John Kramer Movies

The 11th Victim was partially based on the activities of California's Hillside Strangler. Bess Armstrong stars as a Des Moines TV journalist whose younger sister, an aspiring actress, has entered a life of prostitution in Los Angeles. When the sister becomes the eleventh victim of a sex murderer, Armstrong conducts her own investigation into Hollywood's night world of commercial sex. Max Gail plays a sympathetic cop who tries to save her from becoming a victim herself. The 11th Victim had potential, but was defeated by the usual TV-movie budgetary restrictions and desire to exploit rather than explore a "hot" issue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles B. Griffith, author of Little Shop of Horrors, was the writer/director of the low-budget Eat My Dust!. Ron Howard heads the cast as Hoover Niebold, the hell-raising son of rural sheriff Harry Niebold (Warren Kemmerling). The sheriff is forced to chase after his own son when Hoover and his girlfriend Darlene (Christopher Norris) steal a racing car and zoom off to parts unknown. Joining the pursuit is the car's owner, professional racer Big Bubba Jones (Dave Madden). Watch for Ron Howard's dad Rance and brother Clint in supporting parts, and also for Paul Bartel in a bit role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Isaac Hayes puts his gun where his groove is in his role as hard-case bounty hunter Mack "Truck" Turner, three years after composing the legendary score for Shaft (1971). Ex-football star turned skip-tracer, Turner specializes in bringing in the criminals police are too scared to chase, and when he's hired to capture sociopathic pimp Gator (Paul Harris), he finds himself confronted by the most vicious killers in the underground scene. Little does Turner know that Gator's woman, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), has a deep-running cold streak of vengeance, and has hired ruthless hit man Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto), as well as a legion of other like-minded and equally determined assassins, to snuff out Truck's supercharged motor once and for all. It's now up to Truck to keep his cool long enough to get to the source of the seemingly endless stream of bullets that come at increasingly unsettling intervals. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Inasmuch as Windflowers was also released as The Story of a Draft Dodger, it isn't difficult to figure out when it was filmed. This 1960s time capsule stars John Kramer as Paul Ramsey, who assumes an alias and goes on the run when Uncle Sam sends him "greetings." The film covers six years in Ramsey's life, charting his disenchantment with the Establishment and his gradual radicalization. Surprisingly, the word "Vietnam" is not mentioned once. Written, directed and edited by Adolfas Mekas, Windflowers sometimes resembles an experimental project cooked up by a college drama department. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide