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.