Much of the dialog seems improvised, with erratic results. Director Hal Ashby's cut of the film was chopped by Paramount and by producer Schaffel and writers Voight and Schwartz, and it came up weaker for it. In spite of having problems, however, the film is not a complete turkey.

Richard Benjamin's direction surprisingly provides a dizzy pace and inventive set-ups, aided greatly by cinematographer Gerald Hirschfeld and editor Richard Chew.

Woods is particularly good as the deprogrammer, conveying an air of moral tackiness that suggests the "cure" may be worse than the perceived disorder.

Director Damiano Damiani occasionally conveys a few genuine chills between bouts of unintentional laughter, but overall the film is a failure.

Like The American Friend, Wenders's previous meditation on American genres, Hammett is less concerned with its storyline than it is with focusing on an American myth. As such it is not to be missed.

Surprisingly, the special effects aren't bad but they're wasted in a film that features a vomiting contest as a highlight. Skip this one.

Not much action or excitement here.

Violent update of The Blackboard Jungle.

The film's most memorable character is the perpetually stoned surfer played by Sean Penn. His confrontations with Mr. Hand (Walston), a draconian history teacher, provide the film's finest moments.

It's still trash.

Thematically the film is banal, and even its simple themes of alienation, loneliness, and paranoia are muddled and sapped of relevancy by the overblown treatment. Geldof is effective in the lead, and the animation sequences by political cartoonist Gerald Scarfe are interesting and well executed, though too long.

Pop tunes are mixed in with some of the original G&S songs in a pirate period setting that grates on the nerves, as does the inane toilet humor that substitutes for wit. All the performers, especially McNichol, look as if they can't wait until the film is over, and one can hardly blame them.

The jokes tossed into this feeble effort involve Cheech and Chong in drag, herpes, and an S&M porno adventure featuring the comedians' real-life spouses Shelby Fiddis and Rikki Marin.

The film probes the pitfalls of growing up, tackling such subjects as sex, boozing, and fighting--three areas the Disney folks have stayed clear of in the past. Dillon, though occasionally annoying, turns in a decent performance, as do Jim Metzler as his brother and Meg Tilly as his girlfriend.

Ron Howard's direction is carefully balanced, and he treats his characters with humanity and respect. Winkler turns in the best performance of his career, and Keaton is wonderful.

Davidson elicits warm performances from inexperienced actors, but his efforts are in vain because the script provides a hackneyed treatment of its delicate subject.

The performances are uniformly strong, with Gere offering some of his best work - though it pales in comparison with Gossett's tour de force as the tough, principled Sgt. Foley.

Empty shortening of Irving's book reaches for profundity, and comes up courageous but brainless.

All the tunes are forgettable, and Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, who plays a crusading moralist, ham it up mercilessly.

Woody Allen is among a very few people in the history of film who have provided audiences with really intelligent humor. But even Homer nods, and never has Allen more obviously fallen down on the job than in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, a trifle that owes much to Ingmar Bergman in style and to Groucho Marx in content.

This superbly animated (but weakly scripted) tale was produced by Don Bluth, who left Disney Studios when he became dissatisfied with the quality of their animated films in the 1970s, taking a dozen of Disney's best animators with him. The result is a return to the lush, finely detailed animation seen in the best Disney features.

For all its cute contrivances, Six Pack isn't a bad film and is guaranteed to warm the hearts of Rogers' fans.

It's intelligently conceived (on a visual level, at any rate) and largely good fun. Steven Lisberger, an East Coast animator, directed the visuals, combining the actors and computer graphics with satisfying results.

With its fades to blinding white and its atmosphere of testosterone-fueled paranoia, Carpenter's remake hews more closely to the source material — John W. Campbell, Jr.'s 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" — than THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD and is a masterful exercise in claustrophobic suspense.

Well over $20 million was spent to create a film full of sound and fury but without an inkling of intelligence.

This charming musical based on the comic strip character Little Orphan Annie features many memorable songs and pleasant dance numbers.

For the more intelligent Eastwood fan, the film offers an interesting exploration of the actor-director's screen persona. Throughout, he experiments with a number of different disguises, finally embracing total dehumanization when he steps into the Firefox, dons the special mind-reading helmet, and becomes one with the sleek, gleaming, high-tech killing machine.

Israel Horowitz's script fails to develop sympathetic adult characters, leaving the children to give the film whatever charm it may have.

Though the story feels standard, the fun comes from the meticulously realized details that director Steven Spielberg and associate producer-writer Melissa Mathison have injected into the material.

Most conspicuously absent is John Travolta, replaced here by Maxwell Caulfield, who can't lift the original greaser's comb. Michelle Pfeiffer (MARRIED TO THE MOB; DANGEROUS LIAISONS) fares better as Olivia Newton-John's replacement, but the whole movie looks as if it has been slapped together to capitalize on its predecessor's success, and no doubt, it was.

This is one of the most popular in the series, thanks to a high action quotient (including a tensely staged space battle), a suitably campy turn by Montalban, and the shock value of Spock's death. There is some novelty value, too, in the focus on Kirk's family life back on Earth.

The problem is, some of the truly horrifying moments slip through the censorship cracks, scaring little kids (and their parents), leaving POLTERGEIST a very disjointed, uneven movie.

More than just being about the making of FITZCARRALDO, the film is an incisive character study about a visionary filmmaker who seems to be oblivious to the fact that the making of his film is becoming as difficult and foolhardy as Fitzcarraldo's own struggles.

Rocky III crawls along without dramatic impetus, failing to convey the big emotions and missing the humor of the first two films.

A simple story is lost in the film's complex structure, and only when O'Neal and Julia are on screen together does this directorial debut of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel come to life.

A consistently hilarious parody of the noir and detective genres, expertly blending classic archival footage with the action.

A series of meaningless adventures punctuated with a lot of clanky, very bloody swordplay, Conan the Barbarian is best remembered for a scene in which Schwarzenegger punches out a camel.

The film is rather haphazard in its visual style and plotting, tallying up to a confused condemnation of our lack of morality.

The acting is laughable, the story as believable as honesty in government.

Excessively gory, FORBIDDEN WORLD nonetheless has several well-directed suspense scenes, and its special effects are impressive for a low-budget effort.

Lots of gore and some decent artistic effects may keep audiences interested; if not, then the scantily clad.

Potent and simmering if sometimes a little overstated, THE CHOSEN manages to elicit a tolerable and appropriate performance from the generally emetic Benson.

A pleasant, mildly inspirational movie but hardly worthy of all the accolades it received.

Director Paul Schrader's dreamlike, stylishly atmospheric remake of Val Lewton's 1942 horror classic needs to be taken on its own terms: viewers who assent to its Freudian logic and creepy sexuality will likely be entranced, but just a little critical distance renders the whole thing irretrievably ludicrous.

Richard Pryor's assured tragicomic performance is so engaging that this otherwise forgettable film is not only worth watching, but often compelling.

Filled with implausibilities and unintentionally funny moments, this early Norris feature was little more than an excuse for the actor to use his karate skills. Exploitative in nature, but popular with its audiences.

Arguably one of the best horror films of the 1980s.

A smooth and efficient film about some pretty rough characters, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY deserves its status a modern-day crime classic.

A terrifically droll satire on both horror movies and American middle-class values. Despite the subject matter, our hero and heroine emerge as genuinely sympathetic characters, which ultimately makes one wonder where the film's true sympathies lie.

It's lewd, it's crude and it's funny - don't try to say you didn't laugh.

This is an extremely faithful film adaptation of Ira Levin's gimmicky stage play.

A musical boudoir farce, captivating at times, infuriating at others.

Though Costa-Gavras clearly has a political axe to grind, he manages to do so without haranguing the viewer, keeping the film's focus on his characters and masterfully building tension as the story moves toward its stinging resolution.

Diner is an often hilarious, frequently touching film.

Though director Guy Hamilton has tried to make the Christie formula more cinematic by trimming the number of characters and streamlining the plot, the picture is still rather uninteresting. Only the performances, the lovely location, and some Cole Porter tunes make it worth watching.

Not much happens, but the the filmmakers' knowing, stylized eroticization of biker culture is extraordinary.

The language is filthy, the film is simpleminded, and Bronson's character is as despicable as those he murders. Death Wish II wades in gore and violence, exploiting hatred, fear, and mass murder.

Although SWAMP THING was definitely aimed at a different audience than THE HILLS HAVE EYES, Craven fails to capture the gothic quality of its comic book inspiration--which had some genuinely frightening and grotesque moments. Instead, the whole thing is merely silly and not much fun.

Finney and Keaton each have their heavy dramatic moments, but there is nothing in writer Bo Goldman's script that hasn't been seen and heard in a thousand other films.

A beautifully filmed, nicely philosophic and rather old-fashioned western with an elegiac tone, well directed by Australian director Fred Schepisi (Breaker Morant), Barbarosa features uniformly strong acting, with Busey and Nelson making a good team.

Although occasionally bleak, the film affords many pleasurable moments, showing early man learning to laugh and expressing delight and amazement at the sight of fire.

Despite fine performances from its lead actors, The Border fails to involve the viewer at more than a perfunctory level.

Nick Nolte gives one of his finest performances in this somewhat mannered but absorbing adaptation of John Steinbeck's novels Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday.

Written by Tom Holland, who would go on to write and direct FRIGHT NIGHT and CHILD'S PLAY, the script does a nice job of translating the awkwardness of adolescence into a horrifying event.

Racing through the sub, squeezing through tiny openings, director Wolfgang Petersen's camera brilliantly evokes the claustrophobia and clamor of undersea battle.

PERSONAL BEST offers a detailed, believable insider's portrait of the world of track and field. This very different sports film isn't for everyone, but patient viewers should find many small pleasures in it.

Director William Asher, whose previous credits include various episodes of I Love Lucy and several beach party movies--most notably, BEACH BLANKET BINGO and HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI--keeps the action rolling at a brisk pace, while Tyrrell turns in one of her best performances as the psychopathic aunt.

The only thing that differentiates this weak offering from a made-for-television feature are Fairchild's nude scenes, which are gratuitously worked in and add nothing to the story.

Not for everyone, but those who respond to it will find it unforgettable.

The film's chief attribute, however, is also one of its major flaws. In presenting an up-close, personal look at the lives of its famous figures--particularly Reed and Bryant in their love affair and marriage--the film sometimes gives short shrift to the world-shaking events that are its unique subject. Nonetheless, the brilliantly designed and photographed REDS is a beautiful, passionate film, both in its stunningly recreated action scenes and its quietest moments.

The humor is forced.

Sydney Pollack's film is a solid, absorbing drama that, in profiling the damage that can result from investigative reporting, presents a counterpoint to All The President's Men.

Avildsen, however, is hardly a comedy director. Best known for his Oscar-winning ROCKY, he shows little sense of comic set-up and delivery. The result peters out about halfway through the film, with only touches of bizarre flavor in the rest. A ridiculous, cartoonlike score by Conti doesn't help much.

Pakula again uses big-name stars to deliver a political message. This time around Fonda and Kristofferson are involved in the world of high finance that teeters on the brink of disaster when Arab countries threaten to pull their money from US banks instead of letting it "roll over."

A beautifully photographed movie filled with poignancy, humor, and (of course) some superb acting.

This direct rip-off of The Hills Have Eyes has nothing going for it.

Ambitious, but only sporadically engaging.

Suspenseful throughout most of its running time and exceedingly well shot, ROAD GAMES collapses at the end. The confrontation between Keach and the killer is a let-down. Although director Franklin has definitely studied his Hitchcock (he would go on to direct PSYCHO II), his film lacks the psychological depth of the master's work. Keach, however, is very engaging as the eccentric hero.

This wild and sometimes woolly fantasy is delivered in the customary chaotic Python style, resulting in an onslaught of witticisms and slapstick.

The real reason for the existence of this unexceptional film is to show off the artistry of special-effects man Savini.

Harper (STARDUST MEMORIES; MY FAVORITE YEAR), a vastly underrated actress, clearly exhibits more talent than this film deserves, its only real standout. Rather than maintain the level of crude, campy fun in the original, SHOCK TREATMENT deteriorates into lame, humorless nonsense that bores rather than amuses.

A totally unnecessary and extremely poor sequel to the original "Halloween". Although Dean Cundey's photography goes a long way toward recapturing the look of the first film, director Rick Rosenthal is no Carpenter, and the emphasis here is on graphic blood and gore rather than the skillful manipulation of the audience.

[A]confusing, silly story.

More a standard haunted-house comedy than a parody of FRIDAY THE 13TH, this uninspired farce rarely succeeds...Pitifully childish on all counts, SATURDAY THE 14TH really doesn't contain anything fresh or funny, save one gag in which the gill man emerges from a bubble bath.

Ivory's dispassionate direction precludes real involvement with the characters, resulting in a peculiarly austere depiction of a colorful era.

Though occasionally jarring, the intercutting between the parallel stories, aided immeasurably by Streep's disparate characterizations, succeeds in conveying the complexity of Fowles' novel.

Louis Malle's somewhat overrated My Dinner With Andre is a filmed conversation between two friends, and whether you find the movie profound, pretentious, or entertaining will depend on how interesting you find the talk.

This could have been--and is--a very funny film; unfortunately, most of the laughs are unintentional.

Most of the plot twists are confusing and haphazardly developed, leaving the movie as little more than an excuse to show off Stan Winston's admittedly effective gore effects.

This tepid ghost story fails to focus on either its story or its target audience.

This light comedy suffers from a weak script, and although Reynolds manages to hold his own against the brainlessness of the material, he can't rise above it.

Despite its lack of imagination, this dull martial arts entry spawned two sequels: Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III--The Domination.

A rip-off of ALIEN (1979), this Roger Corman production has plenty of gore and a mindless storyline. A group of astronauts are sent to rescue a stranded spaceship. One is raped by a giant worm, another blows up, and a third cuts off his own arm. The special effects are excellent.

Joan Crawford (Dunaway, in a remarkable makeup job) comes off as a cartoon monster in this over-the-top biopic, which blithely mixes fact, legend, and--especially--elements of Crawford's unique screen persona.

Arguably writer-director Walter Hill's best film to date, Southern Comfort works both as a pure action film and as an extremely effective allegory of America's involvement in Vietnam.

The period detail is letter-perfect, the cast is uniformly excellent, and Delerue's score is haunting and evocative. TRUE CONFESSIONS is a thoughtful but deeply disturbing film, and its frank portrayal of corruption and murder makes it for adults only.

By turns sophisticated and satirical, SO FINE runs the comedy gamut from high camp to low farce.

Worth seeing, if only for the great cast and John Alcott's always-impressive photography.