Movies (Page 155)
Browse 2,069 movies from the database, mentioned on Hacker News, ranked by rating or popularity.
The Atticus Institute
The story of the film is presented in documentary format, with footage of the events punctuated by interviews with people related to them. In the early 1970s, Dr. Henry West (William Mapother) founded the Atticus Institute in rural Pennsylvania, hoping to find evidence that proves supernatural abilities such as ESP are real. Despite the best work of West and his aides, however, every subject that comes to the institute seeming to display such abilities are ultimately proven to be frauds. The team is demoralized in their work by the time Judith Winstead (Rya Kihlstedt) is brought to the institute by her sister Margaret, who is troubled by her disturbing behavior. The tests immediately proves to be no challenge for Judith's incredible power, the team gradually introduces new tests that show her to possess even greater abilities than first imagined. Judith's behavior grows more unstable as her abilities evolve, disturbing West's staff. Bizarre events begin to happen to the aides and their families outside of the institute, which they suspect Judith is somehow influencing, and many of them resign from their positions to escape from her. As the situation escalates, the team seeks help from the United States military; under the influence of military advisors, they conduct new tests that lead to Judith manifesting new abilities such as telekinesis and pyrokinesis. One day, Judith experiences a violent reaction to a spectral photography experiment, and when the images are checked, a cloud-like entity is observed temporarily leaving Judith's body during her convulsions. This leads the team to realize that Judith's powers are the result of demonic possession. With this discovery, the military seizes full control of the institute under a pretext of national security, and the situation spirals completely out of control. Soon, the military decides that Judith's abilities can be utilized as a weapon against the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and they begin conducting increasingly inhumane experiments on Judith against West's objections. Using methods such as electroshock therapy, the military try to tame the demon and force it to cooperate in exercises such as identifying the location of enemy bases, ignoring the effects these tests have on Judith. As these experiments ultimately prove fruitless, the military decides to try removing the demon from Judith by having a priest perform an exorcism while a soldier is connected to Judith. The process shows promise at first, but Judith suddenly lashes out and gravely injures the priest, disconnecting the electrodes attached to her before passing out. As the staff try to reattach the electrodes, Judith experiences a violent seizure while the demon attacks West through the body of the soldier connected to her. An unseen force blasts through the facility, knocking out all present. As the cameras come back online, Judith is now free of the demon's control and restored to her true self, but still tied to a chair in an observation cell. She panics when she sees the carnage around her. The demon enters the room in West's body, having fully consumed his soul, and stands before Judith's cell as she pleads for help. West kills Judith by telekinetically bursting her heart, then calmly exits the room and disappears. The film concludes with a note revealing that Judith's body was buried in an undisclosed location following an autopsy, and her case "remains the only instance of possession officially recognized by the United States government". Dr. West, having "disappeared on October 23, 1976" is revealed to have been declared legally dead in 1982 and his whereabouts unknown for over forty years.
System Crasher
The nine-year-old Bernadette, known as âBenniâ, is considered aggressive and wayward. If anyone but her mother touches her face, she lashes out â a consequence of a childhood trauma in which, according to the social worker, nappies were pressed into her face; this prompts other children to provoke her and set off an outburst of rage. She has been repeatedly suspended from her special school and no foster family or residential group can tolerate her for long. As a so-called âsystem crasherâ she seems likely to fall through the framework of the German support system for children and youths. Benni just yearns to live with her mother again. However, it is also too much for Bianca, who is afraid of her own daughter. She is also mother to two more young children and is living with the abusive Jens, from whom she is unable to part. In one scene Benni runs away and hitch-hikes home to find her small siblings alone, unsupervised and watching horror films. Showing she can be caring, she switches over to a childrenâs channel against the wishes of her brother and prepares some food. When her mother returns with her current partner, whom she has for some time wanted to leave, Benni is at first overjoyed to see her but then explodes and with a vase attacks first Jens and then her mother who calls the police. Jens strikes Benni and shuts her in a wardrobe until the officers arrive. In another effort, the dedicated Frau BafanĂ© from youth services hires an anger-management trainer for Benni. Michael Heller, a boxing fan who has worked with male delinquents, is engaged to accompany her to school. After further violent outbursts, at his own suggestion, he takes her away to a lodge in the woods where he has previously taken the young offenders. This may be stretching âoutdoor educationâ, but Benni goes along with him and he is able to engage with her. Benni sees him as a father figure, at one point even calling him âPapaâ, which Micha will not allow, lest he lose his professional distance. At the end of the visit, Benni clings to Micha and wants to stay with him. Micha, however, has his own family and would like to give up the case, but Frau BafanĂ© persuades him to continue, as there are so few people on Benniâs side. Benniâs mother tells her and the social workers that she has left her belligerent partner for good and will take Benni back home, but when she arrives at one of the few case meetings she actually attends, she tells Frau BafanĂ© that she is scared of Benni and doesn't want her at home influencing her other two children. She then runs away from the meeting without saying goodbye to Benni. Frau BafanĂ© breaks down in tears as she has to tell Benni of yet another disappointment, and Benni, oblivious to this, comforts her. Placement with a previous foster mother also fails when Benni seriously injures a foster child already there after the child unwittingly touches her face. As a short-term measure, Benni is returned to the emergency accommodation where she had previously been. There are no specialist boarding schools for children as young as Benni and a stay abroad in Kenya is suggested as a last resort. Benni flees to Micha and his family, who are prepared to let her stay for one night. In the morning, while the parents are still sleeping, Benni goes into their bedroom and lifts the baby from his cot, takes him downstairs and carefully gives him breakfast. When the baby unwittingly touches Benniâs face, she makes no objection. On waking and coming to the kitchen, Elli, the babyâs mother, tries to take him back and Benni becomes aggressive. She refuses to let the baby go and locks herself in the bathroom. Micha breaks the door open, but Benni has fled through the window, leaving the baby unharmed. She runs in her socks and nightclothes into the nearby wood, where she collapses into confused dreams. Hours later she is found hypothermic and taken to hospital. She is to be sent to Kenya, but at the airport she runs out of security. The last shot of the film is of Benni as she leaps into the air, smiling. The frame freezes and then cracks like broken glass.
The Amusement Park
The film opens with an informational prologue by Lincoln Maazel, who explains how society constantly overlooks and undervalues the elderly. He tells the viewer that they are about to watch a film that acts as a metaphorical description of how the elderly are mistreated. An elderly man, played by Maazel, sits in a white room, bandaged, bloodied and with his once nice white suit dirtied. Another man, also played by Maazel, enters looking clean and in good spirits. He attempts to communicate with the tired version of himself and tells him that he is going to the park despite him telling him that "there is nothing out there." The cleaner man walks through the door and is immediately in the park. On the outside the door is not connected to anything. The man walks about and happily examines his surroundings before coming across a ticket taker who swindles other septuagenarians out of their things with low pay. He buys some tickets from him which take the form of money in the park. The man gets on a rollercoaster with strange signage, rides a train where one of the older passengers supposedly dies and is ignored once in a coffin and witnesses a man's license get revoked due to poor eyesight. While playing in the bumper cars, an "accident" occurs complete with a police officer and lawyer arriving on the scene. The man tries to offer assistance, but it becomes apparent that he needs to wear glasses and therefore cannot be seen as a reliable alibi. He goes to eat at a food stand, lampooned as a restaurant, as waiters ignore him and several other elders for a wealthy individual. When the man finally gets his food, he sympathetically gives it to the other elders. The man buys groceries, but cannot carry them all so he simply takes some crackers and a jar of peanut butter. As he sits to eat, he beckons some children to come and converse with him, but a younger man accuses him of being a "degenerate" and he leaves in shame. The man is beckoned into a building by younger people who tell him that he will have fun, but upon entering, it is a claustrophobic room where elders are forced to perform in uncomfortable exercise machines. He leaves, but breaks his glasses in the process. He comes upon a fortune teller and witnesses a young couple enter and ask what their future will be like. The fortune teller shows them that they will be living in a soon-to-be-built apartment building where they will have little support from their personal doctor and neighbors. Angry, the young man leaves and punches the older man who collapses. When the man comes to his senses, the park is empty save for three bikers who beat him and then take his tickets. As people suddenly appear, they all ignore him. With very little money, he goes to get first aid. The medical center, set up like a store, is full of various elders equipment and the doctors and nurses hastily rush everyone through. The man finds himself simply getting a band aid on his head and a cane and is ushered out. He comes upon some men trying to sell retirement homes and ends up getting pick-pocketed. The pick-pocket is revealed to run a freak show, which simply consists of elders dressed in casual clothing. Everyone is upset and as the man gets up to leave, he is suddenly chased by the patrons who accuse him of trying to escape the freak show. He finds "sanctuary", but it closes upon his arrival. The man finally gets some solace when a little girl offers for him to read The Three Little Pigs to her and have some chicken. The mother apathetically takes her and the book away as he finally breaks down into tears. He leaves the piece of chicken behind and walks back to the white room; resigned and defeated. Moments later, a cleaner optimistic version of himself enters as the scene from the beginning repeats. The man sits tired and powerless over not being able to stop his younger self. Maazel appears one last time to tell the viewer that they can help the elderly through already established programs. He signs off with "I'll see you in the park... someday."
The Best Years of Our Lives
Three returning World War II veterans meet on a flight to their midwestern hometown of Boone City. USAAF bombardier captain Fred Derry had been a drugstore soda jerk who lived with his father and stepmother on the wrong side of the tracks. Before shipping out, Fred married gold-digger Marie after a whirlwind romance. Marie has since been working in a nightclub to fill her time (and her nightlife) in spite of Fred's generous combat pay as an Air Force officer. U.S. Army sergeant Al Stephenson is a bank executive; he, his wife Milly and their children Peggy and Rob live in a luxury apartment. U.S. Navy petty officer Homer Parrish was a star high school athlete living with his middle-class parents and younger sister, and dating his next-door neighbor Wilma, whom he intended to marry upon his return from the war. Each man faces challenges integrating back into civilian life. Homer lost both hands in the war; he is reluctant to return home and face his well-meaning parents and their friends, who have a hard time seeing past his disability. Homer can deftly use his mechanical hooks, but hesitates to display affection for Wilma as he cannot believe she will still want to marry him. Al, tired and jaded, returns to the bank and is given a promotion, but wrestles with alcohol. Fred suffers from PTSD flashbacks by night. Fred arrives home and cannot locate his party girl wife, who does not expect him. The Stephensons and Peggy invite Fred to go out with them, bar-hopping to celebrate Al's return. An inebriated Fred keeps asking Peggy who she is; she humorously reminds him she's "Al's daughter." When Fred can't get into his apartment, the Stephensons offer him a bed for the night. Later, Peggy calms Fred during a nightmare, and they develop a mutual attraction. When Peggy and her boyfriend invite Fred and Marie out to dinner, Peggy realizes how shallow and materialistic Marie is and determines to break up Fred's marriage. Homer is frustrated and often depressed by his loss of independence. Concerned that Wilma doesn't fully understand the difficulties of being married to him, Homer demonstrates how she'll need to assist him when he removes his prosthetic hands at bedtime, leaving him helpless. Wilma reaffirms her love and vows her commitment to a grateful and emotional Homer, who finally embraces her. Widely respected by the bank's senior management for his past business acumen, Al is admonished after approving an unsecured loan to a farmer and fellow veteran without collateral. With inhibitions lowered by excessive drinking, Al gives a speech at a work banquet that satirizes requiring a veteran to provide collateral before risking his life to take a hill in battle. With little work experience and unable to find a better job than soda jerk, Fred returns to the same drugstore and is now supervised by his former protege. Fred and Peggy's attraction grows stronger, increasing tensions with Al. When Homer visits Fred at the drugstore, another customer criticizes US involvement in the war, telling Homer his injuries were unnecessary. Homer responds angrily, and Fred punches the customer, for which he's fired. Marie, frustrated with Fred's lack of financial success and missing her past nightlife, seeks a divorce. Bitter and seeing no future in Boone City, especially with Al telling him to stay away from Peggy, Fred decides to catch the next plane out. While waiting at the airport, Fred walks into an aircraft graveyard, climbing into the bombardier's seat of a decommissioned B-17 bomber. He's roused from a painful flashback by a work crew foreman, who tells him the planes are being demolished for use in the growing prefab housing industry. Fred asks if they need help in the budding business and is hired. Al, Milly, and Peggy attend Homer and Wilma's wedding, where Fred is best man. Now divorced, Fred reunites with Peggy after the ceremony and expresses his love but says things may be financially difficult if she stays with him. Peggy's smile expresses her joy and she and Fred kiss.
The Diamond Arm
The boss of a black market ring (known only as "The Chief") wants to smuggle a batch of jewelry from a foreign state into the Soviet Union by hiding it inside the orthopedic cast of a courier. The Chief sends a minor henchman named Gennadiy 'Gesha' Kozodoyev (played by Mironov) to serve as the courier. Kozodoyev travels to Turkey via a tourist cruise ship. The local co-conspirators do not know what the courier looks like; they only know that he is supposed to say a code word to identify himself. The code word is a simple swear such as "Oh darn", after a slip and "fall". After Kozodoyev's fellow passenger from the cruise ship, the "ordinary Soviet citizen" Semyon Gorbunkov (played by Nikulin), accidentally falls and says the code phrase, they mistake him for the courier. They place a cast around his arm and put the contraband jewels inside the cast. Upon the cruise ship's return to the Soviet Union, Gorbunkov lets the police know what happened, and the police captain, who is working undercover as a taxi driver, uses Gorbunkov as bait to catch the criminals. Gesha and Lyolik (another of Chief's henchmen, played by Papanov) attempt to lure Gorbunkov into situations where they can quietly, without a wetwork, remove the cast and reclaim the contraband jewels. On one such occasion, Gesha invites Gorbunkov to a fancy restaurant with the intention of getting Gorbunkov drunk enough for Lyolik to subdue him. However, both Gesha and Gorbunkov become drunk and Gorbunkov is taken home by the police after he and Gesha cause a scene. Gorbunkov's wife, begins to suspect either that he has been recruited by foreign intelligence after finding a large amount of money and a gun loaded with blanks in Gorbunkov's possession (previously given to him by the police), or that he is having an affair. Gorbunkov explains that he is working with the Soviet police on a secret mission, but cannot divulge any details. The Chief sends Anna Sergeyevna, a female operative, to help retrieve the cast. Anna Sergeyevna invites Gorbunkov to her hotel room under the pretense of wanting to sell Gorbunkov a gown and spikes his drink with a sleeping pill. As Gorbunkov is about to pass out, his building's nosy superintendent who had followed Gorbunkov brings his wife into the hotel room before either Lyolik or the police can get to him. Gorbunkov awakens the next morning to find that his wife has assumed that his story was all a cover up for an affair, and has left with the children. The police in the meantime have deduced that Gesha is involved with the smuggling scheme surrounding the cast, and ask Gorbunkov to mention to Gesha that he is planning to travel to another city and will have his cast removed there. Gesha reports this to the Chief, who sends Lyolik disguised as a taxi driver to pick up Gorbunkov. Gorbunkov assumes that Lyolik is also an undercover policeman, and gives away the fact that he has been in contact with the police the entire time. Lyolik plays along and tells Gorbunkov that he has been authorized to remove the cast a day early at a safehouse along the way to Dubrovka. As Lyolik is about to remove the cast, Gorbunkov deduces that Lyolik is actually a criminal and attempts to escape. Lyolik and Gesha chase Gorbunkov and with the help of the Chief himself, they capture Gorbunkov. Upon removing Gorbunkov's cast, they realize that the police had removed the diamonds in the cast a long time ago. The criminals kidnap Gorbunkov and attempt to flee as the police track them down in a helicopter and capture them. Gorbunkov is reunited with his family, with the police having explained the situation to his wife. Gorbunkov goes on vacation with his family, albeit now with a broken leg as a result of the kidnapping.
The Day of the Jackal
"August, 1962 was a stormy time for France. Many people felt that President Charles de Gaulle had betrayed the country by giving independence to Algeria. Extremists, mostly from the army, swore to kill him in revenge. They banded together in an underground movement and called themselves the OAS." The far-right Organisation armĂ©e secrĂšte ("Secret Army Organisation") plots to assassinate President de Gaulle. The first attempt on 22 August fails, leaving de Gaulle and his entourage unharmed. Within six months, OAS leader Jean Bastien-Thiry and several members are captured, and Bastien-Thiry is executed. With their initial plot foiled, the remaining OAS leaders, now hiding in Austria, hatch a new plan. They enlist the services of an apolitical British assassin given the code name "Jackal," a figure already credited with the assassinations of Patrice Lumumba and Rafael Trujillo. Aware that targeting de Gaulle is extremely risky and demanding a final retirement in anonymity, the Jackal insists on a fee of $500,000, half to be paid upfront into his Swiss bank account. To raise the money, the OAS uses its extensive network to execute a series of bank robberies. Preparing for his mission, the Jackal travels to Genoa where he commissions a custom single-shot rifle from a skilled gunsmith and secures fake identity papers from a forgerâa man he later kills when the criminal attempts to extort him. In Paris, the Jackal duplicates a key to a sixth-floor flat overlooking a historically significant square, setting the stage for the planned assassination. Meanwhile, the OAS leadership has relocated to Rome, although their activities continue to draw the attention of French security forces. French intelligence makes a breakthrough when they kidnap the OAS's chief clerk, Viktor Wolenski. Although Wolenski dies during interrogation, he reveals crucial details of the plot, including the term "Jackal". In response, the Interior Minister convenes a secret meeting with top security officials. Police Commissioner Berthier recommends his deputy, Claude Lebel, to lead the investigation under the constraints of secrecy with Lebel being granted special emergency powers despite de Gaulle's insistence on maintaining his public schedule. Complicating matters further, Colonel St Clairâde Gaulle's personal military aide and a cabinet memberâdivulges classified details to his new mistress, Denise, an OAS agent. At the same time, Lebel is informed by Special Branch that a British national, Charles Harold Calthrop, might be connected to the assassination plot and travelling under the alias Paul Oliver Duggan. Despite learning that his plot is compromised, and he can walk away keeping his down payment, the Jackal decides to stay in France and presses forward. While staying in a hotel in Nice, he meets and seduces the aristocratic Colette de Montpellier, but narrowly evades capture as Lebel and his team close in. After surviving a severe vehicular accident, the Jackal flees to Madame de Montpellier's country estate. There, when she reveals that the police have already questioned her and probes for more details from him, he kills her. Dyeing his blonde hair brown and donning spectacles, he assumes the identity of a Danish schoolteacher, Per Lundquist, then boards a train for Paris. The discovery of Madame de Montpellier's murder allows Lebel to drop all secrecy constraints and launch a public manhunt. The Jackal temporarily hides at the flat of a man he picks up in a Turkish bath, killing him when the man learns of Montpellier's murder. At a subsequent cabinet meeting, Lebel predicts that the Jackal will try to shoot de Gaulle during the upcoming Liberation Day ceremony marking the commemoration of Paris's liberation during World War II. Despite Lebel's efficient and successful leadership of the investigation, he is dismissed from the case as the Minister assumes command directly for the final part, only to be reinstated less than 24 hours later when the Minister draws a blank and Lebel's expertise is recognised as indispensable. On Liberation Day, the Jackal disguises himself as an elderly French veteran, AndrĂ© Martin, and conceals his rifle within crutches. Using the previously duplicated key, he accesses an upper story room of a building overlooking the ceremony. When de Gaulle unexpectedly leans forward while presenting a medal to a veteran, the Jackal's shot narrowly misses. While the Jackal is reloading for a second attempt, Lebel and a gendarme storm the room. The Jackal kills the policeman before being fatally shot by Lebel. Back in London, the real Charles Calthrop arrives at his flat, interrupting the policemen as they sift through his belongings. Ultimately, the assassin is interred in an unmarked grave, leaving the true identity behind his many disguises an enduring mystery.
The Deep
While scuba diving near shipwrecks off Bermuda, vacationing couple David Sanders and Gail Berke recover small artifacts, including a glass ampoule with amber-coloured liquid and a gold medallion bearing a woman's image and the letters "S.C.O.P.N." (meaning "Santa Clara, ora pro nobis ", or " Saint Clara, pray for us") and a date, 1714. An unknown sea creature suddenly grabs Gail's wood baton as she probes the wreck's crevices. Panicked, she gets loose from the strap while the baton's end is left shredded. Sanders and Berke seek advice from historian and treasure hunter Romer Treece on the medallion's origin. He identifies the item as Spanish as he palms the ampoule, taking an interest in the couple. The dive-shop clerk notices the ampoule, which in turn attracts the attention of Henri "Cloche" Bondurant, a local drug kingpin for whom the clerk works. When Cloche unsuccessfully tries to buy the ampoule, he begins terrorizing the couple. The ampoule contains medicinal morphine from the Goliath, a ship that sank during World War II with a cargo of munitions and medical supplies. The Goliath is off-limits to divers due to the still-live explosives. Treece concludes that a recent storm has exposed the morphine and unearthed a much older wreck containing Spanish treasure that is beneath Goliath. Treece makes a deal with Cloche to retrieve the ampoules for $1 million, which Cloche can illegally resell for over $3 million, while Treece secretly searches for the treasure. Cloche gives him three days to recover the morphine. Sanders, Berke and Treece make several dives to the wrecks, recovering thousands of ampoules from Goliath and several additional artifacts from the Spanish wreck. They also encounter a huge moray eel, which lives inside the vessel, and was what previously attacked Berke. Adam Coffin, the only survivor from Goliath, joins the venture, but his loyalty shifts when he feels slighted by Treece. When Cloche's men arrive and dump bait into the water to attract sharks, Coffin tells Treece he probably fell asleep without noticing they were in trouble. Through research in Treece's library, the trio reconstructs the lost treasure ship's history and locates a list of valuable items, including a gold pinecone filled with pearls with the letters "EF" engraved on it. The initials identify Elisabeth Farnese, a noblewoman for whom they were made by the King of Spain. Sanders is determined to locate at least one item on the list to establish provenance, as without it, the treasure has less value. Treece plans to destroy the Goliath to prevent Cloche from obtaining the morphine. Cloche attempts to thwart them and recover the morphine himself. Cloche's henchman murders Treece's long-time friend Kevin. Adam betrays Treece and is killed by triggering Treece's booby trap in the lighthouse tower when he tries to steal the recovered morphine stashed there. During the final dive, Cloche is killed by the giant eel, while his henchman Slake is speared by Gail on the surface, and his other henchman Ronald is drowned by David. The Goliath is destroyed in the explosion that Treece ignites. Treece recovers a gold dragon necklace that provides the treasure's needed provenance.
The Boys from Brazil
Barry Kohler, a young amateur Nazi hunter, spies on a meeting of the fugitive Nazi organisation Kameraden in Paraguay. At this meeting, infamous Auschwitz doctor Josef Mengele issues instructions for the assassinations of 94 civil servants in Western Europe and North America, all of them low-ranking and aged around 65, on particular dates over the next two years. Kohler telephones Ezra Lieberman, a famous (as well as penniless and cynical) Nazi hunter living in Vienna, to inform him of his discovery. While still on the phone, Kohler is surprised by the Kameraden and killed. With the help of his sister Esther, British journalist Sidney Beynon and Jewish-American vigilante leader David Bennett, Lieberman begins investigating the deaths of civil servants fitting the profile who die suddenly over the next few months. He is struck by the fact that all of the dead men have sons aged 13 who look exactly alike, with pale skin, dark hair and blue eyes. He discovers that all of the boys were illegally adopted and that some of the adoptions were facilitated by Kameraden member Frieda Maloney, who has since been jailed. Lieberman interviews Maloney, who tells him that the boys were provided by an intermediary in Brazil. She mentions that one of the adoptive fathers she dealt with, American Henry Wheelock, gave her a newborn puppy in exchange for her baby. Seeking an explanation for the boys' identical appearance, Lieberman consults the biologist Dr Bruckner, who explains the principles of cloning. Lieberman deduces that the boys are clones of Adolf Hitler, all created from a single DNA sample by Mengele, who has also been seeking to ensure that their childhoods imitate that of the original Hitler by having them adopted by parents who resemble Hitler's own abusive father Alois (a civil servant in the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and doting mother Klara. This is done in the hopes that their later lives will follow the same course, and that as adults they will establish new Nazi regimes in their respective countries. The murders of the fathers are part of this plan, designed to reflect the death of Alois when Hitler was 13. Based on this revelation, and the age of Maloney's dog, Lieberman realises that Henry Wheelock is due to be murdered in just four days' time. Alarmed by the progress of Lieberman's investigation and Mengele's increasingly erratic behaviour (after he beats one of his men nearly to death for killing his target on the wrong date), the Kameraden leadership attempts to shut down the project, but Mengele escapes. Lieberman travels to rural Pennsylvania to warn Henry Wheelock, only to discover that Wheelock has already been murdered by Mengele, posing as Lieberman. The doctor badly wounds Lieberman with a gunshot, but is then cornered by the family's vicious Doberman Pinschers (Mengele fears dogs). When Wheelock's son Bobby arrives home from school, Mengele attempts to tell him about his real origins. He makes no attempt to deny killing Wheelock, telling Bobby that he must rise above his worthless adoptive family and embrace his destiny. This enrages the boy, who orders the dogs to kill Mengele. Lieberman recovers a list from Mengele's pocket detailing the identities of all 94 clones, and then collapses from blood loss. As Lieberman recuperates in hospital, he is visited by Bennett who asks him to hand over the list so that his vigilante group can eliminate the clones. Lieberman refuses and instead burns the list, declaring that they are innocent children who may yet grow up to be harmless. The final scene shows Bobby Wheelock gazing in fascination at photographs he took of Mengele's mauled corpse.
The Cat from Outer Space
A UFO makes an emergency landing on Earth and is taken into custody by the United States government. The occupant of the "flying saucer" turns out to be a strange cat-like alien named Zunar-J-5/9 Doric-4-7. Since the Mother Ship cannot send a rescue party before it leaves the Solar System, the cat sets about investigating how to repair the ship himself. Using a special collar that amplifies telekinetic and telepathic abilities, he follows the military to the Energy Research Laboratory (or E.R.L.), where they hope to learn how the UFO's power source works. One of the lab's scientists, Frank Wilson, attracts the cat's attention when his theory on the power source, while ridiculed by the rest of the staff, is actually on the right track. The cat follows Frank to his office, where Frank nicknames him Jake. Another scientist, Liz Bartlet, storms into his office, upset at Frank's sense of humor in light of such an important scientific discovery. Frank is able to calm her down, mostly by introducing Jake and inviting her to dinner. After Liz leaves, Jake reveals his true nature to Frank, demonstrating his abilities and offering to exchange his advanced knowledge of energy for Frank's assistance. That evening, the pair plan to break into the military base where Jake's ship is being kept, but must dodge Liz who has arrived for their date with her own cat, Lucybelle. Jake feigns being sick, allowing them to proceed to the base. At the base, Frank uses a back-up collar to fly to the top of the ship and attach a diagnostic device. Jake learns that he needs an element that he calls "Org 12". When Jake reveals the element's atomic weight, Frank realizes that "Org 12" is elemental gold. Back at Frank's apartment, Frank tells Jake that a quantity of gold costing $120,000 will repair Jake's ship. Norman Link, a colleague of Frank's, comes over to watch horse races and football games on which he has wagered money. Jake uses his powers to help Link's horse win the race, prompting Jake and Frank to convince Link to help them by parlaying all of his bets to win the money. However, Jake gets knocked out by a well-meaning vet that was brought in by Liz because she thought Jake was still sick. Frank informs Liz of the situation and the group heads to a local pool hall where Link has placed his bets. Learning the last game in the parlay was lost and desperate to raise the money needed, they agree to a game of pool with a hustler named Sarasota Slim. Frank's first attempt to use Jake's collar fails, but Jake regains consciousness in time to manipulate the final game and win the money they need to acquire the gold for Jake's ship. However, an industrial spy named Stallwood, who works for a master criminal named Olympus, has learned of their activities, as has the military. Frank and Jake manage to elude the military and the criminals, only to have Link, Liz and Lucybelle captured by Olympus and his men. They plan to ransom them back for the collar, which forces Jake to send his ship back to the awaiting Mother Ship and stay on Earth in order to help rescue his friends. Jake and Frank use a broken-down biplane to rescue Liz and Lucybelle from Olympus's helicopter, which crashes; Olympus, Stallwood and their men survive and are presumably arrested. In the final scene, Jake is allowed to stay on Earth as a representative of an off-world "friendly power", with Jake applying for and being granted United States citizenship.
The Concorde... Airport '79
Kevin Harrison, a corrupt arms dealer, attempts to destroy an American-owned Concorde on its maiden flight after one of the passengers, reporter Maggie Whelan, learns of his weapons sales to communist countries during the Cold War. The Concorde takes off from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and lands at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., despite being forced to perform a go-around when environmental protestors fly a hot air balloon into its approach path. Maggie reports on the flight the following day, which leads to a story of Harrison and his Buzzard surface-to-air missile project. A man named Carl Parker claims to have documentation of illegal arms deals, but is shot by an assailant who chases Maggie before a passerby triggers a fire alarm, scaring the assailant away. Maggie is told by Harrison that someone is framing him. He sends Maggie off in a limo, then plots to destroy the Concorde with Maggie on it by reprogramming an attack drone test to target the Concorde. Capt. Joe Patroni and Capt. Paul Metrand board the Concorde. They are joined by Peter O'Neill, the 2nd officer and flight engineer. Harrison surprises Maggie at the airline check-in desk to see her off. He asks whether the documents have shown up, but they have not. As he walks away, Parker's wife delivers the documents to Maggie. She reviews them and realizes that Harrison lied. The Concorde departs for Paris. Unbeknownst to the flight crew, an off-course surface-to-air missile is headed for them. At his company headquarters, Harrison tells his controllers to alert the government. The USAF scrambles F-15 fighter jets to intercept the missile as it locks onto the Concorde. After evasive maneuvers by the Concorde, an F-15 destroys the missile. As the Concorde approaches Europe, an F-4 Phantom II sent by Harrison engages the Concorde as French Air Force Mirage F1s scramble to help. The Concorde evades the F-4's missiles, but the explosion of one of them damages the plane's hydraulics. The Mirages shoot down the F-4 before the Concorde reaches the French coastline en route to Paris. Due to the damage, the plane lands at Le Bourget Airport instead of Charles de Gaulle. The Concorde barely stops at the last safety net. Metrand and Isabelle invite Patroni to dinner. Harrison promises Maggie to go public with the documents but attempts to bribe her into revising his statement. After being paid by Harrison, a mechanic, Froelich, places a device in the Concorde's cargo door control unit, timed to open during flight. As the passengers board, Froelich is at the security checkpoint when some of his money falls from his trouser leg. The X-ray technician attempts to return it, but Froelich runs off. On the runway, the Concorde's exhaust renders Froelich unconscious and scatters the money. En route to Moscow, the automatic device opens the cargo door. Metrand sees the carpet tear down the middle of the aisle, signifying the fuselage is under tremendous stress and the aircraft is about to break apart. The cargo door is ripped off, causing a sudden decompression, damaging the aircraft and ripping a segment of the floor, knocking out the primary flight controls as the plane spirals towards the ground. The airline founder's seat lodges in the hole, acting as a plug. With only back-up systems available, the pilots attempt to fly to Innsbruck, Austria, for an emergency landing, but they are losing too much fuel. Metrand realizes they are flying towards a ski area he knows along the Alps in Patscherkofel; they could make a belly landing on a mountain-side. The aircraft approaches the landing site while the ski patrol marks a runway, landing successfully. While passengers are being rescued, Maggie reports on the accident to a news reporter and mentions a major story she is about to release. Harrison, en route back to Washington, sees the newscast in his private plane and commits suicide. The last of the crew leaves the Concorde shortly before the fuselage explodes.
The Beastmaster
Maax, the high priest of a cult in the city of Aruk, is warned by witches of a prophecy, which foretells his death at the hand of King Zedâs unborn son.Maax sends a witch to magically abduct the child from his mother. The witch brands the child and prepares to sacrifice him, but a passing traveler rescues him. The traveler names the child Dar and takes him to the nearby village of Emur to raise as an adoptive son. While growing up, Dar develops an unusual ability to telepathically communicate with animals, which his father warns him to keep secret. Emur is destroyed by the Junds, a horde of savage barbarians, leaving an adult Dar as the only survivor. Dar sets out for Aruk with his fatherâs weapons to seek revenge against the Junds. Along the way, several animal companions join him: the golden eagle, Sharak; the ferrets, Kodo and Podo; and the black panther, Ruh. Dar also meets Kiri, a young woman who is a slave to the cult of Ar. One night, Dar encounters a race of sinister bird-like people. The bird-folk surround Dar, but upon realizing that he travels with Sharak, they give him a medallion and allow him to pass. Dar reaches Aruk to find Maax and his cultists in control of the city. Dar rescues a young girl from imminent sacrifice and returns her to her father, Sacco. From Sacco, Dar learns that Maax, who is allied with the Junds, has imprisoned King Zed in the temple, and he is sacrificing their children to his god Ar. Realizing that Kiri is among those to be sacrificed, Dar leaves Aruk to find and save her. He is joined by the warrior Seth, and Zedâs younger son, Tal. The three rescue Kiri, who reveals she is Zedâs niece and recruits Dar to help rescue the king. While Seth leaves to gather rebel forces, Dar helps Kiri and Tal enter the temple and free Zed. The group flees Aruk with the help of Sacco. At the rebel camp, Zed devises a plan to attack Aruk and defeat Maax. Dar warns Zed that the small rebel force cannot defend the city against the Junds. Zed senses Darâs gift with animals and angrily denounces him as a freak and coward; Dar leaves the rebel camp. Seth learns that Maax has been magically spying on the group and warns Zed the plan is compromised. Zed, lusted for revenge, disregards Sethâs warning. The next morning, Dar learns the attack failed, and Zed and the others were captured and are to be sacrificed. Dar rushes to Aruk and fights his way to the top of the temple, where Maax reveals Darâs parentage before murdering Zed. Dar defeats Maax, however Maax is healed by a witchâs magic. Kodo leaps onto Maax and causes him to fall into the sacrificial flames, killing them both. The Junds ride to Aruk and attack at nightfall. Dar gives Sharak the medallion of the bird-folk, who flies away with it. Aruk's defenders manage to trap many Jund warriors in a flaming moat of tar, however the Junds eventually surround the defenders. The Jund chieftain, recognizing Dar from Emur, challenges him to single combat; Dar defeats him. As the remaining Junds close in, the bird-folk appear and devour the remaining Junds. The next day, as Dar prepares to leave Aruk, Seth recognizes his branding and realizes Dar is the firstborn of Zed, and therefore the rightful king of Aruk. Dar declines the kingship, insisting that Tal will make a good king. Dar continues his travels alongside Kiri, Sharak, Ruh, and Podo, as well as two baby ferrets.
The Curse
Teenage boy Zack lives on a farm in Tellico Plains, Tennessee with his mother Frances, younger sister Alice, stern and pious old stepfather Nathan Crane and unpleasant, dim-witted stepbrother Cyrus. One night Frances sneaks out of the house while Nathan is asleep and has sex with Mike, a farm-hand who lives in a nearby shack. Suddenly a large meteorite crashes onto the property, emitting an eerie glow. The next morning, Alan Forbes, a physician who lives nearby, visits the crash site and examines the meteorite, which is a large sphere with a hard shell from which a noxious liquid oozes out. Before long, the object dissolves into glowing gelatinous liquid that seeps into the soil. Forbes wants to contact the authorities but is dissuaded by Charlie Davidson, a local realtor and head of the chamber of commerce, who worries that the event will discourage the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) from building a new reservoir in the area. Forbes' bored wife Esther also manipulates her husband into keeping quiet, worried their house will lose its value. The mysterious liquid soon begins to affect the farm. The water from the well grows cloudy and tastes unpleasant, fruit and vegetables grow invitingly large but are rotten and inedible inside, and the livestock begin to behave violently and show severe signs of infection. Alice is attacked and injured by infected chickens and Cyrus is nearly killed by a horse. Frances begins to have large boils growing on her face that grotesquely alter her features. She becomes mentally unstable, physically harming herself and attacking her own family. Believing the blight affecting his farm to be a punishment from God for his wife's infidelity, Nathan locks her in their bedroom, not allowing Zack to tell the doctor. Zack keeps himself and Alice free from the infection by consuming clean water and food he steals from Forbes' house. Forbes secretly obtains a sample from the Cranes' well and has it analyzed at a nearby lab. The water is found to contain a strange, unknown element that alters its metabolic properties and molecular structure. Carl Willis, a TVA representative who is surveying the local area for the planned reservoir, enters the Cranes' house looking for a glass of water. Helping himself from the kitchen faucet, he has just started drinking when he is attacked and nearly killed by Frances, who has gone insane and is horribly mutating. Worried that Forbes is going to alert the authorities, Davidson and Esther arrive at the Crane farm looking for the doctor but are attacked by infected dogs who have turned feral. Esther is mauled to death and Davidson hides himself in the cellar only to be killed and seemingly devoured by Frances, who had been locked in there by Nathan. As Nathan and Cyrus examine infected cows in the shed, the cows begin to decay, revealing maggots and worms inside. The cows explode, covering Nathan and Cyrus in insects. By now Nathan and Cyrus are also infected and beginning to go insane. A guilt-ridden Forbes enters the house, hoping to rescue Zack and Alice, but he is surprised and murdered by Nathan, who then barricades the door. Cyrus attacks Alice but Zack fights him off, hiding his sister in a closet. Nathan corners Zack and is about to kill his stepson when he is stabbed by Willis, who has just arrived. The ground begins to glow and heave beneath the house, which starts to fall apart. Zack locates his mother just in time to see her mutated corpse liquefy. As Zack prepares to leave, Cyrus attacks him, but Zack knocks him off the balcony, seemingly killing him. Nathan is knocked out by a support beam as he attempts to stop Zack. Willis gets Zack and Alice out of the house before it collapses, and a dying Nathan and Cyrus are both killed by falling debris. Willis drives away from the farm, taking Zack and Alice with him. Some months later, a heavily bandaged Willis lies in a hospital bed, having become infected more slowly because he only drank a small amount of the farm's water. He is watching a news report on how the authorities are promising that the blight from the farm will be eradicated. Later, at a location in the nearby countryside, the ground and trees begin to heave and break apart at night, revealing more of the glowing alien liquid spreading onto the surface. A large amount of the substance appears, suggesting that the hostile mutagenic entity is still alive, by planning to complete its invasion of Earth.