Better Off Dead 1985 PG, 97 min. Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: Savage Steve Holland Cast: John Cusack, Kim Darby, Diane Franklin, David Ogden Stiers, Amanda Wyss, Curtis Armstrong, Vincent Schiavelli, Taylor Negron, Demian Slade, Scooter Stevens, Laura Waterbury, Dan Schneider, Yuji Okumoto, Brian Imada, Chuck Mitchell
When teenager Lane Meyer (John Cusack) gets dumped by his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss) after she falls for the ski team captain, he tries, without success, to kill himself. Hoping to win Beth back, Lane challenges the new boyfriend to a ski race. In the meantime, Lane meets French exchange student Monique (Diane Franklin) and begins to fall for her. And through it all, Lane endures his mother's (Kim Darby) imaginative, but terrible, cooking. Followed by "One Crazy Summer."
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Bloodfist IV: Die Trying 1992 R, 86 min. Genre: Action aka: Die Trying
Director: Paul Ziller Cast: Don "The Dragon" Wilson, Catya Sassoon, Amanda Wyss, Kale Browne, Liz Torres, Dan Martin, James Tolkan, Heather Lauren Olson, Stephen James Carver, Lenny Citrano, John Crane, George K. Cybulski, John LaMotta, Robert Noble, Herman Poppe
Danny (Don "The Dragon" Wilson) is a repo man and repossesses a BMW. Unfortunately, it belongs to the WRONG people; they intend to recover nuclear detonators from the car as well as kill all of the staff at Danny's place of work. Now, everyone is after Danny–including the FBI and CIA. Lots of action.
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Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982 R, 92 min. Genre: Comedy / Musical / Romance
Director: Amy Heckerling Cast: Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Robert Romanus, Brian Backer, Phoebe Cates, Ray Walston, Eric Stoltz, Vincent Schiavelli, Amanda Wyss, Scott Thomson, Forest Whitaker, Kelli Maroney, Blair Tefkin, D.W. Brown
Lifestyles of teenagers–including jobs, sex, and drugs–are wryly depicted in this film. The story is based on Cameron Crowe's book relating his experiences when he returned to high school and pretended to be a student. While stoned student Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) spends much of his time arguing with his history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), other students–including Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Linda (Phoebe Cates), Mark (Brian Backer), and Mike (Robert Romanus)–visit the shopping mall, surf, eat fast-food, and experiment with sex. When they do attend class, wild havoc is often the order of the day.
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A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 R, 91 min. Genre: Horror / Thriller / Fantasy
Director: Wes Craven Cast: John Saxon, Ronee Blakely, Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Johnny Depp, Charles Fleischer, Jack Shea, Joseph Whipp, Lin Shaye, Joe Unger, Mimi Craven, Ed Call
Years ago, angry locals took the law into their own hands and burned Fred Krueger alive after they discovered that he was abusing children. Now, Freddie (Robert Englund) has returned in the dreams of his killer's children, and the children begin to die. Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) is also having dreams about Freddie, and when her friends are meeting their demise, Nancy knows that she must stay awake and draw the dream killer out of the dreams and into the present-day world. This is great fare in the horror genre. In fact, the story of teenagers with some very bad dreams spurred many sequels.
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Powwow Highway 1989 R, 90 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Jonathan Wacks Cast: A Martinez, Gary Farmer, Joannelle Nadine Romero, Amanda Wyss, Sam Vlahos, Wayne Waterman, Margot Kane, Geoffrey Rivas, Wes Studi, Graham Greene, John Trudell, Tony Frank
Cheyenne Buddy Red Bow (A Martinez) and Philbert (Gary Farmer) take off from their Montana reservation in Philbert's beat-up car on their way to Santa Fe to bail Buddy's sister out of jail. This is not only a road film but also a good treatise on the plight of today's Native Americans.
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Son of Darkness: To Die For II 1991 R, 95 min. Genre: Drama / Horror / Thriller aka: To Die For 2: Son of Darkness
Director: David Price Cast: Rosalind Allen, Steve Bond, Scott Jacoby, Michael Praed, Amanda Wyss, Remy O'Neill, Jay Underwood, Michael Eric Kramer, Jann Carl, Elizabeth Woods, Jim Price, George Fisher, Scott Dorel, Doug Collins, Devin Sims
Two years have passed, and vampire Tom (Steve Bond) is up to his old tricks while living with vampire cohort Vlad who has now become Dr. Max Schreck (Michael Praed) and gives his vampire friends blood from the hospital where he works as an emergency room doctor. Celia (Amanda Wyss) lives with Max and Tom in their Lake Serenity castle. Martin (Scott Jacoby) arrives at the castle after reading about coyotes attacking people in the community and recognizing the bites as those of vampires. Living nearby is Nina Black (Rosalind Allen) who is having problems with her adopted baby Tyler (Devon Sims) and takes him to the emergency room. Max recognizes Tyler as his own son and convinces Nina to stay with him. The plot reaches a climax when Tom threatens to kill Nina and turn Tyler into a full-fledged vampire. Max tries to stop Tom but gets knocked out, and Celia comes to his rescue and impales Tom. Then, knowing it is time to finally put an end to their blood-sucking evil deeds, Martin opens the curtains allowing the sunshine to put an end to Max.
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To Die For 1989 R, 90 min. Genre: Horror / Thriller / Romance
Director: Deran Sarafian Cast: Brendan Hughes, Sydney Walsh, Amanda Wyss, Scott Jacoby, Steve Bond, Micah Grant, Ava Fabian, Philip Granger, Julie Maddalena, Remy O'Neill, Duane Jones, Al Fann, Lloyd Alan, Eloise DeJoria, Cate Caplin
A 500-year-old feud comes to a climax when Los Angeles real estate agent Kate Wooten (Sydney Walsh) falls in love with vampire Vlad (Brendan Hughes). Violence rises to the fore when Vlad's housemate Tom (Steve Bond)–another vampire who remembers that years ago Vlad killed Tom's true love–vies with Vlad for Kate's affections. There is a sequel.
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| 1. Better Off Dead (1985)
2. Bloodfist IV: Die Trying (1992) aka: Die Trying
3. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
4. Independence (1987)
5. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
6. Powwow Highway (1989)
7. Son of Darkness: To Die For II (1991) aka: To Die For 2: Son of Darkness
8. To Die For (1989)
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