The Colony (1995 film)

Last updated
The Colony
GenreDrama
Thriller
Written by Rob Hedden
Directed by Rob Hedden
Starring John Ritter
Mary Page Keller
Marshall R. Teague
Todd Jeffries
June Lockhart
Hal Linden
Music by Dennis McCarthy
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerKevin Kelly Brown
ProducerFern Field
Production location Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Cinematography David Geddes
EditorBarry B. Leirer
Running time92 minutes
Production companiesKevin Brown Productions
MCA Television Entertainment
Original release
Network USA Network
ReleaseSeptember 17, 1995 (1995-09-17)

The Colony is a 1995 American made-for-television thriller drama film starring John Ritter, Mary Page Keller, and Hal Linden. The film was written and directed by Rob Hedden. [1]

Contents

Plot

Following a carjacking, a man and his family move into an Orwellian-like gated community where the billionaire owner controls the residents' lives. There are draconian rules, armed guards all over, and cameras in all the rooms. Then sinister things begin to happen.

Rick Knowlton is a tech guy that sells smart house technology. To escape the crime ridden Inner City, he makes a deal with a billionaire to put his smart house tech into all the homes in a gated community that the billionaire owns called The Colony.

Knowlton and his family are then invited to come and live in The Colony. Knowlton can't really afford to live in such a nice place, but the nice billionaire helps him make it work. Knowlton and his family move into The Colony into a lovely house far beyond that which he would normally be able to afford. The morning after moving in, Knowlton decides to go for a jog around The Colony with his pet dog and as he is leaving his home he notices that a rule book for living in The Colony has been delivered to his house. The rule book is about as thick as a phone book and Knowlton tells his dog that he will read it later. Little does he know how sinister The Colony really is.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Tony Scott of Variety wrote in his review: "June Lockhart, who knows how to handle the role, cunningly dominates the private school system. There's no privacy, and there's a secret attempt by a patrol to search the Ritter family's house for a vital missing computer disk that the former tenants squirreled away before they were sent over a cliff by Teague. [...] Tech credits are good. Main trouble with The Colony is that, as a suspenser, it isn't much fun. Plays like a summer throwaway." [2]

Release

The Colony was released on September 13, 1995, on the USA Network. [3] The film was released on VHS on March 12, 1996, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. [4] It has yet to be released on DVD or video-on-demand.

TV Series

In 2016, USA Network produced a series of the same name that features a similar premise, but with science fiction elements.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Linden</span> American actor (born 1931)

Hal Linden is an American stage and screen actor, television director and musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ritter</span> American actor (1948–2003)

Johnathan Southworth Ritter was an American actor. He was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is best known for playing Jack Tripper on the ABC sitcom Three's Company (1977–1984), and received a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the role in 1984. Ritter briefly reprised the role on the spin-off Three's a Crowd, which aired for one season, producing 22 episodes before its cancellation in 1985.

<i>Problem Child</i> (film) 1990 film by Dennis Dugan

Problem Child is a 1990 American black comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan in his feature film directorial debut and produced by Robert Simonds. It stars John Ritter, Michael Oliver, Jack Warden, Gilbert Gottfried, Amy Yasbeck, and Michael Richards. It was released on July 27, 1990.

<i>Matilda</i> (1996 film) 1996 film directed by Danny DeVito

Matilda is a 1996 American fantasy comedy film co-produced and directed by Danny DeVito from a screenplay by Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film stars Mara Wilson as the title character, with DeVito himself, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris in supporting roles. The plot centers on the titular child prodigy who develops psychokinetic abilities and uses them to deal with her disreputable family and the tyrannical principal of her school.

<i>Liquid Television</i> Animation showcase

Liquid Television is an animation showcase broadcast on MTV from 1991 to 1995. It launched several high-profile original cartoons, including Beavis and Butt-Head and Æon Flux. Other recurring segments include "The Art School Girls of Doom", The Specialists, and Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective. Independent animators and artists created most of the material specifically for the show, and some previously produced segments were compiled from festivals such as Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Silver</span> American film producer (born 1952)

Joel Silver is an American film producer.

The following is a complete list of the 220 Our Gang short films produced by Hal Roach Studios and/or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1922 and 1944, numbered by order of release along with production order.

<i>Budgie the Little Helicopter</i> 1994 British TV series or programme

Budgie the Little Helicopter is a British animated television series, relating to a fictional helicopter and his friends, based on a series of children's books. The characters were based on the books by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. The show was co-produced by Fred Wolf Films Dublin, The Sleepy Kids Company and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York for HTV West and Scottish Television, and originally aired on British television in 1994 on CITV, where it ran for 39 episodes. A range of videos, books, and toys were released under the Budgie label.

<i>No Escape</i> (1994 film) 1994 film by Martin Campbell

No Escape, released in some countries as Escape from Absolom and Absolom 2022, is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Martin Campbell. It stars Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, Stuart Wilson, Kevin Dillon, Michael Lerner and Ernie Hudson. It was based on the 1987 novel The Penal Colony by Richard Herley. In a dystopian future, a former Reconnaissance Marine serves life imprisonment on an island inhabited by savage and cannibalistic prisoners.

<i>Revenge of the Creature</i> 1955 American monster film by Jack Arnold

Revenge of the Creature is a 1955 3D monster film directed by Jack Arnold and produced and distributed by Universal-International. A sequel to the previous year's Creature from the Black Lagoon, it is the only 3D film released in 1955. Produced by William Alland, the film stars John Agar, Lori Nelson, John Bromfield and Nestor Paiva. The Creature was played by Tom Hennesy on land, and once again, portrayed by Ricou Browning underwater. It marked an early role for Clint Eastwood, in his film debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Reigns</span> American professional wrestler (born 1985)

Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoaʻi, better known by his ring name Roman Reigns, is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. He is the leader of the babyface iteration of The Bloodline stable and a member of the Anoaʻi family. Reigns's title reign of 1,316 days as Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Champion was the fourth-longest world title reign in WWE history and the longest championship reign since 1988. He is widely regarded as one of the best professional wrestlers currently active in the world, and by some as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Monsters</span> Horror and science fiction franchise made by Universal Studios (1910s–1950s)

The Universal Monsters media franchise includes characters based on a series of horror films produced by Universal Pictures and released between 1913–1956.

<i>Halloween Is Grinch Night</i> 1977 American TV series or program

Halloween Is Grinch Night is a 1977 children's animated Halloween television special and is a prequel to the 1966 television special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It premiered on ABC on October 28, 1977. The original voice actor for The Grinch, Boris Karloff, by then deceased, was replaced by Hans Conried, though Thurl Ravenscroft, who sang on the original special, again provided singing vocals. The songs and score were written by Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo.

<i>Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain</i> 1995 American film

Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain is a 1995 American adventure film directed by Kevin James Dobson, and starring Christina Ricci, Anna Chlumsky, Polly Draper, Brian Kerwin, Diana Scarwid, and David Keith. Set in 1980 in the Pacific Northwest, it follows two teenage girls who, inspired by a local legend, attempt to recover a fortune of gold inside a mountain.

<i>The Brute Man</i> 1946 film

The Brute Man is a 1946 American horror thriller film starring Rondo Hatton as the Creeper, a murderer seeking revenge against the people he holds responsible for the disfigurement of his face. Directed by Jean Yarbrough, the film features Tom Neal and Jan Wiley as a married pair of friends the Creeper blames for his deformities. Jane Adams also stars as a blind pianist for whom the Creeper tries to raise money for an operation to restore her vision. The film is a prequel to House of Horrors (1946).

<i>Satans School for Girls</i> (1973 film) 1973 American TV series or program

Satan's School for Girls is a 1973 American made-for-television horror film directed by David Lowell Rich, and produced by Aaron Spelling. The film has been named as one of the most memorable television movies of the 1970s.

Edward Linden was an American cinematographer. He served as cinematographer for King Kong, Son of Kong, and the Frank Buck serial Jungle Menace, as well directing Scar Hanan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stomping Grounds</span> 2019 WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

Stomping Grounds was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on June 23, 2019, at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. It was a one-off event that replaced Backlash for 2019 as Backlash was reinstated in 2020.

<i>Grand-Daddy Day Care</i> 2019 American comedy film

Grand-Daddy Day Care is a 2019 American comedy film distributed by Universal 1440 Entertainment and Revolution Studios. It is the third and final installment in the Daddy Day Care film series. Unlike the first two films, which were released theatrically by Sony Pictures under the Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures labels and were rated PG, this is the first and only film in the series to be a direct-to-video release, to be rated PG-13, and to be distributed by Universal Pictures under its home media division.

References

  1. "The Colony". Turner Classic Movies . Atlanta: Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  2. Scott, Tony (September 13, 1995). "Review: 'Usa Pictures Original the Colony'". Variety . Los Angeles: Penske Media Corporation . Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  3. Sunday Star Ledger. TV Time Pullout Section. pg. 10. September 10, 1995.
  4. The Colony. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (VHS). Universal City, California: NBCUniversal (Comcast). March 12, 1996. ASIN   6303955940 . Retrieved August 18, 2017.