Though SMITHEREENS is not without its problems--much of the material seems to be cliched--it is a good display of what a persistent creative drive can achieve.

King's stories are nothing special, and with the exception of the final entry, nothing in the film is particulary scary.

This black sense of humor, combined with the playful performances of its excellent cast (especially Donald Pleasance, as the head of the asylum), raises Alone In The Dark a cut above the average maniacs-on-the-loose entry.

Fred Zinnemann waited 40 years to make this surprisingly lifeless film, a major disappointment from the acclaimed director of High Noon and From Here To Eternity.

While Jones' direction is nothing special, the script by Brown does have its share of male ego-deflating laughs--mainly some obvious Freudian jokes--and actually takes some time to develop the victims as characters instead of mere gore-fodder.

The special effects are awful (the piranhas are obviously hand puppets) and the script worse.

A fine directorial debut from George Miller.

Boasting some of the best use of rugged landscape since the westerns of Anthony Mann, First Blood is an effective, if outlandish, picture that exists merely for its big-screen thrills.

Though the film certainly isn't awful, the filmmakers couldn't decide on their focus. Did they want the picture to be be a fun little piece full of black humor, or did they want to go the usual blood-and-gore route?

Andrei Tarkovsky's STALKER is a metaphysical allegory in the guise of a sci-fi adventure, that like most of this visionary director's films, alternates between mesmerizing brilliance and intense boredom.

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.