John Rosenberg Movies

Adrienne Barbeau stars in this campy horror flick about dead nuns and the undead. The film opens with the legendary massacre at the St. Francis Boarding School for Girls. One night in 1960, a disgruntled former student saunters into the school chapel and kills a bunch of nuns and a priest with a shotgun. The deranged student, young Christine (Oakley Stevenson), then douses the mother superior with gasoline and sets her on fire with the flick of a lit cigarette. Forty years later, the shuttered school is a popular haunt for drunken frat boys and pasty-faced goths. When the cops make their usual bust of trespassing revelers, black-bedecked Mo (Megahn Perry) sticks around, only to be kidnapped for a Satanic human sacrifice. The inept devil worshippers inadvertently call up a real live demon when they stab Mo. Most of the ersatz Satanists are either butchered or rendered evil ghouls. Fortunately, Clarissa (Joanna Canton), the obligatory "nice-girl" in the band, manages to flee the school and find refuge with Christine (Barbeau), who was recently released from a mental asylum. With some coaxing, Christine agrees to break out the armaments and fight against the demons. Rap star Coolio appears as a freaked-out cop in the film. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Daniel Simpson (Justin Theroux) is headed to the home of his wealthy family to celebrate Thanksgiving, with his girlfriend Suzanne (Alyssa Milano) at his side, but Daniel is not looking forward to the holiday. He's long felt like an outcast in his family, and his staunchly conservative parents don't much care for him or his ideals. Thanksgiving dinner turns into an ugly argument, as Daniel's father insists that his son should take over the family business, a prospect that holds no interest for Daniel. Wanting to take a break from the ugliness, Daniel and Suzanne head down to the basement to cool off and collect their thoughts. However, while Daniel and Suzanne are trying to relax, a gang of thieves, led by Jim (Ice-T) and Tiny (Tiny Lister Jr.), break into the house and murder the family. Daniel and Suzanne realize that they're the only survivors, but do they hide in the cellar as the gang robs the house of its valuables, or try to escape before they're found and executed? Below Utopia was released on home video under the title Body Count, doubtless thanks to the presence of Ice-T in the cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Kurt Voss' neo-noir stars Brad Dourif as ex-con Bud Cowan, who falls prey to the schemes of an artist (M.K. Harris) and his twisted sister (Sammi Davis). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

If you know the Clement Clark Moore poem, you'll know that Prancer is one of Santa Claus' "eight tiny reindeer." When 9-year-old Rebecca Harrell, who still believes in Santa despite the remonstrations of her parents and the taunts of her peers, stumbles across the selfsame Prancer in a remote part of the forest, no one will believe the girl. Later on, Harrell's no-nonsense father Sam Elliot comes across a wounded reindeer, he feels it his duty to put the suffering animal out of his misery. The deer, of course, is Prancer, and it magically vanishes before Elliot's startled eyes. Harrell nurses the deer back to health in secret, with the help of kindly doctor Abe Vigoda and her troublesome older brother John Joseph Duda. Harrell is determined to contact Santa and let him know where Prancer is, but her efforts only result in public humiliation for her father. But this is a Christmas film, and the spirit of goodwill is contagious by fadeout time, even transforming town-recluse Cloris Leachman into a warm-hearted social animal. Filmed in Indiana, Prancer isn't quite a classic, but it's perfect midwinter videocassette entertainment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Actor Gavan O'Herlihy had come a long way from his co-starring stint on the American TV sitcom Happy Days when he headed the cast of the British miniseries A Killing on the Exchange. O'Herlihy was seen as Dan Maitland, an American stockbroker who was transferred by his firm to the London exchange. No sooner had Dan arrived than he found himself up to his well-groomed neck in murder and treachery. With such "usual suspects" as Joss Ackland and Michael Gough in the supporting cast, was it any wonder that it took so long for the cops to solve the mystery at hand? The six hour-long episodes of A Killing on the Exchange were seen courtesy of Anglia Television in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though we never see him, Edwin is the pivotal character in this British comedy. Alec Guinness stars as a retired British barrister Sir Fennimore Truscott, who discovers that his wife Renee Ashershon has been cheating on him. This is embarrassment enough: even worse is the fact that Renee's affair with neighbor Paul Rogers has apparently been going on for years. The question: who's the real father of Sir Fennimore's son Edwin? Played out with the sort of dry wit that only the British ever seem to get completely right, Edwin was produced for television; it enjoyed its widest American exposure via cable and public TV. Guiding the mirthsome proceedings is director Rodney Bennett, of Rumpole of the Bailey fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide