Paul Heller Movies

The Shield's executive producer Kurt Sutter is set to write and direct an update of Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon with Awaken the Dragon, a modern film noir picture that follows an FBI agent as he infiltrates the world of underground fight clubs while tracking a Shaolin monk. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

In this chase movie (also titled "Crash") greedy and desperate race car drivers must rip through a thousand miles of the Phillippine jungle to win $100,000 dollars. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

On a boiling hot night in the middle of a steaming New York summer, Detective Mike Reardon is on his way to work when he is shot down execution style. His fellow officers at the 87th, led by detectives Steve Carelli (Robert Loggia) and Mike Maguire (Gerald S. O'Laughlin), can't come up with a motive. The investigation has barely started when Reardon's young partner Foster is ambushed and gunned down as well. Carelli and Maguire are the lead investigators on the double police homicide, tracing potential suspects and following up clues that all lead to blind alleys. Meanwhile, Miller, a reporter, does some investigating on his own and nearly gets a young detective killed by a street gang led by smart-mouthed punk Joe Sanchez (Jerry Orbach). Amid this chaos, Carelli tries to carry on a romance with a deaf-mute author named Teddy (Ellen Parker) and Maguire attempts not to neglect his wife too badly. Maguire is gunned down by the same shooter that killed the other two detectives, only he makes sure the killer leaves behind a few clues before he dies. Carelli can't make the pieces fit together -- the only thing that the three victims had in common was that they worked in the 87th Precinct and they were all cops. He begins wondering if the fact that they were all police officers was relevant to the killings, but not the motive. Looking for a story, Miller reports Carelli's private suppositions, suddenly putting Teddy in jeopardy. Not knowing that the shooter is a step ahead of him, the detective races to her home. Carelli breaks the case and discovers that only one of the murders had an actual motive, one much closer to home than anyone on the squad would ever have guessed. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

This stark and spare look at the world of the mentally disturbed was one of the beacons of the new American independent film movement. Keir Dullea and Janet Margolin star as two adolescents who make contact with each other in a home for disturbed youngsters. Dullea is David Clemens, who is placed in the home by his mother because of his constant fear of being touched. Margolin is Lisa, a 15-year-old schizophrenic who speaks only in rhyme, when she speaks at all. David rejects the help of psychiatrist Alan Swinford (Howard Da Silva) but makes an emotional connection with Lisa. Because of his contact with Lisa, David eventually opens up to Swinford and his mother. But his mother is dissatisfied with his progress and takes him back home. Home life, however, consists of his mother's domineering ways and parental quarrels, so David runs away and returns to the home for disturbed youngsters. But then an argument with Lisa leads to a climactic confrontation. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this average, made for pay-TV adventure yarn loosely based on Arthur Conan Doyle's Challenger's Gold, the archaeologist Dr. Christopher Falcon (John Marley) is called away from a dig in an Arab country to assess a startling find in Mexico, with the usual dangerous results. When he arrives, he immediately sees that among the uncovered items is a fertility goddess that was once part of a group of precious objects missing since a devastating, 17th-century earthquake. Determined to find the rest of the treasure -- also vaunted as having supernatural powers -- he sets out on an expedition funded by Murdoch (George Touliatos) a suspicious-looking, but super-rich business tycoon. Along for the ride are Falcon's daughter Tracey (Louise Vallance), a spirited British journalist (Simon MacCorkindale), and their guide, the attractive B.G. Alvarez (Blanca Guerra). Following in quick succession like the old-fashioned serials in the Saturday matinees are moments of betrayal, disaster, sudden change, and various sexual encounters. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This martial arts film has an interesting twist. The conflict is over a mythical 30-inch-tall statue with very special properties. Protruding from the sculpture are seven golden needles. If the needles are inserted into a man's body in the precisely right positions, he will become a sexual superman. If the position is incorrect, the man will instantly die. Despite the risks, several men begin fighting over the precious object. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Karate expert Jones (Jim Kelly) is sent to Thailand to free a politico's daughter (Judith Brown) from enslavement to an evil war monger (Samuel Hiona). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

A musician discovers that there's no such thing as bad publicity when a murder charge makes him a star in this comedy-drama. Bobby Ogden (Peter Fonda) is an ex-con trying to go straight and build a career as a country and western singer. Bobby gets the opportunity to show off some of his tunes to Nashville star Garland Dupree (James Callahan), but Garland takes Bobby's best song, "Outlaw Blues," and puts his own name to it. Suddenly Bobby's tune is a hit, with the struggling writer getting no credit (and no royalties). An understandably angry Bobby confronts Garland, and when Garland is found shot dead shortly afterward, Bobby becomes the prime suspect. Bobby is innocent, but hardly anyone believes this outside of Garland's back-up singer Tina Waters (Susan St. James). Bobby and Tina hit the road together, and the wanted man becomes an underground hero as Bobby climbs both the Billboard charts and the "Most Wanted" list. Peter Fonda does his own singing in Outlaw Blues, and he croons half a dozen tunes, including three written for the film by Hoyt Axton. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Yuppie-type Michael Berger (Edward Bell) and his bitter wife Lee (Linda Marsh) can barely stand each other as it is. Things don't get much better when they move to Puerto Rico to a house he just inherited from his brother, and the circumstances aren't all that auspicious. It seems his brother murdered his wife before committing suicide. Since they don't see much future in their marriage anyway, they agree to try the then-popular sport of wife-swapping. In this movie, however, more than just wives are swapped, as explicit sexual references and lesbian encounters also take place. Michael goes ballistic from time to time, and his wife is a real queen of sarcasm. Their dislike of each other grows throughout the film, but the bonds which hold them together have never seemed more unbreakable. This movie was produced in 1970 and went commercially unreleased for almost 20 years. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This drama, set in a Buenos Aires hotel, centers upon a fascist who goes into hiding after his organization's activities are banned by the government. Within the hotel he finds a group of Spanish exiles and actors. He begins eavesdropping after he overhears them planning to assassinate a visiting dictator. He doesn't know they are only rehearsing and so immediately runs to the cops with the information. Eventually, the police figure out what happened, but this does not stop them from closing down the performers' theater. When the actors discover that it was the fascist that ratted upon them, they toss him out of the hotel. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Director Robert Clouse, maker of the martial-arts masterpiece Enter the Dragon returns with The Pack, a well-directed, interesting little horror film about a pack of pugnacious puppies who run amok on an island resort. Veteran action star (Joe Don Baker) plays the marine biologist forced to deal with the dilemma when the dogs begin to exhibit their killer instincts by hunting down and killing resort patrons, a result of neglect by their human owners. Although the prospect of dying in the jaws of a West Highland Terrier may seem improbable, Clouse imbues the film with genuine suspense and provides a few legitimate shocks, a testament to his skill at the helm. Released around the same time as Jaws amidst a slew of killer animal rip-offs, The Pack was undeservedly dismissed by critics. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi