Jean-Claude Lord Movies

While on the routines of his job, a Montreal policeman (Michael Ironside) is tormented by flashbacks and hallucinations. He eventually traces the bizarre behavior to the LSD experiments of a CIA scientist (Christopher Plummer). ~ John Bush, Rovi

The modestly produced children's film The Tadpole and the Whale (La Grenouille et la Balleine) was honored with Canada's equivalent of the Emmy award. The "tadpole" in question is 12-year-old Elvira, who is fascinated with life under the sea -- so much so that she has developed the ability to breathe underwater. Elvira befriends a frolicsome dolphin, whom she names Elvar. In the course of their many adventures, girl and dolphin are introduced to all manner of deep-sea denizens, including an easygoing whale. Since there must be a plot, the scripters give Elvira a grandfather who is in danger of losing his seaside hotel. In addition to its Canadian award, Tadpole and the Whale was also the recipient of the London Film Festival award and the International Ecological Film Festival Award. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This horror film is a variation on the Frankenstein theme involving the experiments of Alex Whyte (Richard Cox), a robotics engineer for NASA. Whyte has designed a cyborg that incorporates a human brain and a mechanical body. The cyborg is fitted out with a computer program that forces it to react with extreme violence to anything (or anyone) perceived as a threat. In order to shut off this reaction, the cyborg is also fitted out with a remote control receptor that cuts its current if things get out of hand. Theory becomes reality when Whyte murders Lauren Lehman (Teri Austin), a scientist who faults him for his improper use of government funding, and then installs Lehman's brain in the cyborg. The cyborg escapes before the remote control device can be installed and now there is no way to stop its murderous rages. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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, Rovi

One of Canada's talented directors, actress Micheline Lanctot expresses an effective, engaging approach in this simple, poignant drama about Armand (Jocelyn Berube), a handyman with one problem romance after another. The quiet Armand settles into Montreal after his wife has left him and before long, he continues the momentum when an ill-considered liaison with a nubile woman ends on her insistence. Next, Armand gives his heart to a frustrated housewife, though this decision is hardly well thought out. In the meantime, a gay man who rents out a room in his apartment has unfulfilled longings directed at the unsuspecting handyman. L'Homme a Tout Faire won a Silver Medal for "Best Picture" at the 1980 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

After a brief flurry of activity as a TV critic, Canadian director Jean-Claude Lord returned to films with The Doves. Lisa Thouin marries a rich boy, but still wishes to pursue a career as a singer. Her new in-laws do everything they can to help her, and in the process the groom is elbowed out of the proceedings. He turns to the only family member who'll listen to his plight: the standard "crazy uncle", played by Jean Duceppe (who'd previously essayed a similar character in the well-received Mon Oncle Antoine). Filmed in French, The Doves was originally released as Les Colombes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi