George Touliatos Movies

After years of an oppressive dictatorship, a group of army officers in a tiny, vaguely delineated European country organize a coup. Colonel Narriman (David Hemmings) has bravely taken chances which could have resulted in his death, and he expects, once the coup is successful, to become the next leader of his country. Quietly biding his time, Colonel Zeller (Peter O'Toole) has played along with the revolutionaries but doesn't like their methods. In the end, he puts a monkey-wrench into their whole operation. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this crime drama, set in 1975 and based on a true story from Toronto, Canada, the different ways in which a prominent realtor may have had his wife brutally murdered are presented. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This low-budget, tongue-in-cheek horror film of the slasher genre -- which had recently been popularized by Halloween (1978) -- stars that film's lead, Jamie Lee Curtis, as Kim Hammond, a prom queen who becomes a scream queen. Six years ago, a little girl was taunted by four classmates and fell to her death from an abandoned schoolhouse. The quartet of kids promised to keep their complicity in the accident a secret. Now it's their prom night and they've got the jitters because they have recently been receiving phone calls and notes from an ominous, unknown individual claiming to have witnessed the girl's death and vowing revenge. At the prom, the four become fatal victims one by one of a mysterious, axe-wielding, masked, and hooded stalker. The many possibilities of the murderer's identity include Kim, who is the little dead girl's sister, her school-principal father (Leslie Nielsen), or her disc-jockey brother, Alex (Michael Tough). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Inspired by stories from the fantasy graphics magazine Heavy Metal, this five-part animated feature combines the talents of hundreds of artists and animators from 17 different countries. A glowing green orb called Loc-Nar that contains the sum total of all evil in the universe travels through space and time, spreading violence and discord in its wake. The stories that follow demonstrate Loc-Nar's malevolent presence throughout the universe. In New York in the year 2023, cabbie Harry Canyon picks up a fare who turns out to have Loc-Nar in her possession, and it turns out to be one trip he wishes that he had never made. In contemporary suburban America, a nerdy high school kid finds the orb in his backyard and is transported to a comic-book universe where he's a mighty warrior and famous spoiler of women. A robot created by an alien race falls in love with a secretary from Earth who was kidnapped by his masters, while she is at once fascinated and repelled by his sexual talents. And finally, Loc-Nar crashes into a mountain, and a world of fantasy and danger spontaneously appears in its wake, ruled by The Defender, a beautiful amazon who rides on a giant bird. The voice cast for Heavy Metal includes John Candy, Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Richard Romanus, and John Vernon. The sound track features selections by Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Nazareth, Cheap Trick, Devo, and Grand Funk Railroad. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This futuristic adventure stars Lee Majors as a former racing champ who reassembles his old Porsche and drives to California in a world where cars have been outlawed by the powers that be. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Agency tackles the question of the efficiency of media manipulation. An unscrupulous advertising agency, in league with equally untrustworthy political campaign manager Robert Mitchum, plants subliminal messages in its TV commercials. Just as Vance Packard warned in the 1950s expose The Hidden Persuaders, these hidden messages persuade the viewers to vote for Mitchum's candidate. Given the potency of the the film's premise, it's disappointing to watch director George Gaczender handle the material (based on a novel by Paul Gottleib) is so cut-and-dried a fashion. But Mitchum is good, as are his costars Valerie Perrine, Lee Majors, Saul Rubinek and Alexandra Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This by-the-numbers comedy stars Wayne Rogers and Karen Valentine as Alex and Annabelle Grier. Alex is a well-paid ad executive who is laid off during an economic downswing. In order to continue living in the manner to which she he is accustomed, Alex's wife Annabelle decides to look for work. Unfortunately, her practical experience is nil, so Alex labors behind the scenes, training his wife to become a top-drawer copywriter. Inevitably, when Annabelle finally does land a job, it turns out to be a major blow to Alex's ego. Initially titled Paper Castles, this made-for-TV movie was first shown December 18, 1984. TV Guide/Marrill ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The made-for-TV Lena: My 100 Children was based on the life of Lena Kuchler-Silberman, here portrayed by Linda Lavin. During World War II, Lena, a Polish Jew, posed as a Catholic to escape the Nazi death camp. At war's end, the guilt-ridden Lena vows to atone for the millions who were exterminated in the "Final Solution." She dedicates herself to the physical and emotional healing of 100 Jewish refugee children, fighting communist red tape to feed and clothe her charges, and then leading them all into a brighter future in Palestine. Written for television by Yabo Yablonsky and location-filmed in Hungary, Lena: My 100 Children premiered on November 23, 1987, not long after the death of the real Lena Kuchler-Silberman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This was the "unofficial" Liberace biopic, as opposed to the error-ridden "official" Liberace (telecast one week earlier in October of 1988). The star of Liberace: Behind the Music is Broadway actor Victor Garber, who later scored a personal triumph as the devilish Mr. Applegate in the revival of Damn Yankees. Behind the Music is an unauthorized TV movie based on the recollections of the pianist's business manager, giving scriptwriter Gavin Lambert far more leeway in delineating the title character, warts and all. The closing sequences delve much deeper into the AIDS question than was possible in the family-approved Liberace starring Andrew Robinson (who, to be fair, looks more like the real entertainer than does Victor Garber). Liberace: Behind the Music could have descended into tabloidism ("Behind the rumors and the secrets" read the advertising copy), but emerges as a work of conspicuous dignity and (reasonably) good taste. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One certainly can't fault the casting in this made-for-TV biopic. After all, who better to play the title character than Ann Jillian herself. Dwelling very briefly on Jillian's early years as a child actress and her return to the limelight via the Broadway hit Sugar Babies, the film concentrates on her courageous comeback following her bilateral mastectomy in 1985. Tony LoBianco costars as husband-manager Andy Murcia, while Viveca Lindfors and George Touliatos portray her immigrant parents. Equal parts entertainment and inspiration, The Ann Jillian Story was originally telecast January 4, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A modern cop meets a mythical figure in this action-fantasy. It all begins when a muscle-bound detective is assigned to find the purloined sword of Alexander the Great, which is said to have been a gift to the conqueror from Apollo. As he searches for the perpetrator, a Greek tycoon, the gumshoe begins experiencing strange flashbacks set over 2,000 years in the past in which Alexander battles his envious cousin Herodotus. He seems to get most of these strange visions after handling homicide victims. Eventually he begins to realize that the visions are related to the missing sword. He finally meets his nemesis during fencing practice and ends up getting involved in the magnate's highly illegal swordplay competition using real blades. As he progresses to the finals, the detective finally figures out that he is a reincarnation of Alexander the Great and that the murderous magnate is Herodotus. The only way the detective will be able to stop the visions is to kill the tycoon, but will he be able to do it? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this tense and surprising thriller, a parish priest is torn between honoring his vow to never violate the sacred trust between a confessor and a cleric and telling the law that one of those he listens to is a serial killer who is ritually killing the women in his congregation. Devout and kindly Father Cusack is still new to the priesthood and takes his vows very seriously. Because he cannot tell the police, he tries to stop the killer on his own and nearly loses his life in the process. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi