Holidays On The Lens: Christmas In Palm Springs (dir by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on December 7, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we have another cute little Christmas film from the insanely prolific director, Fred Olen Ray.

In 2014’s Christmas In Palm Springs, Dina Meyer is a divorced workaholic who is due to give a presentation in Palm Springs. Patrick Muldoon is her ex-husband, who would like to get back together with her. Fortunately, their children want them to get back together as well and will do anything to make it happen….

It’s cute and Christmas-y and Ian Ziering and David Chokachi in small roles. (You may remember Chokachi as the speedo-wearing Baywatch lifeguard that my friend Evelyn nicknamed “The Bulge.”) And it’s also a Starship Troopers reunion. Personally, I just like it when Patrick Muldoon shows up in these movies!

Holidays On The Lens: A Royal Christmas On Ice (dir by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on December 6, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Consider the plot of 2022’s A Royal Christmas On Ice.

He’s a prince.

She’s a former Olympic skater turned hard-as-nails coach.

They meet in a small town.

They fall in love….

AT CHRISTMAS!

Seriously, has there ever been a film more obviously made for me? This is a cute movie and a reminder that you can find just about anything in Fred Olen Ray’s filmography.

Star Slammer (1986, directed by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

On the planet of Arous, Taura (Sandy Brooke) leads a group of dwarf miners in rebellion against the international empire. The empire sends Captain Bantor (Ross Hagen), Krago (Michael D. Sonye), and the Inquisitor (Aldo Ray) to capture Taura and put down the revolution. When Bantor attempts to attack Taura, he sticks his hand in a volcanic acid plume and screams as it dissolves. Taura is arrested. Judge John Carradine sentences her to a term on Vehemence, a spaceship that serves as an intergalactic women’s prison.

Star Slammer is a Women In Prison film that happens to be set in space. Taura makes an enemy of the sadistic warden (Marya Grant) and her henchwoman, Muffin (Dawn Wildsmith). Taura also befriend Mike (Susan Stokey) and the two of them plot to overthrow the guards and make their escape. When the now crazed Bantor boards the ship, Taura sees her chance. Meanwhile, the prisoners have to deal not only with pervy guards but mutant rats.

Legend has it that Fred Olen Ray had rented Roger Corman’s New World Pictures studio for four days so that he could shoot some extra scenes for his film Biohazard. Ray finished his Biohazard work in one day and then spent the other three days filming promotional footage for the film that would become Star Slammer. He used props that were left over from Galaxy of Terror and was able to get Aldo Ray to come in for a day so that the footage would feature “a name.” Producer Jack H. Harris looked at the footage and put up the money to shoot the rest of the film on the condition that Ray change the title from Prison Ship to Star Slammer.

Amazingly, the resulting film itself is not that bad. Ray used the outer space setting as a way to both indulge in and poke fun at the common tropes of the Women In Prison genre and Sandy Brooke and Susan Stokey both turn in committed performances. Ross Hagen laughs like a maniac and demands vengeance for his missing hand while trying to get his remaining hand on a mind control device. The prisoners are kept in check by promises of prizes and free trips in return for good behavior. A thoroughly deformed guard is promoted as a sex symbol and there’s a sharp wit to many of the scenes. Star Slammer is much more clever and fun than anyone would have any right to expect it to be.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Fred Olen Ray Edition

Posted on September 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Fred Olen Ray! It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Fred Olen Ray Films

Alien Dead (1980, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Fred Olen Ray)

Scalps (1983, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Larry Van Loon and Cynthia Webster)

Cyclone (1987, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Paul Elliott)

Alienator (1990, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Gary Graver)

Guilty Pleasure No. 71: Submerged (dir by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

THUNDERSTRIKE!

Listen, if you’re going to watch the 2000 film Submerged, you better be a big fan of the term “Thunderstrike,” because it’s repeated so many times that one gets the feeling that the actors just loved saying it.

Thunderstrike is a satellite that was built by western businessman Buck Stevens (Dennis Weaver). He and his daughter (Nicole Eggert) and her sort-of boyfriend (Hannes Jaenicke) are all flying to Hawaii so that they can conduct more tests on the Thunderstrike. However, arms dealer Owen Cantrell (Tim Thomerson) wants the Thunderstrike for himself so he sends a mercenary named Jeff Cort (Coolio. Yes, Coolio.) to steal the plans from the airplane. The plan is to kill the pilot, substitute a new pilot, and then crash the plane into the ocean …. which is pretty much what happens, despite the best efforts of heroic CIA agent, Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield).

Actually, wait a minute. Maxwell Caulfield’s character is named Jim Carpenter. Well, I don’t care. He’ll always be Rex Manning to me!

While Special Agent Mack Taylor (Brent Huff) tries to stop Cantrell from stealing the Thunderstrike, Captain Masters (Fred Williamson) tries to figure out a way to bring the plane to the surface.

If this sound familiar, it’s because Submerged has the same plot as Airport ’77.

If it looks familiar, it’s because Submerged lifts a lot of footage from Airport ’77, including the scene where the plane crashes, the scene where the plane settles on the ocean floor, and the scene where the plane is lifted off the ocean floor. Even a scene of water pouring into plane is lifted from Airport ’77, which means that the plane in Submerged suddenly has a staircase that no one apparently noticed before.

Submerged was directed by the wonderful Fred Olen Ray and seriously, how can you not love it? Between the cast and the fact that it features all of the best parts of Airport ’77, this is a film for which the term guilty Ppeasure was invented! It helps that the cast, for whatever reason, appears to be taking the film rather seriously. This film was Dennis Weaver’s final screen appearance and he seems to be having a ball playing a cheerful good old boy who can’t wait to put a dangerous satellite in the sky.

Plus, the film features Rex Manning!

Plus, Jack Deth!

Plus, Black Caesar!

Plus …. THUNDERSTRIKE!

Previous Guilty Pleasures

Cruella’s Castle (2010, directed by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Jedadiah Leland

Dr. Bikini Jones (Christine Nguyen) is a world-famous adventurer and archeologist who is willing to brave any danger and sleep with any security guard or spy in her hunt for treasure. She has just recovered a golden idol that contains a code that will lead to the Temple of Eros and a tiara that, when worn, makes the wearer the Empress of Moronica.

Evilla Cruella (Heather Vandeven) may have born in Hoboken but her family came from Mornica and she is determined to be Queen of the Morons. She sends her lover Drago (Frankie Cullen) and her other lover, Carol (Rebecca Love), to steal the idol. Working with CIA agent Mark X (Tony Marino), Bikini must keep Cruella from being the first to find the Temple of Eros. It won’t be easy because the Temple itself is guarded by a hungry dinosaur!

Cruella’s Castle started life as an 82-minute softcore film called Bikni Jones and The Temple of Eros. When the film moved to streaming, it was edited to remove all of the explicit sex and most of the nudity and renamed Cruella’s Castle. (Without the sex and boobs, Cruella’s Castle is only 40 minutes long.) I imagine many would say that the editing took the main reason why anyone would want to watch this movie in the first place but, even in edited form, Cruella’s Castle has got enough double entendrees and intentionally dumb jokes to be entertaining. The dinosaur is surprisingly effective, considering that the budget for this movie was undoubtedly not high and Christine Nguyen has so much energy and enthusiasm as Bikini Jones that it’s hard not to mourn that she hasn’t had any more adventures. This is a typical Fred Olen Ray joint, dumb but inoffensive and even a little fun if you’re in the right mood.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Fred Olen Ray Edition

Posted on September 10, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Fred Olen Ray! It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Fred Olen Ray Films

Alien Dead (1980, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Fred Olen Ray)

Scalps (1983, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Larry Van Loon and Cynthia Webster)

Cyclone (1987, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Paul Elliott)

Alienator (1990, dir by Fred Olen Ray, DP: Gary Graver)

Biohazard (1985, directed by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

At a government research lab in the middle of the desert, Lisa (Angelique Pettyjohn) is a psychic who has the ability to go into different dimensions and bring things back with her. While demonstrating her abilities for Gen. Randolph (Aldo Ray), she accidentally brings back a container that is carrying a small, humanoid/lizard hybrid. (Inside the costume was director Fred Olen Ray’s six year-old son, Christopher.) The monster goes on a rampage, killing hoboes and other random people who live in a nearby town. Lisa and Carter (William Fair) try to track down the creature before it can cause too much damage and kill too many people. Meanwhile, the town drunk wants to sell the monster’s story to the newspapers.

Biohazard is a typical early Ray film. Hire some veterans, like Aldo Ray and Carroll Borland. (Fred Olen Ray, if nothing else, was good about finding work for Hollywood veterans who, otherwise, would have spent their final years in obscurity.) Unleash someone in a monster costume. Toss in some gratuitous nudity. Spill some fake blood. Pad it out so that the film reaches feature-length. Biohazard goes the Hal Needham route when it comes to padding out the film and gives us several minutes of blown takes and other mistakes. The takes start out amusing but, eventually, there’s only so many times you can watch actors blow lines that weren’t that good to begin with. It’s still not as bad as having to watch Burt Reynolds slap Dom DeLuise a hundred times during the closing credits of Cannonball Run. At least most of the actors actually look like they enjoyed being on the set of Biohazard.

With Fred Olen Ray, you know what you’re going to get and Biohazard delivers all of Ray’s trademark moments, including ineptly lit day-for-night scenes, overacted comedy relief, and one or two scenes that work despite themselves. As bad as the end result was, the film does have a DIY aesthetic that will appeal to anyone who has ever thought about getting a couple of friends together and just making a movie. Supposedly, it took Ray two years to complete Biohazard. Today, an aspiring filmmaker could just film it on his phone over two weekends and then upload it to YouTube and get a few thousand likes. In some ways, independent filmmakers like Fred Olen Ray were ahead of their time.

Evil Toons (1992, directed by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

Evil Toons opens, disturbingly enough, with David Carradine hanging himself. Carradine is playing Gideon Fisk, the owner of both a run-down mansion and an ancient book that appears to be bound in human skin. Though Fisk kills himself, he still appears several years later so that he can deliver a copy of the book to the four girls who have been hired to clean his home.

The girls are all students at Miskatonic University, a name that will be familiar to any fans of the work of H.P. Lovecraft. (Those same fans will also have figured out that the book is the Necronomicon.) Jan (Barbara Dare) and Terry (Suzanne Auger) want to get the house cleaned so they can get paid. Roxanne (Madison Stone) wants to party overnight with her idiot boyfriend, Biff (Don Dowe). Shy and intellectual Megan (Monique Gabrielle) is mostly just worried about surviving until morning. After the girls open the book, they get Megan to translate the Latin writing within. This brings to life a cartoon monster, one who looks much like a combination of the Big Bad Wolf and the Tasmanian Devil but which is far more bloodthirsty and horny than either of them. After killing one of the girls and possessing her body, the Monster stalks the other inhabitants of the house.

Not meant to be taken seriously in any way shape or form, Evil Toons was made by Fred Olen Ray for $150,000. That probably explains why, despite the title, there’s only one evil toon and it only gets a minute and a half of screen time before possessing its first victim. Most of the dialogue is deliberately obtuse, with none of the girls showing any alarm upon realizing that forcing Megan to translate the book has condemned everyone to an eternity of torment. The good thing is that there are enough funny lines to hold your interest and the cast is game (and frequently undressed, which is probably why this film still has a cult following). Monique Gabrielle proves that she can scream with the best of them while Madison Stone is genuinely funny as Roxanne, delivering her lines with a playful quirkiness and even indulging in a little physical comedy with a hard-to-open wine bottle.

Fans of B-horror will be happy to see Dick Miller in the role of Burt, the man who hires the girls to clean up the house. After leaving the girls at the house, Burt goes home and watches Bucket of Blood (starring Dick Miller, of course) on television. “How come that guy never won an Academy Award?” Burt asks. Burt’s wife is played by scream queen Michelle Bauer, who gets a guest starring credit for a two-minute role that consists of her reminding Burt what Friday night is supposed to be for.

Evil Toons is undeniably dumb but I laughed more than I was expecting too. I think it helps that the movie confirmed what anyone who grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons has always suspected. Most cartoon characters aren’t that innocent, especially the ones that are drawn in the margins of the Necronomicon.

Friend of the Family II a.k.a. Passionate Revenge (1996, directed by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

Alex Madison (Paul Michael Robinson) goes to New Orleans on business and spots the beautiful and sexy Linda (Shauna O’Brien) having a fight with her boyfriend at a local bar. Alex introduces himself to Lind and offers to pay for her dinner. Later, directed Fred Olen Ray mixes shots of them making love with shots of Mardi Gras happening right outside the bedroom window.

Linda falls in love with Alex and becomes clingy but Alex has a wife and newborn at home. When Alex leaves Linda (and breaks up with her via a note) and returns home, Linda is heartbroken. When Linda’s ex finds out about the affair and shoots himself in the kitchen, Linda is outraged and decides to track Alex and his family down. When Alex’s wife, Maddy (Jenna Bodnar), announces that she’s ready to go back to work and says that they will have to hire a nanny to look after the baby, Linda applies for the job. Alex impresses Maddy by holding the baby and, more importantly, she doesn’t mention that she had a weekend affair with Maddy’s husband. Alex comes home from work and is shocked to discover that Linda not only lives in his house but she’s also now best friends with his wife! Linda is soon sexually blackmailing Alex while carrying on an affair with Linda’s horndog of a younger brother, Byron (Sid Farley). Linda wants revenge against all of them.

This is a pretty typical example of the type of films that Cinemax used to air once the sun went down. (There’s a reason why the network was once nicknamed Skinemax.) I think anyone who grew up in the 90s has at least a few memories of watching these movies with the sound turned down low enough to not run the risk of waking up the adults in the house. Fred Olen Ray was one of the main directors of these films and he certainly understood what his audience was expecting and, more often than not, he delivered.

That is certainly the case with Friend of the Family II, which is full of sex, violence, and not much else. (It is also a sequel in name only so don’t worry about not being able to follow the plot if you haven’t seen the first Friend of the Family.) As someone who casually cheats on his wife and is then shocked to discover that there are consequences for his actions, Alex is not exactly a likable or sympathetic protagonist but most people watching this movie will be watching Shauna O’Brien, who goes all out in the role of Linda. Linda is unhinged enough to demand sex from Alex while his wife is sleeping right next to him but also clever enough to worm her way into Alex’s family. Fortunately, O’Brien is convincing no matter what she’s doing and she also brings some vulnerability to the role so Linda is sympathetic no matter how much she tries to destroy everyone’s live.

Friend of the Family II is currently on Tubi, under the name Passionate Revenge. It will be best enjoyed by people who have nostalgic memories of late night Cinemax.