Paul Aratow Movies
- 1987
The Spirit is a TV movie based on Will Eisner's celebrated comic-strip crimefighter. The title character's real name is Denny Colt (played by Sam Jones), a police officer who is believed to be have been killed by gangsters. Revived in a shack near the city graveyeard, Colt dons a domino mask and vows to fight crime as "The Spirit." His first job is to thwart the villainous vamp P'gell (McKinlay Robinson), who schemes to detonate a bomb during an important civic event. Intended as the pilot for a weekly series, The Spirit is a misshapen fiasco, bearing little resemblance to its excellent comic strip source material. Apparently the producers were appalled by the results, since the existing 78-minute version of The Spirit gives evidence of being hacked up in the editing room. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
- R
Adam Swit (Raphael Sbarge) is hounded by his consumer parents in their plush L.A. home, beset by his sexually deprived sister, and faces agony at school at the hands of the tougher kids. In order to escape his troubles, he daydreams about a fantastic young woman. Lo and behold, a dead-ringer for his dream woman shows up at school one day as a transfer student (Page Hannah) and Adam sets out to befriend her right away. On their first date they find a teacher in the parking lot who has just been severely worked over by a gang of thugs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raphael Sbarge, Page Hannah, (more)
Based on the famous comic strip, Sheena chronicles the adventures of the title character (Tanya Roberts), a fair-skinned orphan taken in by a kindly Zambouli priestess (Elizabeth of Toro, a real-life African queen) in a remote African village and trained in the ancient arts of makeup and hairstyling. When American newsmen Fletcher (Donovan Scott) and Vic (Ted Wass) travel to her homeland to cover a story on Prince Otwani (Trevor Thomas), they uncover his plot to assassinate his brother, the reigning prince (a renowned field-goal kicker), and frame the priestess for the crime. Sheena joins forces with the newsmen to stop him and restore order to the country. Although Roberts looks great in a loincloth, her assets alone cannot save this turkey; one wonders where the jungle princess manages to plug in her blow-dryer. This ridiculous film was panned across the board upon its release and subsequently bombed. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tanya Roberts, Ted Wass, (more)
John Wainwright (Larry Hankin) is an author whose body and soul have been invaded by the reincarnated spirit of the sinister hypnotist Svengali. His best-selling new book on reincarnation not only admits this fact readily, but cites it as proof, though the public dismisses it all as an entertaining publicity stunt. The book's publisher, Sir Steven (Norman Pierce), knows better, however. He, like Svengali, is a member of the Society of the Bleeding Rose, a Satanic cult that has discovered the secret to immortality through human sacrifice and the theft of souls. Despite the new book's tremendous popularity, Svengali has a skeptic who challenges the veracity of his claims. Dr. Gregorio (Geoffrey Land) is a psychiatrist who disdains belief in the occult as superstition and quackery, but what Gregorio doesn't let on is the reason he considers himself an expert in such matters; he's actually a vampire, a creature of the undead who knows the truth about eternal life. Sir Steven demands that Svengali procure a fresh, untarnished soul for their society's wicked rituals, and nightclub dancer Trilby (Jane Brunel-Cohen) is chosen to replenish the Satanists' supply of psychic energy. Unfortunately, Wainwright's soul is fighting to regain control of the body that Svengali has stolen, flooding the evil hypnotist with strange feelings of love for Trilby that he can't control. Gregorio attends the Black Mass to disrupt the society's sacrifice with his vampiric talents, but he hasn't counted on the interference of Stephanie, (Susan McIver), a young woman who lost her mother to Gregorio's fangs and is bent on revenge. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
Noted adult filmmaker Alex DeRenzy traded sex for drugs with this documentary about the international marijuana trade, one of his few efforts outside the world of hard-core porn. Book ended by footage of a congressional commission formed by then-president Richard M. Nixon discussing America's laws regarding marijuana and other recreational drugs, DeRenzy and his crew travel across the United States and around the world to study attitudes about marijuana and laws against it's use. In Missouri, DeRenzy interviews a game warden who shows pastures where wild marijuana plants provide home and cover for game birds. A visit to Nepal includes a stop at a shop where hashish is openly sold with government approval. A busy drug market is discovered in Cambodia, with high-grade weed available at bargain prices, and in nearby Saigon, American servicemen talk about the easy availability of marijuana, with factory-rolled joints (complete with cellophane wrapper and tax stamp) sold as "Park Lane Cigarettes." Mexican farmers are filmed cultivating illicit marijuana farms in the hills, and American customs agents discuss their efforts to prevent pot from being brought into the country. And a drug dealer in New York City discusses the pros and cons of his trade and his personal attitudes about marijuana. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
