It waffles constantly, and we never know if the creators are for or against gambling.

SMOOTH TALK is trying to talk to a 1980s generation by using 1960s dialog. Faithfully adapted from a 1970 Joyce Carol Oates short story, the film's attitudes are better suited to that era than to the present. Dern (daughter of Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd), however, is the one element that makes SMOOTH TALK.

This attempt to combine elements of vampire lore with the limited format of the teen sex comedy is a monstrous movie all right, a frighteningly awful horror comedy.

Russell is likable considering the inane nature of the film, but Dinome, a former model making his feature debut, is all teeth and moussed hair.

Though filled with strong performances from all the principals, THAT WAS THEN...THIS IS NOW is thin material. We watch as Estevez's tortured character tries to come to grips with adult emotions and responsibilities, but we never really get a handle on what is inside him. Screenwriter-actor Estevez fails to provide any insight. What is refreshing about the film is that the teenagers seem real, with a keen sense of detail in the portrayal of their environment.

The best that can be said of this lame comedy is that it will make you run to the video store to rent Brooks' YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

A deadpan satire of the espionage film that explores the accepted logic forming the basis of the genre. Although not as interesting as some of Penn's other genre experiments, TARGET is worth seeing if only for the inspired teaming of Hackman and Dillon.

It's a film that deals with natural emotions and commonplace decisions creating uncommon situations. Bud Yorkin's direction is also top-notch.

SUBWAY is DIVA with no brains--a film of all style and little substance. Ah, but what style!

The direction is lackluster, and the film is padded with a number of useless scenes.

A worthy successor to the original movie, NIGHTMARE PART 2 is surprisingly optimistic and moral. The power of love and kindness wins out over evil and violence--something not often seen in modern horror films.

An astonishing, brilliantly edited car chase--with pursuer and pursued speeding the wrong way along the LA Freeway--is one of many pleasures in this darkly stylish crime film, director William Friedkin's best effort since "The Exorcist."

Not much acting is on display, the dialog is simplistic, the story is superficial, and the direction is faceless, but true fans won't care. Others have been warned.

A major-league splatterfest, RE-ANIMATOR has a number of horrifying moments, made even more macabre by the grisly humor evident in almost every unforgettable scene (the most memorable and bizarre being the sex scene with a cadaver's detached head).

BETTER OFF DEAD possesses a fairly strong cast, some good gags, and a quirky sense of humor, but it suffers from the stereotyped characters and familiar situations that plague most movies about teenagers. What is refreshing about BETTER OFF DEAD is a deemphasis on sex and drugs. Unfortunately, only about half of the many jokes and gags in the film are actually funny.

A dismal and woefully inept werewolf picture.

Though compelling, well crafted, and well acted, SWEET DREAMS will probably be a disappointment for Patsy Cline fans.

An above-average thriller, offering a fresh hero based on "The Destroyer" series of novels (at least 120 of which are currently available).

Though not as good as Terminator, the film has a better-than-usual script for this sort of thing and shows a lot of humor. Schwarzenegger isn't especially good as an actor, but his presence is impressive, and he is beginning to show some style, if not much substance. For action fans, one of the picks of the litter for the year.

It's slick, romantic, funny (Close has a great rapport with her beer-guzzling, foul-mouthed mentor, Robert Loggia), intriguing, and filled with excellent performances.

This compelling and horrifying study of random violence seldom lives up to its promise, but it still packs a powerful wallop.

A numbingly stupid actioner, Invasion U.S.A. has one of the most laughable villains ever committed to film.

Excellent cinematography on the road and particularly good camerawork for the dismal gray 1930s Chicago settings. Salenger is wonderful, and so is the wolf.

Though the plot has some annoying holes, the dialogue and the performances are excellent.

Mishima's most stunning aspect is the visual style employed in the dramatizations of the novels. With colorful, theatrical sets by famed Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka, the sequences are quite unique and impressive in their own right, and the entire film is photographed beautifully by John Bailey.

Director Joan Freeman, who cowrote the screenplay with her husband, Robert Alden, shows a remarkable talent for capturing the sights and sounds of this seamy world. Freeman works a gritty realism into the formula story, creating an always-fascinating tale from an ugly subject.

A sporadically funny spoof of aliens-from-outer-space films that begins to run out of fresh ideas after the first 30 minutes.

A wickedly funny black comedy that follows the increasingly bizarre series of events that befall hapless word-processer Griffin Dunne after he ventures out of his apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and goes downtown in search of carnal pleasures.