Russell Todd Movies

This high-tech spin on the slasher genre pits a group of sex-obsessed teens spending the night in a shopping mall against the mall's marauding robotic security guards -- whose programming turns homicidal after a bolt of lightning scrambles their control circuits. Director Jim Wynorski cut his exploitation teeth working for Roger Corman's legendary "B"-movie factory New World Pictures in the '70s and '80s, and this film's comic early scenes contain homages to that outfit's heyday -- with humorous cameos from Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov (reprising their characters Paul and Mary Bland from Bartel's Eating Raoul) and the ubiquitous Dick Miller. The majority of the film, however, is essentially a teens-in-jeopardy story, with the lethal bots unleashing their amped-up arsenal and bringing the victims to nasty ends amid buckets of gore -- such as the unforgettable moment when one woman's head is targeted by one of the droids and blown up like an overripe melon. (The shot is repeated during the end credits.) ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Hockey-masked killer Jason Vorhees returns to terrorize a lakeside family and their rowdy teen neighbors in this fourth installment of the long-running slasher series. After the events of Friday the 13th, Part 3, Jason's seemingly lifeless body is brought to the morgue, where horny attendant Axel (Bruce Mahler) is trying to score with foxy Nurse Morgan (Lisa Freeman). The pair quickly meet a grisly end. Meanwhile, at Crystal Lake, estranged wife Mrs. Jarvis (Joan Freeman) and her kids -- young Tommy (Corey Feldman) and teenaged Trish (Kimberly Beck) -- find their quiet invaded by a group of hard-partying kids moving into the rental house next door. The youngsters include curious virgin Sara (Barbara Howard), hot-to-trot Samantha (Judie Aronson), and nebbish Jimmy (Crispin Glover). Tommy, a monster makeup enthusiast, enjoys watching the scantily clad young ladies through his window, while Trish toys with the idea of joining in their revelries. Also lurking around the area is Rob (Erich Anderson), who claims to be hunting bear but actually has mysterious ties to the events of Friday the 13th, Part 2. As the house full of teens begins to pair off -- aided by the addition of local twins Tina (Camilla More) and Terri (Carey More) to the mix -- an unseen killer begins to pick them off one by one. The bloodshed climaxes with a tense showdown in which Tommy disguises himself as a bald, lumpy boyhood version of Jason in hopes of distracting the relentless psychopath who hunts him. Feldman would return for a cameo in Friday the 13th, Part V: A New Beginning, only to be replaced by another actor in a grown-up version of the role. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Robert Conrad plays Jesse Hawkes, a retired mountain ranger. Hawkes is reactivated to track down a killer in the Sierra mountains. He does so with the aid of his sons -- played by Conrad's real-life sons Christian and Shane (the actor's daughter Joan was executive producer of this film). Shot on location in California and Nevada, High Mountain Rangers served as the pilot for a Robert Conrad TV series (his ninth) which ran from January to July of 1988. When the series failed to bring in the ratings, the format was altered and the title changed to Jesse Hawkes; that series lasted all of four weeks in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this chilling psychological thriller, Lisa, an unemployed, and dull-as-dishwater young woman is happy to have a new roomie. The new tenant Laurie is as outgoing and beautiful as Lisa is introverted and plain. Sweet-natured Laurie immediately begins trying to help poor Lisa come out of her shell, even though her boy friend Del is suspicious of Lisa. He sees something darker lurking beneath her placid surface and it makes him uneasy. When Lisa learns that Laurie has received money from her late aunt, Lisa undergoes a dramatic change because she resents all that her kindly friend Laurie has, and unlike Lisa, Laurie was never horribly sexually abused as a child. Thinking she deserves the money, Lisa puts on make-up and sexy clothes. She then promptly seduces Del. She then tries to get Del to help her kill Laurie. He demurs and that is his fatal mistake. Later she murders both Del and Laurie. She then hacks up the bodies and stuffs them into suitcases. Next she takes a drive to the country and dumps the bags down a deep mine shaft. Thus begins a string of grisly murders as the psycho Lisa struggles to get her hands on Laurie's money. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide