Terry Forrestal Movies

Genevieve Jolliffe directed this British supernatural drama set in Glasgow. A joyride car crash almost leads to the death of 12-year-old Lizzie (Heather Ann Foster) who lives with her mother Kate (Stephanie Buttle) and with her brother and younger sister in a seedy apartment building. When Lizzie returns home, she begins experiencing strange and unexplained phenomena in the apartment With police and a social worker (Siri O'Neal) ill-equipped to deal with poltergeist activity, Kate turns for help to journalist John Fox (Jason Connery) who sees it as a hoax and types it as a tabloid tale. However, after university parapsychologists arrive on the scene, scientific tests indicate that mother and daughter deserve serious scrutiny. Filmed with a blow-up from Super-16 and shot at southeast England locations with interiors at Ealing Film Studios. Shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Six guys with nothing left to lose try losing their clothing for fun and profit in this international hit comedy. Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and Dave (Mark Addy) are two former steelworkers in the British industrial town of Sheffield who have been devastated by the economic downturn in their community. Gaz is threatened with losing visitation rights with his son if he can't pay his child support, while Dave feels emasculated by his inability to support his wife. One day, Gaz stops by a local pub for a drink and is told it's women only tonight -- the Chippendales male exotic dancing troupe is playing, and they are demanding a hefty cover charge. Gaz decides there's nothing a bunch of pantywaists from America can do that he and his pals can't do better, and decides to form his own crew of male strippers, called "Hard Steel." However, the local talent pool leaves a bit to be desired. Gaz isn't bad looking, but Dave is a bit heavy and very self conscious about it. Horse (Paul Barber) was probably hot stuff at Soul Night in the mid-70's, but his joints don't move like they used to. Guy (Hugo Speer) can't dance to save his life, but makes the troupe because ... well, let's say he and Dirk Diggler would have a lot to say to each other. Lomper (Steve Huison) is sometimes too busy attempting suicide to practice. And Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), their choreographer, isn't much on male exotic dancing -- ballroom dancing is more his speed. While "Hard Steel"'s performances are more amusing then enticing, for the first time since they lost their jobs the men have a reason to get up in the morning; joining the group has given them a circle of friendship, and a renewed sense of purpose. Combining broad comedy with believable and well-drawn characters, The Full Monty was a major box-office hit both in England and the United States and was nominated for Academy Awards as Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A vacation in Scotland turns into hard work for Michael Cooper, a former Chicago policeman, when he runs into an engaging but nervous Englishman who appears as out of place as the American in a little Scottish fishing village. After the two become friendly, the ex-policeman learns the cause of the other man's nervousness: his daughter has been kidnapped by a criminal gang which is hoping to use her abduction in order to find the old man, who has been on the run from them for some time. Before long, Michael charges in to the rescue. This fairly tame action drama offers old-time fans of comic Norman Wisdom a chance to see him in a "straight" role. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Brazil constitutes Terry Gilliam's enormously ambitious follow-up to his 1981 Time Bandits. It also represents the second installment in a trilogy of Gilliam films on imagination versus reality, that began with Bandits and ended in 1989 with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. To create this wild, visually audacious satire, Gilliam combines dystopian elements from Orwell, Huxley and Kafka (plus a central character who mirrors Walter Mitty) with his own trademark, Monty Python-esque, jet black British humor and his gift for extraordinary visual invention. The results are thoroughly unprecedented in the cinema.

Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry, a civil servant who chooses to blind himself to the decaying, drone-like world around him. It's a world marred by oppressive automatization and towering bureaucracy, and populated by tyrannical guards who strongarm lawbreakers. And Lowry is stuck in the middle of this nightmare. Whenever real life becomes too oppressive, Sam fantasizes (to the tune of Ary Baroso's 1930s hit "Brazil") about sailing through the clouds as a winged superhero, and rescuing beautiful Jill Layton (Kim Greist) from a giant, Samurai warrior. The omnipresent computer that controls everything in the "real" world malfunctions, causing an innocent citizen to be arrested and tortured to death. When Sam routinely investigates the error, he meets - and pursues Jill , literally the girl of his dreams. But in real life, she's a tough-as-nails truck driver who initially wants nothing to do with him. It turns out that she is suspected of underground activities, in connection with a terrorist network wanted for bombing public places. The price Sam pays for his association with her is a close encounter with the man in charge of torturing troublesome citizens (Michael Palin). He is rescued - at the last minute - by maintenance man Harry Tuttle (Robert de Niro) who moonlights as a terrorist, but that only represents the beginning of his plight, for now the "system" is onto him.

Gilliam ran into enormous problems with Brazil. Universal - which produced the picture - originally slated it for release in 1984, but the studio - intimidated by the film's whopping length of 142 minutes - demanded that Gilliam trim the film to bring it in under two hours and alter the pessimistic ending. Gilliam refused; Universal shelved the picture for a year. In response, the director took out a full page ad in Variety asking studio president Sid Sheinberg when the film would be released. Sensing tremendous pressure, Universal bowed to Gilliam's insistence on fewer cuts but still demanded a happy ending. Gilliam trimmed only eleven minutes and altered the conclusion just slightly (instead of cutting to black, it fades into puffy white clouds on a blue sky, with a reprise of the title tune). It was thus released in early 1985 at 131 minutes, and of course became a seminal work; many critics regarded it at the time as the best film of the eighties. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Meant to be a whimsical sword-and-sorcery film about a prince out to save his princess from the jaws of the Beast, Krull has enough scenes borrowed from blockbuster predecessors (Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Robin Hood, Star Wars) and is gentle enough to be rather derivative, ordinary fare. Prince Colwyn (Ken Marshall) has inherited a kingdom under siege by the evil Beast, and not only has to rid the land of the monster, but he has to rescue his bride Lyssa (Lysette Anthony) from the Beast's clutches as well. In his magical land, horses can sometimes fly, medieval castles can harbor weapons that light up, and before he can defeat the Beast, the prince has to get his hands on the glaive (French for "double-edged sword"), a razor-sharp, magical weapon capable of killing the monster. One of the more notable aspects of Krull is that a 30-year old Liam Neeson plays the bit part of Kegan, in only his third full-length feature film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Heroic earthling Flash Gordon saves the world from the nefarious Ming the Merciless in this lavish, intentionally campy adaptation of the famous sci-fi comic strip. The story is as basic as space operas get: Ming (Max von Sydow) has developed a plan to destroy the Earth, and Flash (Sam J. Jones) and his attractive companion, Dale Arden (Melody Anderson), are called upon to stop him. Along the way, Flash must battle Ming's goons and the temptations of a luscious space princess. Previously the basis for a more straight-faced 1930s adventure serial, Flash's story is mined here for exaggerated, cartoon humor by screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., a central figure in the similarly campy '60s Batman television series. The simplistic plot mainly serves as an excuse for spectacular sets and cartoonish action sequences, all set to an appropriately over-the-top rock score by Queen. Certainly not a film to turn to for serious excitement, fine performances, or character development, Flash Gordon has nevertheless developed an appreciative cult of fans who admire the film's humorous approach and the detailed, colorful production design. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide