Katt Shea Ruben Movies

The always challenging transition from adorable child performer to sexy adult star was achieved flamboyantly by actress Drew Barrymore with this erotic drama that unfolds like a paranoia-drenched Lolita (1962). Sylvie Cooper (Sara Gilbert) is a misanthropic student at a private high school for children of the privileged. While calling in a phony bomb threat to the TV station where her father, Darryl (Tom Skerritt) is a producer, Sylvia attracts the attention of Ivy (Drew Barrymore). Ivy is an orphan from a poor family, attending the school on a scholarship. She and Sylvia quickly become best friends, and Ivy eventually moves out of her aunt's home and into the Cooper household. Ivy covets the Coopers' lavish lifestyle and luxuries, so she begins plotting to kill Sylvie's ailing mother Georgie (Cheryl Ladd), then seduce the alcoholic Darryl and frame Sylvie for the crime, thus taking over the Cooper house. Director Katt Shea Ruben and her co-writer husband Andy Ruben were veterans of the Roger Corman school of filmmaking. The success of Poison Ivy (1992) on video and cable television inspired a pair of sequels, Poison Ivy 2: Lily (1996) and Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Best known as the sexy but intellectually challenged Kelly Bundy on Married with Children, Christina Applegate broadened her range a bit with this tough-minded drama in which she played a drug-addicted teenage prostitute living on the streets of Los Angeles. Sy (David Mendenhall) is a clean-cut, middle-class teenager who dreams of becoming a rock star, so he makes his way from the suburbs into downtown L.A. to check out the action. Shortly after arriving, Sy sees a man with a gun beating Dawn (Christina Applegate), a hooker who didn't let her customer get as rough with her as he wanted. Sy comes to Dawn's rescue, and he suffers some severe facial scratches for his trouble. Dawn takes Sy under her wing and gives him a guided tour of the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, where murder, theft and addiction are as common as jaywalking, and hundreds of homeless kids no older than Sy fight for survival. Meanwhile, as Dawn and Sy become closer, the psycho who attacked Dawn is hot on her trail, looking for revenge and unconcerned with who gets hurt before he finds her. Streets was directed by Katt Shea Ruben, who acted in several low-budget exploitation films for producer Roger Corman before moving on to direct several films for Corman's New World Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This existentialist vampire tale essentially revolves around two characters: The Vampire (Cyril O'Reilly) and his intended victim, a young, brooding and suicidal stripper (Starr Andreeff). Selecting her as his prey primarily because of her desire to die, the morose supernatural predator chooses to spend an entire evening with his equally angst-ridden quarry -- a night in which the two have the opportunity to share their dreams, fears and desires. Good acting and an imaginative premise set this film apart from many low-budget vampire yarns of the period, but the talk-heavy "My Dinner With Dracula" script wears out its welcome after about an hour, and fails to realize the potential for erotic chemistry between the characters. Remade (for no apparent reason) as To Sleep with a Vampire in 1992. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This action film centers around the theft of a nuclear warhead from the U.S. Navy. Lt. Matt Ryder (Gregg Henry) is called out of his dishonorably discharged status and is requested to go find the missing nuke. It appears that the warhead has been stashed somewhere offshore, but it is never clear who has engineered the dastardly deed. When Ryder takes a time-out to get together with his old girlfriend Sean (Simone Griffeth), Sean's spurned and ego-maniacal boyfriend Mitchell (Jeff Conaway) comes forcefully into the picture. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This action film about a Vietnam vet and his fight against corruption in a small town is a variation on Final Mission by Cirio Santiago. Deke Porter (Richard Hill) gets a call from Elaine, his good buddy Marty's wife, who tearfully asks him for help because Marty has died in an automobile accident. Once he arrives in town, Deke is set upon by the local citizens; marijuana growers who want their business kept quiet. After Elaine's house is burned down, Deke escapes and decides to call up reinforcements from his army days, and the combat begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This R-rated gem is about an author who produces a novel with characters inspired by real-live Hollywood stars. When the book is turned into a film, the producers throw a party and invite all the films' real-life "characters" to celebrate its release and learn that they are featured in the film. All's well until a body turns up in the author-party host's swimming pool. However, there are plenty more bodies to be seen in this one--the kind with hearts still beating--because this comedy is loaded with nudity. ~ Rovi

In this sexploitation film, made in conjunction with the Playboy Channel, struggling law student and heir Chip Thurston cannot inherit his fortune until he graduates. If he does not finish, his cousin will get all the money. Naturally, the cousin is doing all he can to insure that Chip will fail. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi