John F. Goff Movies

A cluster of unappealing college students (of the Friday the 13th variety) on a camping trip in the mountains of Utah find themselves stalked by a "berserker" -- a ferocious and legendary man-beast known to ancient Viking lore as a kind of cannibalistic shock-trooper who was kept in a cage, dressed in animal skins and brutalized until he became psychotic enough to strike fear into the heart of an enemy in battle. What exactly this devilish warrior is doing so far from the fjords is never really explained to anyone's satisfaction -- some kind of ancient Nordic curse is mumbled about, but that's it. Not much different than the standard slasher fare, even down to the masked killer who wears a huge bear-snout. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Sporting narration and a theme song by country legend Waylon Jennings and starring Tom Wopat and John Schneider as Luke Duke and Bo Duke, The Dukes of Hazzard was a hit throughout its six-year run in the late '70s and early '80s. Also featuring Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke, the show showcased the ongoing adventures of the Duke brothers as they attempted to avoid the crooked local law enforcement and the sleazy Boss Hogg. Originally airing on February 29, 1980, Dukes of Hazzard: Mason Dixon's Girls found the duke boys teaming up with a traveling private investigation team to bring down a dastardly group of drug smugglers. The episode was originally intended as a setup for a spin-off series featuring the continuing adventures of the three private-eyes, but the idea never came to fruition. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Also known as The Punishment of Anne, L'Image takes a close look at the sadomasochistic relationship between a young girl and an older woman. Based on author Jean de Berg's novel of the same name, this film examines the darker side of sexuality by means of provocative sexual imagery and photographs. L'Image was directed by Radley Metzger. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Seedy newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is assigned the Las Vegas police beat by his boss Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). A series of murders has been plaguing the Glitter Capital; the victims, all beautiful showgirls, have had the blood drained from their bodies. Kolchak can't understand why the authorities are so uncooperative as he probes the case. Nor can he believe the evidence he's gleaned on his own: There can't possibly be a Dracula-like vampire stalking Las Vegas, or can there? Adapted by Richard Matheson from a novel by Jeff Rice, The Night Stalker debuted January 11, 1972 - -and on that fateful evening, this thriller became the highest-rated TV movie up to its time, as well as an instant cult classic. The film spawned a popular sequel, The Night Strangler (1972), and a 1974 TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fashion photographer Andi turns to private eye Dave to help clear her of a murder she claims to have been framed for. Including scantily-dressed models and plots concerning drugs and blackmail, this thriller contains nudity, violence, profanity and sexual situations--though one could never guess from the title. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

A man who fails to make the grade as a Los Angeles cop goes on a killing spree as the dangerous "Sunset Killer," to show the dupes who wouldn't hire him. He uses all his cop smarts to try to elude all who dare try capture him. ~ Rovi

A maniacal murderer is stalking New York City cops in this urban crime thriller. Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) is suspected of being the killer until Lieutenant McCrae (Tom Atkins) is found dead. Jack takes over the case after McCrae's death with help from undercover cop and sweetheart Theresa (Laurene Landon). Commissioner Pike (Richard Roundtree) is under fire to solve the case as more men in blue meet their maker much too soon. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

John Carpenter wrote and directed this science fiction thriller about a group of aliens who try to take over the world by disguising themselves as Young Republicans. Wrestler Roddy Piper stars as John Nada, a drifted who makes his way into an immense encampment for the homeless. There he stumbles upon a conspiracy concerning aliens who have hypnotized the populace through subliminal messages transmitted through television, magazines, posters, and movies. When Nada looks through special Ray-Bans developed by the resistance leaders, the aliens lose their clean-cut "Dan Quayle" looks and resemble crusty-looking reptiles. Nada joins the underground, teaming up with rebel-leader Frank (Keith David) to eradicate the lizard-like aliens from the body politic. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Sergeant J.J. Striker (Charles Napier) is a hard-drinking cop who tracks down a serial killer that can seemingly repel bullets in this routine crime drama made in 1985. Sommers (Robert Zdar) kills prostitutes and paints Chinese symbols on his victims. Rene (Michelle Reese) is the hooker who teems up with Striker in an attempt to nab the killer. Gary Crosby plays an unpopular cop caught with a transvestite prostitute, with a bevy of beauties led by Tally Chanel and Ola Ray who play the ill-fated victims. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this mystery, a vengeful husband goes looking for the six people who tortured him and then killed his wife. The husband is a WW II vet and one of the killers is now a high-ranking German official. The plot is based on a Mario Puzo story. The film is also titled Seven Graves for Rogan. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Pia Zadora stars in an over-cooked melodramatic adaptation of the 1946 James M. Cain novel that is every bit as smutty and sleazy as Zadora's vampish character of Kady. The location of the novel has been switched from Appalachia to the barren lands of Arizona and Nevada in 1937. Stacy Keach plays Jess Tyler, a desert hermit who has spent years guarding an abandoned silver mine. Suddenly, Jesse is confronted by his very grown-up and sexy daughter, who, when she was a baby, had been taken away from him by his wife, Belle (Lois Nettleton). Kady, it so happens, hasn't come home for a family reunion -- she has just been dumped by a rich young man who is the father of her illegitimate child and whose family owns the very silver mine that Jess is guarding. Kady hopes to use her feminine wiles to seduce Jess and reopen the mine and extract the money from the earth that she feels is due her from the family. As if his seductive daughter walking around bare-breasted in front of him isn't enough, Jess must also deal with the sudden return of his older daughter, Janey (Ann Dane), who appears with Kady's son; Belle, who comes back to Jess dying of tuberculosis; and Moke Blue (James Franciscus), the man who stole Belle away from Jess years ago. Also squeezing his way into Jess's shack is Wash Gillespie (Edward Albert), the father of Kady's child, who now wants to marry her. Butterfly also features Orson Welles as Judge Rauch. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Following the phenomenal box-office success of his seminal horror classic Halloween, director John Carpenter teamed up with producer Debra Hill for a second independent horror project, this time in the mode of an old-fashioned ghost story. The end result was The Fog, a spooky romp about a dark secret that returns to haunt the Pacific fishing community of Antonio Bay on the 100th anniversary of the town's charter. Carpenter sets the mood in the film's prologue, which features grizzled old sea salt Mr. Machen (John Houseman) spinning ghost stories for a group of local children. For his final tale, he recounts the legend of the Elizabeth Dane -- a ship which crashed 100 years ago against the very rocks upon which the children are sitting. Meanwhile, as the clock strikes midnight on the fateful anniversary of that disaster, eerie phenomena begin to plague the town as a dense fog bank creeps toward the bay. Seeming to appear from nowhere and emitting a ghostly glow, the fog surrounds a small trawler filled with drunken fishermen, who glimpse the vague outline of a decrepit sailing vessel before being brutally killed by shadowy figures brandishing hooks and swords. That morning, news of their disappearance is relayed to the town by Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau), owner and operator of the local radio station. The news reaches the wife of one of the fishermen, city councilwoman Kathy Williams (Janet Leigh) and local boy Nick Castle (Tom Atkins), who takes a trip out to the abandoned boat to investigate, accompanied by teenage drifter Elizabeth Solley (Jamie Lee Curtis). As the day progresses, a grim series of events paints a decidedly unpleasant picture of Antonio Bay's founders, and foreshadows the ghostly retribution that awaits the town's present-day residents. When Mrs. Williams visits local priest Fr. Malone (Hal Holbrook) about a benediction for that night's centennial ceremony, he relates a ghastly tale discovered in his grandfather's journal, which details the town fathers' decision to murder a group of lepers who had planned to build a commune outside of Antonio Bay. Just as the night's proceedings are haunted by the horrors of the past, the ghosts of the murdered dead have returned to seek symbolic revenge by claiming the lives of six townspeople, arriving amid the ominous fog bank which has completely engulfed Antonio Bay. Carpenter reportedly shot and inserted additional gory scenes after the original 'PG' cut failed to impress preview audiences. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi