Charles B. Pierce Movies
Charles B. Pierce is one of the more gifted purveyors of "regionals"--inexpensive films, usually horrific in nature, aimed at small-town or rural audiences in the Southeast and Southwest. Pierce's first significant success was as producer/director of 1972's Legend of Boggy Creek. He went on to such low-budget, high-grossing efforts as Winterhawk (1975), The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1977), Grayeagle (1977) and Sacred Ground (1983), wearing several production hats, including producer, director, screenwriter, actor, and even cinematographer. Charles B. Pierce is the father of actor Chuck Pierce Jr., who has appeared in many of his dad's films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1987
- R
Hawken (Peter Fonda) is an itinerant wanderer, currently traversing the West. Upon meeting Indian girl Serene Hadin, Hawken immediately falls in love with her. He then takes it upon himself to avenge the brutal murder of Serene's family. In the late 1980s, Peter Fonda seemed determined to remain forever outside the Hollywood mainstream, and films like Hawken's Breed certainly helped him achieve that goal. Jack Elam and Bill Thurman also contribute their expertise to this ponderous exercise. Barely released theatrically, Hawken's Breed enjoyed a moderately successful second life on video. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jack Elam enjoys a rare top-billed starring role in The Aurora Encounter. The heavily bearded Elam plays a 19th century Texas eccentric who besottedly welcomes a space alien (Mickey Hays) into his home. Upon learning of these nocturnal visits, newspaper editor Carol Bagdasarian (the wife of Alvin and the Chipmunks producer Ross Bagdasarian Jr.) begins writing them up in her paper. She then reports these curious sightings to the governor, played by none other than former Little Rascal Spanky McFarland. The Governer feigns disbelief, but sends ranger Will Mitchell to investigate, with orders to shoot any and all extraterrestrials on sight. Meanwhile, the space visitor proves to be a friendly one by rescuing three locals from a mine cave-in. Bagdasarian and the townsfolk attempt to signal the visitor and let him know that they mean him no harm, but they haven't reckoned with the trigger-happy Mitchell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Elam, Peter Brown, (more)
- 1984
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Also known as The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek and just plain Boggy Creek II, this sequel to The Legend of Boggy Creek tells, in documentary style, about a search for a gigantic Southern swamp creature by a college instructor and his students. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles B. Pierce, Cindy Butler, (more)
- 1983
- PG
One of the precious few westerns produced in the 1980s, Sacred Ground aspires to be a social statement. Tim McIntire plays a white settler who weds Indian woman Serene Hedlin. The couple is ostracized by the white and Indian community alike, and are forced to pull up stakes. En route to their new home, the pregnant Serene suddenly gives birth. Unfortunately, the couple's child is born on sacred burial ground, making their already precarious place in society all the more shaky. Sacred Ground represents the last film appearance of onetime Wagon Train regular Tim McIntire, the son of actors John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this fourth installment of the Dirty Harry series, Harry has been banished temporarily from San Francisco because his superiors are uncomfortable about his feud with a local crime boss. He goes to an oceanside small town for a little rest and recuperation but finds the town has been traumatized by a series of brutal murders. Harry meets and falls in love with Jennifer Spencer (Sandra Locke), a young artist. Jennifer and her sister were brutally raped a few years previously by a group of men, leaving her sister catatonic and Jennifer filled with a rage that is expressed in her disturbing artworks. Harry investigates the killings and the rapes, and one by one he dispatches Jennifer's rapists, one of whom is the son of the local police chief (which explains why the police have done little investigating). Finally, Harry finds out that Jennifer also dispenses her own brand of justice because she cannot rely on the criminal justice system. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, (more)
- 1979
- PG
This pedestrian haunted-house film stars Vic Morrow as a creepy real estate agent who introduces a young couple to a quaint Louisiana farmhouse, neglecting to inform them of its horrific, blood-spattered past. As bizarre events begin to plague the couple, their suspicions that the place may be haunted slowly give way to the notion that someone is trying to scare them silly. Unfortunately, viewers will have little difficulty solving the mystery, as writer-director Charles B. Pierce tends to be all thumbs in the suspense department (despite a few decent shocks toward the end). The pseudo-documentary tone (the film is supposedly based on a true story) only manages to cheapen the overall look, and is far short of convincing. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Parks, Jessica Harper, (more)
- 1978
- PG
When his father does not return from the Norse colony in Vinland (Greenland) for years and years, warrior son Thorvald (Lee Majors) organizes an expedition to find him. He and his co-commander Ragnar (Cornel Wilde) arrive and swiftly discover that King Eurich (Mel Ferrer) and his company were abducted by Native Americans and taken to neighboring lands. With the help of a friendly tribal princess, and the comical assistance of the Norse shaman "Death Dreamer" (Jack Elam), Thorvald is able to locate and battle the tribesmen for the life of his father. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Majors, Cornel Wilde, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Grayeagle is a barely disguised reworking of John Ford's The Searchers, with Ford stock company alumnus Ben Johnson essaying the John Wayne role, and Lana Wood playing a character not unlike the one portrayed by her sister Natalie in the earlier film. The major difference is that Grayeagle is told largely from the Indians' point of view. Johnson plays John Colter, who devotes his life to tracking down Cheyenne brave Grayeagle (Alex Cord), the kidnapper of his daughter Beth (Lana Wood). One of the new plot wrinkles is the revelation that Cheyenne Chief Running Wolf (Paul Fix), and not Colter, is Beth's real father, so who's rescuing whom from what? Other veteran performers participating in Grayeagle are Jack Elam and Iron Eyes Cody, while producer-director-writer Charles Pierce also shows up in a small role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Johnson, Iron Eyes Cody, (more)
- 1976
- PG
In this children's adventure, an 11-year-old Quaker youth sets across the prairies of Montana to avenge his parents' murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles B. Pierce, Earl E. Smith, (more)
- 1976
- R
This thriller -- based on actual events -- tells in a pseudo-documentary-style of the murders of five people by a man in post-WWII Arkansas. This mystery was still considered unsolved at the time of its release. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, (more)
- 1976
- PG
This melodramatic adventure follows the exploits of a young Blackfoot Indian who goes to the Anglos for some badly needed smallpox serum. Instead of helping him, they attack. The young man is enraged and retaliates by kidnapping two young people from the unfriendly settlement. He takes them through beautiful wild country, and as they go he and his female hostage begin falling in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leif Erickson, Woody Strode, (more)
- 1974
- R
In this countrified comedy, a pair of hell-raisin' bootleggers try to get revenge upon the moonshiners who plugged their Grandpappy. They also try to get their latest batch of corn-squeezin's to Memphis before their rivals. Look carefully for a young Jaclyn Smith. When she became a star in the television show Charlie's Angels a short time later, this film was retitled Bootlegger's Angel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A sasquatch-like creature terrorizes a small Arkansas town in this presumably fact-based docudrama from Charles Pierce. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
