Robert Walker, Jr. Movies

An uneven but entertaining blend of graphic horror and black comedy from John Landis, very much in the mode of the director's successful An American Werewolf in London. French actress Anne Parillaud -- star of Luc Besson's acclaimed thriller La Femme Nikita -- plays Marie, a lithe and lovely vampire with a conscience who will not take "innocent blood" and maintains a low profile by dining exclusively on criminals and lowlifes. She finds a virtual smorgasbord in Pittsburgh's criminal underworld, arriving in the thick of a bloody mob war sparked by ruthless kingpin Sal Macelli (Robert Loggia). After preying on one of Macelli's hoods (Chazz Palminteri), Marie fumbles her attack on the boss himself and he manages to escape, eventually transforming into a vampire himself. Macelli soon comes to appreciate his new superhuman condition and hatches a diabolical scheme to control the syndicates by turning his underlings into vampires -- including his beleaguered lawyer, Emmanuel Bergman (Don Rickles). Marie, faced with a new and powerful undead enemy, is forced to take matters into her own claws. To this end she enlists the reluctant aid (and eventual affection) of undercover cop Joe Gennaro (Anthony LaPaglia), whose cover has just been leaked to the press, making him a target for Macelli and his growing army of blood drinkers. Landis has crafted a dark and brooding film, pumped up with bouts of extreme gore and gangland violence -- but where American Werewolf's occasional comic touches helped to ground the story and give the "straight" horror scenes more punch, most attempts at humor here seem jarring and out of place. The film's highlights come from numerous horror in-jokes, including cameos from Sam Raimi, Clive Barker, Dario Argento and Linnea Quigley; Rickles' explosive death scene ranks among the weirdest in cinema history. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

This anthology of three horror tales is accompanied by the voice of James Earl Jones--offscreen--as the "Voice of Retribution." Included is "Heroine Overdose," "Pandora" and "Veteran's Day," all of which begin with a postal allusion. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

This silly horror film stars Dean Jagger in a zoned-out performance as a mad scientist whose experiments in halting the aging process have reduced the residents of Smalltown, U.S.A. to shambling zombies. Since his serum requires massive amounts of extracted human pituitary fluid, Jagger is ever on the lookout for more unwilling donors -- i.e. nearly everyone unlucky enough to pass through town. This film is apparently assembled from pieces of two different projects, including an uncompleted film from the mid-'70s, and spiced up with some gratuitous nudity courtesy of former Playboy playmate Lynda Wiesmeier. As expected, the combination doesn't really work -- the editors have made a commendable attempt at maintaining some form of continuity, but the end result seems hardly worth the effort. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Upon returning to Vietnam years after the war, veteran Richard Hatch stumbles onto a drug-running operation overseen by some of his fellow ex-soldiers. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Ulli Lommel's atmospheric chiller opens with a violent prologue in the 17th-century Colonial town of Devonsville, where a trio of local women are accused of witchcraft by the zealous locals and executed in gory fashion by pitchfork-wielding vigilantes. Flash forward to the present, where the arrival of three progressive young women ignites the same superstitious paranoia among the current generation of townsfolk -- who perceive their new visitors' arrival as the culmination of an ages-old curse. The pretty new schoolteacher (Suzanna Love), plagued by ominous visions, consults the local psychiatrist (Donald Pleasence), whose hypnotic regression therapy reveals the true nature of her ancestry -- which finally surfaces when a new group of vigilantes begins the inevitable witch-hunt. Moody and well-photographed (Lommel once studied under legendary German auteur (Rainier Werner Fassbinder), this film tends to cloud its basically feminist theme with some rather exploitative gross-out effects -- particularly the depiction of Pleasence's ancestral curse, which has him constantly digging tiny worms from various parts of his body. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful mystery, an English child sees an American soldier kill her mother, a prostitute. Years pass and the girl grows up and gets married. It is then she hears her dead mother's voice instruct her to start killing. In time she falls for one of the Americans helping to reconstruct the London Bridge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In a tale of drama and adventure, young journalist Andy Cameron (Robert Walker) has to get into Cambodia (it is assumed this is during the genocidal reign of Pol Pot). Cameron has to smuggle out his girlfriend Mieng (Nit Alisa) before she is killed (along with the other two million Cambodians), but he cannot manage this alone. He enlists the aid of an American Vietnam vet and the help of a few Khmer men. Eventually, Cameron makes his way into Cambodia where he encounters many dangers, some human and some inhuman (though the thousands of landmines that pose a continuing threat to a now peaceful Cambodia are not mentioned here). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Beulah Land is an edited, movie-length version of the three-part TV miniseries adaptation of Lonnie Coleman's multi-part novels. The film is set in the Old South, with a time span ranging from 1827 to the postwar Reconstruction Era. Lesley Ann Warren stars as Sarah Kendrick, young belle of the Beulah Land plantation, who finds herself in love with a "damn Yankee." Sarah must also contend with a weakling brother (Paul Rudd) and a former slave (Dorian Harewood) who demands freedom as a right rather than a privilege. Beulah Land took forever to get before the cameras due to protests from black historical organizations; when it was finally telecast on October 7-9, 1980, NBC conducted a low-pressure ad campaign, as though the network was still fearful of stepping on toes despite the testimonial of a black Yale history professor, who commended the production for its "special sensitivity." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Psychiatrist Alex (Art Garfunkel) becomes sexually obsessed with Milena (Theresa Russell), a woman whom he meets at a party. The pair become involved in an intense and mutually destructive love affair. The drama unfolds in a series of flashbacks, as Alex tells his story to police Inspector Netusil (Harvey Keitel) who is investigating Milena's apparent suicide attempt. Alex's obsession grows, but Milena stays slightly out of reach. Originally rated X, but somewhat toned down to accommodate an R rating, Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession is an interesting exploration of the nature of sexual passion and jealousy. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

A mental hospital is the scene of several strange and unexplained deaths. Hoping to determine the reason for the carnage--and to flush out a possible murderer--Steve Keller (Mike Douglas) goes undercover as a mental patient, after police doctor Murchison (Fred Sadoff) administers a drug that will temporarily transform Keller into a raving lunatic! Once he's inside the asylum, the detective finds that it is next to impossible to get out...alive. Among the supporting players are two former TV-series regulars: December Bride's Frances Rafferty and Ben Casey's Bettye Ackerman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An all-star cast including James Caan, Stefanie Powers and Sammy Davis, Jr. headlines this shoestring-budget revisionist western from 1975. Caan stars as Jud McGraw, a cowboy unjustly framed for a crime he didn't commit; he partners up with an ethically wronged Native American woman named Little Moon (Powers). In response to the ills they have each suffered, the two set off to wreak vengeance on a small western town. Onetime Alfred Hitchcock Presents directorial mainstay Bernard Girard helms. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

In this bizarre biker movie, set in 1919, a wandering group of bikers encounter two weird sisters from Nebraska. The siblings are hereditary witches, taught by their father. One of them uses her powers to kill many of the gang members. She spares the one she is attracted to. He begins staying on her farm while her sister and another biker take off to California. On video, it is also known as The Shrieking. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide