Hugo Race Movies
The second and third novels in author Anne Rice's popular book series The Vampire Chronicles provide the inspiration for this horror sequel starring ill-fated actress and recording artist Aaliyah, who was killed in an airplane crash before the film's release. Stuart Townsend is the vampire Lestat, who has awakened from a century-long slumber and turned his considerable energy to rock music. His vampirism identity mistaken for a gothic hard rock publicity stunt along the lines of Kiss or Marilyn Manson, he quickly becomes a pop music sensation. Lestat's powerful music reaches the ear of the slumbering Akasha (Aaliyah), the millennia-old "queen of the vampires" who was the first immortal bloodsucker. Akasha is soon free and embarking on a quest to seize control of the world with Lestat at her side. In the meantime, Lestat becomes an object of fascination for Jesse Reeves (Marguerite Moreau), member of a secret order studying the supernatural called the Talamasca, and a band of ancient vampires come together in an effort to stop Akasha, even though her destruction could potentially cause their own deaths. Queen of the Damned co-stars Lena Olin and Vincent Perez. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aaliyah, Stuart Townsend, (more)
- 1998
Ghosts...of the Civil Dead is an Australian prison picture, ironically coproduced by a company calling itself "Correctional Services". The prison in question is a cruelly repressive institution, with a set of rules bordering on the Draconian. The inmates finally rebel in violent fashion against the regimented sadism of their captors. With its limited setting and its small cast, Ghosts...of the Civil Dead should have been easier to follow. The unnecessarily cluttered screenplay was written by the film's director, John Hillcoat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Field, Mike Bishop, (more)
In this farcical comedy, Matthew Broderick plays Clark Kellogg, an aspiring director who arrives in New York City to attend film school. However, moments after he arrives in the city, he's robbed by Victor Ray (Bruno Kirby), leaving him no money for the $700 in books required by his instructor, Arthur Fleeber (Paul Benedict). A few days later, Clark runs into Victor and demands his money back, but Victor has already lost it (on a horse race in which he wasn't entirely sure the animal he bet on was a horse). Instead, he offers to fix Clark up with a job with his boss, an "importer and exporter" named Carmone Sabatini (Marlon Brando), who bears a stunning resemblance to Don Corleone in The Godfather. Clark's adventures with Sabatini are just beginning when he's instructed to pick up a package from the airport. Clark is expecting it to be contraband, and he's right, but not in the way he figured -- it turns out he's accepting delivery of a komodo dragon, which is to be served at a "gourmet club" specializing in dishes prepared from endangered species. Marlon Brando's hilarious comic variation on one of his best-known roles is the highlight of this film, but Bruno Kirby and Paul Benedict also deliver fine comic turns, and Matthew Broderick copes nobly with his role as the film's lone normal person. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando, (more)
- 1990
- R
Heat, both climatic and erotic, imbue this Australian thriller from first-time directors Colin South and John Tatoulis. The film takes place in mid-summer in the sweltering city of Melbourne and concerns a love affair between Wendy (Santha Press), a jazz singer, and Mack (Hugo Race), a knife-wielding punk who wants to be a rock star but is planning to rob a bank. Wendy's younger sister, 15-year-old JoJo (Rebekah Elmaloglou), has moved in with Wendy, and she is rapidly becoming sexually aware, because she is secretly observing her sister and Mack as they make love. Meanwhile, two cops -- Dinny (Dominic Sweeney), an inexperienced rookie, and Milas (John Flaus), a weary veteran cop -- are following Mack because he has an audiotape in his possession that shows evidence of government corruption. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugo Race, Santha Press, (more)
