James Herbert Movies

The deep scars of abuse are contrasted against the sensual landscape of Italy's Tuscany region as director James Herbert combines experimental structuring, landscape poetry, and breathtaking photography. In an opulent Italian villa, a group of young people exchange stories about their harrowing experiences with sexual abuse, and Maria suddenly feels that if she can manipulate their vulnerability, she will rediscover the love she once lost. While the subject matter of the film may drift into darker territories, the sunlight that soaks these troubled youngsters serves to provide a lyrical counterbalance to the somewhat dense and formidable discussions. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Director James Herbert and editor Mark Jordan -- both visual artists who work in other media -- crafted this non-narrative look at Carter and Andy, two American artists summering in an unnamed Tuscany city. The young men discuss art and each other as they explore the city and its women, while the camera explores Carter and Andy. Speedy Boys was shown as part of the Frontier series at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

University of Georgia art instructor James Herbert brought together aspects of his past work in painting, photography, experimental films, and music videos for his feature directorial debut, an experimental drama filmed in black-and-white. A young man (Carter Davis) reveals a large scar, as he explains the skateboarding situation that led to the wound. On a mountain road, he meets a nude young woman (Alexandra Rosetti). As the two examine their naked bodies in a variety of settings (a forest in Tuscany, a deserted house, a Greek temple, an empty train), they recall traumatic events from their pasts. Shown at 1997 film festivals (Toronto, Sundance). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Director John Badham's remake of French action thriller La Femme Nikita moves the action to the U.S., where Maggie (Bridget Fonda) is a strung-out Washington, D.C. drug addict who kills a policeman in a pharmaceutical-induced haze. Sentenced to death, Maggie is rescued by a shady operative, Bob (Gabriel Byrne), who offers to save her life if she'll become a covert government assassin. Maggie agrees and trains for a life as a professional killer under a new name, Claudia. Her classes include weaponry, martial arts, explosives, and even social graces under the tutelage of Amanda (Anne Bancroft). Claudia is transformed into a classy sophisticate and is assigned to Venice, California, where she falls for J.P. (Dermot Mulroney), an attractive photographer who lives downstairs. Claudia's highly dangerous job soon interferes when she's ordered to carry out a series of clever assassinations, including a hit in a restaurant and a hotel bombing. When one particular killing goes horribly wrong, she gets some assistance from Victor the Cleaner (Harvey Keitel), a disposal artist who may have also been ordered to get rid of Claudia. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-cable thriller, Virginia Madsen portrays a photographer who discovers that her husband has hired a hit man to rub her out. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

"Another basement, another elevator...how can the same thing happen to the same guy twice?" asks John McClane (Bruce Willis), in what is doubtless the key question of this film. A year after foiling the terrorist takeover of a high-rise office building in the first movie, McClane is waiting to pick up his wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), at Dulles International Airport just outside Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve. Scheduled to arrive the same evening is Ramon Esperanza (Franco Nero), a South American political figure who is being brought to the United States to stand trial for his role in a drug-smuggling ring. However, a group of terrorists, led by renegade American military officer Col. Stuart (William Sadler), take control of the airport, scuttling radio transmissions and placing their own men in the control tower. Stuart and his men ensure that Esperanza's plane lands safely, and then demand that Stuart and his men be given a fully-fueled 747 and free passage wherever they choose to go. Otherwise, they will guide the many circling jets waiting for landing instructions into definite crash landings, killing the many passengers on board. Not willing to stand aside as terrorists once again threaten his wife's life, the wise-cracking McClane once again leaps into action to foil Stuart's plans and bring the passenger jets safely to the ground. William Atherton, John Amos, Dennis Franz, and John Leguizamo highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An aspiring writer faces up to the responsibilities of marriage and family in this romantic comedy from writer, director, and producer John Hughes. Despite the misgivings he pours out to best friend Davis McDonald (Alec Baldwin), Jake Briggs (Kevin Bacon) marries high-school sweetheart Kristy (Elizabeth McGovern). After an abortive attempt at graduate school in New Mexico, the couple settle in suburban Chicago. Jake fakes his way into a job as an advertising copywriter, while Kristy settles into her own corporate job. The couple face the typical ups and downs of any new marriage, especially after Davis visits with a bimbo on his arm, regaling his pal Jake with tales of the good life. A few years later, Kristy decides to stop taking her birth-control pills -- and tells Jake about it three months later. Plagued by doubts, unfulfilled ambitions, and images of a fantasy girl (Isabel Lorca) he once spotted in a club, Jake resists the idea of fatherhood. Then he finds out he has low sperm count and, his manhood thus challenged, lines up for fertility clinic-assisted stud duty. The birth doesn't go as smoothly as Jake expected, however, setting the stage for climactic realizations. Edie McClurg, who played the nosy school secretary in Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off, makes a cameo appearance as an officious neighbor. In addition, a who's who of other Hughes alums and Hollywood stars lend their faces and voices to a series of closing-credits shots in which each suggests a name for the titular baby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide