76% (2) Shivers 87 min, R, [Horror, Sci-Fi] [David Cronenberg] [06 Jul 1976]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 65%, Rotten Tomatoes: 88%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win.
Actors: Allan Kolman, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Paul Hampton
Writer: David Cronenberg
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, French Country: Canada
Plot: A scientist living in an apartment complex kills a girl and uses acid to destroy her internal organs, and then kills himself. While investigating, a doctor discovers that the scientist was doing experiments on the use of genetically engineered parasites as organ transplants. Soon, other people in the complex begin showing signs of carrying the parasites, spreading the things through wanton orgiastic abandon, and the complex begins suffering an attrition problem.
Rotten Tomatoes: A gripping exercise in body horror and social paranoia, prolific Canadian director David Cronenberg's debut feature offers a startling look at modern isolationist society with a parasitic twist. When a scientist experimenting with a new form of organ transplants kills a young female resident of a fortress-like apartment complex before subsequently committing suicide, the investigation into her death leads to a frightening discovery. Originally conceived by the misguided scientist in a bid to aid organ transplant, an overzealous parasite quickly escapes into the complex in search of a host. One by one, the unsuspecting residents fall prey to the parasite, and the result is an aggressive horde of sex maniacs who will stop at nothing to satisfy their primal lust and pass the infection on through sexual contact. When the resident doctor learns the sinister truth behind the malevolent creation, only one man stands between an apartment complex overflowing with id-driven zombies and the outside world. Will he be able to stop the rapidly spreading parasite before it escapes into society, or is it only a matter of time until he, too, falls prey to its rapturous effects and gives in to the temptations of the flesh? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
67% (2) Rabid 91 min, R, [Horror, Sci-Fi] [David Cronenberg] [08 Apr 1977]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 64%, Rotten Tomatoes: 70%, External Reviews
Awards: 2 wins.
Actors: Frank Moore, Howard Ryshpan, Joe Silver, Marilyn Chambers
Writer: David Cronenberg
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: Canada, USA
Plot: In Camelford, while swinging his van across a narrow road to make a u-turn, a driver stalls the vehicle that does not restart. Hart Read is driving his motorcycle with his girlfriend Rose and he drives off the road to avoid the collision. Hart suffers minor injuries while Rosie is injured and burned by the flames when the motorcycle explodes. The ambulance from the nearby Keloid Clinic for Plastic Surgery brings the couple and Rose, who is in coma, is submitted to an emergency surgery and to an experimental plastic-surgery technique by Dr. Dan Keloid to retrieve her skin in the chest and abdomen. Hart is discharged but Rose stays in coma in the intensive care unit (ICU) to recover. Out of the blue, Rose awakens from her coma one month later and screams. A nurse helps her but is wounded by her and then he cannot remember what has happened. He is sent to a hospital in Montreal while Rose realizes that she needs to feed with blood. However her victims become zombie-like creatures. Rose flees from the clinic to Montreal to meet her friend Mindy Kent spreading her infection in the big city. Meanwhile Hart is seeking for her.
Rotten Tomatoes: For his second commercial feature, following a pair of experimental films and 1977's Shivers, Canadian horror auteur David Cronenberg continued to mine the themes of disease and mutation that were already becoming his perennial concerns. Marilyn Chambers stars as Rose, an attractive young woman who becomes horribly injured in a motorcycle accident. Spirited away to the clinic of Drs. Dan and Roxanne Keloid (Howard Ryshpan and Patricia Gage), a pair of experimental plastic surgeons, Rose becomes an unwitting guinea pig in an operation that grafts genetically modified tissue into her body. Waking from her coma to find she is unable to ingest normal food, Rose unwittingly feeds on human blood by means of a phallic organ that emerges from a vulval orifice in her armpit. Within hours of providing Rose with sustenance, her victims fall prey to an incurable, highly contagious disease that turns them into raving lunatics who foam at the mouth and attack others indiscriminately. Soon, Montreal is under martial law, but nobody can find the Typhoid Mary whose vampiric urges are driving the epidemic -- not even Hart (Frank Moore), Rose's befuddled boyfriend. Although she is best-known for her starring role in the crossover porn epic Behind the Green Door, Chambers actually received her start in features with 1970's The Owl and the Pussycat. Rabid also stars TV and stage veteran Joe Silver as Murray Cypher, a mutual friend of Hart and the Keloids. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
33% (2) You Light Up My Life 90 min, PG, [Drama, Romance] [Joseph Brooks] [31 Aug 1977]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 46%, Rotten Tomatoes: 20%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.
Actors: Didi Conn, Joe Silver, Michael Zaslow, Stephen Nathan
Writer: Joseph Brooks
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Laurie has been in show business since she was a child. Her dream is to be a singer, songwriter and actress. Her father wants her to be a comedian like him and Laurie only tries because it pleases her father. But she is a lousy comedian. She auditions for everything and is engaged to Ken, but Ken does not understand her needs. She has a one night stand with Chris, only to later find that he is a director. She has many emotions that have not yet been addressed and she must face them before she can get on with her life.
Rotten Tomatoes: In this film, young singer Lauri Robinson (Didi Conn) struggles to make it in the harsh music business while dealing with her romantic problems. The title song from this movie won an Oscar.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
69% (1) Boardwalk 98 min, [Drama] [Stephen Verona] [14 Nov 1979]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 69%, External Reviews
Actors: Janet Leigh, Joe Silver, Lee Strasberg, Ruth Gordon
Writer: Leigh Chapman, Stephen Verona
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: In this drama, David Rosen and his wife Becky have lived in the same Coney Island neighborhood for nearly all their married life. But the area is not what it used to be, and a gang leader ...
Rotten Tomatoes: Boardwalk is a film about love, violence, and survival. Married for 50 loving years, David (Lee Strasberg) and Becky (Ruth Gordon) have lived in the same Coney Island neighborhood for most of their life together. But the area is not what it used to be, and their children ask them to move. A powerful and determined man, David states, "I left one country, I'm not about to leave another. This is where I choose to live and nobody, but nobody, is going to make me leave." But Becky becomes ill and David's cafeteria and synagogue are vandalized by thugs. David must make his final stance.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
61% (1) Rhinoceros 104 min, PG, [Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance] [Tom O'Horgan] [21 Jan 1974]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 61%, External Reviews
Actors: Gene Wilder, Joe Silver, Karen Black, Zero Mostel
Writer: Eugène Ionesco (play), Julian Barry (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK, Canada, USA
Plot: Originally an absurdist play by Eugene Ionesco, Rhinoceros tells the story of a French town plagued by rhinoceroses. These are not ordinary rhinoceroses, but people who have been victims of "rhinoceritis." Or is it something else entirely? But, why are they turning into rhinoceroses and what is Ionesco trying to tell us about society?
Rotten Tomatoes: Produced by the American Film Theater and based upon an absurdist play by Eugene Ionesco, this film tells the farcical tale of a group of people who must reassess their pasts and futures after they begin turning into rhinoceroses. Only one of their peers, a mild-mannered clerk, remains the same.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]
55% (1) Mr. Nice Guy 92 min, [Comedy] [Henry Wolfond] [01 May 1987]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 55%, External Reviews
Actors: Harvey Atkin, Jan Smithers, Joe Silver, Mike MacDonald
Writer: Mark Breslin (story), Henry Wolfond (story), Leonard Smofsky (story), Mike MacDonald (story), Henry Wolfond, Mark Breslin
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: Canada
Plot: A hitman by the name of Mr. Nice Guy is about to be married and his fiancee doesn't know his true profession. On top of that, his future father-in-law has a contract out on him. A zany mafia comedy!
Rotten Tomatoes: Once a security guard, now a mercenary, a man tries to become the best at what he does, but finds that an area gang is eager for revenge.
Scroll To: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% [ / 6]