White Ghost (1988, directed by B.J. Davis)

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

In 1972, Lt. Steve Shepherd (William Katt) disappeared in the jungles of Vietnam. He was listed as being MIA and he was mistakenly presumed dead. Instead, he survived in the jungle and continued to fight his own war against the North Vietnamese. Eventually, he “married” a Thai woman named Thi Hau (Rosalind Chao). The North Vietnamese began to call him the “White Ghost.”

16 years later, Major Cross (Reb Brown) hears the legend of the White Ghost and arranges for a group of elite rangers to parachute into the jungle and retrieve Lt. Shepherd. However, Thi Hau has been captured by the Vietnamese army and is being held at one of their torture camps. Shepherd is determined to rescue her. As well, one the rangers (Wayne Crawford) has a personal issue with Shepherd that goes back to their time in Vietnam. He determined to get his revenge, no matter what the cost.

White Ghost came out at a time when films like Rambo: First Blood II and Missing In Action were bringing in the big bucks at the box office. Like those movies, White Ghost gives audiences a chance to watch as the Vietnam War is refought, this time with America as the victor. What sets White Ghost apart is that Shepherd not only has to destroy the Vietnamese prison camp but he also has to avoid his fellow Americans while doing it. This is a violent movie with an astronomical body count. The action is pretty much nonstop and, for once, not even the hero can escape without a scratch. Director BJ Davis was a stuntman and, not surprisingly, he gets fantastic work from the film’s stunt team. This film also owes a debt to Predator, with its jungle locations and its emphasis on booby traps. Karl Johnson appears as one of the Rangers and he looks so much like Jesse Ventura that I actually checked to make sure that it wasn’t him.

At first, William Katt seemed miscast as Steve Shepherd and he seemed to be in surprisingly good shape for someone who has spent sixteen years living in the jungle. By the end of the movie, though, Katt had won me over. He looked convincing shooting a machine gun and throwing grenades and his scenes with Rosalind Chao had enough depth that you cared whether or not he was able to rescue her. Reb Brown fans will probably be disappointed that he spends most of the movie behind a desk but, in the gloriously frenetic finale, he does finally get to do his trademark yelling.

White Ghost is an exciting slice of Namsploitation. At one point, there was a sequel planned that would have featured Shepherd fighting crime in America but unfortunately, it never happened.

Brad recommends STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (1955)!

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Bradley Crain

I’m a big fan of westerns made in the 1940’s and 1950’s. I’m also a big fan of the writings of author Louis L’Amour. STRANGER ON HORSEBACK, a 1955 western based on a story by L’Amour, is a good example of why I love both, and it’s currently playing on Amazon Prime, HBOMAX, and Tubi.

STRANGER ON HORSEBACK opens on the traveling Circuit Judge Rick Thorne (Joel McCrea) as he rides his horse into a small western town that seems to be run by the Bannerman family. We hear his thoughts on western justice, and it goes something like this… “a judge needs three things to bring justice to this country; a law book, a horse and a gun. The further west he gets, the less he needs the book.” That’s a L’Amour line if I’ve ever heard one. As soon he gets into town, he finds out from Colonel Buck Streeter (John Carradine) that young Tom Bannerman (Kevin McCarthy) has gunned a local man down and Thorne is determined that the young man face trial for the killing. That doesn’t set too well with Tom’s dad Josiah Bannerman (John McIntire), who bluntly tells the judge that his son will not face trial for murder. After Thorne and the local Sheriff Nat Bell (Emile Meyer) arrest young Tom, it’s just a matter of time before Thorne has to take on the Bannerman clan and their hired guns. Meanwhile, Amy Lee Bannerman (Miroslava), Tom’s cousin, starts making some love moves on the judge. Is she truly falling for the righteous judge, or is she trying to save her cousin’s ass?

Director Jacques Tourneur (CAT PEOPLE, OUT OF THE PAST, WICHITA) has crafted an extremely economical, classic western. Clocking in at just 65 minutes, the story can’t afford to waste any time and gets right to the action. Joel McCrea is perfect as the morally impeccable judge who will face off against impossible odds to make sure young Tom Bannerman goes to trial for murder. Kevin McCarthy is the exact opposite as the arrogant, amoral killer whose family name has protected him all of his life. John McIntire, as the patriarch of the Bannerman family, is as tough as they come and nobody is going to tell him what to do, or hang his son. He’s not necessarily against his son hanging, but as he implies at one point, if anyone’s going to hang my son, it’s going to be me! And Miroslava is awfully cute as the Bannerman who ends up putting her feelings for the judge over the family name. Sadly, the actress would take her own life just after filming this movie.

STRANGER ON HORSEBACK was filmed in Sedona, AZ, which makes for a beautiful backdrop to this combination of western and legal thriller. The fact that McCrea is playing a judge rather than a sheriff is an interesting twist on the classic western story. His primary focus is to make sure Tom Bannerman gets his due process, but still faces a jury for his crimes, and he’ll do anything to make sure that happens. And it doesn’t take him very long to do it, because it felt like there should have been more movie when the words THE END flashed across the screen. I guess I was enjoying myself, because this 65 minute movie felt even shorter than you might expect!

Gentlemen With Guns (1946, directed by Sam Newfield)

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

In the old west, Billy Carson (Buster Crabbe) gets a letter from his old friend, Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John). Fuzzy writes that he’s in “a little trouble” and requests that Billy “mosey on over” if he has time. When Billy shows up at Fuzzy’s ranch, Fuzzy explains that Jim McAllister (Steve Derrell) wants his land and his water rights. McAllister not only his own gang but he’s got the sheriff in his pocket as well. When two of McAllister’s men show up at the ranch to try to force Fuzzy out, Billy is there to throw a punch in the defense of his good friend.

Billy is surprised to learn that Fuzzy is getting married to a woman that he’s never met for. Fuzzy gotten to know Matilda Boggs (Patricia Knox) only through the letters that they’ve exchanged as members of a lonely hearts club. By the time Matilda arrives in town, McAllister has already arranged for Fuzzy to be framed for murder and arrested. Fuzzy is sitting in jail, hoping that Billy can clear his name. Matilda is only after Fuzzy’s money and if they get married and Fuzzy gets hanged for murder or shot after breaking out jail to see her, that’ll just make it easier for her to get all of it. Billy can see through Matilda’s schemes but Fuzzy is blinded by love.

This was an interesting and engaging B-western. It had all the usual fist fights and horse chases that you expect to find in these films but there was also some unexpected emotional depth. Usually, Fuzzy was the just comedic sidekick in these movies. In this one, he’s not only facing the hangman’s noose but he’s also looking for love. Life gets lonely on the frontier. Buster Crabbe is his usual dependable and likable self. Buster always looked convincing throwing a punch and both he and Fuzzy get to throw a lot of them here.

For many, B-westerns like this will always be an acquired taste but, for fans of the genre, Gentlemen With Guns is a superior example.

Scenes That I Love: Bernie

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy San Jacinto Day!

You can celebrate by watching my favorite scene from Richard Linklater’s Bernie! I really love this quick lesson about my home state:

By the way, that line about “Dallas snobs,” always got a big laugh from the audiences at the Dallas Angelika. It’s important to have a sense of humor.

Don’t worry, Vermont. You’ll learn how to laugh at yourself someday.

Brad recommends THE COPS ARE ROBBERS (1990)!

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Bradley Crain

If you’re looking for a good “dirty cops” movie to pass the time, I ran across an entertaining one today called THE COPS ARE ROBBERS (AKA – GOOD COPS, BAD COPS). It’s currently playing on Amazon Prime and Tubi. The film is a 1990 TV movie based on the real life robbery of the Boston Depositors Trust bank over Memorial Day weekend in 1980 by a group of corrupt cops. I first became aware of the film when I took part in an interview with Robert F. Lyons about his career on the This Week in Charles Bronson podcast. Lyons specifically mentioned this film as containing a role that he really enjoyed.

THE COPS ARE ROBBERS features an incredible cast, and this is what ultimately sets the movie apart for me. The movie opens as top cop Kirkland, played by George Kennedy, assigns Jake Quinn (Ed Asner), to lead a notoriously corrupt law enforcement agency in Massachusetts. No sooner does Quinn take over, when the Boston Depositors Trust is hit over Memorial Day weekend with over $25 million in cash and jewels taken. The crew of criminals includes current cops Jerry Clemente (Ray Sharkey) and Jimmy Donnelly (Steve Railsback), ex-cop Frank Moran (James Keach), and safe expert Benny Brown (Lyons). Over the next 5 years, with the assistance of officers Brill (James Morrison) and Kellogg (Franc Luz), Jake Quinn does every thing he can to bring Clemente and his crew down!

Ed Asner, Ray Sharkey and Robert F. Lyons are the real standouts of the film. Asner brings a toughness and honesty to his role honed by decades of playing such roles. In other words, the part fits him like a glove. Sharkey plays his part as a man who’s so arrogant and corrupt that he doesn’t seem to realize that using his position of trust in the community for his own selfish gain is a problem. He seems to think he deserves whatever he can steal, and it’s fun to see the pressure squeeze in on him as the film moves along. After watching the film, I can see why Lyons enjoyed playing this part, as he is excellent in his role as the safe expert. He is one of the most important parts of the robbery, he doesn’t trust cops, and he eventually gets the opportunity to give them a reason not to trust him. It’s a nice showcase for his talents.

At the end of the day, if you like the cast, enjoy movies based on true stories, or appreciate TV movies from the late 80’s and early 90’s, I definitely think you’ll enjoy THE COPS ARE ROBBERS. Veteran Director Paul Wendkos (CANNON FOR CORDOBA, THE BAD SEED) brings a professional touch to the proceedings, and for me, watching his film was a fun way to spend an evening.

Warrior Strong (2023, directed by Shane Belcourt)

Posted on April 20, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

After high school basketball coach Schmidt (Andrew Dice Clay) has a heart attack, one of his former players, Bilal Irving (Jordan Johnson-Hines), returns to Ontario to replace him. Bilal, a pro player who has developed a reputation for being a diva, thinks that it will mean some good publicity for him. Instead, he discovers that coaching a group of scrappy underdogs to the province championship is far more satisfying than being a member of the Timberwolves.

There’s not a sports cliche that goes unused in Warrior Strong. At first, no one gives the team a chance but then the team shows what they can do when they are properly motivated. Bilal stop being selfish but then gets a chance to return to the NBA right before the championship game. The team’s best player quits in disgust and the rest of the players have to prove themselves. Since this is a Canadian film, there’s a lot of political and cultural content stuffed into the plot. A local indigenous woman give the team permission to use the Warriors name. One the team’s stars, Bettina (Macaulee Cassaday), worries about fitting in as a nonbinary person. Some of it feels awkwardly forced into the story. Some of it works. I’ve never been a believer in the idea that “going work” automatically makes a film good or bad. But there are times that the movie feels as if it was written by someone who was given a checklist of issues to include.

Most people who watch this film will probably be watching for Andrew Dice Clay, cast here as a plainspoken coach. Clay is believable in the role, even if he doesn’t really do that much. He plays a decent person who doesn’t curse or recite dirty limericks. Watching films like this, you have to wonder what his career would be like now if he had never been the Diceman.

Target (1952, directed by Stuart Gilmore)

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

The frontier town of Pecos, Texas is without a marshal and Martin Conroy (Walter Reed) and his men are taking advantage of the situation by forcing people to sell their land for next to nothing. A railroad’s coming and Conroy is looking to make a killing. When landowner Bailey (John Hamilton) is targeted by Conroy, ranch hands Tim Holt (played by Tim Holt) and Rafferty (Richard Martin) are determined to stop him. Federal marshal Terry Moran is summoned to the town to enforce the law. Everyone is shocked when Moran’s daughter — also named Terry (Linda Douglas) — shows up and declares herself the new marshal. “We don’t need no petticoat marshal!” the townspeople cry.

This is a by-the-book B-western, one of many that Tim Holt and Richard Martin made over the years. In this one, neither Holt not Martin seems to be too invested in the familiar story. (Holt was maybe wondering how he went from The Magnificent Ambersons and Treasure of the Sierra Madre to this.) The only really interesting thing about this one is that the marshal is a woman but the movie doesn’t really do anything with the idea. Tim Holt was the star here and no petticoat marshal was going to upstage him.

The thing that I find interesting about these B-westerns is how often the villain was someone looking to get rich by selling ill-gotten land to the railroad companies. B-westerns always presented the railroads as being both the best and the worst thing about the west. The railroads bring and connect civilization but they also attract villains like Martin Conroy. In the American westerns, it was always made clear that the railroad company was as disgusted by men like Conroy as the townspeople. However, in the spaghetti westerns that would come out in the 60s, it was always clear that the railroad didn’t care how they got their land as long as they got it.

This was Tim Holt’s second-to-last movie as a B-western star. After his career ended in Hollywood, Holt relocated to Oklahoma and eventually became the manager of radio station. He died in 1973.

Brad reviews RISEN (2016)!

Posted on April 19, 2026 by Bradley Crain

The film RISEN opens up just after Jesus Christ is crucified, but before he actually dies. Badass Roman soldier Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) has been put in charge of making sure that Jesus dies and that his followers don’t try to steal his body and claim that he’s “risen” from the dead. Clavius sees Jesus (played by Cliff Curtis) die with his own eyes and allows the Jewish aristocrat Joseph of Arimathea to take the body and place him in his own tomb. Clavius oversees the sealing of the tomb and posts two soldiers on guard. That night the tomb is mysteriously opened, the guards are nowhere to be found, and the rumors begin to circulate that Jesus has risen from the dead. Roman political leader Pilate (Peter Firth) is not happy about all of this disruption in his area, especially with Tiberius Caesar scheduled to visit, so he orders Clavius and his right hand man Lucius (Tom Felton) to find Jesus’ body at all costs.

I’m writing this review a couple of weeks after Easter 2026, and RISEN takes place in the aftermath of Easter Sunday and the 40 days that Jesus spent appearing to his disciples and preparing them to carry his message to the masses. RISEN is an interesting take on the story as it focuses on Clavius, turning him into a detective trying to solve the mystery of Jesus’ missing body. We get to see him interrogate the disciples he can get his hands on, bribe various people for information and even beat information out of people when necessary. No matter what he tries, he keeps running into dead ends.

I’ll give Director Kevin Reynolds (ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO) some credit for his solid direction of RISEN. His PG-13 rated film made my toes curl up and made me hold my nose multiple times, whether it be the somewhat graphic breaking of the legs of the men being crucified or the times spent with rotting, decaying bodies and the flies and imagined smells that go with them. The film didn’t skimp on these scenes, and it was pretty sickening. But then there is a blunt, powerful scene where Clavius is suddenly forced to deal with things that he can’t reconcile in his own mind. The scene I’m referencing made me feel a sense of awe and wonder and somehow caught me by surprise even in a faith-based film. There aren’t many miracles shown in the film, but those we see are truly heartwarming. RISEN forced strong feelings out of me both physically and emotionally, creating a more powerful experience than I was expecting.

The acting in RISEN is very good. Joseph Fiennes is downright excellent as Clavius. His performance as the tough, weary, cynical soldier is balanced perfectly as his complete disbelief turns into something different based on the events he witnesses throughout the story. The emotional conflict we see in his eyes when he first sees the resurrected Jesus is incredible work. Peter Firth is solid as the politically powerful, but seriously insecure Pilate, who worries more about public perception than the truth. And I’ve always liked the actor Cliff Curtis, who plays Jesus here. He portrays a strong sense of peace and love that is immediately believable and very effective. (On a personal note, Curtis’ scene in the Denzel Washington, Oscar winner TRAINING DAY has always been one of my favorite moments in cinema.)

Overall, I highly recommend RISEN. The film features an incredible lead performance from Fiennes, and the detective story angle brings something distinct and interesting to the table. Due to personal convictions, Christians will find the story the most powerful, but this is a movie that can reach a much wider audience than you might expect.

Alone In The Neon Jungle (1988, directed by Georg Stanford Brown)

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Jedadiah Leland

Alone In The Neon Jungle takes place in a Pittsburgh police precinct that is supposedly so crime-ridden that it is called The Sewer. After two cops are arrested while committing a burglary, the Chief of Police (Danny Aiello) sends tough Captain Jane Hamilton (Suzanne Pleshette) to take over the precinct. Her mission? To enforce discipline and root out police corruption!

There’s a lot of corruption to root out. Crime boss Nahid (Tony Shalhoub) has half the precinct on his payroll and corrupt cops like Brad Stafowski (Jon Polito) are quick to to drag new transfers, like Todd Hansen (Jon Tennery), into the rackets. Along with enforcing the dress code and cleaning up the streets, Jane also has to figure out who is responsible for the murder of one of her sergeants.

This made for TV movie was probably meant to be a pilot for a weekly television series. It just has the sort of feel to it. It features just about every cop cliche imaginable, from the weary detective who comes to respect the new boss to the crime lord who claims to be a respectable businessman. The main problem is that the precinct never seems as bad as its described. For a place called The Sewer, the streets are surprisingly clean. The majority of the crimes committed seem to be burglary and prostitution. If you’re a cop and that’s all you have to deal with in a big city like Pittsburgh, count yourself lucky. The precinct never lives up to the title “Neon Jungle” and no one’s ever alone in it.

Suzanne Pleshette does a good enough job in the lead role. By this point in her career, Pleshette’s voice was as deep as the voice of the toughest patrolman around. It worked for her.

The Eric Roberts Collection: Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft (dir by David DeCoteau)

Posted on April 18, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2013’s Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft, Ella (Fivel Stewart) and Jonah (Booboo Stewart) are twins who are sent to an exclusive private school. The private school is so exclusive that many of the students are the descendants of former students. If you don’t have the right lineage, you’re not attending this school.

Ella and Jonah soon discover that this isn’t your everyday private school. Instead, the student body is made up of witches and wizards and so are the majority of the teachers. Ella and Jonah also discover that they are being targeted. Can they defeat the other witches and wizards and will their school ever beat Hogwarts at Quidditch?

Now, technically, Hogwarts is never mentioned in this film and no one ever plays Quidditch but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which insanely popular series of books and films inspired Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft. There are a few references to witches in the woods and children being eaten but this film definitely has more in common with the works of J.K. Rowling than the work of the Brothers Grimm. It’s a fairly silly film but it’s enjoyable enough, if you’re a fan of director David DeCoteau’s unique aesthetic. That means plenty of cheap special effects, a few names in the cast, one scene of gratuitous shirtlessness for Booboo Stewart, and an open-ended conclusion, just in case someone was willing to pay for a sequel.

Eric Roberts plays Mr. Sebastian. He’s the kind-hearted headmaster at the school. He doesn’t appear in many scenes but, as always, it’s nice to see Eric Roberts playing a nice guy for once. At one point, Mr. Sebastian explains what is going on at the school and it doesn’t make the least bit of sense but I guess that’s magic for you.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed: