Neville Brand
This uproariously bad sci-fi horror oddity plays like a modern version of a cheesy '50s alien invasion flick, only not as clever. The filmmakers deserve some credit for throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the plot (and perhaps even the sink's in there somewhere), which involves the diabolical plans of three silver-suited aliens, played by -- ready for this? -- John Carradine, Julie Newmar (TV's Catwoman), and Tina Louise (Ginger from Gilligan's Island), who hire a couple of drunken wrench jockeys (Neville Brand and Aldo Ray) to help them abduct a bunch of lame-brained teenage campers for use in the production of a youth-restoring serum. This allows for endless riffing on the Friday the 13th scenario, as over-sexed teens are stalked by ski-masked Brand and Ray. B-movie fans should be forewarned that this film's once-in-a-lifetime acting ensemble does virtually nothing to enhance the negligible entertainment value. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
The bottom-drawer science fiction cheapie was originally released as The Return. In a dusty New Mexico town, two children and an old man witness the arrival (via poor special effects) of an alien spacecraft. The phenomenon has such a profound effect on the lives of the witnesses that they anxiously await the return of the extraterrestrials--whom, it is suggested, have visited here several times before. When the big-name cast (Jan-Michael Vincent, Cybill Shepherd, Martin Landau, Raymond Burr and Neville Brand) failed to sucker customers into seeing The Return, the film was repackaged as The Alien's Return. If we are indeed visited by aliens someday, one hopes they aren't as dull as the creatures in this sorry little film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Cybill Shepherd, (more)
- 1980
This goofy sci-fi/horror nonsense plays like '50s-style alien-invasion schlock with a dollop of '80s-style blood and gore. The invasion -- such as it is -- is perpetrated on various backwoods hunters and campers by a scarcely-seen alien that looks like a menacing Star Trek guest star in a glam-rock outfit. The alien's rather simple frontal attack employs an arsenal of toothy, pulsating frisbees that glow in the dark and glom onto the necks and backs of various flannel-clad denizens of the woods. That's about it... oh, and there's a few reliable character actors on hand to spout silly dialogue. Jack Palance plays a crusty hunter who fancies the alien stuffed and mounted, not caring that it plans to do the same to him (now there's a trophy); Martin Landau turns in an eye-rolling performance as the local lunatic, whose paranoid ravings presage those of his character in the feature film The X-Files. Also known as It Came Without Warning. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Palance, Martin Landau, (more)
- 1979
- PG
In this action-packed drama, a beautiful singer decides to put her career on hold when her younger brother, who had a problem with drugs, is severely beaten by a gang of dope dealers. She assembles a group of seven beautiful crime fighters, and they hit the road in their customized van looking for an opportunity to break open the drug ring run by Farrell (Jack Palance) and Burke (Peter Lawford). The inarguably remarkable supporting cast includes Alan Hale Jr., Pat Buttram, Jim Backus, Neville Brand and Arthur Godfrey. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, proved a workmanlike producer/director for 1979's The Ninth Configuration. Army psychiatrist Col. Kane (Stacy Keach) (teetering on the sanity brink himself) tries to minister to the patients in a military mental hospital. The fact that the hospital is located in a brooding old castle is hardly conducive to speedy recoveries. Nor does the mid-film barroom brawl indicate that Kane's approach to mental health is all that workable. Blatty adapted the screenplay for The Ninth Configuration from his own novel Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane (which also served as the film's title during one of its many releases). It is hard to tell if what you're going to see is the "director's cut," since there are several versions of this film, running anywhere from 99 to 140 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, (more)
- 1979
Veteran police officer Tommy Bates (Neville Brand) catches Billy Harris (Richard Stanley), a young car thief whose wild behavior indicates that he is high on "angel dust." During the arrest, Harris dies, and his accomplice Steve (Michael Horton) accuses Bates of choking the boy to death. Lt. Monahan (Garry Walberg), an old friend of Bates, pressures Quincy (Jack Klugman) to speed up the autopsy on Harris to learn the truth--while a cop-hating civil rights attorney named Charlie Trusdale (William Daniels) is likewise breathing down Quincy' neck. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
The Seekers was the third and last TV movie based on John Jakes' Kent Family Chronicles (the others were The Bastard and The Rebels). Heading the huge all-star cast is Randolph Mantooth as Abraham Kent, son of elderly Revolutionary War vet Andrew Kent (played by Martin Milner, replacing the first two films' Andrew Stevens), who has resettled in the treacherous Northwest Territory. Part One of this two-part, four-hour production finds young Abraham trying out a series of occupations, while his brother Gilbert (George Deloy) goes into his father's publishing business. Part Two takes us up to the War of 1812, as seen through the eyes of Jarod and Amanda Kent (Timothy P. Murphy and Sarah Rush), who shortly thereafter head westward. Originally syndicated as part of the Operation Prime Time package, The Seekers made its debut during the week of December 2, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
It's the ladies to the rescue in the low-budget actioner Angel's Brigade. Wearing form-fitting fatigues, the female stars play a team of highly trained avengers. Their mission: to wipe every drug dealer off the face of the earth. To accomplish this, they drive around in a custom-built van, decked out with the latest in high-tech weaponry. You've never heard of any of the leading ladies in Angel's Brigade, but the supporting cast is overloaded with such pop-culture celebs as Jack Palance, Peter Lawford, Jim Backus, Neville Brand, Pat Buttram, Alan Hale Jr, and Arthur Godfrey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
- PG
In this thriller, an ex-cop, convicted for killing his wife's lover, breaks out of prison six days before he is to be freed. He does this so he can see his son who is seriously ill. Along the way, the fugitive meets many interesting characters. He is pursued by a cruel, but determined lawman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Campos, George Peppard, (more)
- 1977
The made-for-TV Fire! is graced with a made-for-TV cast, including Ernest Borgnine, Patty Duke Astin, Vera Miles, Alex Cord and Donna Mills. It all begins when a convict (Neville Brand) escapes from an Oregon road gang. To cover his trail, the fugitive starts a forest fire. Need you be told at this point that Fire! is an Irwin Allen production? Originally telecast in a two-hour slot on May 8, 1977, Fire! was later cut by 30 minutes and rerun in tandem with another Allen TV-movie disasterfest, Flood! (he stopped short of making a picture called Famine!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
This rather complex animated adventure concerns the quest of a toy wind-up mouse and his son to become self-winding.The two accidentally fall off a shelf, and are thrown out with the garbage. Then, they must escape from an evil rat who imprisons them. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Captains Courageous is Rudyard Kipling's story of a wealthy, spoiled teenager who matures into responsible manhood during an enforced voyage on a fishing schooner. The 1937 MGM version of the Kipling tale lowered the age of the protagonist to accommodate juvenile star Freddie Bartholomew, and re-shaped the plot so that the Portuguese fisherman Manuel, played by Spencer Tracy, would be the leading role. This 1977 TV-movie version wisely restores the full age of Harvey Cheyne (Jonathan Kahn), reiterating Kipling's point that it's never too late to steer a young man on the right path. The 1977 version also relegates Manuel (Ricardo Montalban) to the secondary position he held in the novel, strengthening the growing friendship and mutual respect between young Harvey and wise old captain Danko (Karl Malden). Filmed on location off the Maine coast, The TV version of Captains Courageous originally aired December 4, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
One of four dramatic miniseries carried by NBC under the blanket title Best Sellers, Captains and the Kings was adapted from a novel by Taylor Caldwell. Covering a time span from 1857 to 1912, this was the saga of the Irish-immigrant Armagh clan, with emphasis on the rags-to-riches career of Joseph Armagh (Richard Jordan). Achieving fame and prominence (if not full-fledged social acceptance) through a Byzantine series of investments in the oil industry, the elder Armagh was obsessed with the notion of having one of his sons become the first Irish-Catholic President of the United States (does this story sound vaguely familiar?). Along the way, Joseph and his offspring indulged in innumerable romantic liaisons, extramarital and otherwise. Inevitably, the story came to a powerful conclusion with a high-profile political assassination. Featured in the all-star cast was Patty Duke Astin, who won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Bernadette Hennessey Armagh. Captains and the Kings was broadcast from September 30 to November 18, 1976 in seven installments, two of which ran 120 minutes, and the other six lasting 60 minutes -- a total of nine hours' air time in all. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Longest Drive is the syndication title for the network TV movie The Quest, which first aired May 13, 1976. Evidently inspired by John Ford's The Searchers, this western concerns the search by two brothers, Quentin and Morgan Baudine (Tim Matheson, Kurt Russell), for their sister, who as an infant was kidnaped by Indians. Morgan himself had spent time as an "adopted" Cheyenne tribesman; his Indian name was, appropriately enough, Two Persons. Breaking up the main storyline is a subplot involving desert rat Brian Keith and a race between a horse and a camel! Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn (Tribes), The Longest Drive served as the pilot for the subsequent Quest weekly series, which ran from September 22 to December 29, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Tobe Hooper's follow-up to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre presents yet another Southern-fried psycho (this time in Louisiana) in the form of a scripture-mumbling, one-legged cracker named Judd (Neville Brand). The proprietor of a seedy bayou inn, Judd keeps a pet gator in the nearby swamp, to which he frequently tosses the remains of his unfortunate victims -- including anyone who offends his delicate sensibilities. One such casualty is Harvey Wood (Mel Ferrer), arriving at Judd's hotel in search of his missing daughter... who, unbeknownst to her old man, has already met her own doom courtesy of the scythe-wielding madman. Other patrons include one of the most annoying families on record -- with Chainsaw veteran Marilyn Burns as the strangely-bewigged mom, William Finley as the browbeaten husband and future Halloween tyke Kyle Richards as the endlessly-shrieking daughter (whose adorable puppy becomes a light gator-snack). Nightmare on Elm Street fans can spot a young, pre-Freddy Robert Englund in a small role as a lecherous cracker. Originally titled Death Trap and known by many aliases, including Starlight Slaughter, Horror Hotel Massacre and Legend of the Bayou. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neville Brand, Mel Ferrer, (more)
- 1975
Kojak (Telly Savalas) is startled to learn that his nephew Johnny (Michael Mullins) has turned to drugs--and even more so that the boy may have been an accomplice in the murder of a pusher. In order to get to the truth of the matter, Kojak must subject Johnny to a grueling interrogation--which may prove impossible unless the boy goes "cold turkey." In desperation, the detective turns to an ex-addict named Sonny (Neville Brand) to scare Johnny straight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
- PG
In this thriller, an innocent man is wrongfully committed to an asylum for the criminally insane. While there he learns how to tap into his psychic powers and to affect the lives of others via astral projection. These skills come in mighty handy after he is released and he heads out for revenge against those who framed him. This movie was originally filmed as The Kirlian Force. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Burke, Jim Hutton, (more)
- 1974
The made-for-TV Barbary Coast is a tongue-in-cheek western in the Maverick tradition, produced by a former writer-director of that series, Douglas Heyes. Dennis Cole plays Cash Conover, a San Francisco saloonkeeper of the 1870s. William Shatner co-stars as Jeff Cable, an undercover policeman who works hand in glove with Conover to fight crime on the Coast. Conover and Cable team up with the lovely Cleo (Lynda Day George) to tackle a vicious mob, headed by one Diamond Jack Bannister (Michael Ansara). Throwing a bit of Wild Wild West into the stew, Cable pops up from time to time wearing disguises and sporting outrageous accents. First telecast May 4, 1975, Barbary Coast was the pilot for the short-lived TV series of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In this made-for-TV thriller, a vacation for two men turns deadly when their wives are kidnapped by several escaped convicts. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This inventive and genuinely creepy TV movie is scripted by acclaimed science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon. The plot involves a group of construction workers building an airstrip on a South Pacific island during World War II, who disrupt an ancient native temple and uncover a strange meteorite sealed within its walls. When they attempt to move the massive rock with one of their bulldozers, the noncorporeal entity contained within it enters the machine itself, which later grinds to malevolent life and attacks the team members. Boasting high production values and excellent special effects for a TV production, Killdozer is propelled by a unique premise that no doubt inspired Stephen King's short story Trucks -- which itself spawned two substandard film versions that proved far less interesting. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- G
In this exciting adventure, based on a tale by Robert Louis Stevenson and shot in Yugoslavia, a one-legged pirate must rely on the memory of a boozy, uncooperative parrot if he is to find the location of a tremendous treasure. He is later assisted by two plucky youths who help him battle it out with a mutinous crew, unfriendly natives, and dangerous rapids. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirk Douglas, Mark Lester, (more)
- 1973
- PG
A man feels obligated to hijack the plane his boss is on after he has gambled himself into overwhelming debt. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
John Wayne plays a lawman who has to deal with the problems of fatherhood in a big way in Cahill: United States Marshall. Wayne is J.D. Cahill, whose singular desire to track down law breakers strains his relationship with his two teenage sons --17-year-old Danny (Gary Grimes) and 12-year-old Billy Joe (Clay O'Brien). The film begins as Cahill is hot on the trail of a gang of outlaws. After the big showdown, he returns to town to discover that the local bank has been robbed. The sheriff and the deputy have been killed, and four bank robbers are imprisoned in the jail. He is stunned when he finds out that one of the robbers in jail is Cahill's son Danny. It seems that during Cahill's absence from home, his two sons have been enticed into a criminal life by nefarious outlaw Abe Fraser (George Kennedy). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Wayne, Gary Grimes, (more)
- 1973
- PG
Based on filmmaker Samuel Fuller's short-story "Riata," this extremely bloody, excessively violent and long-running western centers on a vengeful sheriff's search for the murderous bank robbers who slaughtered his family. Originally Fuller was the director for the film, but severe artistic differences between himself and the film's star Richard Harris forced the studio execs to put in a new director, Barry Shear. They also dumped the million dollars worth of footage Fuller shot and started from scratch. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
