mike accompanies Archie and Gloria on a subway ride. In the course of events, he is forced to slug a wife-abusing passenger (Wynn Irwin), who tried to assault Gloria. As the passenger threatens legal action, peace-loving Mike broods over the fact that he was pushed into violence -- while Archie, who's "seen it all" on previous subway excursions, smiles knowingly throughout the incident. Also in the cast is Nita Talbot as the obstreperous passenger's wife, William Pierson as a wino, Richard Lawson as a black passenger, and Gerry Black as the conductor. Written by Phil Doran and Douglas Aragno, "Mike the Pacifist" first aired on February 12, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Day of the Locust is anything but a cheerful, light look at Hollywood in the '30s. It recreates both the town as well as the filmmaking world around which much of the town revolved with devastating accuracy. The movie tells the twin tales of talentless wannabe actress Faye Greener (Karen Black) and Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), a lovelorn accountant who couldn't care less about movies. Around this framework, a huge and intricate social network is tellingly revealed, until the film's gruesome and tragic ending. Not for those who prefer to hang onto their illusions about the glory days of Hollywood, The Day of the Locust, based on the novel by Nathanael West, is a must-see for serious film buffs. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Stephen J. Cannell-produced detective series The Rockford Files was introduced as a 90-minute NBC TV movie on March 27, 1974. James Garner starred as Jim Rockford, an ex-convict turned private detective. Recently exonerated and released from jail, where he had been serving time for a crime he did not commit, Rockford dedicated himself to re-opening "closed cases," digging up new evidence to prove that the authorities had been wrong with the original verdict, thereby belatedly serving the cause of justice. This penchant frequently put Jim at odds with his friend Detective Dennis Becker (Joe Santos), but made him very popular with his clients. Though he generally charged a daily fee of 200 dollars plus expenses, Jim was nearly always broke due to his occasional willingness to accept a case gratis, or because of duplicitous clients or heavy fines for "bending" the law. Thus, he lived in a ramshackle trailer with his dad Joseph "Rocky" Rockford (played in the 90-minute pilot by Robert Donley), a retired trucker. For his first case, Rockford set out to prove that the death of a skid-row derelict was actually murder. To help him in his investigation, Rockford called upon his former cellmate Angel Martin (Stuart Margolin), who, unlike Jim, actually had been a crook and still retained several embarrassing criminal associates. When the weekly, one-hour series version of The Rockford Files premiered on September 13, 1974, Garner, Santos, and Margolin were still in the cast, but Noah Beery Jr. had replaced Robert Donley as Jim's dad Rocky. Also added to the cast at this time were Gretchen Corbett as Jim's attorney girlfriend Beth Davenport, who helped him gather evidence and sometimes brought worthy clients to his attention; and Tom Atkins as Dennis Becker's boss Lt. Alex Diehl, who could not entirely dissuade himself from the belief that Rockford had deserved his prison time and was still on the wrong side of the law. Beginning with the series' third season, Diehl was replaced by Lt. Doug Chapman, played by James Luisi. Although Rockford was regularly beaten up for his troubles, habitually lied to by his clients, and damaged materially in the course of his investigations (his battered car and his tiny living quarters seldom survived an episode without being given a going-over), Jim managed to keep his sense of humor, cynical and jaundiced though it was. In real life, star James Garner had a predilection for performing his own stunts, leaving him with a multitude of injuries that were ultimately a factor in his abruptly leaving the series just before the end of its sixth season (accordingly, the show was prematurely canceled by NBC on July 25, 1980). Even so, Garner returned to star in nine Rockford Files TV movies produced between 1994 and 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide