Tony Miller Movies
Somehow the entire population of the Earth has been obliterated, leaving the buildings standing and the preserved food intact. The environment seems to be OK, too. From the emptiness of the planet emerges Alan (David Arnott), a nebbishy anthropology graduate student who is coming to terms with his fate as the last man on Earth -- until he discovers Sarah (Jeri Ryan), a beautiful, intelligent woman who can't stand the idea that neurotic, portly Alan is the last man she'll ever be near. They make an encampment in a desert and begin their lives together -- him, delirious; her reluctant -- until they encounter Raphael (Dan Montgomery) hitchhiking along the road. Raphael, although a bit dim, is tall, handsome and fun-loving, and Alan finds that he has to change in order to compete for Sarah's affection, or spend his life without a woman. But nature is full of surprises. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Arnott, Jeri Ryan, (more)
In this seventh entry in the "Witchcraft" series of horror thriller an attorney turns to the black arts to save his neck from vampires. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Byrnes, April Breneman, (more)
In this high-tech thriller, Dade Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller) has been fascinated with computers all his life; at the age of 11, he was able to break into the computer network of several top Wall Street investment and banking firms, and he nearly caused a major stock market crash in the process. As punishment, Dade was forbidden to use a computer until his 18th birthday, but now that he's of age, he's diving back into his PC head first. Dade meets up with a group of fellow hackers: tough-talking cyber gamer Kate, aka Acid Burn (Angelina Jolie), junior hacker Jesse Bradford, born prankster Cereal Killer (Matthew Lillard), Nikon (Lawrence Mason), named for his photographic memory, and telephone expert Phantom Phreak (Renoly Santiago). Dade and his pals aren't out to destroy systems or do cybercrime for profit; they simply want to know more about the systems they encounter, and they like raising some good-natured havoc. But in their travels through cyberspace, they discover The Plague (Fisher Stevens), a former hacker turned computer security expert with a huge multinational corporation. The Plague has not only done the unthinkable and gone into anti-hacker enforcement, he's secretly allied himself with a group of criminals and is using his expertise to drain funds from corporate bank accounts and transfer them to himself and his mistress, Margo (Lorraine Bracco). The Plague is also smart enough to leave clues that would lead investigators to someone else -- in this case, Dade and his friends -- and has a secret weapon at his disposal, a computer virus that could wipe out the entire world wide web in a matter of minutes. Several sequences for Hackers were shot at New York City's Stuyvesant High School, where coincidentally several months after filming, several students were arrested by F.B.I. agents for their involvement in computer hacking. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie, (more)
- 1993
- PG
A young man refuses to let his physical challenges destroy his dreams in this made-for-cable drama. Matthew Geriak stars as Bruce Jennings, an athlete who has lost his leg. While in a rehabilitation hospital, he meets the spunky William Perry (James Earl Jones). Perry -- an older man bound to a wheelchair -- shows Bruce that limitations are in the mind and inspires him to ride his bicycle cross-country. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Geriak, James Earl Jones, (more)
- 1992
- R
When some of the frat brothers of Sigma Upsilon Xi start conjuring up demons, they get a bit more than they bargained for on the night of the big party with the Alpha Sigma Sigma sorority. Isha, a 500-year-old demon of supernatural lust, has somehow gotten loose, and she's itchin' to party like it's 1499! ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
In this horror film, young Pete Wild (Orien Richman) is falsely accused of murder when his girlfriend is kidnapped and murdered by a satanic cult. When attorney William Spanner (Charles Solomon) is called in on the case, he must use his warlock powers to defeat the satanic minions, led by Santara (Clive Peterson). ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1991
This sexually-tinged supernatural thriller involves the owner of an art gallery (Mark Hamill) who falls victim to the seductive and dangerous wiles of a coven of suburban witches -- the kind who brew their magic potions in the microwave -- when he enters a torrid affair with the smoldering Cassandra (Appolonia). When their relationship is threatened by a half-hearted devotion to his long-suffering girlfriend (Amanda Wyss), Hamill finds himself the tormented victim of a barrage of hexes, which run the gamut from horrific hallucinations to subversion of his will... and ultimately lead to madness and murder. This is a well-crafted film, but the potential for steamy eroticism is strangely underplayed for a film packaged as an "erotic thriller" -- no doubt due to an obvious lack of sexual chemistry between the two bed-wrestling leads. Perceptive viewers will probably beat the "surprise" climax to the punch. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Amanda Wyss, (more)
- 1990
- R
When attorney William Spanner (Charles Soloman), the son of magic-wielding parents, discovers that his girlfriend Charlotte (Lisa Toothman) is being threatened by the demonic Louis (Domonic Luciano), he must come to terms with his latent powers to defeat Louis and save his girlfriend from a cruel fate. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
A geeky high school kid gets a shot at the head cheerleader thanks to a four-inch tall leprechaun who makes him absolutely irresistible to the opposite sex. Socially awkward towel boy Bill Higgins is the laughing stock of Middleville High. All Bill wants is to land a date with beautiful blonde pom pom girl Krissi Chackler, but muscle-bound basketball player Tony Chanuka isn't about to let that happen. Bill's luck finally starts to improve when he cracks open a beer and releases Lepky - a diminutive leprechaun who's till struggling to get a grip on his micro-super powers. But turning the school's biggest geek into an irresistible stud isn't as easy as granting a simple wish, and it isn't long before Bill's quest to get lucky becomes more trouble than it's worth. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Off on a hunting trip, these two city-slicker hunters encounter a sure-'nuff version of the Hatfields and the McCoys who are making moonshine and taking pot shots at one another. When they realize that these guys are for real, our hunters learn they'd better wake up to the ways of the woodsmen if they plan on ever seeing their city streets again. ~ All Movie Guide
In this low-brow combination slasher film and parody of the "Frankenstein" films, a doctor becomes desperate to somehow bring his late wife back to life. But before he can do this, he needs a few fresh parts. Hackenstein gets a golden opportunity when three girls, whose car has broken down, come knocking at his door. He lets them stay the night, but only one survives his fearsome hacksaw to see the light of day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Muir, Stacey Travis, (more)
- 1987
This dreary direct-to-video effort is set in a home for juvenile delinquents which is haunted by the ghost of a malevolent sorcerer who inhabits the body of his own son (Anthony Jenkins) and draws on the boy's life force in order to secure his own immortality. The possessed teen wreaks havoc with his fellow residents with his telekinetic powers, triggering some grisly accidents and making life even more difficult for the troubled kids. The script presents some interesting variations on the demonic-possession scenario, but could have used some serious tightening -- as indicated by the filmmakers' tendency to fill plot holes with standard slasher-style mayhem. Enlivened by some well-done special effects, but not enough to keep fingers off the fast-forward button. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Jenkins, Aaron Teich, (more)
- 1985
A young woman faces a difficult decision in this drama. She has spent most of her life preparing to dance ballet. She is also involved with a dashing reporter. Despite her love, she leaves Detroit to dance in New York, and while there she has an affair with her dance partner. Her dilemma comes when the reporter proposes marriage as her career is taking off. Now she must choose between her career and her lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1984
If Elizabeth Montgomery must continue to play put-upon women in her TV movies, it cannot be denied that she possesses the superior talents to pull it off. In Second Sight: A Love Story, Ms. Montgomery portrays a woman who has been blind for 20 years. Worried that people will try to get close to her out of pity, she distances herself emotionally from everyone but her seeing-eye dog Emma. A romance with Barry Newman begins to pull Montgomery out of her shell. When the opportunity arises for a delicate operation that may restore her sight, Ms. Montgomery is alternately elated and perplexed: will the loss of her handicap also lose her the affections of Newman--not to mention Emma? Second Sight: A Love Story was inspired by Sheila Hocken's autobiographical novel Emma and I. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Barry Newman, (more)
- 1983
- PG
This thriller follows an heiress who is being driven insane so some unscrupulous thieves can get their hands on her fortune. Actress Robyn Wallace (Anne Dusenberry) looks a lot like heiress Elizabeth (Julie Philips), so Elizabeth's vile husband (Bruce Davison) and two psychiatrists (Gail Strickland and Clu Gulager) con Robyn into making a video that purports to tell Elizabeth's life story. Instead, the devious trio use the video to confuse the identities of the two women so they can be declared mentally incompetent. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Dusenberry, Gail Strickland, (more)
In this biting comedy satirizing Hollywood cynicism from writer-director Blake Edwards, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) is a motion picture director whose career is on the skids. Having just completed a family musical that is sure to be a $30 million flop, Felix knows that his days are numbered and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. When he recovers, Felix suddenly has a brainstorm and hatches a scheme to buy the film back from his studio and lens new scenes that will turn it into a pornographic movie with big stars, a sure-fire box office winner. In order to pull it off, he'll need to convince his female lead and wife, Sally Miles (Julie Andrews, not coincidentally the director's real-life wife) to defy her wholesome, squeaky-clean public image by baring her breasts on film. S.O.B. (1981) was the final film of legendary actor William Holden. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Andrews, William Holden, (more)
- 1964
As a repairman (Sterling Holloway) works on his malfunctioning television set, middle-aged TV addict Joe Britt (William Demarest) fusses and fumes, while his wife Phyllis (Joan Blondell) launches another of her nag sessions. Once the repairman leaves, Joe tunes in to his favorite program, only to watch in amazement as his own extramarital dalliances are recreated on the 21-inch screen. Dumbfounded, Joe continues watching, whereupon the screen is filled with images of a dire and dismal future for the battling Britts. The second of Martin M. Goldsmith's Twilight Zone scripts (and the last episode directed by Twilight Zone veteran Richard L. Bare, "What's in the Box" was oriignally telecast March 13, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Demarest, Joan Blondell, (more)
- 1961
While deep-sea fishing with his colleague Paul Drake (William Hopper), Perry (Raymond Burr) receives word from his old friend Scott Cahill (Jeff York) that the Coast Guard has boarded Cahill's vessel looking for stolen gold bullion. Unfortunately, the officials not only find the gold, but also the body of Cahill's alleged partner Karl Magovern (Arch Johnson). This is the episode in which Perry inveigles his "friendly enemy" Hamilton Burger (William Talman) to take a crucial voyage on a Coast Guard cutter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
If anything, this star-studded sequel is even sillier than the original, adding to its problems by completely recasting all the roles, combining several of them into existing characters. Carol Lynley is the heroine this time, and she leaves Peyton Place for New York to write a book about the hypocrisy of her hometown. The book causes lots of trouble back home, getting Mike (Robert Sterling) fired as principal, angering Lynley's mother (Eleanor Parker), and stirring such horrible memories in Selena (Tuesday Weld) that she brains her new boyfriend with a fireplace poker, thinking he is her dead rapist stepfather. The film really belongs to Mary Astor, in a hilarious turn as a smotheringly possessive mother. She tries to come between her son and his new bride (Luciana Paluzzi) in some unintentionally hilarious scenes, causing Paluzzi to fling herself down a ski slope in an attempt at a self-induced miscarriage. Overwrought and overblown, the film is still a treat for fans of campy "suburban sin" melodramas. Look for Bob Crane as an unctuous talk show sidekick. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Lynley, Jeff Chandler, (more)
In this crime drama, a courageous high-schooler goes undercover and joins a teen-age gang so he can get revenge upon his father. When his cover is blown, his life is endangered. Fortunately, the second-in-command has a change of heart and tries to help the young man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A group of scientists arrive on a remote Pacific island to investigate what became of the previous team, which was sent out there as observers of American hydrogen bomb tests and disappeared without a trace. They island is uninhabited and devoid even of most animal life, except for a few land crabs. The group's arrival is marred by the death of one of the navy crewmen accompanying them, who falls into the ocean and comes up with his head taken off. Then the navy plane that carried them there is blown out of the sky before it can get airborne, leaving them stranded and unaccounted for. Led by Dale Drewer (Richard Garland) and Dr. Karl Weigand (Leslie E. Bradley), they find the journal of the previous team, but no explanation of what happened to them, only that they'd noticed evidence of strange creatures and inexplicable physical phenomena on the island. Soon the scientists are hearing the voices of members of the previous scientific party, calling to them in the night. Their own radio is sabotaged and something has been probing the area where they're living; finally, the group is lured into the caverns where the real menace is hiding -- gigantic, bloodthirsty mutated land crabs that communicate telepathically and seem to have all of the knowledge of the previous team's members. One by one, all but three of the members -- Brewer, electrical engineer Hank Chapman (Russell Johnson), and scientist Martha Hunter (Pamela Duncan) -- are killed off and their minds and memories absorbed by the mutant crabs, who also have the power to focus infrared radiation into deadly, destructive beams that they use to gradually pulverize large sections of the island. By the end, a single giant crab has run the trio to ground on a remaining parcel of land just a few dozen yards across. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, (more)
