Robert Englund Movies

In this coming-of-age movie from 1974 that mines the same territory as Summer of '42 and Class of '44, Joan Goodfellow plays Billie, an obliging blonde more than willing to dispense sexual favors for a group of horny high schoolers in rural Georgia of 1948. The only member of the high school group that doesn't seek out Billie is Buster (Jan-Michael Vincent), who is faithful to his fiancee, Margie (Pamela Sue Martin). But when Margie insists on preserving her virginity until their wedding day, Buster joins the crowd and seeks out Billie himself. Buster is so taken with her that he begins to openly date her. Because of their relationship, Billie has changed but the townspeople and the high school students react with disdain when they see Buster and Billie holding hands. The disdain turns to hate, then to violence. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Director Robert Aldrich (The Longest Yard) re-unites with Burt Reynolds for this hard-edged neo-noir. Lieutenant Phil Gaines (Reynolds) is a cynical Los Angeles police detective amorously involved with an icewater-veined Parisian call girl, Nicole Britton (Catherine Deneuve). On the job, he begins to investigate the shady death of a teenage girl that appears to lead straight to Leo Sellers (Eddie Albert), an attorney with a frightening number of connections. The problem is, Nicole herself has a direct connection to the case - Leo is one of her clients. Meanwhile, Marty Hollinger (Ben Johnson), the victim's father, decides to undertake a grassroots investigation of his own - little realizing that his seemingly murdered daughter was in up to her neck with prostitution, porno movie acting, and dancing as a stripper, facts which suggest that she may have offed herself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this offbeat comedy, Jeff Bridges plays Craig Blake, a rich kid who works with a group of hard-living Southern real-estate men led by Jabo (Joe Spinell), who are buying up a business district in Birmingham, Alabama in order to clear the space and put in a new project. Craig is supposed to work out a deal to buy the Olympic Spa, a gym popular with local weight-lifters, but after spending some time at the club, Craig finds himself fascinated with the people there, especially Joe Santo (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a world-class body builder from Austria who sometimes works out in a superhero costume and likes to play bluegrass fiddle to relax. Craig also makes the acquaintance of Mary Tate Farnsworth (Sally Field), a feisty gal who hangs out with Joe. Mary Tate finds Craig attractive, but she isn't sure he's being all that sincere, and she wonders why a wealthy real estate man is hanging out with a bunch of low-rent gym rats. Stay Hungry was a critical comeback for director Bob Rafelson and kick-started the careers of both Sally Field and Arnold Schwarzenegger in their first major film roles (unless you count Arnold's misbegotten appearance as "Arnold Strong" in Hercules In New York). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Not everything Henry Fonda did was Grapes of Wrath or Mister Roberts. In the enjoyable low-budget "road" flick The Great Smokey Roadblock, Fonda plays a worn-out trucker named Elegant John. Anxious to make one last, big haul before retiring, Fonda loses his 18-wheeler to the repo men. He steals his rig back, then further thumbs his nose at the law by hauling a group of prostitutes across the border as a favor to his old flame, bordello madam Eileen Brennan. This rollicking film ends on an unexpected--but logical within the framework--tragic note. Filmed in 1974, The Great Smokey Roadblock lay on the shelf for nearly two years. Despite a plethora of illnesses, Fonda is in fine fettle, delivering one of his sprightliest latter-day performances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Older brother Chubby (Paul Sorvino) is a combative, booze-swilling, rough-edged construction worker, following in the footsteps of his brother Tommy (Tony Lo Bianco). Macho in the extreme, these fellows have no time for the sensitive moral quandaries which are at the heart of the two younger brothers' lives. Stony (Richard Gere), has worked with his father in the construction business, but longs to work with children. Albert (Michael Hershewe), the youngest, is a sensitive lad, the butt of his father and oldest brother's rough manner, and is constantly being harassed by his stressed-out mother (Lelia Goldoni). After a few attempts to communicate with his insensitive older brother and his parents, Stony must decide for himself if the rejection he will experience from his family on leaving the construction business is worth it; and if it is, what can be done to protect his younger brother from the rest of the family? ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This film is a failed TV pilot. The action drama chronicles the lives and exploits of Air Force test pilots. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Made quickly on videotape to capitalize on celebrated kidnap victim Patty Hearst's recent rescue, Ordeal of Patty Hearst stars Lisa Eilbacher as the beleagured newspaper heiress. Hearst's secure existence is shattered when she is seized by a tiny terrorist group calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. As the abductors deliver their ransom demands to Hearst's publisher father, they brainwash her into obedience to their cause. Unlike the much-later theatrical feature Patty Hearst, the made-for-TV Ordeal is told from the point of view of the FBI agent (Dennis Weaver) assigned to the case; in fact, more time is spent on the private life of the agent (who is on the eve of his retirement) than on Ms. Hearst herself. Ordeal of Patty Hearst works within its limited parameters, though it can hardly be considered the last word on the subject. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With a cast sure to please cult and horror fans alike, this pseudo-women's-prison film from director Hikmet Avedis is a good bet for genre followers. Pretty Dianne Hull plays Kelly McIntire, a disco bartender who is poisoned as part of a botched murder scheme and sent to a mental hospital. Once there, she is raped by evil orderly Carl (Bo Hopkins), witnesses murders and suicides, and eventually escapes only to be dragged screaming back to the horrors of the fifth floor. Cathey Paine, who played Leslie Van Houten in Helter Skelter, is among the many familiar faces, which also include such horror icons as Robert Englund and Michael Berryman. But the film belongs to Bo Hopkins, who is all smiling menace and who turns in a scary performance and gives the film what force it has, as screenwriter Meyer Dolinsky puts Hull through some rather unconvincing maneuvers in the lead. Still, although there are a number of lapses in logic, they don't detract from the frightening premise that almost any statement or action could be construed as a sign of dementia in the proper circumstances. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, the screenwriters behind the highly successful Alien, turned their attention to earthbound terrors with this creepy horror tale. Dead and Buried focuses on Dan Gillis (James Farentino), a man who has recently returned to his hometown of Potter's Bluff to be its sheriff. His job becomes difficult when a series of strangers who visit Potter's Bluff begin dying in violent and mysterious ways. To make matters worse, his wife, Janet (Melody Anderson), has begun to act strangely, taking an odd interest in voodoo and acting like she might be having an affair. As the murder victims pile up, Gillis discovers that all his troubles have an occult origin that has to do with the town's elderly mortician, Dobbs (Jack Albertson, in his final feature film role). Gillis gets to the bottom of the mystery, only to discover that the truth is much worse than he imagined. Despite effective direction and solid acting, Dead and Buried got lost in the shuffle of the early '80s horror boom and failed to click with the movie-going public. However, it later gained an audience via home video and cable and remains a minor cult favorite today thanks to its singular blend of creepy atmosphere and gruesome shocks. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

This heartwarming tale of courage and devotion is set during the Vietnam war and centers upon a young medic who makes extra money on the side dealing drugs. His life is forever changed when he meets an Army doctor who persuades him to help her save a group of war orphans. First she appeals to his sense of guilt; then she blackmails him into assisting. The children are cared for by a few Vietnamese nuns. The doctor and the medic bring them badly needed food and supplies. To do this, the brave duo must face enemy bombs and the resistance of the US government. This is based on a true story and though wrenching, it is not syrupy or sentimental. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this sprawling television miniseries, originally aired in May 1983 on NBC, a race of seemingly human-like aliens arrive en masse on Earth. These "Visitors" promise cooperation and friendship -- then launch a clandestine takeover of the planet by accusing the entire scientific and medical community of conspiring to destroy them, then finally "benevolently" seizing power. Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, a 1935 account of a fictional fascist takeover of America, V uses a huge ensemble cast and an elliptical method of storytelling to trace the contact between humans and the Visitors, from the arrival of 50 giant flying saucers in low Earth orbit to the first major victory of the underground resistance that opposes the aliens. Major characters include Mike Donovan (Marc Singer), a television cameraman who leverages his experience filming in various war-torn locales to help expose the Visitors' true nature; news anchor Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan), his sometime girlfriend, who allows her ambitions to cloud her journalistic judgment and becomes a pawn of the alien invasion; Juliet Parrish (Faye Grant), a young biochemist who finds herself thrust into the role of resistance leader; Abraham Bernstein (Leonardo Cimino), the patriarch of a Jewish family divided between the lessons of the Holocaust and the need to survive; Elias Taylor (Michael Wright), a petty thief who joins the resistance after the Visitors kill his doctor brother, Ben (Richard Lawson); and Robin Maxwell (Blair Tefkin), the surly eldest daughter of a scientist (Michael Durrell) who finds his family the target of harassment and intimidation. The Visitors, who assume common human first names as their monikers, include supreme leader John (Richard Herd); sultry science and security officer Diana (Jane Badler); hunky Brian (Peter Nelson); and gentle Willie (Robert Englund). V was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, who initially envisioned the project as a less fanciful story of fascist aggression; when his pitch to NBC seemed to be faltering, Johnson allegedly added the alien angle extemporaneously, securing himself a green light and NBC a sweeps-week hit. The success of V spawned a second miniseries, V: The Final Battle, and a weekly TV series that lasted 19 episodes from 1984 to 1985. Johnson ended his association with the world of V halfway through production on the second miniseries, but his work on the Alien Nation TV spin-off years later would resurrect many of the themes of V. Actor Singer was already known to sci-fi fans as star of The Beastmaster, while Englund would go on to portray Freddy Krueger in countless Nightmare on Elm Street films. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This third film version of Harold Brighthouse's play Hobson's Choice moves the locale from turn-of-century London to 1914 New Orleans. Horatio Hobson (Jack Warden) is the boozy, tyrannical owner of a shoe store. Hobson's daughter Maggie (Sharon Gless) falls in love with humble shoe clerk Will Mossup (Richard Thomas). When Hobson refuses to give the relationship his blessing, Maggie huffily takes her new boy friend out of the store to set up her own shop--which soon threatens to put Hobson out of business. In her last TV appearance, Lillian Gish plays the elderly benefactor who enables Will and Maggie to declare their independence. Hobson's Choice first aired on December 21, 1983. PS: A musical version of the play, Walking Happy, ran on Broadway in the mid-1960s, with Norman Wisdom starring as Will Glossop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this taut, futuristic drama, the maiden voyage of a hypersonic passenger jet becomes a disaster when something goes terribly wrong and it gets stuck in orbit. The film is also known as Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide