Richard N. Gladstein Movies
- 1991
Lonely Hearts is a modern film noir in which a lonely woman meets and falls for a man whom she refuses to let go. Alma (Beverly D'Angelo) is a wallflower who lives with her mother and works at a Social Security office. In her desperation to make some sort of social life for herself, she answers a personal ad and meets Frank (Eric Roberts) with whom she falls in love. Frank turns out to be a con man and a swindler, but Alma is obsessed with him. She begins to help him by posing as his sister while he cons other women, until she and Frank are forced to flee when one of the victims hires a private detective. Beverly D'Angelo plays Alma with the perfect mixture of both predator and victim and director Andrew Lane understands and directs his actors well, making Lonely Hearts a very well-thought-out and executed thriller despite a somewhat languid pacing. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beverly D'Angelo, Eric Roberts, (more)
- 1991
- R
In this horror film, malicious toymaker Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney) and his creepy son, Pino (Brian Bremer), terrorize the residents of a small town with the deadly toys they create. After her husband is killed by one of Petto's toys, Sarah (Jane Higginson) and her troubled son Derek (William Thorne) set out to stop the evil toymaker. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- R
Here's a "backwards BIG" where, instead of turning younger, this leading man turns into an old man--overnight. Jonathan Silverman plays Seymour, who, shortly after a promising youth full of high-minded aspirations (he'd hoped to become an astronaut), finds himself working in a dead-end office job. And then he goes to sleep to awake the next day with an 80-year-old's body. He looks the same outside, but inwardly he's become and old man. It's not long before he loses his job and is doctor- shopping in a frustrating attempt at finding the medical reason for his premature decline. Somewhat introspective, this film explores our youth-dominated society and examines the perspective of the aged. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Silverman, Robert Prosky, (more)
- 1990
- R
In this horror film, the murderous Ricky returns under the control of a cult of demon-possessed women, who use the killer for their own evil means. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
It is difficult to believe that this wretched sequel was Monte Hellman's first American film since Cockfighter (1974), and even more difficult to believe that it is the work of the man behind cult classics like Two-Lane Blacktop, The Shooting, and Back Door to Hell. The grown-up Ricky (Bill Moseley from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) comes out of the coma in which he ended the last film and goes on another murderous Christmas Eve rampage despite the fact that his brain is exposed under a glass dome after reconstructive surgery. There's a confused subplot about a doctor (Richard Beymer from Twin Peaks) investigating the dreams of a blind psychic girl (Samantha Scully), whose visions have something to do with Ricky's past. The glass-plated killer shows up at the girl's house, pursued by the doctor and a grumpy policeman played by Robert Culp, for the final standoff. The cast includes Eric Da Re, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Leonard Mann, there are flashbacks to part two (which consisted mostly of flashbacks to begin with), and obligatory in-jokes like several scenes from 1963's The Terror (which Hellman co-directed), and an homage to the original Carnival of Souls. There are some interesting camera angles, and one envisions Hellman thinking he was doing something different with the series, but the script and acting are terrible and Ricky's story had pretty much run its course anyway. The next sequel was a completely unrelated gorefest from Brian Yuzna (Society), whose unique vision -- if roundly rejected by series fans -- was at least a change of pace. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Beymer, Bill Moseley, (more)
