Don Schain Movies

Director Don Schain cast his wife, Cheri Caffaro, as the sexy heroine of this violent action film. Caffaro, who had won a Brigitte Bardot look-alike contest as a teenager, stars as Ginger, the frequently nude crimefighter who battles a vice ring in New Jersey. The sleazy antics on display include bondage and castration, which proved so popular with drive-in crowds that Ginger returned in The Abductors (1971) and Girls Are for Loving (1973). ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In this pseudo-socially conscious and very violent low-budget actioner, a mayoral election proves to be a breeding ground of corruption and brutality. On video the film is known as City in Fear. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Cheri Caffaro reprises her role as a sexy, lethal spy in this second sequel to Ginger (1970). Director Don Schain introduces interracial themes along with the usual castrations and torture-murders in this violent exploitation actioner, filmed on location in the Virgin Islands. Jocelyn Peters co-stars as Ginger's sinister nemesis. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

A standard, mindless teen comedy that is patently geared toward the pre-teen set, H.O.T.S. involves a lot of bouncy females, in this case, sisters in the H.O.T.S. sorority, in hot-blooded competition with the women in another mythical sorority on campus. The objective seems to be to show as many cruel practical jokes, lame-brain jocks, non-stop action, wild orgies, and exaggerated characters as can fit into a 95-minute running time. Added to the pile are the requisite idiot adults who are never able to see what is going on around them, and it becomes apparent (if it was not from the beginning), which age group is meant to be the target audience here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The class president depends upon illegal race-car betting to save her high school from financial ruin. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Goodbye Bird is the story of a boy accused by his principal of stealing her treasured talking parrot. With the help of a veterinarian, the boy attempts to discover the true identity of the thief. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

A slack-jawed yokel discovers the joys of parenthood while trying to avoid the law in this gleefully tasteless comedy. Billy (Skeet Ulrich) and Buford (Gary Oldman) are two dim-witted rednecks who grew up together in an orphanage; as adults, the pair ended up in prison after reading other people's mail for a laugh was interpreted as mail theft by the authorities. Buford, who is marginally more intelligent than Billy, plans a jailbreak, and after escaping prison in a paddy wagon, the pair split up, with plans to reunite later. While en route to Utah, Billy accidentally causes an auto wreck that leaves behind only one survivor -- a baby, whom Billy is able to rescue. But Billy knows next to nothing about caring for a infant, and truck stop waitress Shauna Louise (Radha Mitchell) bravely offers to help show him the ropes, with her neighbor Estelle (Mary Steenburgen) volunteering to nurse, having given her own baby up for adoption a few days earlier. When Buford tracks Billy down, he sees the baby as a potential gold mine, imagining that some relative somewhere would be willing to pay a ransom for his return. However, Billy and Shauna Louise have grown attached to the child and they aren't willing to give him up. While Buford tries to formulate a Plan B, sleazy used-car salesman Norman (Ed O'Neill) arrives on the scene; he knows Billy and Shauna Louise didn't come by the baby honestly and is eager to use this knowledge to his advantage. Nobody's Baby was written and directed by David Seltzer, who previously dealt with troublesome children as the screenwriter for the horror hit The Omen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A girl puts her ability to keep a confidence to work, though she soon learns it's a tougher job than she imagined in this comedy drama for young people. Emily (Evan Rachel Wood) is a 14-year-old girl who loves music and is studying the violin. She has a real gift as a violinist, and has passed up the opportunity to go to summer camp with her friends to study with her tutor, Pauline (Vivica A. Fox), who believes Emily has a chance of landing a spot in the community symphony orchestra. Emily also has an unusual business on the side -- for 50 cents, she'll hear and keep other kids' secrets, and offer advice on how to keep incriminating facts away from parents, teachers, or other authority figures. However, she also has a secret of her own -- a new family has moved into the neighborhood, and while Philip (Michael Angarano), a year or two younger than Emily, quickly takes a liking to her, she immediately develops a crush on his older brother, David (David Gallagher). However, David has a habit of getting into trouble, and soon Emily is keeping some secrets she's prefer to get off her chest. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Marnie and her friends from Halloweentown are back in this made-for-cable feature. Marnie (Kimberly J. Brown) is a teenage witch living with her family of supernatural beings in the village of Halloweentown. Marnie and her pals are interested in attending high school in the nearby mortal community, where they'll be able to spend more time with kids their age, and with the help of her grandmother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds), she's able to convince the town council to go along with the suggestion. However, there's a catch -- if anything dangerous happens as a result of their presence in the mortal school, Marnie and her friends will lose their magical talents. Trouble does make its way to the school, but not in a way anyone expected -- the Knight of the Iron Dagger comes to the mortal world determined to wipe out Marnie and her magical companions. Halloweentown High is the third film in the Disney Channel series that also includes Halloweentown and Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The true story of a man who never gave up on his dreams of doing something big -- and doing it very, very fast -- provides the basis for this engaging comedy drama. Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins) was born in 1899 in Invercargill, New Zealand. From childhood, Munro had a passion for machines that moved fast, and when he was 21 he bought his first motorcycle, an Indian model with a 600 cc engine. Motorcycles became an obsession that stayed with Munro for the rest of his life, as he constantly tinkered with his beloved Indian machine, modifying the engine and frame, determined to see just how fast he could make it run. In 1967, Munro decided it was high time he proved to himself and the world just what he and his machine could do, and he booked passage for the United States, with the goal of breaking the world's land speed record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. As Munro made his way across America to Utah, he discovered not everyone took his dream seriously, but some did, and he made a handful of friends along the way, including Ada (Diane Ladd), a widow who fell for Munro's rough charm, and Fernando (Paul Rodriguez), a car dealer who offered to help him. However, when he finally arrived at Bonneville, Munro was told his machine was unsafe to participate in the time trials, and -- far worse -- he was too old to ride. It took some intervention from a ranking American driver, Jim Moffett (Chris Lawford), before Munro was given his chance to ride the famous Salt Flats. The World's Fastest Indian was written and directed by Roger Donaldson, who early in his career made a documentary about the real Burt Munro, Offerings to the Gods of Speed. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The captain of the East High basketball team and the key member of the academic club shock the student body by teaming to audition for the upcoming school musical in a Disney Channel Original Movie that's all about being yourself and following your dreams. Troy (Zac Efron) is best known as the player who keeps the East High basketball team on the scoreboard. Of course, life isn't always about athletics, though, and as Troy slam-dunks on the boards, beautiful and brainy Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) is raising the reputation of East High as the key member of the school's successful academic team. Despite their outgoing natures, no one would ever peg Troy and Gabriella as theater types. When word gets out that this popular pair has secretly chosen to reach for the stars and try their luck on the stage, the students of East High are about to learn an important lesson in teamwork while gearing up for a musical performance that will have their audience dancing in the aisles. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

High School Musical 3: Senior Year continues the ongoing tune-filled love story between basketball player Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and brainy beauty Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens). As they head toward high-school graduation, the couple realizes that they'll be separated when they head to different colleges in the fall, so they join with their friends to produce a spring musical that will help them express their hopes and fears about the future. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide