Claude Heroux Movies

In this taut action drama, an unbalanced Vietnam vet goes off the beam and takes over Central Park in this made for cable outing that was filmed entirely in Toronto. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An electronics tycoon takes a shine to a beautiful aspiring model and decides to turn her into a superstar in this melodrama that was funded by the Canadian Film Development Corporation. First he buys the modeling agency where she works and then sets about towards turning her into the "The Dreamworld Girl." Along the way the young girl becomes disillusioned by the lurid assortment of sleazy characters she encounters. The tycoon too, must deal with a ruthless partner who wants to dethrone him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When a banking executive tries to outsmart an enormous and seriously pesky rat, it is a case of a battle of wits between two unarmed opponents in this tedious rodent horror treatise on the multiple dangers of rats. Bert Hughes (Peter Weller) is home alone in his Manhattan apartment, trying to work out a major change in his trust company when a noisy rat starts scratching around his periphery, and he becomes obsessed with exterminating it. By the time Hughes is through, his whole apartment is nearly exterminated -- and his friends are keeping their distance due to his rat-mania. (In the middle of a business dinner he brings up the topic of rats served as "stringy chicken" in an Asian country.) Rats may be Of Unknown Origin, but more than their questionable hygiene and genealogy is needed to frighten viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A crazed, women-hating killer (Michael Ironside) rapes and brutalizes journalist Deborah Ballin (Lee Grant). When he discovers that his attack didn't kill Deborah, he comes to the hospital to finish what he started. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

After a Harvard professor (Elliott Gould) comes into possession of a letter by George Washington, he finds that criminals are after the valuable document as well. A young reporter (Kate Jackson) just might save him, in this Canadian production. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

The title of this David Cronenberg sci-fi horror film refers to a group of people who have telekinetic powers that allow them to read minds and give them the ability to make other people's heads explode. The children of a group of women who took an experimental tranquilizer during their pregnancies, the scanners are now adults and have become outcasts from society. But Darryl (Michael Ironside) decides to create an army of scanners to take over the world. The only person who can stop him is his brother Cameron (Stephen Lack), who wants to forget that he was ever a scanner. Winner of the International Fantasy Film Award at the 1983 Fantasporto Film Festival, Scanners was followed by a pair of sequels, neither of which involved Cronenberg. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Canadian director David Cronenberg followed his graphic vampire variation Rabid with this multi-layered, speculative horror film which addresses the way the repressed demons of the psyche can force their way to the surface. Psychologist Dr. Raglan (Oliver Reed), director of the controversial Psychoplasmic Institute and author of the book "The Shape of Rage," encourages his patients to outwardly manifest their anger and fear (aided by some experimental drugs), which then takes physical shape as actual sores, cancers, or strange new organs. One of Raglan's more successful patients (from his point-of-view, anyway) is Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar), who is undergoing therapy following a painful divorce from her husband, Frank (Art Hindle). When Frank discovers evidence that Nola may have injured their daughter, Candice (Cindy Hinds), he begins to suspect Raglan's techniques but is unprepared for the most horrifying by-product of her rage: a progeny of sexless, dwarflike mutants who are born for the sole purpose of acting out her violent fantasies of revenge. Containing only enough energy to carry out their murderous tasks, the brood is dispatched to kill Nola's parents, then a woman she believes is having an affair with Frank. By the time Frank discovers the origins of the tiny offspring, they have already abducted Candice and taken her to the institute, where Frank must confront Nola in person. Although it contains one of the most visceral and nauseating scenes in movie history (during the film's climax), this nevertheless remains the most subtle of Cronenberg's early horror projects, with a strong subtext about the devastating effects of divorce. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In Hungary, 12-year-old Andras Vadya supported himself during World War II by serving as a pimp for prostitutes. Once the war is over, he tries his hand at a number of different jobs, but has a sexual fixation on "older" women. Andras (Tom Berenger) tells the story of seven of his affairs. One affair, when he was still a quite young man, was with Bobbie (Susan Strasberg), a woman whose anti-communist views put her in danger in postwar Hungary. In Praise of Older Women features many sexual scenes and situations. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this subpar Canadian film, Sophia Loren is Angela, a prostitute who has decided to become a waitress after she gets pregnant by Ben Kincaid (John Vernon) and needs a better way to support her baby. When Ben gets back from service in the Korean War, he does not believe Angela's little boy is his, and after he starts working for his old mob boss, he says he cannot continue as long as the boy is in the house. So his boss Hogan (John Huston) has the child kidnapped, which triggers Angela to seek revenge, and she informs the police about Ben's planned robbery. He is caught and goes to jail for more than two decades, and when he gets out, his only goal is to get even. Meanwhile, Angela has worked her way up to the ownership of an elegant restaurant and has fallen in love with handsome young Jean Labrecque (Steve Railsback), who delivers meat to the kitchen -- without either knowing at the time that they are mother and son. With dim lighting, a dim script, and dim chances, this turkey was quickly made into dim-sum and shelved in video cassettes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This filmed version of the popular (1800 performances!) off-Broadway musical by Eric Blau and Mort Schumann incorporates 26 songs written by Belgian-entertainer Jacques Brel. Three actors--Elly Stone, Mort Schuman and Joe Masiell--interpret Brel's sometimes angry, sometimes poignant ballads with strength and compassion. In the movie, the three are brought together when they seek refuge from a rainstorm. The songs are accompanied by vignettes which highlight the imagery and story in them. Jacques Brel himself sings a melancholy composition at intermission time. It's ironic that this film was produced by the American Film Theatre; Brel disliked America and refused ever to set foot in the country. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nowhere is the sharp divide between the English and French-speaking Canadians more clearly brought home than in this Canadian/French comedy. The filmmakers are clearly on the pro-French side of the Canadian language wars. A couple from Quebec decide to take a vacation with their two children all the way west through Canada, to the city of Vancouver. The husband is from France, and does not understand the tensions and difficulties the wife expects to face. By the end of the journey, however, he takes the witless incomprehension of English speakers sufficiently for granted to freely join his wife in insulting his Vancouver hosts in French. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The Awakening is a minor-league Canadian "art" film, ideally suited for the Espresso crowd. Jacques Riberolles and Louise Marceau star as a priest and nun, respectively. The priest suffers from erotic dreams, while the nun yearns for physical fulfillment. Both renounce their vows and leave their village, only to bump into each other months later. Now fully able to consummate their love, Riberolles and Marceau are still racked by guilt. The original title of The Awakening was the more appropriate L'Amour Humain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide