781 The Exorcist III (1990)

 After  the  atrocity that was  The Exorcist II, it took a while for the studios to greenlight a sequel.Though the film wisely avoids any reference to The Exorcist II, it falls into the same trap. The first film was perfectly self-contained leaving no loose threads for a sequel to work with. This one doesn't have Linda Blair but it does bring back Fr Kerras ( Jason Miller ) who didn't die after all  but now shares a body with a serial killer ( Brad Dourif ) executed around the same time. George C Scott stars as the most superannuated cop since George Dixon trying to  catch him.

The  first hour ( largely true to director Blatty's vision ) is murderously slow. The  second part , largely a studio-demanded re-shoot with Nicol Williamson clearly  crowbarred in as  the exorcist, is pacier but  hopelessly contrived  needing  Dourif  to have  a bad case of Talking Killer Syndrome to make any sense . It  is  better than the second film but not by much.

Tracy Thorne ( as Amy Keating )

Sex : No

Death : Killed by the serial killer ( offscreen )

Tracy  had  a  brief career as a bit part actress which apparently ended in 1997  but she  has made sporadic reappearances since.

Sherrie Wills ( as Julie )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Most of Sherrie's screen appearances were as a child actress on  TV in the seventies  and  this  was  her final film. She  reappeared  in 2005 as writer and host of the TV series Doctors of Rock.  She died in 2020 from early onset dementia and Covid.

780 The First Power (1990)

 A  superfluous  sprinkling of  occult  trappings borrowed from The Omen franchise doesn't disguise that  the premise is lifted wholesale from House III: The Horror Show  and Shocker.  There's  also  a  zombie  element in the  shape of Lou Diamond Phillips as  Rex, the  cop plagued by repeat visits from the serial killer he sent  to  the  gas  chamber.. Having a plank as leading man robs the film of  any  chance  of  rising  above  its  seen-it-all-before  dullness.

Tracy  Griffith ( as Tess )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Tracy  is the younger  sister of Melanie  Griffith. She made her own film debut in 1984 and  this was her first starring role. Thereafter she was mainly  found in TV  movies and gave up acting after 2003 to become a  sushi  chef.

Elizabeth Arlen ( as Sister Margaret )

Sex : No

Death : Stabbed by Rex while possessed by the killer

Elizabeth was from North Carolina and was a bit part actress appearing in St Elmo's Fire and D.O.A. She  gave  up acting in 2000 due  to problems in her personal life.

Sue Giosa ( as Carmen)

Sex : Carmen is stripped before death

Death : Stabbed (offscreen)

Sue made her film debut as a dancer in Saturday Night Fever and appeared on the movie poster. She  is  mainly a stage and TV actress.

779 Tremors (1990)

 Despite  spawning a number of sequels, this  goodnatured monster movie  was only a moderate  hit  at  the  box  office. Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon  charm as a couple of  odd job  men saving a small desert community from some  giant  carnivorous worms  with  the help of a young geologist. It's not outrageously  funny or  scary but  hard to dislike.

Finn Carter ( as Rhoda )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Finn (christened Elisabeth ) is the daughter of a diplomat who served under Jimmy Carter (no relation ). She started out on TV in the daytime soap As The World Turns in 1985, This was the second of a handful of films  as she was more of a TV and stage actress.  Her last screen appearance was in 2004 and she may have fallenon hard times as in 2019 she  was  arrested for  using a stolen credit card.

Reba McEntire ( as Heather )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Reba is primarily a country  singer  and  a  very  successful one though some find her music too  saccharin. She  was  making  her film debut  here at  the  age of 35. This  kickstarted a parallel  acting career that peaked with the sitcom Reba  that ran for six years in the noughties. She has  business interests as well. 

778 Brain Dead ( 1990 )

 This  is  more  of  a  psychological thriller than a horror  film and an early example of  one of  those "mess with your  head " movies ( cf The  Usual Suspects ) that were to become so popular. Rex Martin (Bill Pullman ) is a brain specialist working in research who is approached by his friend Jim ( Bill Paxton ) to probe the mind of Halsey ( Bud Cort ) a mathematician turned homicidal maniac and  recover some shady corporate secrets . As  soon as he does so, Rex starts behaving like a madman himself. From that point on you're never sure whether what you're seeing is a dream, a delusion or reality and  it starts  to  hurt although good  performances  and  a  witty  script  keep  you  on  the  line.

Patricia Charbonneau ( as Dana )

Sex : Dana has sex with Jim but it's a dream

Death : Survives

Patricia was born in New York but is of French descent. She made her name in her  first film as  a predatory lesbian in Desert Hearts in 1985  and  had  a  solid  career up  to 2000  after which her appearances thinned out. She  appeared to have retired in 2008 but made a comeback in 2020's Skipping Stones for which she received a credit as exceutive producer.

Lisa Moncure ( as Board member )

Sex : No

Death : Survives ( if she existed at all )

This  was  Lisa's  second  film . Her low-key screen career seems  to have  ended  in 2004  but she  did voice work on a video game released in 2011.

Cynthia Ettinger ( as Nurse Anderson )

Sex : No

Death : Survives ( if she existed at all)

This  was the  second film in a long career for  Cynthia. Her last screen appearance was in 2018 but she  is  very  active in the theatre, managing her own company, the Actor's Gang.

Deirdre O'Connell ( as Mrs Halsey )

Sex : No

Death : Shot  dead but as part of Rex's fantasy

Deidre  is another very  active  stage  actress who  already had a number of  credits before  this film. She is best known for  playing Hollis in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and is still active.

777 Houseboat Horror (1989 )

 This  Australian slasher movie has a  reputation as one of the worst ever and it's pretty well deserved. There are one or two familiar faces from Prisoner Cell Block H  and it shares the same production values too. My  favourite moment was towards the end when the crazed killer is filmed from behind and the "actor" has forgotten to tuck his rubber mask into his shirt so you can see where it ends. The  screenplay doesn't have a single idea that's not copped from Friday the 13th  or The Burning  and there's far too many cardboard characters leading to a bathetic ending where three redundant survivors pop up again for a lakeside conversation. Yes, it's atrocious.

Christine Jeston ( as Tracy )

Sex : Tracy has sex with her boyfriend

Death : Survives

This was Christine's second and final film  in a 20 year careeer of sporadic TV appearances.

Peppie D'Or ( as Teresa)

Sex : Teresa has sex with her boyfriend

Death : Teresa's neck is snapped by the psycho

Peppie had  a  short  career in the eighties. One  of  her  films  was  aptly  enough  The  Bit  Part. Her  most substantial role was a brief run in Prisoner Cell Block H as Roxanne.

Julie Thompson ( as Jennie )

Sex : No

Death : The prongs of a horseshoe are rammed into her face

Julie  was  another  bit part actress active between 1976 and 1992

Katherine Hill ( as Kat )

Sex : Kat goes skinny dipping

Death : Stabbed through her bed board

This  was  Catherine's first  screen appearance  in a  stuttering  acting  career over  the  next three decades. In recent  years,  she  has  turned to writing and directing  and won the Capricorn Film Festival  for  Some Happy Day.

Sue Hancock ( as Sue )

Sex : Sue prepares for sex with her boyfriend

Death : Sue is knifed through her neck

This was Sue's only screen appearance.

Alisa Meadow ( as Wendy )

Sex : No

Death : Stabbed in the abdomen

This was the third and final film of Alisa's brief acting career.

776 Howling V : The Rebirth (1989)

 By  this  point  in  the  franchise, the films were going straight to video and it's not hard to see why. This  film is completely dreadful. What plot it has is filched from The  Beast Must Die. It's badly acted, badly directed, badly lit , not remotely  scary and the  special effects are risible. Philip Davis must have needed the cash badly  to have  appeared in this.

Victoria Catlin ( as Jane )

Sex : Jane is having an affair with a married man

Death : Jane has her throat torn out by the werewolf

This  was  Victoria's final film

Elisabeth She ( as Marylou )

Sex : Marylou bathes nude with a man but rejects his advances

Death : Survives

Elisabeth appears in two more films in the franchise but hasnt worked outside it.

Stephanie Faulkner ( as Gail )

Sex :  No

Death : Gail has her throat torn out (but takes a remarkably long time to die)

Stephanie had a promising start to her acting career with a good role in the blacksploitation picture The Bus Is Coming in 1971  but spent  the  next  20 years in bit part roles in both film and TV. This was her final screen appearance.

Mary Stavin ( as Anna )

Sex : Anna  is spied on while bathing

Death : Anna has her throat torn out

Mary is from Sweden and shot to fame when she became Miss World in 1977. After dalliances with Graeme Souness and George Best  and a shot at pop music , she had a moderately  successful acting career, appearing in two Bond films before settling into married life in  2002.  She has made the odd screen appearance since  then but  has  also worked in a library.

Renata Szadtler ( as Susan )

Sex : No

Death : Accidentally decapitated with an axe

Renata was a Hungarian model who first appeared in Dire Straits' Money For Nothing" video. She appeared in a dozen or  so Hungarian films in  the  eighties and nineties but this was her only English language film.

775 Edge of Sanity ( 1989 )

 Anthony Perkins stars in this joint British American and French production which blends fact and fiction with the  tale of  Jekyll and Hyde blurring  into Jack The Ripper. Director Gerard Kikoine is clearly  a  fan of Ken Russell with the  garish and violent sexual imagery and  blatant  anachronisms taking priority over coherent  story-telling. Perkins just about holds it together despite an unconvincoing British accent  but  it's a disappointing return for  an  obviously big budget production.

Glynis Barber ( as  Elisabeth )

Sex : Elisabeth offers herself to her husband but he is distracted by visions

Death : Mr Hyde slits her throat

Glynis was born in South Africa and came to the UK in the late seventies. She had some minor film roles but first came to prominence as Soolin in the last series of  Blake's Seven  and then the titular  character in Jane. In 1983 she starred in the remake of The Wicked Lady where she famously insisted on a body double  instead of revealing her breasts. Her film  roles have been scarce since then but she  ttriumphed on TV  in  Dempsey  and  Makepeace  and  has been married to co-star  Michael Brandon since 1989. She  has  successfully transferred to character acting  in soaps with long runs in Emmerdale, EastEnders and  most recently  Hollyoaks.

Sarah Maur Thorp  ( as Susannah )

Sex : Susannah is a prostitute

Death : Survives

Sarah is a classically  trained  stage  actress who  has  made  the  occasional  foray  into screen acting. This  was  her  first  film  role. Her fourth was in The Presence of Snowgood in 2023

Briony McRoberts  ( as Anne Underwood )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Briony was  a  TV  actress  with this  being only her second and final film. She first appeared as  a  young teen in the BBC sitcom  Bachelor  Father in 1970. Her career thereafter was unspectacular, the  highlight being a run in Scottish soap Take The High Road. She  retired in 2005 and died in 2013.

Carolyn Cortez ( as Maggie )

Sex : Jekyll  exposes her breasts then masturbates her with his walking cane

Death : Jekyll slits her throat

This  was  the  most  substantial of Carolyn's three film roles.

Cathy Murphy ( as Cockney Prostitute )

Sex : She prepares for  sex with Jekyll

Death : Jekyll slits her throat

Cathy  racked  up many  screen appearances on both film and TV as  a  bit  part actress up until 1991 when she secured a decent part in The  House  of Elliott. After  that the parts  got  smaller rather than larger, often playing nurses, but she is still working.

Claudia Udy ( as Liza)

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This was Claudia's last appearance in a horror film.

774 The Stepfather 2 (1989)

 Terry O' Quin  returns  as  Jerry  Blake, having  improbably  survived his  injuries from  the  first  film. Once  he's  mudered his  way  out  of  an  asylum , he's  up  to  his  old  tricks  again. O'  Quin  is  just  as  good  in  the  part.. If  you   haven't  seen  the  first  film  this  is  actually  an  effective  chiller. Otherwise,  it's  just  too  predictable with  Jerry's  victims obvious  from  their  first  appearance.

Caroline Williams ( as Matty)

Sex : No

Death : Jerry strangles her  then fakes  her  suicide

Caroline  plays  second  fiddle to Meg Foster in  this  one.

773 Shocker ( 1989 )

 The  title of  this  Wes  Craven  was  a  free  gift to any  critic looking for a wry  tagline. In  truth  it's  not  atrocious  but  seriously  over-reaches itself. It's  exhausting  at nearly two hours  long and  its  sudden  swerves  in  direction seem the  product of  an incoherent  script  rather  than  a  bold  imagination. Jonathan ( Peter Berg ) is  a  jock with  vivid dreams  about a serial killer Horace  Pinker ( Mitch Pileggi)  and a rare  talent  for making people  believe  the  absolutely  preposterous. He  is  instrumental in bringing Pinker to justice  but  the  latter cheats his  execution by jumping into the electrical supply ( very  similar to the premise of House III : The  Horror Show )  then  occupying various  bodies - though retaining his limp and inability to shoot straight - in  his  pursuit of Jonathan and  those  he  cares about. There's no underlying  logic  to any  of  the  action  which  relies  on  violence rather than shock, all  the  way  to  a  berserk climax overloaded with  special effects.

Camille  Cooper ( as Alison )

Sex : No

Death : Stabbed  to  death by Pinker

This  was  Camille's  second  film  after  a  string  of  TV  appearances. After  a  few  more  films, she  quit  acting in 1995 and  entered  politics as  a  lobbyist. She  was  instrumental in George W Bush's  Protect Our Children Act of 2008 and  now works as  a  champion of rape and incest survivors.

Lindsay Parker ( as Amanda )

Sex : n/a

Death : Uncertain if she survives her exorcism

Lindsay was the  daughter  of  UFO  drummer Andy Parker  and  already  had  four  films  behind her at 10 years old. She  continued  acting  into  adulthood but  with little  impact  and  disappears after 2006.

Dendrie Taylor ( as  Young Mother )

Sex : No

Death : Dies after brief posseession by Pinker

Dendrie  was  a  bit  part  actress from the mid eighties  onwards  but  eventually progressed to more  substantial TV  roles in The  Bold And The Beautiful and True Blood . She  is  still active.

772. Halloween 5 : The Revenge of Michael Myers ( 1989 )

 Easily  the  worst in the franchise to this point Halloween 5 was  a  rushed job and it shows. The  first 20  minutes set  the tone  with lunatic pacing, wild over-acting and  really  poor filming  and  editing. It  culminates in the  suicidal decision to kill off  the  character of Rachel giving the lead female role to a character you actively want Michael to slaughter. Thereafter the film is a lost cause , a predictable and boring reprise of its  predecessors  with only  the  performance of young  Danielle  Harris  having any merit.

Danielle Harris ( as Jamie )

Sex : n/a

Death : Survives

Danielle returned to the role of Jamie and  is  the  best  thing in the film.. It undermines the  shock ending of Halloween 4  by  intimating  that her  stepmother survived the knife  attack by Jamie.

Ellie  Cornell ( as Rachel )

Sex : Rachel takes a shower

Death : Michael stabs her in the chest with a pair of scissors

Ellie  returned to  the  role of  Rachel but  was  rightly concerned that  her  character was killed off so early in the film.

Wendy Kaplan ( as Tina )

Sex :  There is a brief nip slip when Tina is running from Michael

Death : Stabbed by Michael

This  was  Wendy's  first film in a career spent mostly on TV. She  appeared to have retired in the mid nineties but  reappeared in a couple of horror films this  century under  her  married name of Wendy Foxworth.

Tamara Glynn ( as Sam ) 

Sex : Sam has sex with her boyfriend

Death : Michael decapitates her  with a scythe

This  was  Tamara's  first film role after a string of  TV appearances . Her  career apparently  petered out in 2001  but  in  the  last  10 years she  has  embraced  the  role of a horror  icon and  appeared in numerous films.

771 Puppet Master (1989 )

 This  film  went  straight  to  video  but  became  so  popular  it  established  a  franchise You  can see  why there  were  doubts  about  its  viability  for  the  cinema. The  first  half  hour  tests  your  patience  as  you  haven't got a clue what's  going  on  but  it  then settles into a  superior haunted house movie  with a twist. It could do with a more  personable  lead  than heavy-browed Paul Le Mat as  Alex   and  his  hideous  mullet but it's not bad  otherwise.

Irene Miracle ( as Dana)

Sex : Dana propositions Alex but he turns her down 

Death : Dana has her throat cut by the Blade puppet

Irene was born in Oklahoma  but  first  appeared in Italian cinema in the mid seventies. She is best known for her role as Brad Davis's  girlfriend in "Midnight Express". She  appeared to have retired in 1996 but  reappeared in a horror  film in 2024.

Robin Frates ( as Megan )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was  Robin's  scond  film.  Although she  had  a  respectable career n  film and TV  up to 2002, little is known about her.

Kathryn O'Reilly ( as Carissa )

Sex : Carissa has sex with her boyfriend as a psychic experiment

Death : The Driller puppet drills into her brain 

Barbara Crampton ( as Woman at Carnival )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  brief cameo  in a largely irrelevant scene  is  a  strange choice by Barbara.

770 A Nightmare On Elm St 5 : The Dream Child (1989 )

 This  fifth  instalment of  the  Elm St  Franchise endeavours  to introduce some more adult  themes  and provide a bit more back story to Freddie  with  sporadic  success. Alice from the last  film  returns now  pregnant  and  finds that Freddie is  infiltrating her world through her unborn son. This time round , Freddie's  mother is  the  key  to  defeating  him. Fans  didn't like  it  much and  the  ending's  muddled  but  most  of  it's  watchable  enough.

Lisa Willcox ( as Alice )

Sex : Alice has sex with her boyfriend

Death : Survives

Lisa  returned from the first film.  For her nude scenes  she  used both a body double and (sometimes visible)  swimsuit.

Kelly Jo Minter ( as Yvonne )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Kelly Jo  was born in Trenton and first appeared on TV in the mid-eighties as a teenager. She has made  a  fair  few  films  but  usually  in  bit parts. She  was  married to singer Georgio and co-produced his film "Tapped Out". Since 2004 she has developed a successful handbag design business and has only made a  couple of screen appearances.

Erika Anderson ( as Greta )

Sex : No

Death : Freddie forces her to eat herself to death

Erika was a former model making her film debut . Two  years  later she played the  titular role in a forgotten Nicholas Cage film, "Zandalee" but she was unable  to  capitalise on it  and  her  acting  career was over by 2000.

Beatrice Boepple ( as Amanda Krueger)

Sex : Raped by inmates ata a mental asylum

Death : Commits suicide (off screen)

Beatrice was born in Vermont but spent part of her childhood in Japan. Her acting career looked to have ended in 1992 but  in the last few years she has made a comeback in horror films.

Beth De Patie ( As Anne )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Beth  was a production assistant who took occasonal bit  parts until 1995 when she stepped up to be a production manager.  She seems to have left the film industry in 2009 after working on the remake of "Fame".

Stacey Elliott ( as Girl in Locker )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

This  was the second of  just three screen appearances for Stacey.

769 Fright Night 2 (1989 )

 Amanda Bearse declined  to  appear  in  this  sequel  and  probably  made  the  right  choice.  Director Tommy  Lee  Wallace  differentiates it from its  prdecessor  by  upping the  comic  element  but  ends  up  with  a  film which  is  neither  funny  nor  scary  with a  quartet of  New  Romantic vampires  tring  to  outcamp  each  other. William  Ragsdale  and  Roddy  McDowall  reprise  their  roles   and  the  film relies  heavily  on  the  skills of  the latter  to  keep  it  afloat . It's still a bit of  a  drag  though.

Traci Lind  ( as  Suzie )

Sex : Suzie has  her  breasts  fondled  in  a car

Death : Survives

Traci was a former  teen model who first appeared on TV in the soap Ryan's Hope  in 1984 aged 16. She broke into films  a  couple of years  later. She  had  supporting roles in The  Handmaid's Tale, Bugsy and The Road To Wellville. In 1996, she  made  allegations of domestic abuse against her former boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed. She  retired the  following  year  citing a desire for privacy.

Julie Carmen ( as Regine )

Sex : Regine  uses her  seductive powerrs to bring men close

Death : Shrivels up then catches fire when exposed to daylight

Julie  was  born  in  New  York  of  Latin  heritage. She   made  her  TV  debut  in  Guiding  Light in  the  late  seventies  while  at  the  same  time  working  as  a  dance  teacher.  In  Film  she  is  probably  best  known  for  In  The  Mouth Of Madness. She  lectures  on  women in film  and  is  also  a  trained  psychotherapist  though  she  hasn't  given  up  acting  yet.

Rochelle  Ashana  ( as  Art Major )

Sex : No

Death : Drained of blood by a vampire

Rochelle is  from California  of  Filippino  heritage. This  was  her first  film  in  a  short  career , the  highlight of  which  was  appearing  with  Jean-Claude Van Damme in Kickboxer. She  retired in 1996  and now has  a  photography  business.

Neith Hunter ( as Young Admirer )

Sex : No

Death : Survives

Neith  is  from  San  Francisco and  acted,mainly  in  horror  films, between  1985 and 1989.