John de Bello Movies

Lorenzo Lamas stars in this action-thriller as Jake Kilkanin, a former police officer who makes his way into the operations of a notorious Mexican drug kingpin. However, Jake learns he's gotten in further than he planned when he discovers an occult secret that is the key to the outlaw's strength and success. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This clever and well-crafted production (produced for Home Box Office) goes the distance with its innovative concept, which is equal parts Raymond Chandler and H.P. Lovecraft. Taking place in 1948 Hollywood -- in an alternate reality where magic spells, curses and demons are commonly used and accepted -- the story revolves around hard-boiled gumshoe Harry P. Lovecraft (Fred Ward, looking nothing like his character's namesake and everything like Mike Hammer), the only detective in the business who relies on brains and instinct instead of gazing into a crystal ball or casting runes. This pure perspective is sought out by wealthy eccentric Amos Hackshaw (David Warner), who is trying to retrieve the legendary "Necronomicon" (a key component in the works of the real H.P. Lovecraft). The book is reputed to have the power to release the "Elder Gods" from their cosmic confines and return them to Earth, whereupon Hackshaw believes they will appoint him ruler of all mankind. The chief rival for possession of the book is a seedy gangster (Raymond O'Connor) whose favorite nightclub singer (Julianne Moore) takes a shine to Harry. Followed by a sequel, Witch Hunt, which applies a more sublime (if unnecessary) re-interpretation of the material, and features Dennis Hopper in the Lovecraft Role. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Canadian Mountie Louis Burke (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned to a bizarre case where prison inmates are being murdered. Sent to the jail to investigate while undercover as a prisoner, Burke is hot on the trail until one of his former busts, the Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick), is transferred to the same prison. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

The fourth in a seemingly endless parade of Amityville sequels, this passable TV knock-off features an item of possessed furniture from the notorious haunted house -- a concept inspired by a series of novels by John G. Jones and exploited in no less than three films of the series. This time it's a lava lamp from the accursed site that houses the evil, traveling cross-country from an Amityville garage sale (now there's a title for a sequel) to an oceanfront California estate, whereupon it releases the demonic forces within to exert their vile influence on a young girl by assuming the form of her late father. To this end, the demon animates various household appliances to whittle down the cast in death scenes which are neither shocking nor original -- much like the rest of this film. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

It has been 25 years since the last Killer Tomato has been squished into sauce. To this day the tasty red fruit are banned, and some folks fall in to paroxysms of fear at the mention of tomatoes. Still the general public has been lulled into believing that they are finally safe from the genetically engineered scourge. The purpose of this sci-fi sequel is to prove them wrong. The trouble begins when a pizza delivery boy (the pizzas only use non-tomato-base sauce) falls in love with a beautiful girl. Little does he know that she is the assistant of wicked Professor Gangreen who has engineered a brand new kind of tomato that can assume human form. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In one of the last breakdancing movies of the mid-'80s, two competing breakdancing teams have their eye on a $10,000 prize in an upcoming contest. Three of the dancers on one team work as pizza delivery boys. Mean-spirited Spider (Mario van Peebles) from the opposing team convinces the gullible pizza boss that the three must be detained so they can't enter the contest. So one of the three is set up to make a delivery to a gorgeous woman who seduces him. The second is sent to a hospital where he's given new medicine that sidelines him for the rest of the day. And the third is sent to a gallery where he breaks a statue in an exhibition opening that evening and is forced to pose as the broken image, wearing only a fig leaf. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

One of the first films ever to be designed specifically to become a cult movie, this silly low-budget comedy has tomatoes growing to giant size and terrorizing screaming '70s types. It's really bad on purpose, with awful effects and a dumb script, in hopes of luring fans of campy old movies like Plan 9 From Outer Space. There's a fun Jaws parody as the tomatoes attack a swimmer and a cute bit involving a military meeting in a small office with a very large table, but overall it fails to generate many laughs. The problem is that the films which this one attempts to mock -- mainly bad 1950s sci-fi pictures -- have a cult following because they are funny unintentionally, and are beloved for reasons which this somewhat cynical effort completely misses. It has its moments, granted, but it just tries too hard. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide