Starring: Isaac Hayes, Yaphet Kotto, Paul Harris, Nichelle Nichols
Bounty hunter Mack “Truck” Turner (Isaac Hayes) almost always finds his target, but his latest prize — a pimp called Gator (Paul Harris) — is killed while Turner is chasing hm. Gator’s girl, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), vows to avenge his death and offers ownership of her successful call girl operation to anyone who can knock off Turner. Upscale pimp Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto) steps in, upping the ante with professional assassins. Turner, however, isn’t going down easily.
Starring: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Christopher St. John, Charles Cioffi, Gwenn Mitchell, Lawrence Pressman
John Shaft (Richard Roundtree) is the ultimate in suave black detectives. He first finds himself up against Bumpy (Moses Gunn), the leader of the black crime mob, then against black nationals, and finally working with both against the white mafia who are trying to blackmail Bumpy by kidnapping his daughter.
Starring: Rudy Ray Moore, D’Urville Martin, Jerry Jones, Lady Reed
A wrongly jailed man (Rudy Ray Moore) and his female kung-fu friends seek vengeance on the rival (D’Urville Martin) who put him away.
Starring: Pam Grier, Booker Bradshaw, Robert Do ‘Qui, William Elliott, Allan Arbus, Sid Haig
As a nurse, Coffy (Pam Grier) has seen the ill effects of drugs up close, but it isn’t until her little sister becomes addicted to heroin that she finally decides to wage a one-woman battle. Disguised as a prostitute, Coffy goes on a killing rampage, at first going after street dealers and pimps such as sleazy King George (Robert DoQui), then gradually working her way up to bigger honchos. She’s shocked, however, when she discovers that her politician boyfriend (Booker Bradshaw) is involved.
Starring: Kurt Russell, Stacy Keach, Steve Buscemi, Cliff Robertson, Peter Fonda, Georges Corraface, Bruce Campbell, Pam Grier
In 2013, the United States president (Cliff Robertson) is exiling all citizens who don’t conform to his hyper-conservative views to Los Angeles, which became an island after a huge earthquake. But, when the president’s daughter nabs the detonator to her dad’s apocalyptic weapon and sneaks into L.A. to be with the rebel leader she loves, the government taps commando-turned-crook Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) to retrieve the young woman. And, if he doesn’t succeed quickly, he’ll be executed.
Starring: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace
Once an architect, Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil spirits. To bolster his facade, he claims his “special” gift is the result of a car accident that killed his wife. But what he does not count on is more people dying in the small town where he lives. As he tries to piece together the supernatural mystery of these killings, he falls in love with the wife (Trini Alvarado) of one of the victims and deals with a crazy FBI agent (Jeffrey Combs).
Starring: Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi, Stefano Masciarelli, Mickey Knox
New 4K restoration from Severin Films
Francesco Dellamorte (Rupert Everett) is the groundskeeper at a cemetery where the dead just won’t stay dead—and it’s up to him to deal with those who come back to life with a hunger for human flesh. But Dellamorte’s job soon becomes much more complicated when he falls for an enigmatic young woman (Anna Falchi) whose husband has recently died. Based on the novel by Tiziano Sclavi (Dylan Dog) and directed by Michele Soavi (The Church), Cemetery Man is a late masterpiece of Italian horror: quirky, gory, romantic and unlike anything else.
Starring: Fernando Rey, Carole Bouquet, Ángela Molina
After dumping a bucket of water on a beautiful young woman from the window of a train car, wealthy Frenchman Mathieu (Fernando Rey), regales his fellow passengers with the story of the dysfunctional relationship between himself and the young woman in question, a fiery 19-year-old flamenco dancer named Conchita (played alternately by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). What follows is a tale of cruelty, depravity and lies — the very building blocks of love.
Starring: Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Lela Rochon, Loretta Devine, Gregory Hines, Dennis Haysbert
Archival 35mm print courtesy of The Library of Congress
Navigating through careers, family and romance, four friends bond over the shortcomings in their love lives — namely, the scarcity of good men. Both as the “other woman,” Savannah (Whitney Houston) and Robin (Lela Rochon) carry on relationships with married men, each believing their lovers will leave their wives for them. On the flip side, Bernadine (Angela Bassett) ends up alone when her husband divorces her for his mistress. Meanwhile, Gloria (Loretta Devine) finds love with a new neighbor.
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Ron Silver, Ben Cross, Lisa Eilbacher, Tony Plana, Al Waxman
Co-hosted by programmer Clyde Folley
When U.S. senators start violently blowing up, top bomb diffuser Danny O’Neill (Pierce Brosnan) determines that terrorists are utilizing a mysterious liquid that detonates when ingested. All the while he is grappling with his crumbling marriage, with rumors that estranged wife Terry (Lisa Eilbacher) is involved with Senator Frank Traveres (Ron Silver), who is next on the target list.
Intended to be a big summer blockbuster that was ultimately relegated to cable television, Live Wire makes good use of its explosive premise (sandwiched, as it were, between two Scanners sequels for director Christian Duguay) with wild blasts galore. Watching someone drink a glass of water has never been so suspenseful!
