Joel Soisson Movies

Several years after the events of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Jesse Walsh and his family moved into the home of Nancy Thompson, the only survivor of supernatural killer Freddie's reign of terror. Haunted by dreams of the disfigured child-killer, the lonely Jesse has trouble sleeping, falls asleep often in school and quarrels with his picture-perfect family. Lisa, his prospective girlfriend, discovers Nancy's diary in Jesse's closet, and slowly he learns of his predecessor's ordeal. When his sadistic gym teacher catches Jesse blowing off steam at a leather bar, he attempts to exact punishment of an unsavory nature. Freddie intervenes, savagely murdering the coach in the school shower room, and Jesse must flee the crime scene naked, terrified that he's going insane. His parents become convinced he's on drugs, but Jesse knows that Freddie is trying to possess him. Bereft of sleep, alienated, and frightened of what he might do to his sister or Lisa -- especially if he responds to her sexual advances -- the youth attempts to sequester himself in his friend Ron's bedroom; Freddie emerges though, killing Ron and sending Jesse on the lam. Mayhem erupts when Freddie/Jesse crashes Lisa's pool party, leading to a showdown at the abandoned factory where the madman first preyed on the children of Springwood. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The "boys next door" are Roy Alston (Maxwell Caulfield) and Bo Richards (Charlie Sheen), typical California teens freshly graduated from high school. Daunted by the prospect of the real world, the boys decide to go on one last fling in L.A. But it's not all clean, wholesome fun; in fact, Caulfield and Sheen launch their weekend bash by beating up a gas-station attendant, throwing a glass bottle at an old woman, and murdering gay-bar patron Chris (Paul C. Dancer). Somewhere along the line, Bo becomes repelled by their violence spree, but Roy seems to be sexually aroused by all the misery he's causing. And so it goes, without real rhyme or reason, until the bloody denouement. Director Penelope Spheeris later helmed Wayne's World, The Little Rascals, and The Beverly Hillbillies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Character actor Charles Martin Smith directed this quirky horror film about a dead rock star who wreaks vengeance on a small town. When a rock musician is banned from performing at a high school Halloween dance and ends up perishing in a hotel fire, he vows vengeance on the town and comes back from beyond the grave to obliterate the population. He does this through one of his most rabid fans, the nerdy Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price), a high school outsider. He is such a fan that he plays the rock star's final album "Songs in the Key of Death" in reverse, looking for instructions on how to live his life. The rock star willingly obliges Eddie with helpful hints and soon Eddie is able to face down the high school bullies and gain the attention of an attractive girl. But soon Eddie begins to suspect that the ghost is using him. With the ghost intent on destroying the town, Eddie uses his newfound self-confidence to stand up to the ghost and save the town from destruction. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

With only a few days before their high-school graduation, it looks like airheaded rock star wannabes Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are doomed to flunk all their finals. The boys' long-suffering teacher (Bernie Casey) gives them one more chance. If they can ace an oral exam on the topic of how a famous historical personality might react to modern times, they will be allowed to pass. If not, Ted's dad will plunk the boy into military school, thereby breaking up the boys' garage band permanently. Bill and Ted receive unexpected aid from a very unexpected source: Rufus (George Carlin), an Emissary from the Future. It seems that in Rufus' time, Bill and Ted's rock music is the basis of all society-and if their band is aborted, Rufus' world will no longer exist. Thus, Bill and Ted are whisked off in a time machine (actually a telephone booth) to retrieve a few historical characters--including Joan of Arc, Abe Lincoln, Napoleon and Beethoven--as "eyewitnesses" for their crucial oral exam. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure inspired both a sequel (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) and a Saturday morning cartoon series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Long before she was in Friends, Courteney Cox had to deal with a few enemies in Blue Desert. A rape victim, Cox is given the runaround by the New York police. Fed up with city life, she heads for the wide open spaces of Arizona. Not long afterward, she is propositioned by lowlife Craig Sheffer. She reports this to sympathetic local cop D.B. Sweeney, who replies matter-of-factly that this is not the first time that Sheffer has been accused of a sexual offense. To her amazement, Cox is later visited by Sheffer, who agitatedly warns her not to trust the supposedly sweet-natured Sweeney. Someone is lying about something-and Cox plain doesn't know who to believe. When she finally finds out, it's nearly too late. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Maniac Cop (1988), we were introduced to a disfigured psycho law enforcement officer. It wasn't enough that this revenge-driven fiend killed and mutilated his victims: he also kept their pelts and scalps as trophies. The part was play by Robert D'Zar in the first two Maniac Cop flicks; D'Zar is back for Badge of Silence: Maniac Cop 3, in which he continues his reign of terror, as the good cops endeavor to put an end to his activities. By way of a plot, a hush-hush conspiracy is thrown into the proceedings. The slash-and-gashfest was written by Larry (It's Alive!) Cohen, while the musical score was by no less than Jerry Goldsmith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An American FBI agent infiltrates the notorious Japanese yakuza and is forced to choose between old loyalties and his new bond of blood in this lurid crime thriller starring Viggo Mortensen. The first American ever to be accepted into Japan's treacherous criminal underworld, FBI Agent Nick Davis (Mortensen) successfully infiltrates the American arm of the yakuza and quickly rises through the ranks due to his reputation as a skilled assassin. But when Agent Davis is subsequently adopted into the powerful Tendo crime family, his mission is complicated by Italian mob boss Dino Campanela (Michael Nouri) and unpredictable enforcer Vic (Nicky Katt). When crooked and uncompromising FBI task force head Agent Littleman (Robert Forster) sets his sights on Agent Davis, the stage is set for a showdown that will set the criminal underworld ablaze. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Actor Matthew Broderick made his directorial debut with this romantic drama based on the life of Nobel Prize-winning scientist Richard Feynman. Feynman (Broderick) grew up in New York, where, early on, he began to display a remarkably keen intelligence and a fascination with science encouraged by his parents. While in high school, Richard meets a beautiful girl named Arline Greenbaum (Patricia Arquette), and they quickly fall in love. Richard and Arline intend to marry someday, but they decide it would be prudent to wait until after they finish college -- they have no money, and Richard intends to attend Princeton after finishing his undergraduate work at M.I.T. However, these plans are changed when Arline discovers that she has tuberculosis, which was a very severe illness in the '30s; treatments were not always effective and victims were generally sent to sanitariums, where they could be quarantined from the rest of the population. With Arline's health in question, Richard agrees to marry her immediately. He's also offered a position in Los Alamos, NM, working on a top-secret project for the government. Richard tries to help Arline through her illness as he begins to develop ethical qualms about his new assignment, which is to help design and construct an atomic bomb. Infinity also stars Peter Riegert and Dori Brenner as Feynman's parents. Broderick's mother, Patricia Broderick, wrote the screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Revenge after an investigation gone-wrong turns into a family affair in this made-for-television movie. When an FBI operation goes sour and lives are lost, a mobster (Michael Lerner) decides to avenge the death of his son by kidnapping the son of the agent (Russell Crowe) he believes to be responsible. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

Thirty years ago, science-fiction editor Art Saha coined the term "trekkies" when he saw a few fans of Star Trek's first season wearing pointy ears. Today, the word is found in the Oxford dictionary, and aficionados of the long-run series have seen their subculture achieve stratospheric status. In this documentary on the fan mania surrounding Star Trek, Denise Crosby (Star Trek: the Next Generation) serves as tour guide, stopping off at a radio talkshow, visiting fans in their homes, interviewing actors of both the original and later series, and visiting fan clubs and conventions. Starbase Dental, a Trek-themed drilling station operated by dentist Dr. Denis Bourguignon, is only one of the unusual fan homages revealed here. World premiere at the 1997 Hamptons and AFI Los Angeles film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Dean Koontz scripted this adaptation of his fantasy novel. The tale begins when two sisters, Lisa (Rose McGowan) and Jenny (Joanna Going) arrive for a ski vacation in the mountain resort town of Snowfield, Colorado, where they discover their landlady is dead and the town is deserted except for a single dead police officer. Lisa and Jenny are soon joined by Sheriff Bryce Hammond (Ben Affleck) and his deputies Stu Wargle (Liev Schreiber) and Steve Shanning (Nicky Katt). The five conclude that the entire town is missing or dead, but after they head for a local hotel, they hear a Patsy Cline tune emanating from the second floor -- where a scribbled message mentions "Timothy Flyte" and the "Ancient Enemy." After Wargle is attacked by a bizarre creature that sucks out his brain, Hammond radios for help. The Feds find Flyte (Peter O'Toole), a British professor who explains his theory of an Ancient Enemy, periodically emerging from inside the Earth to decimate civilizations. Human extinction looms, but Flyte and an Army commando unit arrive in Colorado with a plan of action. Directed by Joe Chappelle, who made Thieves Quartet (1994). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Daniel Benzali stars as a scowling pit bull of a car salesman in this comedy directed by Roger Nygard. Bobby (Louis Mandylor) seeks employment at Southside Motors, where Reggie (Benzali) trains his employees to bilk his customers out of as much cash as possible. Things go astray in Reggie's tightly run venture when loan sharks visit to call in some of Bobby's substantial debts. Suckers was screened at the 1999 AFI/L.A. Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide