Helen Boll Movies

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels play the title roles (though viewers may find themselves debating which is which) in this genially low-brow comedy. Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) are two intellectually-challenged best friends who share an apartment so messy that gangsters aren't sure how to trash the place; the guys also have a certain problem (not difficult to understand) holding on to jobs. Lloyd is working as a limo driver in Rhode Island when he picks up a beautiful and wealthy woman named Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) who is being taken to the airport. Lloyd immediately falls head over heels in love with Mary, and when she leaves a briefcase at the airport, he's determined to return it in hopes of impressing her. Lloyd isn't able to get aboard Mary's flight (though not for lack of trying). Harry has a van decorated to look like a dog (to promote his failing dog-grooming business), and the pair hop in the Poochmobile to find Mary in Aspen. What Lloyd and Harry don't know is that the briefcase is full of money, which Mary deliberately left at the airport as a ransom payment to save the life of her kidnapped husband. Incidentally, Lloyd's chipped front tooth happens to be real; while Jim Carrey had the injured tooth capped many years ago, he thought a broken smile would suit Lloyd's character and had the cap removed for the duration of filming. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the more effectively spooky and financially successful horror films of the '80s got an inevitable sequel with this effects-heavy installment. The Freeling family is trying to grapple with the devastation wrought by the ghosts and ghouls that destroyed their lives. The insurance company doesn't believe their story about what happened to their house, so Steve (Craig T. Nelson), Diane (JoBeth Williams), and their kids, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) and Robbie (Oliver Robins), have been reduced to living in the home of Diane's mother, Jess (Geraldine Fitzgerald). Unfortunately for the Freelings, however, their new residence, just like their last, is situated on a haunted patch of unholy ground. A century before, the mad cult leader Kane (Julian Beck) slaughtered his followers nearby, and his evil spirit has returned in an effort to kidnap Carol Anne. When the Freelings realize what's happening, they call upon the psychic medium Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) to help them again, and they also receive aid from a kindly Native American spiritualist, Taylor (Will Sampson). Noticeably absent from the sequel was older daughter Dana, who had been played by actress Dominique Dunne; Dunne was killed in 1982 by her obsessed boyfriend. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

After getting caught cheating his bookmaking boss over a high-stakes pinball wager, Neil Gallagher (Ken Marshall) leaves his Corpus Christi home for Los Angeles, hoping to make it big as a folk rock balladeer. With best friend Henry (Harvey Lewis) in tow as his manager, Neil finds only failure, but when they come across a streetsmart 14-year-old pinball whiz named Tilt (Brooke Shields), he envisions a plan to get rich quick and save face in his hometown. Impressed by Neil's music, Tilt agrees to hitchhike with him to Texas, thinking she's helping to raise money for a demo tape. They stop by roadside arcades along the way to hustle petty gamblers into betting against the unassuming teen's pinball prowess. When the duo hit home with cash in their pockets, Neil brazenly challenges his former employer, an obese pinball champion known as "the Whale" (Charles Durning), to a 400-dollar game against the unbeatable Tilt. What Neil doesn't realize is that Tilt has caught on to his manipulation and lies, and all his big plans are going to blow up in his face when Tilt and the Whale secretly hold their own late-night pinball tourney. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide