Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis:  Charley Brewster travels with his friends to Romania to study European artwork as part of a college class. Shortly after arriving, however, he discovers his professor is really infamous vampire Elizabeth Bathory. By the time he convinces his friends he isn’t crazy, it’s already too late and it is up to him to rescue his girlfriend with the help of a reality show vampire hunter. Who's in it?  The movie stars Will Payne, Jaime Murray, Sean Power, Sacha Parkinson and Chris Waller. Review: I had to wait even later than usual for my daughter to get done with theater rehearsal so, in an effort to stay awake, I decided to re-watch Fright Night 2 . The film, much like the first time I watched it, proved to be a surprisingly good choice. The title of the movie is deceptive. Instead of a sequel, as the number 2 would suggest, it is in fact a remake of the 1985 movie set in a different location. When I realized this the first time I watched it, I had some serious doubts. How...

My name is Apollo. And, as you can probably tell from the picture below, I'm a cat. I've never done anything special, like rescue someone from a fire, save someone from drowning or protected my house from burglars. Instead, I'm just an ordinary house cat living with a family in Wisconsin. My average day consists of sleeping, eating and occasionally playing with one of my toys. My favorite activity is crawling into my mother's lap each night when she sits down to watch a movie on TV. However, while I consider myself an ordinary cat, I also know I'm a lucky cat. This is because, nearly 16 years ago, things weren't like this at all. When I was younger, I didn't have a family. I was a stray. And, ultimately, I ended up living in an animal shelter in Pennsylvania. Life in the shelter wasn't horrible. The people there were good people, and they took good care of me. It just wasn't the same as having a family of my own and I was lonely. The worst part was I...

Synopsis: Goody and Stacy are a pair of vampires who refuse to feed off humans and live their lives, at night, trying to keep up with trends so they can continue to pass for women in their 20s. Their lives become more complicated when Stacy falls in love with the son of a vampire hunter and Goody runs into a past love. Who's in it? The movie stars Alicia Silverstone , Krysten Ritter , Wallace Shawn , Malcolm McDowell , Dan Stevens , Sigourney Weaver and Richard Lewis . Review: I forgot to pre-select a morning movie last night and, needing something to watch, I picked out Vamps solely because it had been in my movie library for some time. While I would still stop a bit short of saying it was a good movie, it did turn out to be better than I was expecting. I think the thing I liked best about this film is it does a good job imagining the problems modern-day vampires might have. In the case of Goody (Silverstone), Stacy (Ritter) and their other vampire friends, it included everyth...

Synopsis: While caring for her senile grandmother, Anna, teenager Alex and her friend, Miles, discover a game in the attic and despite Anna's scared reaction, decide to play it. The game summons the Midnight Man, a creature that can use their worst fears against them and will eventually kill them if they can't keep away until 3:33 a.m. As they, along with their other friend, Kelly, attempt to survive, Alex learns some dark secrets about her grandmother. Who's in it? The movie stars Gabrielle Haugh , Lin Shaye , Grayson Gabriel, Kyle Strauts, Em Haine and Robert Englund . Review: My wife came across The Midnight Man yesterday morning and added it to our movie library. Since she was feeling under the weather, keeping us at home, we ended up watching it last night. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as we had hoped it would be. The movie's premise, while not necessarily unique, had promise. The game rules, keep a candle lit or hide in a circle of salt, seemed a bit to...

Synopsis: When the losing contestant on a popular 1950s game show accuses the show's producers of rigging the outcome by feeding their preferred champion the answers, a young congressional attorney decides to investigate. He suspects the allegations have merit. However, his primary witness has limited credibility and network executives are predictably uncooperative with his investigation. The movie is a dramatization of the 1950s Quiz Show Scandals. Who's in it?  The movie stars John Turturro , Rob Morrow, Ralph Fiennes , Paul Scofield and Hank Azaria. Review: My wife isn't feeling well today so after doing some chores around the house, I looked for a movie to watch while she was taking a nap. It has been a while since I last watched Quiz Show, so I selected it and wasn't disappointed by that choice. The thing I found I liked about this movie was the uphill battle the investigator, Dick Goodwin (Morrow), faced. While it was obvious his top witness (Turtorro) was tellin...

Synopsis: Sisters Olga and Myra run a gas station and motel in the middle of a southwestern desert. Olga is content with her life but the younger Myra dreams of something more and becomes resentful of her sister when Olga doesn't even want her going to a dance. What Myra doesn't know is Olga's protective nature comes from a complicated past. That past catches up to Olga, however, when her criminal ex-boyfriend, George, pulls into the station while fleeing to Mexico with his partner because of his part in a robbery and murder. To make matters worse, Olga realizes she still has feelings for George, even though she knows he is bad news and may be trying to rob two wealthy women staying overnight at the motel. Who's in it? The movie stars Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak , Preston Foster , Lyle Talbot , Ruth Donnelly and Glenda Farrell . Review: I'm not the kind of person who normally picks a movie solely because of the actors that star in it. However, when I came across H...