William Cooke Movies
- 1995
- R
This very low-budget horror anthology stars Gunnar Hansen (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's original "Leatherface") as the grizzled proprietor of a cut-rate carnival sideshow who treats the teenage patrons to a quartet of gruesome tales. The vignettes -- involving a den of werewolves, a resurrected mummy, a mutant baby, and a deformed hermit -- are used as backstory by the "Freakmaker," who explains the nefarious means by which the assorted hideous attractions came to his carnival domain. These stories, like countless horror anthologies of the sort, point the way toward the inevitable fate of the narrator's captive audience. The static, poorly acted segments are less interesting than the fairly spooky framing story, but fans of classier omnibus films, such as Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, will see the punch line coming from a mile away. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gunnar Hansen
Four friends go on a camping trip in the remote woods. One night, around a blazing fire, a mysterious tramp approaches them. In return for sharing their fire and food, he tells them four scary stories. The first, "The Hook," is about a serial killer who murders his victims with a metal hook he uses for a hand; the second, "Overtoke," tells about of a bunch of pot smokers who find out that their "grass" isn't quite what it seems to be; the third, "The Fright Before Christmas," tells what happens to a greedy yuppie who murders his mother on Christmas Eve; the fourth, "Skull & Crossbones," has a crew of pirate zombies after the evil buccaneer who murdered them. ~ Brian Gusse, Rovi
- 1927
Tall, strapping Tom Tyler was poverty-row studioFBO's final silent western hero. A better actor than most of his contemporaries, Tyler was awarded above-average production values, solid scripts and a fine sidekick in young Frankie Darro. In this fine little western, rancher's daughter Peggy Montgomery loves Tom, the handsome foreman. Unfortunately, she is betrothed to a nasty city-slicker type (Bruce Gordon); until, that is, the fellow is shown for the cad he really is.Tom Tyler's career survived the changeover to sound, and he even played in several notable non-westerns. In 1940, Universal surprisingly chose the tall actor to play the title-role in The Mummy's Hand. Tyler might have gone a lot further as a character actor had not an arthritic condition curtailed his screen career. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Peggy Montgomery, (more)
- 1923
Although he is forgotten today, Douglas MacLean was one of the best purveyors of light comedy during the 1920s. While there was nothing particularly striking about this particular Western comedy (which was produced by Thomas Ince), MacLean and director James W. Horne (famous later for his work with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy) gave it a lively touch. When good-natured James Henry MacTavish (MacLean) comes into an inheritance, he travels East to claim it with the determination that he will "scatter sunshine" along the way. But MacTavish almost immediately lands himself in hot water. He naively gets tangled up with a loving couple (Josephine Sedgwick and Barney Furey) who turn out to be a pair of robbers and then he winds up in jail for impersonating himself. His childhood sweetheart, June Carpenter (Edith Roberts), is the only one from his hometown who recognizes him, but MacTavish refuses to admit he is himself because he wants June to go ahead and marry her rich fiancé. Confused yet? Eventually everything gets straightened out, and in spite of his efforts to the contrary, MacTavish wins June. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
