MGM

Part of American-International's "Beach Party" series, Beach Blanket Bingo was directed by William Asher. Frankie (Frankie Avalon) briefly deserts Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) in favor of pop star Sugar Kane (Linda Evans). Also around and about is a mermaid, appropriately named Lorelei (Marta Kristen). Scurrilous cycle gang leader Eric Von Zipper (Harvey Lembeck) finds time to sing a tune, while Paul Lynde sneers a lot, Don Rickles insults a lot, Buster Keaton mimes a lot, and columnist Earl Wilson lets everybody know who he is by exclaiming "That's Earl, brother." The whole cast rushes to the rescue when South Dakota Slim (Timothy Carey) binds the lovely Sugar Kane to a buzzsaw. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This sequel to director Bernard Rose's superb, metaphorical Candyman is a more straightforward Gothic horror project, discarding any association with the events of the previous film (which was based on the short story "The Forbidden" by horror surrealist Clive Barker) aside from the title entity, played again by the imposing Tony Todd. A melancholy but extremely deadly ghost, Candyman is revealed -- in a compelling sequence of flashbacks -- as the vengeful spirit of Daniel Robitaille, a black portraitist in post-Civil War Louisiana who was set upon and horribly mutilated by an angry white mob in retaliation for his affair with a plantation owner's daughter. In present-day New Orleans, at the height of Mardi Gras festivities (the film's title refers to the literal translation of the Latin "Carnival"), Candyman walks the realm of the undead, with a hook in place of the hand he lost to the lynch mob, waiting to be summoned by the recitation of his name five times into a mirror. The latest victims of his evisceration skills include members of the Tarrant family, with young schoolteacher Annie (Kelly Rowan) next in line. Her family's connection with the Candyman legend is eventually revealed when Annie visits the family estate to uncover the link between her ancestors and Daniel Robitaille himself. This is a well-executed horror film, with fine performances and good use of the subtle menace underlying the Mardi Gras ambience, but the deft hand of Barker is clearly absent, leaving a standard horror plot without the mythical resonance of the original. The chilling Philip Glass score is a definite plus, though. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In the '50s, Bert I. Gordon made a career out of sci-fi movies about gigantic mutated insects (Beginning of the End, Earth vs. the Spider), lizards (King Dinosaur, Serpent Island), and even people (The Amazing Colossal Man), and in 1977, he was still up to his old tricks with this picture, loosely adapted from a story by H.G. Wells. Marilyn Fryser (Joan Collins) is a less than scrupulous businesswoman who is trying to sell shares in a worthless Florida housing development to a group of naive souls. However, both Marilyn and her potential customers have bigger things to worry about than low property values, when they discover that a large stock of nuclear waste was dumped near the development site, and the result is a pack of gigantic mutated ants with a nasty disposition and a taste for human blood. The supporting cast features Robert Lansing, John David Carson, and Albert Salmi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Writer/director Victor Salva returns to his horror roots with this teen-slasher genre flick, one of several 2001 films produced by Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope studio. Gina Philips and Justin Long are siblings Trish and Darry, road tripping home from college across the U.S. and bickering all the way. Menaced by a truck on the highway, the travelers encounter the same vehicle later, and what they believe is a man dumping a human body into a drainage pipe. Investigating, Darry and Trish become the intended prey of an indestructible, supernatural creature hell-bent on eating them, a murderous local myth that is proving to be all too real. As they attempt to escape their bloodthirsty pursuer, the pair discovers that even the local police station is no refuge; they also receive some advice from a knowledgeable psychic (Patricia Belcher). Jeepers Creepers co-stars Eileen Brennan. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Anthony Mann's final foray into the western genre is a disturbing examination of man's baser instincts, rising in intensity to the level of Shakespearean tragedy. The film begins as seemingly naive Link (Gary Cooper) leaves his family to take a train to Fort Worth. Also on the train is saloon singer Billie Ellis (Julie London), who is compelled by con man Sam Beasley (Arthur O'Connell) to cheat Link out of his money. But the con comes to naught when the nefarious Dock Tobin (Lee J. Cobb) and his gang rob the train. Link takes Billie and Beasley to Tobin's cabin, where it is revealed the mild-mannered Link is Tobin's nephew and a former member of his cutthroat gang. Dock Tobin draws up a plan to rob a bank which the outlaws find agreeable, but they're reluctant to have Link rejoin their group. Soon it becomes apparent why they feel this way; when Link rejoins his old gang, his shy demeanor falls away and his outlaw instincts rise to the surface. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide