John Penney Movies

In this science fiction thriller, David Whitman (William Hurt) is a chemist who lost his wife and child in a freak accident and is trying to rebuild his life on his own. While doing research, Whitman discovers a series of mysterious deaths that seem to follow in the path of Joseph Mueller (Peter Weller), a seemingly ordinary man who works as a security guard. Unknown to Mueller, his body carries a strange contaminant that's deadly to many people, and Whitman is desperate to find Mueller and stop him before he can cause more deaths. But he discovers there's more to Mueller's story than he ever imagined. The Contaminated Man also stars Michael Brandon and Natascha McElhone. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Assistant District Attorney Theresa (Joan Severance) is getting threatening messages -- a mutilated cat in her car, bizarre notes regarding her attempts at getting pregnant -- pressuring her to purposely lose a high-profile case of a suspected serial killer who shot a detective. When her high-strung surgeon husband (Nick Mancuso) is kidnapped, and a finger with his wedding ring is found frying in a pan in Theresa's kitchen, she calls for help from Michael D'Angelo (C. Thomas Howell), a disgraced alcoholic detective who frequents bondage nightclubs and was recently dismissed from the force. The two are former lovers, and the stress of the continued slayings of prostitutes, the kidnapping of her husband, and the icky-sicky messages rekindle their passion for each other. But then Theresa discovers who all the clues to the killings and mysterious goings-on point to. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide

A scientist discovers that he isn't an only child in this effects-laden creature feature whose cast includes screen veterans Kim Hunter and Rod Steiger among a host of other, less well-known performers. John Hollins (David Allen Brooks) is delighted to learn that his geneticist mother, Amanda (Hunter), has awoken from her coma years after she suffered a horrible car crash. During their reunion, he learns that she was trying to put an end to a misguided experiment at her home on the night of the accident. Before losing consciousness, Amanda reveals that John has a brother named Anthony. Later, she's murdered by Dr. Phillip Lloyd (Rod Steiger), an old colleague who wants to uncover the secrets of her research. John travels to his large, run-down boyhood home with his girlfriend, a group of pals, and a mysterious acolyte of his mother's named Melissa (Amanda Pays); the group plans to search for clues about Amanda's research and John's supposed sibling. The young scientist soon ascertains that his mother had created some sort of human/aquatic hybrid, but he doesn't realize that the creature was assembled from his own genetic material -- or that it's still alive in the bowels of the house and picking off his friends one at a time. Meanwhile, something's fishy with Melissa, who skulks around, doesn't sleep, tries to seduce John, covers up details of the attacks on his friends, and seems to have some sort of connection to Dr. Lloyd. Co-directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen W. Carpenter previously collaborated on the slasher quickie The Dorm That Dripped Blood and on The Power, a made-for-TV horror film. Pays would go on to co-star in the similarly aquatic sci-fi film Leviathan. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

In this stock, low-budget occult horror film, a tiny 2-inch-high Aztecan idol is stolen from a professor and ends up in the experimental hands of three high-school students who use it in some creative attempts to get in touch with the spirit world. Things start to go wrong when a cemetery worker dies during one of these spirit sessions, and everything goes wrong after the Aztecan god possesses the body of a young man who steals the idol for his own purposes. Special effects create the appropriate flying objects and body bulges where needed, and makeup is grotesque enough by anyone's standards, but these pluses cannot erase the lack of interesting characters or situations or the uninspired acting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide