Steffen Zacharias Movies
German supporting actor Steffen Zacharias got his start directing plays in New York. Later he went on to act in many Italian features. He returned to the U.S. in the mid-'80s. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 1984
- R
This violent follow-up to the sadistic actioner The Exterminator (1980) again features Johnny Eastland (Robert Ginty), a Vietnam vet who is triggered into vengeful killing when his dancer girlfriend (Deborah Geffner) is first badly beaten and permanently crippled and later murdered by a gang of street thugs led by "X" (Mario Van Peebles). Johnny dresses up in a special uniform and helmet, grabs a flamethrower, and aided by Be Gee (Frankie R. Faison), a former vet turned garbageman, the two incinerate their way through the rest of the film. Like other Death Wish clones, this film is derivative, violent, and mindless. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Ginty, Mario Van Peebles, (more)
In this human-scale drama/comedy, a pair of Beverly Hills parents, Albert (Ryan O'Neal) and Lucy (Shelley Long) first come together as a couple interested in writing (she) and teaching (he), but Albert's life takes an upscale turn when he starts both writing and then directing in Hollywood. As he becomes successful, Lucy is forced to burrow into her own writing in self-defense, and after her book is well-received, she is compensated a little for Albert's lack of attention and philandering. After Hollywood and its well-known flaws are sketched out in the increasingly strained marriage, the story reaches its primary focus: Albert and Lucy's 9-year-old daughter Casey (Drew Barrymore) talks to a lawyer because she wants to sue her parents for divorce. She gets no hugs or affection, and precious little attention, and she would prefer to go live with the maid. Given the parents' celebrity, the case receives wide press -- and the family begins to reconsider where it is going and why. Although a bit long, especially in the first half which wanders off course a little, the story is engaging enough (especially for Hollywood buffs) to balance any weaknesses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, (more)
In this undistinguished parody of the sci fi genre, Robert Urich is Jason who leads a band of pirates in redistributing the wealth of the few to the coffers of the needy. He also joins up with Princess Karina Mary Crosby in searching for her father and a possible source of water in the next galaxy. Meant to be a campy romp through the sci fi genre, the film stops short of achieving a goal that should have been effortless. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, (more)
Paul Kersey's (Charles Bronson) self-appointed one-man vigilante squad goes bi-coastal in Michael Winner's sequel to his Death Wish. Kersey has taken up residence in Los Angeles, but lunatic violence follows him across the country like toilet paper sticking to his shoe. Kersey's Spanish cook is immediately gang-banged and killed, while his daughter, still suffering from a catatonic stupor after her brutal rape in the first film, finds herself raped yet again. Vincent Gardenia as New York detective Frank Ochoa, reprises his role from the first film here -- traveling to Los Angeles to locate Kersey but finding death waiting for him off a LA freeway ramp. After all this mayhem, Kersey cannot cringe in hiding for long, and once again he loads up his tube socks with rolls of quarters and goes hoodlum hunting. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, (more)
- 1980
John D. MacDonald's offbeat semifantasy novel The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything was enjoyably hoked up for television in this "Operation Prime Time" presentation. Robert Hays stars as Kirby Winter, an unprepossessing chap who inherits a gold watch from his late uncle. Kirby soon discovers that the watch has the power to stop time. It also provides a clue to a hidden fortune, meaning that there's trouble aplenty in store for Kirby and his air-headed girlfriend Bonnie Lee Beaumont (Pam Dawber). First syndicated to local stations on October 13, 1980, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything was offered in two versions: as a standard 2-hour movie, and as cliff-hanging series of five half-hour programs. So successful was this non-network effort that it spawned a 1981 sequel, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Dynamite. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1977
Twice during the mid-1970s, Andy Griffith unsuccessfully attempted to launch a TV detective series titled Abel Marsh. The first pilot film was The Girl in the Empty Grave; the second was The Deadly Game. Griffith once again stars as resort-town sheriff Abel Marsh, this time wrestling with a sinister conspiracy involving a dangerous chemical spill. Lane Slate produced, directed and wrote the film, while Griffith's longtime manager Richard O. Linke functioned as executive producer. Deadly Game was first telecast December 3, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1976
Malcolm McDowell plays a World War I air ace, in charge of an elite squadron. Outwardly a bastion of courage, McDowell dies a little every time one of his boys is killed. To steel his nerves, he takes to drink, which has an adverse effect on his abilities. Christopher Plummer staunchly portrays McDowell's commanding officer. Aces High is a remake of Journey's End (1930), which in turn was based on a play by R.C. Sheriff. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, Christopher Plummer, (more)
- 1975
Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim) dares Laura (Melissa Gilbert) to venture into a "haunted" house, reputed to be occupied by a maniac. As it turns out, the house's owner, old Mr. Pike (John Anderson) is more befuddled than insane; he has stubbornly remained locked up in his home awaiting the return of his wife -- who died several years ago. Befriending Mr. Pike, Laura gently tries to shake the man out of his self-imposed dungeon of denial. This episode was originally slated to air on September 24, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, (more)
- 1974
Series star Telly Savalas makes his directorial debut in this episode, which features a surprising characterization by the multitalented Paul Anka. Eschewing his established "nice guy" image, Anka is cast as Buddy Maus, a slimy police informer with mob aspirations. Throughout the episode, Maus callously exploits his main police contact, detective Sam Colucci (Richard Romanus), to climb ever upward in the criminal world. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1972
A bookish Boston slicker tries his hand at cowpunching on his father's ranch in this violent but humorous Italian western. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1972
No relation to the 1985 film of the same name, The Sicilian Connection was a multinational programmer designed to cash in on the success of The Godfather and The French Connection. Nightclub owner Ben Gazzara becomes involved with drug trafficking. What we know (but the villains don't) is that Gazzara is actually a narcotics agent. The tension level noticeably sags until the showdown denoument. Silvia Monti, Fausto Tozzi and Jess Hahn fill out the other principal roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
In this spaghetti western, a quick-drawing, hard-riding granite faced, steel-eyed ex-Confederate soldier (Lee VanCleef) rides into a Texas town with the small travelling circus he works for as a stunt rider and bumps into a man who owes him $5,000. Wanting the money back, the vet decides to stay in town and it isn't long before he ends up embroiled in corruption and double-crosses as he fights to simultaneously save the townsfolk from the greedy, corrupt politician who runs the town and forces the residents to pay cripplingly high taxes and steal the crook's fortune. This is the third Sabata film and the second time VanCleef essayed the character. In the second film Adios Sabata, the title character was played by Yul Brynner. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lee Van Cleef, Reiner Schöne, (more)
In this Italian western, an outlaw enlists the aid of his pal and a robber gang to pull off a gold heist. Later, the gang argues about how the loot should be split. The robber gang then absconds with the gold leaving the other pair in the dust. The outlaw and friend set off to capture the treacherous gang. They finally find them in a Mexican town where the residents are celebrating a religious festival. A terrible shootout ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Garner, Dennis Weaver, (more)
- 1970
- PG
When American agents in Moscow try to recover a stolen letter implicating America in an anti-Red China plot, they discover a hornet's nest of treason, double agents, murder, and betrayal. The plot has as many switchbacks as a Formula One racetrack, and a pad and paper to keep track of the agents and their code names wouldn't hurt. Still, The Kremlin Letter is an interesting espionage movie with some good performances. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bibi Andersson, Richard Boone, (more)
- 1970
Metello (Messimo Ranieri) is the son of an anarchist who shares his father's passion for justice. After he is introduced to love by the young widow Viola (Lucia Bose), he falls in love and marries Ersilia (Ottavia Piccolo). Labor unrest leads to a strike by workers, and Metello is thrown in jail. Upon his release, he lies to officials when he says he will abandon political causes. He tries to balance his family life and remain true to his ideals in the changing political climate in Florence at the turn of the 20th century. Ennio Morricone provides the music for this feature that appeared at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Massimo Ranieri, Ottavia Piccolo, (more)
- 1970
- G
In order to protect a group of Mormons from Mexican bandidos, two brothers are forced to convert in this comedic spoof of spaghetti westerns. Trinity is Still My Name is the title of the sequel. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
A hardened criminal learns there's little loyalty on either side of the law in this drama from Italian director Giuliano Montaldo. Charlie Adamo (Peter Falk) is a rough-hewn but ambitious underworld kingpin who has taken control of the West Coast syndicates and wants a piece of the action in Las Vegas. Adamo's boss Don Francesco DeMarco (Gabriele Ferzetti) isn't happy about his plans to take over The Royal, a posh casino and hotel that's owned by the mob, and he's determined to put Adamo in his place. Meanwhile, a handful of young gangsters are plotting to rob The Royal of $2 million, and one of them, Jack (Pierluigi Apra), know just the right man for the job -- his father Hank McCain (John Cassavetes), better known as "Machine Gun McCain," currently serving a life sentence after a crime spree put him in prison twelve years earlier. The mob arranges for McCain to be released, and Jack escorts him to Las Vegas, where he runs into Irene (Britt Ekland), a young woman he meets in a bar and impulsively marries. McCain plans and pulls off an ingenious casino robbery, but he pulled the heist after his backers ordered him to abandon the robbery, and soon he's one of several characters on the run from the law and the mafia. John Cassavetes and Peter Falk struck up a friendship while working on Gli Intoccabili (aka Machine Gun McCain), and it was the first of several films the two actors would make together, most under the direction of Cassavetes, including Husbands, A Woman Under The Influence and Big Trouble. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Cassavetes, Britt Ekland, (more)
- 1968
Vittorio Gassman stars in this uneven blend of sex and comedy where animals attempt to take over the world. Satirical jabs are taken at the advertising, politics and heroes. Gassman plays a model who makes his career by appearing on billboards and loses a battle of wits with a gorilla in a zoo. Our hero watches a striptease through a telescope in Rome. He also witnesses a giant moth devouring the bathing suits of bikini-clad beauties. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Martha Hyer, (more)
There isn't much disagreement as to whether this spaghetti western is styled after the Director Sergio Leone's Clint Eastwood blockbuster, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Ace High, directed by Giuseppe Colizzi, and filmed in Almeria, Spain, is missing at least two ingredients that could possibly lift it up to its predecessor, and they're Eastwood and Colizzi. The plot fits: An outlaw Cat Stevens (Terence Hill) is saved from the noose and is then hunted by his saviors when he goes back to crime. But Stevens is on a hunt of his own, pursuing three roamers who'd sent him to prison years before. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Eli Wallach, Bud Spencer, (more)
One of the most fearsome of the Japanese monsters to hit the screen in the early 60's makes his debut in sci-fi thriller. As tensions between America and the Soviet Union rise to a fever pitch, U.S. troops shoot down a Russian bomber which is flying low in an Arctoc region. The bomber crashes, and its payload of hydrogen bombs explode upon impact. The blast releases and awakens Gamera, a gigantic fire-breathing turtle which had been frozen under the ice since prehistoric times. The newly revived monster makes his way to Tokyo, Japan, where he begins to lay waste to the city. As emminent scientist Dr. Hidaka (Eiji Funakoshi) searches for a way to defeat the monster, a young boy named Yoshiro (Yoshiro Unchida) develops an unlikely friendship with Gamera. For the film's American release, additional scenes were added featuring U.S. actors Brian Donlevy and Albert Dekker. The spelling of the monster's name was also changed; he's Gammera with two M's in this movie, but just Gamera in the sequels which followed. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Albert Dekker, Brian Donlevy, (more)
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