Jill Whitlow Movies
Lead actress, onscreen from the late '80s. ~ All Movie Guide- 1988
- R
A family inherits an old, broken down mansion and when they move in, discover that not only does a gang of malicious teens hang out there, but so does the angry spirit of a deceased actor, and they are in for a battle in this horror film. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Breznahan, Jill Whitlow, (more)
- 1987
In this unlikely adventure, a motorcyclist helps an all-girls' school "prisoner" escape her school and together they flee across Europe, chased by the headmistress. To complicate things, the escapee is a mobster's daughter and the motorcycle man, wrongfully accused of a murder, is also being chased. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1987
Maggie (Joanna Kerns) is delighted when Carol (Tracey Gold) is given the opportunity to skip a grade in school--far more so than Mike (Kirk Cameron), who doesn't want to be in the same classroom as his sister. But Maggie changes her mind when Carol, explaining why she intends to take advantage of the opportunity, declares that she won't make the same "mistake" as her mom by settling for marital domesticity! Elsewhere, Mike dates an older woman, namely a stewardess named Kitty (Darian Mathias). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- PG
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A seldom-seen freshman effort from Roland Emmerich, co-writer and director of mega-budget '90s blockbusters Stargate, Independence Day and Godzilla, this lightweight comedy reveals a vague glimmer of the director's flair for fantasy filmmaking. The story involves a group of young would-be filmmakers in Los Angeles, one of whom inherits an antique clock possessed of the benevolent spirit of his late grandfather's butler. The ghost eventually takes the form of a cute alien creature from the set of a future film project who helps the kids solve a mystery involving their grandfather's hidden fortune -- which sparks the attention of a greedy film producer. Reasonably entertaining for young audiences, this project is something of a follow-up to the director's earlier Poltergeist-inspired film Making Contact. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Lively, Tim McDaniel, (more)
- 1986
- PG
In this Road Warrior clone, an aging trucker spends his retirement mining an old cobalt mine with the assistance of his devoted grandson. A good friend lures the trucker out of retirement by offering him a quarter of a million dollars to drive some plutonium from Nevada to a high-security operation in Arizona. He begins his trek in a high-tech rig unaware that terrorist are waiting to ambush him and his deadly cargo. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Forrest Tucker, John Ireland, (more)
Virtually unnoticed during its brief theatrical run, this wildly entertaining horror-comedy achieved healthy cult status following its home-video and cable TV releases. The directorial debut of Fred Dekker (writer of the successful horror parody House), this low-budget effort throws alien monsters, axe-wielding killers, flesh-eating zombies, nudity, and (gasp!) drunken fraternity shenanigans into a blender, spiced with witty one-liners and references to dozens of horror classics (and anti-classics). The result is a satisfying treat that will tickle the tastebuds of horror fans. The film's nominal protagonists are a pair of randy fraternity pledges (Jason Lively, Steve Marshall) who open a literal can of worms when they steal a corpse from the campus medical facility and release a horde of space-leeches, which proceed to infest the bodies of everyone in sight. The host bodies subsequently become homicidal zombies with a penchant for popping in on unsuspecting (and undressing) sorority girls. The town's only hope (such as it is) seems to be a hard-boiled ex-cop (Tom Atkins), who has uncovered the secret link between the zombie invasion and a 30-year-old axe-murder case... and who's also several sandwiches shy of a picnic. Dekker keeps things moving at a brisk pace thanks to some outrageous set-pieces (some of which happen so quickly they'll have viewers reaching for the pause button) and clever dialogue, particularly for Atkins ("Girls, the good news is your dates are here; the bad news is, they're dead"), who dives into his crusty character with relish. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, (more)
This is the true story of Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz), a personable young man suffering from "lionitis," a fatal disease which causes hideous facial disfigurement. The son of freewheeling biker Rusty Dennis (Cher), Rocky is accepted without question by his mom's boyfriends and cycle buddies, but treated with pity, condescension, and disgust by much of the outside world. The local high school principal tries to get Rocky classified as brain-damaged so he won't have to enroll the boy in his school, but Rusty fights for her son's rights with the ferocity of a mother lioness. Rocky makes friends easily both at school and at summer camp. He also falls in love with Diana (Laura Dern), a blind girl who cannot see his deformed countenance and is entranced by the boy's kindness and compassion. Now that he's got his own life in order, Rocky sets about to wean his chronically depressed mother from her drug habit. Mask is the sort of story that might have ending up wallowing in its own pathos had the acting, direction and scriptwriting (by Anna Hamilton Phelan) been anything less than very good. The film proved a much-needed financial success for director Peter Bogdanovich, though unfortunately it didn't come soon enough to stave off his declaring personal bankruptcy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cher, Sam Elliott, (more)
John Hughes's third directorial effort, Weird Science, follows in the tradition of his previous teen-centered films, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. Anthony Michael Hall and Ilan Mitchell-Smith play the wannabe hipster Gary and his nebbish weak-willed best friend, Wyatt, a pair of high-school geeks who are hapless with members of the opposite sex. Using Wyatt's computer, they create what they believe is the ideal woman. A lightning storm brings that woman to life, and she takes the form of Kelly Le Brock. Lisa sets about building their self-confidence, but trouble begins brewing when Wyatt's cruel, military-minded older brother, Chet (Bill Paxton), begins to realize that something is not as it should be. Hughes would finish his cycle of high-school themed films with his next movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Michael Hall, Kelly LeBrock, (more)
Love it or loathe it (and there are a goodly number of people on either side), Porky's was one of the most successful comedies of its day, spawning two direct sequels and inspiring an incalculable number of lowbrow teen comedies, most recently including American Pie (1999). Pee Wee (Dan Monahan), Billy (Mark Herrier), Tommy (Wyatt Knight), and Mickey (Roger Wilson) are four painfully horny high school kids growing up in South Florida in the 1950's. Desperate to rid themselves of their cumbersome virginity, they head out to a sleazy bar near the swamps called Porky's, where local legend has it that the owner will fix you up with a prostitute for a reasonable fee. After Porky takes their money and dumps them in the swamp, the guys vow to get revenge. Meanwhile, Pee Wee has to deal with his shrinking penis, someone drills a hole in the wall of the girl's shower, the guys encounter a prostitute named Cherry Forever, and anti-Semitism rears its ugly head. Cheerfully rude in a manner few mainstream films had achieved at that time, Porky's, for better or worse, changed the standard of what was acceptable in a screen comedy. Remarkably enough, two years later director Bob Clark made the holiday favorite A Christmas Story, which displayed his considerable range, if nothing else. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, (more)
