John F. Goff Movies

From the time he was a high-school student in Lubbock, Texas until his tragic death at age 22 in 1959, Buddy Holly ignored the condemnation by townspeople and his conservative relatives and dedicated his life to the new music he became famous for performing: rock 'n roll. Gary Busey stars as Buddy Holly in this widely acclaimed big-screen biography and sings well enough on camera for the film's adapted musical score to win an Oscar. Among the classic songs by Buddy Holly and the Crickets which can be heard are: Oh Boy, That'll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, and Not Fade Away. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Two interesting figures in offbeat cinema -- director Matt Cimber (who was married to Jayne Mansfield and directed her final film before going on to a handful of expressive blaxploitation efforts) and screenwriter Robert Thom (who wrote Wild in the Streets and Bloody Mama) -- teamed up for this unusual portrait of one woman's descent into madness. Molly (Millie Perkins) is a woman who is haunted by vivid memories of abuse and molestation at the hands of her father, who was a ship's captain; now middle-aged, Molly is obsessed by the ocean and images associated with pirates and sailing lore, which fill her with both fascination and loathing. Molly dotes on her young nephews (Jean Pierre Camps and Mark Livingston) and often spins tall tales for them in which her father is a noble hero, but her sister, Cathy (Vanessa Brown), is not comfortable with her presence, and soon the boys are old enough to spend their time elsewhere. Single and lonely, Molly longs for a man, and is openly attracted to strong, burly types, but at the same time she bears a deep hatred for them, and sometimes murders and dismembers the men she lures into her home. However, given Molly's penchant for fantasy, how much of her story is real, and how much is the product of her twisted imagination? Shot in 1971 but not released until 1976, The Witch Who Came From the Sea was one of the first feature films for cinematographer Dean Cundey, who later went on to work with Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Basically the final act of Peter Bogdanovich's Targets stretched to feature length (and without any redeeming subtext), this weak slasher thriller involves a psycho who stalks unsuspecting moviegoers with a variety of sharp implements, particularly a massive sword, during a drive-in screening of a cheesy western. This naturally leads to various scenes of necking patrons being shish-kebabbed with the weapon of choice. Although this might have been an amusing novelty when actually shown at a drive-in, it's just a dreary mess on home video, making the otherwise terse 80-minute running time seem like three hours. One trivial point of interest is the behind-the-camera participation of familiar "B"-movie character actor Buck Flower, who collaborated on the screenplay. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide