The Dead Want Women (2012)

It’s the roaring 1920s. The world’s biggest female silent movie star Rose Pettigrew (Jean Louise O’Sullivan) loses her studio contract because of the sudden popularity of the “talkies”: her voice is too horrible for pictures with sound. Rose goes on a killing spree during a party, murdering her friends and co-stars, the comedian Tubby Fitzgerald (J. Scott), the horror icon Erik Burke (Robert Zachar) and the cowboy Sonny Barnes (Eric Roberts), before taking her own life.

Rose’s mansion has stood empty for decades, when two realtors Reese and Danni (Jessica Morris and  Ariana Madix) finally buy the house to remodel and sell it. They discover that there are more than skeletons in the closet...   

“The Dead Want Women” is a low budget horror movie, directed and produced by Charles Band (of Full Moon Productions). There are some plot holes in story, the story is not very logic (why do the dead people sometimes have grime/masks and sometimes not?), the special effects are cheap (when Rose slits her throat, you can see the wound is already there) and the acting is over the top. They even hired an adult actress (Jeannie Marie Sullivan), but as B-moviedirector Jim Wynorski always says “breasts are the cheapest special effect!” This is not a good movie.

(Eric Roberts)

(Eric Roberts behind the scenes)

(trailer)

Junior Pilot / Final Approach (2005)

Young boy Ricky (Jordan Garrett) is a bit of a nerd. He likes to play his flight simulator. He has an obsessive interest in airplanes. When he is on board of a flight to Washington for a school trip, he sees another passenger with a gun under his jacket (Mark Dacascos). He suspects that this man is going to hijack te plane. Because he often tells imagined stories, no one believes him. And then the pilot of the plane makes a fall in the cockpit and becomes unconscious. Young boy Ricky is the only one on the plane who knows how to fly a plane...

“Junior Pilot” was written and directed by James Becket. Obviously this movie was made for children (like “Spy Kids” or “The Flyboys”). I think children will like it. For adults the story it is probably too simple and predictable.

There are small roles for Mark Dacascos, Eric Roberts and Eliza Roberts. Eric Roberts plays the not so sympathetic teacher/coach of Ricky.

The German DVD is widescreen. The US dvd is full screen, but has a behind the scenes featurette and an audio commentary (with the lead actor and the director).

Dead End / False Pretense (1998)

After his ex-wife dies in a fall from her balcony, PoliceSgt. Henry Smovinsky, Smoke to his friends (Eric Roberts), gets custody of his troubled teenage son Adam (Jason Tierney). The police suspects that Adam has murdered his mother. Officer Maggie Furness (Eliza Roberts) leads the police investigation. Smovinsky finds out that his ex-wife was a high-class hooker, with many influential clients and first-class protection from the police force.

“Dead End”, directed by Douglas Jackson, is a mediocre movie. It is not a bad movie, but it is also not a very good movie. The reason for this is probably the script, because the actors, especially Roberts and Tierney, do their work well and the biggest disappointments for me were the real killer and the (too) happy ending.

Son and father (Jason Tierney and Eric Roberts)

Killer Weekend (2004)

Beware: There are two different movies with Eric Roberts with the title “Killer Weekend”. This movie is from 2004, the other movie is from 2007.

Three couples have a relaxing get-away weekend at a Santa Barbara beach house. Homeowners Tom Barkley (John Castellanos) and Janet Barkley (Jennifer Farrell) have invited Jack Talbot (Eric Roberts) and Sasha Talbot (Cyrielle Claire) and Michael Green (Al Sapienza) and Olivia Green (April Fissell). Jack is the head of a 'Fortune 500' company, and Michael and Janet are his vice-presidents. His wife Sasha is a bitch, Olivia is his younger niece, and Tom is a well-known children's television personality.

Jack and Sasha's marriage has not been smooth lately. She believes he's having an affair with Olivia. It's soon revealed she herself is having an affair with Michael. In the night Jack and Sasha have a huge fight. The next morning, as everyone begins to gather in the kitchen, Jack is found dead.

Police detective Luke Nicolleti (Robert Miano) is brought in to investigate, and when it becomes obvious Jack was the victim of foul play, the question is which of the five survivors is responsible.

“Killer Weekend” was directed by Fabien Pruvot. Jennifer Farrell, who played Janet, wrote the film's screenplay. The Agatha Christie style plot is all about changing partners and who is sleeping with whom situations. Because none of the characters is sympathetic you don’t care about them. Therefore "Killer Weekend" is not a very good movie.

For a low budget movie the cinematography is OK. Eric Roberts role is limited, because his character dies after 30 minutes. Eliza Roberts has a smalle role as housekeeper Maria.

“Killer Weekend” was released on DVD and region free blu-ray in the US. If you already own the DVD you don’t have to buy the movie on blu-ray, because there is less to be seen on the blu-ray than on the DVD. To make it look widescreen they chopped off parts above and below of the fullscreen DVD-version to make it look widescreen.

(Cyrielle Claire and Eric Roberts)

(trailer)

TripFall (2000)

Businessman Tom Williams (John Ritter), his wife Gina (Rachel Hunter) and two children are vacationing in California when Mr. Eddie, a brutal criminal (Eric Roberts), decides they will be his next targets. He and his partners Franklin Ross (Michael Raynor) and Lonnie Campos (Katy Boyer) kidnap Gina and the kids and force Tom to withdrawl all his money from the bank and give it to mr Eddie.

“Tripfall” was written and directed by Serge Rodnunsky. Although this is probably the best movie Rodnunsky ever directed, the movie is not very good. It is clear that Rodnunsky watched the Kurt Russell movie “Breakdown” before he wrote the script of “Tripfall” (for example compare the scenes in the bank). So the story is not very original. The story also has many implausable moments (why does Tom never inform the police?). Eric Roberts plays his character of bad guy Mr. Eddie as a simple man with dreadlocks and a funny Southern accent. Although entertaining, this all is a bit weird for a bad guy.

(John Ritter, Michael Raynor and Eric Roberts)

(Eric Roberts with dreadlocks)

(trailer)

The Double (2005)

Meet Steven Roberts (Eric Roberts), a self-assured psychologist concerned less with his family and more with the promotion of his new book, ‘Deepening Our Connection to Others.' Indulging his new fiancée’s whimsical interest in the psychic art of astral projection, Dr. Roberts participates in a series of mental exercises designed to cultivate the ability to separate consciousness from the physical body. It's an idea Roberts doesn't take seriously until his airplane develops engine trouble...

This beautiful short movie (24 minutes) was written and directed by Rani Demuth. “The Double” was her masters thesis film. It has screened on many international film festivals and has won many awards. For a master thesis film the production value is truly impressive. The writing, dialogs and acting are excellent. For Eric Roberts fans this is really a must see.

“The Double” is available in the iTunes store (US$ 1,99), but only for US residents. As far as I know this is the only way to watch the movie. Since I live in Europe, I thought I would never be able to watch this movie. Fortunately the director was so nice to send me a copy. Thank you so much!

(trailer)

HOLLYWOOD by Zahia (2011)

I'm not sure if the following movie does belong here, but Eric Roberts is in it, so probably it does.

I don't know why, but Zahia Dehar, "famous" because of the Ríbery scandal, is the star in this short movie/video clip. It was directed by Alix Malka.