Alex Rebar Movies
The fourth in a seemingly endless parade of Amityville sequels, this passable TV knock-off features an item of possessed furniture from the notorious haunted house -- a concept inspired by a series of novels by John G. Jones and exploited in no less than three films of the series. This time it's a lava lamp from the accursed site that houses the evil, traveling cross-country from an Amityville garage sale (now there's a title for a sequel) to an oceanfront California estate, whereupon it releases the demonic forces within to exert their vile influence on a young girl by assuming the form of her late father. To this end, the demon animates various household appliances to whittle down the cast in death scenes which are neither shocking nor original -- much like the rest of this film. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
In this exciting action thriller, an artistic widow fights to stay alive after her husband, a Marine who had discovered that the military was well aware that it was placing defective parts in its helicopters, is mysteriously murdered. Believing that the widow, a metal sculptress, has the damning evidence, the killers take off after her and her little son. None of them realizes that she too was a Marine and is more than capable of defending herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amy Madigan, Daniel Hugh Kelly, (more)
- 1987
- R
Detective Berzak (Robert Carradine) and his suave partner Hazeltine (Billy Dee Williams) combine forces to track down a notorious drug lord in this routine action feature. Captain Ferris (Peter Graves) monitors the progress of the decidedly different detectives. The trail leads to Dacosta (Barry Sattels) a respected member of the social elite and the community. Valerie Bertanelli plays Berzak's daughter Teresa, who is pumped for information by her father about his ex-wife (Doris Roberts). ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Carradine, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
- 1984
Jose Ferrer guest stars in this episode--but not for long!--as a famed hypnotist known as The Amazing Cagliostro. As a publicity stunt, Cagliostro shepherds a group of six journalists behind locked doors, then hypnotizes them en masse. The act comes to an abrupt conclusion when Cagliostro is stabbed to death in full view of the journalists--who, being hypnotized, can remember nothing about the crime! Jessica (Angela Lansbury) of course figures that at least one person in the room was sufficiently conscious to commit the murder, and she's determined to find out which one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1983
The Clowns are the hottest new rock band on the scene, with a wild stage show that features simulated acts of violence and dismemberment. Outfitted identically in theatrical makeup and skin-tight outfits, not even their biggest fans know what they really look like or which one is which. One night after a Clowns performance, a drug dealer is found stabbed to death in the alley outside the theater, and the police believe that one of the group's crazed fans took their bloody stage antics a little too seriously. When a private party for the band results in a pile of mutilated groupies, the suspicion falls directly on the Clowns and their road crew. Could the killer be the hotheaded roadie, or maybe the pill-addict drummer? The introverted stagehand who secretly puts the band's makeup on to meet girls? The levelheaded manager who left behind a life of religious dogmatism for the rock & roll world? Or the guitarist who feels conflicted about the sick show the Clowns put on, and wonders just what is wrong with their fans? A young juvenile delinquent with a bad rap sheet is recruited by the police force to infiltrate the band's inner circle and search for clues to the maniac's identity, but she soon finds herself a target. In between the drug-fueled bashes and loud, pulsating rock, the killer stalks the bowels of the theater, waiting for another victim to destroy. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Styles, Chip Greenman, (more)
- 1980
The setting for this undistinguished, clichéd slasher film is the upscale Calvin Finishing School for Girls and the approaching Christmas break. But five of the women and their boyfriends may never see Christmas when the crazed parents of a student who was killed on campus two years before dress up as an evil Saint Nick and begin a cycle of revenge killings. The murderous couple, using anything from an axe to an airplane propeller, manage to dispatch quite a few students, although the clichés, stock situations, and stereotypical characters in the film remain intact. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jennifer Runyon, Forrest Swanson, (more)
- 1977
- R
Essentially a seedy '70s version of The Quatermass Experiment, this painfully cheap production from writer/director William Sachs involves the horrific plight of returning astronaut Steve West (Alex Rebar), the sole survivor of a disastrous expedition to the rings of Saturn. The fatal outcome of the mission apparently involved the discovery of a space-borne virus, or radiation, or something (it's never made quite clear) that killed the rest of the crew and is causing West's flesh to melt and slough off his body. For reasons unexplained, the only relief from the pain of his condition can be found by consuming live human cells. After munching on a few bystanders, West escapes into the surrounding woods, pursued by NASA researcher Dr. Nelson (Burr DeBenning) and a disorganized posse of military monster-hunters. Unable to stop his rapid dissolution or resist his cannibalistic urges, West agonizes over his dilemma (as indicated by laughable scenes of Rebar trying to register emotional anguish through layers of goop), but he still finds time to terrorize a few locals, including the topless Rainbeaux Smith and a pair of comic-relief oldsters trying to score some lemons. The film's notorious ad campaign rallied the makeup FX work of Rick Baker, but his talents are largely wasted thanks to AIP's frantic cost-cutting and a truncated shooting schedule that forewent many of Baker's elaborate prosthetics in favor of a cheap latex mask covered with gallons of syrup. Future Silence of the Lambs director Jonathan Demme contributes a brief cameo. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alex Rebar, Burr de Benning, (more)
