Miriam Byrd-Nethery Movies
- 1993
This made-for-television drama first aired on NBC and was made shortly after the tragic stand-off in Waco, Texas when a conflict between the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a group of cultist led by charismatic leader and self-proclaimed messiah David Koresh turned into a bloody battle that left the believers' compound burned and many dead. Soon after the dust settled, investigations revealed that the bloodshed may have been unnecessary. Filmed on location, near Tulsa, Oklahoma, the film recounts events before, during and after the catastrophe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Daly, Dan Lauria, (more)
- 1990
This detective movie is set in Hollywood, circa 1949. Hard-bitten detective Dan Turner gets entangled with an extortionist after he begins looking into the life of a movie mogul's beautiful wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Adapted from a novel by Irene Hunt, this Civil War-era drama centers on a young man from Illinois who simultaneously attempts to cope with a brother wanting to join the Confederates and a mysterious, mask-wearing murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Based upon the distinguished children's novel Across Five Aprils and set amidst the horror of the American Civil War, this family-oriented drama chronicles the first-person experiences of a boy who must stay home and keep the family farm afloat and his clan together after his older brothers become bitter enemies on the battle field. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- R
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Upon stopping for gas and directions on the Texas back roads, bickering yuppies Michelle (Kate Hodge) and Ryan (William Butler) get harassed by leering service-station owner Alfredo (Tom Everett). When the helpful intercession of a hitchhiker named Tex (Viggo Mortensen) leads to violence, the couple flees the area. Eventually, an unknown truck forces them off the road and into an accident with the sports utility vehicle of Benny (Ken Foree), a well-armed survivalist. Pursued by unknown assailants, Benny and his fellow accident victims must abandon both vehicles and armaments. Eventually all three end up trapped on the boggy forest estate of a family of cannibalistic serial killers who range in age from a feral little girl (Jennifer Banko) to an aged matriarch (Miriam Byrd-Nethery). The clan also includes the title character, whose chainsaw-wielding rampages are among the few direct links between this installment and the earlier two films in this series. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Hodge, Viggo Mortensen, (more)
A passable sequel to the excellent sleeper hit that preceded it, this film steers its story in a cartoonish, less horrific direction. Terry O'Quinn returns as the nameless family man who butchered one nuclear unit and was on his way to dispatching another when he was (seemingly) fatally stabbed. It turns out that he wasn't killed after all but was captured and sent to the loony bin. Now the deranged control freak has murdered his jailers and escaped from the institution. Establishing himself in a small, idyllic town as a family counselor, he thinks that he's found the perfect candidate for a family in Carol (Meg Foster), the real estate agent who lives across the street, and her son, Todd (Jonathan Brandis), who adores his mom's new boyfriend. Unfortunately, Carol's irresponsible husband shows up unexpectedly after abandoning his family -- and nosy neighbors and a variety of others stand as obstacles in the stepfather's path to perfection. The first film, The Stepfather (1987), by writer Donald E. Westlake was very loosely based on the real-life story of long-time fugitive John List, lending the film an eerie, skin-crawling air of psychological authenticity that this sequel entirely lacks. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terry O'Quinn, Meg Foster, (more)
- 1987
- R
The lonely wife of a struggling tobacco farmer succumbs to temptation and sleeps with a transient harvester in this drama set in Depression-ravaged North Carolina. The drifter offers her more excitement than the bored young mother has felt in years and it is no surprise that she and he begin plotting to murder her hard-working husband. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lori Singer, Anthony Edwards, (more)
In this lively comedy, an animal behaviorist is out studying wolves and she finds a young man who has been raised by the wild canines. Intrigued, she takes him back to the city to tame him. Later she learns that Bobo, as she calls him, is the long-missing heir to $30 million. His sudden reappearance causes his low-life brother Reggie to have apoplexy and he does everything he can to keep Bobo from becoming civilized and claiming his rightful fortune. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Howie Mandel, Christopher Lloyd, (more)
- 1982
When a baby suffering from multiple disabilities is electrocuted, the child's father Gerald Preston (Jim Antonio) is suspected of murder. Quincy (Jack Klugman) cannot believe that his old friend Gerald is capable of so monstrous a crime, and says so publicly. But a new, politically ambitious pathologist named Walter Ross (John Rubinstein) is determined to prove Gerald's guilt--no matter what steps he must take. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
PCP, a deadly drug commonly known as Angel Dust, made its first destructive appearances on the street in the late 1970s. In Angel Dusted, Jean Stapleton plays a cloistered housewife/mother who knows little and cares less about drug problems. Her son is a hard-working college student who decides to experiment just once with marijuana. The boy freaks out after smoking pot laced with PCP--and it doesn't look like he'll ever totally recover. Adding texture to the film is the presence of the film's screenwriter Darlene Craviotto as the boy's psychiatrist--and the presence of Jean Stapleton's real-life son John Putch in the role of her on-screen son. Angel Dusted was based on a book by Ursula Etons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Miriam Byrd-Nethery, Edward Edwards and Lori Lethin guest star as the Comfurt family, distant cousins of Jesse Duke (Denver Pyle). Having recently struck it rich, the Comfurts lose their entire fortune--$250,000--when their car is stolen. It is up to the Dukes to locate the car before the thief locates the dough...and before Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) can get his hands on the cash. Intended as the pilot for an unsold spinoff series about the "Southern Comfurts", this is the final episode of The Dukes of Hazzard's second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Alice (Linda Lavin) begins dating Jim Thornton (Gary Collins), principal of the high school attended by her son Tommy (Philip McKeon). Instead of approving the match, Tommy is dead set against his mom seeing "Old Thorny"--and not necessarily for the obvious reasons. Originally scheduled to air on October 15, 1978, this episode affords us the first full view of the trailer inhabited by Alice's co-worker Flo (Polly Holliday)--and the first sighting of Flo's much-talked-about boyfriend Bubba (Lou Frizzell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
Twice during the mid-1970s, Andy Griffith unsuccessfully attempted to launch a TV detective series titled Abel Marsh. The first pilot film was The Girl in the Empty Grave; the second was The Deadly Game. Griffith once again stars as resort-town sheriff Abel Marsh, this time wrestling with a sinister conspiracy involving a dangerous chemical spill. Lane Slate produced, directed and wrote the film, while Griffith's longtime manager Richard O. Linke functioned as executive producer. Deadly Game was first telecast December 3, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Big Bus is set aboard a nonstop, nuclear-powered luxury bus commandeered by Joseph Bologna. Naturally, Bologna is a tortured hero with a deep dark secret (he keeps insisting he didn't eat all those passengers on his last disastrous drive). Stockard Channing and Harold Gould play the designers of the big bus, and of course they have a few skeletons in their closet. In fact, there isn't a passenger on the all-star manifest that isn't hiding something. The supporting cast features contributions by René Auberjonois (parodying his M*A*S*H role), Ned Beatty, José Ferrer, Ruth Gordon (doing a devastating send-up of Airport's Helen Hayes), Sally Kellerman, Richard Mulligan, and many others; Murphy Dunne contributes a memorable bit as a smarmy cocktail pianist. Unfortunately, The Big Bus was dumped onto the summer 1976 release schedule without fanfare by Paramount, and it sank without a trace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, (more)
