Donald P. Borchers Movies

This imaginative low-budget horror film from first-time director Frank LaLoggia tells the story of shy high-school student Andrew (Stefan Arngrim) who, in a nod to the Omen films, slowly begins to realize that his feelings of alienation stem from the fact that he is the Antichrist. This revelation is not lost on Andrew's elderly next-door neighbor and one of his fellow students -- both of whom are actually archangels-in-hiding who have been waiting for the inevitable moment when the boy's latent identity finally surfaces. Andrew's first demonstration of his powers allows him to avenge himself on his cruel classmates (in an imaginative scene, one macho poser is gifted with breasts), but soon he begins to undergo a more dramatic change. The climactic moment comes during an outdoor Passion play performance -- during which the actor portraying Jesus on-stage ends up crucified for real -- and archangels Gabriel and Michael arrive to fulfill their destiny in the final battle between good and evil. Considering the budgetary limitations, this is still an impressive debut, tackling its weighty metaphysical themes with style and intensity seldom seen in other teen-horror films and boasting a superb score blending punk, pop, and new wave tracks with haunting Gregorian chants. Apart from its artistic merit, Fear No Evil should stand as an inspiration to young filmmakers everywhere. Producer/director Frank LaLoggia managed to scrape up 150,000 dollars to finance the production and find distributors all on his own -- all at the tender age of 23 -- long before his success directing the more subdued supernatural opus Lady in White. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This low-budget entry into the sword-and-sorcery cycle of the early '80s wasn't successful during its initial release, but has steadily built a strong cult following over the years. The Beastmaster tells the story of Dar (Marc Singer), the son of a king who was stolen from his mother's womb by a witch under the command of vicious sorcerer Maax (Rip Torn). A poor villager saves Dar from being sacrificed and raises him as his own son, teaching Dar how to fight and witnessing the boy's ability to telepathically communicate with animals. Their happiness is destroyed when their village is attacked by the evil Jun horde, a race of beast-like warriors controlled by Maax. Dar vows revenge and journeys to his father's former kingdom to destroy Maax. Along the way, he falls in love with gorgeous slave girl Kiri (Tanya Roberts) and teams up with former royal guard Seth (John Amos). Dar also uses his powers to enlist the aid of an eagle, a panther and two adorable ferrets named Kodo and Podo. Together, Dar and his unlikely but brave team square off with Maax in an impressive two-part finale that involves a swordfight on the side of a pyramid and a showdown with the Jun horde near a flaming moat. The resulting film was full of action and eccentric surprises, but failed to make an impression at a box office already glutted with fantasy films. However, The Beastmaster eventually became a serious cult favorite thanks to home video and extensive exposure on cable (it is the second most aired movie on TBS after Gone With the Wind). This enduring popularity led to two sequels and a syndicated television series chronicling the further adventures of Dar. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi

Joanna Crane (Kathleen Turner) is a cold, workaholic sportswear designer, divorced and dedicated only to her job. Once strapped into that role, Joanna looks for an "out" and finds it by donning a wig and hitting the pavement as a $50/trick hooker named China Blue. Explicit scenes show her at work on her night job, including a long S and M segment with a policeman. While making money as China Blue, Joanna runs into a menacing, fanatic preacher (Anthony Perkins) who is out to save her from this life of sin, but in the meantime, he is also busy watching nude girly shows. As China Blue and the sexually ambivalent Reverend heat up their relationship, he becomes difficult to read: is this psycho reverend a killer? While China Blue is plying her trade, Bobby Grady (John Laughlin) has finally realized after 12 years of marriage that his wife Amy (Annie Potts) is frigid and just as he has this remarkably delayed insight, he is assigned by Joanna's boss to find out if she is stealing designs or not. By tracking Joanna, Bobby sees her transformation as China Blue and as might be expected, sex is not far behind. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Narrator Job (Robby Kiger) relates the tale of Gatlin, NE, where one day the children, led by a boy preacher named Isaac (John Franklin), rose up and slaughtered all the grown-ups. A few years later, Job and his sister, Sarah (Ammemarie McEvoy), help their friend, Joseph (Jonas Marlowe), try to escape through the cornfields of Gatlin. Meanwhile, Burt Stanton (Peter Horton), a commitment-phobic young doctor, and Vicky Baxter (Linda Hamilton), his frustrated girlfriend, travel through the cornfield-lined roads of Nebraska on their way to Burt's new internship in Omaha. Their car hits Joseph, who appears out of nowhere, but upon examining him, Burt realizes the child's throat was slit before he ever wandered out from the corn. Attempting to locate help, Burt and Vicky turn to gas-station owner Diehl (R.G. Armstrong), who urges the couple to go anywhere but nearby Gatlin to report the murder. Several contradictory street signs later, they arrive in Gatlin anyway, and, befriending Sarah and Joseph, attempt to uncover the mystery behind Isaac's cult and its mysterious deity, known only as He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Stephen King cash-ins flooded the market between the successes of Brian DePalma's Carrie (1976) and Rob Reiner's Misery (1990), many of them, like Children of the Corn, based only loosely on the author's fiction. The original short story appeared in the collection Night Shift. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Predating the 1990s cycle of vampire-stripper films (From Dusk Till Dawn, Bordello of Blood, etc.) this cynical entry from director Richard Wenk concerns frat boys looking for a go-go girl to perform at their upcoming party. Wandering to the wrong side of town, the randy youths enter a seedy strip joint populated by vampires. Grace Jones is the nasty ringleader, Katrina, who acknowledges the film's debt to Hammer's Vampire Circus by performing an erotic dance painted in zebra-stripes. Among the heroes, co-star Robert Rusler is far more interesting than the bland lead (Chris Makepeace), while Gedde Watanabe manages to be both unfunny and offensive by turning in the most ridiculously stereotyped Asian performance since John Wayne assayed Genghis Khan in The Conqueror. This is the least of the comedic vampire films that came out in the mid-'80s, and although Billy Drago is menacing as the evil Snow and Greg Cannom's special effects are striking, Vamp remains unfunny and not frightening in the least. Famed female bodybuilder Lisa Lyon appears as a stripper named Cinnamon, and Dedee Pfeiffer, Hy Pyke, and Simmy Bow are among the recognizable supporting cast. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

When a young woman believes that she is being controlled by spirits, she hires a parapsychologist to root out the source of her torment. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

This allegorical comedy from scriptwriter Joe Minion (After Hours, Vampire's Kiss) offers a unique twist on the standard road movie formula. It tells the story of a young boy named Gus who grows sick and tired of parental squabbles and decides to steal his dad's red Mustang and hit the highway on a cross-country journey. The country presented in this film, however, is not the U.S., but a fictional land with states such as Bergen and Essex - a land with parallels to a giant board game. While on the road, Gus spots a billboard inviting him to play the "Motorama" game, a promotional effort by a major gas station that promises winners $500 million dollars. In order to win, one simply has to collect enough game cards from Chimera gas stations all over the country to spell out the word "Motorama." As Gus approaches his goal of collecting all eight letters, he has assorted adventures, many of them strange and a few that are distinctly unpleasant. The film features cameos from several notable cult favorites, including character players Jack Nance and Dick Miller, actress Drew Barrymore, and even the pop singer Meat Loaf. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A Depression-era inventor finds a way of revolutionizing manufacturing technology and then discovers that this invention has its dark side as well. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

A dreary and depressing tale despite the excellent assemblage of talent, this is the story of a Depression-era family where sibling rivalry and tragedy seem to be the watch words of their home life. A period piece set in 1930s Texas. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

In this tense drama a reporter tries to figure out the reason a wealthy young man shot a popular pulp-fiction writer and then shot himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This confusing but enjoyably weird film stars Drew Barrymore (still toying with her good girl/bad girl image) as Holly Gooding, a young woman who apparently stabs her mother to death in New York then shows up on the doorstep of young L.A. screenwriter Patrick (George Newbern), in response to his ad for a prospective roommate. Despite his attraction to her, Patrick is increasingly bewildered by the appearance of Holly's apparent double, whose existence she neither confirms nor denies. At the same time, Holly is tormented by recurring visions of her mother's death and the persistent snooping of an FBI agent. When Patrick becomes convinced that Holly is being pursued by her own evil twin, he learns from ex-nun and phone-sex operator Sister Jan (Sally Kellerman) that the deadly double is Holly's "doppleganger," a supernatural creature which haunts a human being after assuming that person's shape. One plot twist follows another before unraveling completely in a ridiculously contrived double-surprise climax. This film does boast good performances and manages to avoid most standard low-budget horror conventions -- that is, until the last five minutes, wherein its cleverness is derailed by plot holes large enough to fly a zeppelin through. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

A bleak desert town is invaded by a gang of killer bikers, who proceed to terrorize (and rape) the local populace. The town officials, mindful of the money the gang spends there, do nothing. Finally, when the gang threatens a mute child, a local woman (Kathi Long) decides to fight the gang by herself. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi

Set in a future American metropolis, Metro City, this sci-fi-thriller features a policewoman heroine who like the hero in Robocop was brought back from the dead and turned into a super-human fighter. Unlike the aforementioned robot-man, however, she is brought back not with hardware, but with special drugs and a heavy duty training program. The woman dislikes the drugs because of the nightmares they create, but she is dedicated and so completes her regimen so successfully that she is called the Demolitionist and sent out to clean up the city's crime-fouled streets. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi