John Ireland Movies

In this thriller, an enigmatic phantom lives in the dank tunnels running beneath the ramshackle back lot of a former movie lot. When prospective buyers endeavor to purchase the property, the furious phantom goes on the rampage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A filmmaker and his crew get more than they bargained for in this low-budget haunted house film directed by Paul Harrison. Director Eric Hartman (John Ireland) chooses the old Beal mansion for the setting to his latest horror outing, taking little heed of the house's eerie past. As shooting commences, Hartman demands his leading lady, Gayle (Faith Domergue), recite passages from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. However, by doing so, the tormented spirits of the Beal family that had been trapped in the mansion are set free and begin restaging the grisly deaths that met the doomed family several years ago. As various crew members turn up dead, the remaining filmmakers desperately attempt to escape the house's evil spirits, while also trying to piece together the secrets of the house. ~ All Movie Guide

The ongoing plight of Russian Jewry serves as the backdrop for the Golan-Globus effort Escape to the Sun (Habricha el Hashemesh). Laurence Harvey is cast against type as Major Kirsanov, a nasty KGB officer who refuses to allow Soviet Jews Nina Kaplan (Josephine Chaplin, Charlie's daughter and Geraldine's sister) and Yasha Bazarov (Yuda Barkin) to emigrate to Israel. In desperation, Nina, Yasha and several others hijack a jetliner. Kirsanov foils the plan, but Nina and Yasha manage to escape--if you can call heading to the desolate Russian steppes an "escape." The actors are talented and the locations well chosen, but the script is a real let-down. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An ex-butcher (Victor Buono) escapes from an institution and wreaks havoc with a varied array of meat cutters. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Filmed in English, this Italian mystery thriller/melodrama explores the murder of a doctor's wife. The doctor himself (Jean Morel) has long since taken up with a mistress. His wife begged out of engagements as an asthmatic, all the while actually entertaining herself with her part-time job as a stripper. Did the doctor kill her? After all, he took out a large life-insurance policy on his wife. One highlight of this film is the effective use of its San Francisco setting. Another is its gas-chamber sequence, filmed in San Quentin's actual gas chamber. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

We pity the poor historian who has to catalog all the films of ubiquitous leading man John Ireland. Just when such a list seems to be complete, along comes an obscurity like Caxambu. Lensed on location in the Amazon, the film casts Ireland as a member of a diamond hijacking gang. Once they've escaped into the forest, the thieves must contend with headhunters. Audience exposure to Caxambu was largely confined to drive-ins and Late Late Shows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hollywood's John Ireland made an appearance in this typical "Spaghetti" Western about a military officer, a huckster, and a mysterious femme fatale who team up once again to search for the loot from an old bank heist. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Yul Brynner stars as the legendary Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa in this 1968 epic that was originally written by Sam Peckinpah, who hoped to direct it. But studio bosses instead hired Buzz Kulik and cut the script. Villa is commanded by General Huerta (Herbert Lom) and assisted by the sadistic Fierro (Charles Bronson). Captain Francisco Ramirez (Frank Wolff) is a counter-revolutionary leader for whom an American pilot, Lee Arnold (Robert Mitchum), is smuggling guns from Texas. While Arnold is in a small village waiting for his place to be fixed, he sees Ramirez's troops attack the village and get routed by Villa. The rebels arrest Arnold for gun-running and sentence him to face a firing squad. He works a deal to save his skin by agreeing to fly missions for the revolutionaries. While Villa's men attack a train, Arnold bombs government troops with grenades. Arnold's aerial support saves Villa when he is sent on a doomed mission by Huerta, who is vying with Villa for power. Arnold escapes to Texas and Villa is arrested for disobeying Huerta's orders. Villa eventually escapes, finds Arnold in Texas, and convinces him to fight again for the revolution, which is now targeting Huerta, who has assassinated the Mexican president and taken power. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

When a band of outlaws terrorizing a small Texas town kill the sheriff, a fast-drawing preacher and a vengeful stranger set out to rid the town of the bandits. ~ All Movie Guide

A Bolivian rebel-force leader attempts to survive in the mountains as he must escape from governmental military troops. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide