William J. Quigley Movies
Director Anthony Hickox (Waxwork) crafted this entertaining bit of horror-western fusion about the vampiric residents of a remote, dusty desert town who have chosen to derive their sustenance from a plasma-manufacturing plant in an attempt to put aside their monstrous nature and peacefully co-exist with humans. When the plant begins malfunctioning, the town's leaders summon the designer, David Harrison (Jim Metzler), to look into the problem. Soon after Harrison and his wife Sarah (Morgan Brittany) arrive, however, they find themselves in the thick of an escalating rivalry between two vampire factions -- one led by peaceful Count Mardulak (David Carradine), who ordered the blood plant as part of his plan to integrate the dying vampire race into human society; and the old-school bloodsuckers, under the sinister Jefferson (John Ireland), who consider Mardulak and his followers traitors to their predatory heritage. While the Harrisons' fates hang in the balance, the scales are jostled further by the arrival of a man named Van Helsing (Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell, in a surprisingly low-key performance), descendant of the legendary vampire hunter, whose disorganized efforts at wiping out town's undead populace are impeded by his growing attraction to a pretty young vampire (Deborah Foreman). With tongue firmly in cheek, this semi-parody plays off audiences' familiarity with the conventions of the vampire genre, but it seldom sacrifices creepiness and suspense when needed. It marked a creative step forward for Hickox (who would later stumble with Hellraiser III), who clearly tailors his projects to seasoned horror buffs. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Carradine, Jim Metzler, (more)
- 1989
- R
In this Hitchcockian thriller, a wealthy and naive young sculptor learns that people are not always nice and helpful. His first mistake is to fall for the seductress who runs the gallery that has an exclusive on his work. He then hooks up with an insane art collector who gets jealous of the gallery owner's hold on the artist and commits murder, leaving the sculptor to take the blame. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Rossovich, Sally Kirkland, (more)
- 1989
- R
Director Ken Russell returns to the D.H. Lawrence territory that had earlier served him well in Women in Love. Sammi Davis plays Lawrence's Welsh heroine Ursula Brangwen, daughter of a wealthy mine owner, who is first seen as a child given to literally chasing rainbows. Disappointed that she can never have the real thing, the older Davis seeks out figurative rainbows in the form of sexual fulfillment. Neither heterosexual nor homosexual affairs fully satisfy Davis, because no one lover can match the "ideal" the girl has created in her imagination. Davis' disappointment in the world is paralleled with the sorry lot of the wives of the local coal miners, who have adapted to their lives--something Davis can never do, will never do. Stately despite its raw subject matter, The Rainbow was filmed just before Russell's outrageous sword-and-sorcery fantasy Lair of the White Worm; since both films utilize many of the same cast members, the two pictures might make an astonishing double feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sammi Davis, Paul McGann, (more)
Don't mistake this movie for the stormy special-effects blockbuster of the same name; the two films are light years apart. Based on Mary Robison's novel Oh!, this Twister was the quirky first feature from screenwriter/director Michael Almereyda (Nadja, The Eternal) about an eccentric soda-pop tycoon and his dysfunctional family. Suzy Amis plays Maureen Cleveland, a single mother who lives with her precocious daughter Violet (Lindsay Christman) and her very strange brother Howdy (Crispin Glover) in the family mansion, tended by the young live-in housekeeper Lola (Charlaine Woodward). Maureen's ex-boyfriend Chris (Violet's father) comes back to town with the intention of rescuing Maureen and Violet from Kansas so they can start a family of their own. This turns out to be more difficult than he expected. Maureen is still angry about their break-up and seems unresponsive to his earnest and somewhat clumsy displays of affection. Howdy is too busy writing nonsensical songs and hanging out with his new girlfriend Stephanie (Jenny Wright) to be of any help. To complicate matters, their father Eugene (Harry Dean Stanton) shows up with a prudish children's TV evangelist named Virginia (Lois Chiles) and announces their engagement. No one gets along, and soon all are trapped indoors during a particularly bad Kansas twister. As the storm rages outside, Maureen and Howdy cook up a plan to find their long-lost mother, who may be the only person who can explain why they are all so odd. Like Almereyda's later films, Twister is a kaleidoscope of absurd conversations, oddball characters, and events that seem to happen for no reason at all. It's a perfect vehicle for Crispin Glover, who delivers some of the film's wackiest dialogue as the rich kid comfortably living in his own fantasy world. Tim Robbins makes an appearance as Stephanie's jealous ex-boyfriend Jeff, and author William S. Burroughs has a cameo as a farmer shooting targets in an empty barn. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Dean Stanton, Suzy Amis, (more)
- 1988
- R
Archbishop Mosley (Hal Holbrook) assigns Father Michael (Ben Cross) to a church in New Orleans in this supernatural horror film. The parish church was the site of the throat-slashing murders of two priests two years earlier. While Father Michael tends to the mostly impoverished flock of parishioners and their needs, he launches his own investigation into the mysterious unsolved deaths. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Cross, Hal Holbrook, (more)
- 1988
- R
Ken Russell's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Salome, Salome's Last Dance takes the form of a play within a film. Wilde (Nickolas Grace) arrives at a brothel with his lover, Bosey (aka Lord Alfred Douglas played by Douglas Hodge), where the proprietor, Alfred (Stratford Johns), has gathered his staff and assorted other colorful characters to mount a simple production of Wilde's new play. And so, with Alfred playing Herod, and Bosey playing John the Baptist, and with Wilde himself looking on with varying degrees of interest, the play is performed. Salome (Imogen Millais-Scott) is the daughter of Herodias (Glenda Jackson), who has abandoned her husband, since murdered, for his brother, Herod. Herod has an eye for Salome, but she mocks his interest. One evening, she hears the ranting of John the Baptist, who is Herod's prisoner, and demands that he be brought before her. She is very taken with the prophet, and attempts to seduce him while the captain of the guards, who is smitten with her, looks on. The young captain kills himself, and the prophet spurns her and is beaten. Still, she insists that she will kiss him, as he is brought away. Salome manipulates the horny Herod, who promises her anything if she will dance for him. She agrees, against the wishes of Herodias. While she performs, Wilde slips off with a young male performer, arousing Bosey's jealousy. After Salome's erotic dance (at the end of which she momentarily changes sexes), she confounds Herod by demanding the prophet's head. Russell himself has a small role in the film, as a photographer of ill repute. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Stratford Johns, (more)
- 1988
- R
In this horror film, an evil magician creates a wax display of famous monsters and murderers and invites a group of unsuspecting young college students to view the collection. However, when the kids are trapped in the deadly displays, one-by-one they soon discover that the wax models are more than they appear to be. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, (more)
Ken Russell's Lair of the White Worm uses Dracula author Bram Stoker's final novel as the basic springboard into a surreal and dark-humored tale concerning a bizarre cult and a series of sacrificial murders in honor of an ancient pagan god. When archeologist Angus Flint (Peter Capaladi) discovers the mysterious scull of an undiscovered beast, further investigation reveals a bizarre myth concerning a medieval knight slaying a fearsome dragon. Soon making the acquaintance of Lord James D'Ampton (Hugh Grant), the conquering knight's descendant, Flint begins to learn of local lore surrounding the creature and soon discovers that, throughout the years, many unexplained disappearances have haunted the local populace. With all trails leading back to the elegant mansion of mysterious recluse Lady Sylvia Marsh (Amanda Donohoe), Lord D'Ampton makes Marsh's acquaintance amidst growing speculation that the strangely seductive siren may have something to do with a rash of recent disappearances. As Flint and D'Ampton's stories begin to strangely intersect, a surreal and horrific journey into the lair of an ancient god may hold they key to an age-old mystery. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, (more)
- 1988
- PG
Set in the years just after World War I at an upper-class winter spa, this period drama concerns the sickly son, Edmund (David Eberts), of American diplomat Mr. Tuchman (Ian Richardson). Edmund is accompanied to the spa with his ice-boned mother Sonya (Faye Dunaway) to recuperate from an asthmatic condition. At the spa, Edmund meets a dashing baron (Klaus Maria Brandauer), who regales Edmund with tales of his wartime exploits and takes him on long trips in his car and into the woods to explore a decaying tower. The Baron suffers from a hidden depression. Sonya, too, suffers from a depression exacerbated by years of a passionless marriage. Inevitably, these two manic souls find each other and have an affair. But now Edmund becomes jealous, and even his well-placed asthma attacks can't break Sonya and The Baron apart. So Edmund, his innocent boyhood shattered forever, takes off to Vienna to expose the affair to his father. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, Klaus Maria Brandauer, (more)
This futuristic drama offers the classic story of Shane seved up with a few Mad Max moments and some interesting twists. The tale is set in the smouldering, decimated post-World War III town of Meridian, where locals scrabble to keep their meager farms watered in the midst of a desert wasteland. Bad-guys - a powerful landowner and his cronies - try to monopolize the precious local water supplies by bullying, kidnapping and even murdering citizens. To this beleaguered place comes the enigmatic swordsman/ warrior Nomad who has come in search of his mentor's killer. The town takes him on as their "Peacemaker" and he is able to end their problems and get his revenge to boot. The story was filmed on location in the deserts of South Africa. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, (more)
- 1987
- PG
The final film of legendary director John Huston was based on the closing story of James Joyce's Dubliners. Anjelica Huston is top-billed as Gretta Conroy, the niece by marriage of turn-of-century Irish spinsters Kate Morkan (Helena Carroll) and Julia Morkan (Cathleen Delany). At the home of these two curious ladies, Gretta is prodded into remembering her long-dead lover. She tearfully reveals to her husband (Donal McCann) that the deceased boy may well have died on her behalf. Her tale of woe bespeaks the sentiment shared by James Joyce: no matter how long in their graves, the dead will always influence the living. Adding to the film's elegiac quality, it stars Huston's daughter Anjelica and was co-written with his son Tony Huston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anjelica Huston, Donal McCann, (more)
