Armand Assante

After being sober for 20 years, Tim O'Shea finally decides to give alcohol one more shot.

A man does an identity switch to collect insurance money but finds himself in danger.

In Spain 1519, two con artists, Tulio (Kevin Kline) and Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) win a map to the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado, in a rigged gambling match. Tulio and Miguel were playing with a loaded dice and won every hand. The rivals were broke and offered them a map for the last bet. Miguel recognizes the map as instructions to the lost city of El Dorado. They end up winning the map fairly, when the rivals change the dice and force them to use their dice instead. Tulio is the strategic planner, often becoming anxious and overthinking things. Miguel is more relaxed and laid-back in contrast to Tulio's more frantic nature. Tulio and Miguel are accused of cheating with loaded dice when Tulio gets down to pick up the winnings, the loaded dice falls out to the ground. The two evade capture as they both pretend that they were lied to by each other and pretend to fight for their own honor. This was only a ruse to get on top of a roof, from where the duo make their escape. They encounter a bull as soon as they get down from the roof on the other side. While getting chased by a bull and hide in water barrels, which are shortly loaded onto one of the ships to be led by Hernan Cortes (Jim Cummings) to the New World. Cortes is the merciless and ambitious conquistador leader of the expedition to find gold from the empires of the New World. The duo tries to escape from the barrels before the ship sets sail, but a huge box is placed on top of the barrels, and they are trapped. During the trip, they are caught as stowaways. Cortes says that they will be flogged and when the ship enters Cuba for resupply, and they will be enslaved on sugar plantations for the rest of their lives. Altivo is Cortes' horse and was looking for an apple that fell into the brig. Miguel lures Altivo to the brig with the apple and then uses it to bring them a pry bar, but Altivo gives them the keys to the brig instead. Tulio and Miguel manage to break free and take a rowboat with the help of Cortes' horse, Altivo (Frank Welker), in the middle of the night when everybody is asleep. While leaving, Miguel gives Altivo his apple, but the apple strikes the sails and falls into the water, and a hungry Altivo jumps in after it. Miguel and Tulio have no choice but to rescue the horse from the ocean. Altivo is a hungry horse and eats all of their food supplies, leaving Tulio and Miguel to row the longboat. They survive ferocious storms and have nothing to eat or drink. As the 2 friends accept their fate and say their goodbyes to each other, they land at an unknown shore. Soon, Miguel begins to recognize landmarks that are stated on the map starting with a stone shaped like an eagle's head, the shadow of an eagle, a weeping face, a dragon, etc. Tulio wanted to return to the boat, but Miguel lures him with the dreams of untold wealth in the City of Gold. The map leads them to final marker, a stone Stele bearing an image of the Divinities of El Dorado and their steed, which closely resemble Tulio, Miguel and Altivo. The Stele is located outside of a waterfall where a young woman named Chel approaches them, chased by a number of guards. The guards see the image of Tulio and Miguel riding Altivo as the same on the totem, and believing them to be Gods, escort them and the woman under the falls and into El Dorado, truly a city made of gold. Tulio and Miguel are brought to the city's elders, Chief Tannabok (Edward James Olmos) and Tzekel-Kan (Armand Assante) the fanatically vicious high priest who has a religious fixation for human sacrifices. While Tannabok warmly welcomes them to the city, Tzekel-Kan mainly sees them as a way to enhance his own standing. The pair are mistaken for gods when a volcano coincidentally erupts (when they get angry) but simultaneously stops (when they cool down) during an argument. Tzekel-Kan accuses Chel of being a temple thief, but she claims that she wanted to welcome the Gods into the city. Tulio orders Tzekel-Kan to release her into their custody. After celebrations offered by both Tannabok and Tzekel-Kan, the two are taken to private quarters along with the woman they met earlier, Chel (Rosie Perez), who has seen through their ploy but offers to help maintain it as long as they take her with them when they leave. The guys realize that they need Chel as they don't know any of the local customs, which they would be expected to know as Gods. Tulio is attracted to Chel. The two are showered with gifts of gold from Tannabok but disapprove of Tzekel-Kan attempting to sacrifice a civilian at the Gods' ritual. Tulio tells Tannabok the next day that they are only here for a visit but will need a boat to leave the city with the gifts the city has showered upon them. Tannabok says it will take them at least three days to construct a vessel to carry both them and the gifts given to them by the people of El Dorado. Meanwhile, Cortes has landed on the same beach and finds the longboat. He starts tracking the duo's path through the forest. Chel gets romantically close to Tulio while Miguel explores the city, coming to appreciate the peaceful life embraced by the citizens. Miguel realizes that Tzekel-Kan has been giving orders on behalf of the Gods, ruling the city by proxy. Tzekel-Kan tells Tulio that humans are imperfect, and they will never respect the Gods till they fear them. Tzekel-Kan wants to sacrifice the human offenders, but Tulio says that he will only decide after consulting with Miguel. When Tzekel-Kan sees Miguel playing a ball game with children, he demands that the Gods play against the city's best players. During the match, Tulio and Miguel are clearly over-matched, but Chel replaces the ball with a rolled-up armadillo, allowing the two to cheat and win the game. However, when Tzekel-Kan offers to have the defeated players put to death, Miguel orders him to leave the city and says that the city has no need for Tzekel-Kan anymore. As he is leaving, Tzekel-Kan sees a small cut on Miguel's forehead and realizes that they are not Gods because Gods do not bleed. The two friends are now drifting apart: Miguel, in an interview with the Chief about the ship, reveals he really wants to stay, and Tulio, increasingly in love with Chel, wants to take her and the gold and leave. Tannabok indicates to Miguel that he knows that Miguel and Tulio are not Gods and invites Miguel to stay forever, if that is what he desires. Afterward, Miguel, who has reconsidered leaving the city, overhears Tulio telling Chel that he would like her to come with them to Spain before adding he would like her to come with specifically him and to forget Miguel, straining the relationship between the two. At a party being thrown for them, Miguel and Tulio begin to argue about Tulio and Chel's conversation and Miguel's desire to stay. Tzekel-Kan conjures a giant stone jaguar to chase them through the city. Tzekel-Kan controls the jaguar as the stone animal mimics all of Tzekel-Kan's actions and through the jaguar's eyes, Tzekel-Kan can see what it sees. Tulio and Miguel manage to outwit the stone jaguar, causing both it and Tzekel-Kan to fall into a giant whirlpool, thought to be the entrance to Xibalba, the spirit world. Tzekel-Kan comes to outside El Dorado, where Cortes and his men are searching for gold. Thinking Cortes is a true God, Tzekel-Kan quickly offers to lead them to El Dorado. With their boat completed and loaded with treasures, Tulio is ready to leave but Miguel announces that he will be staying because he finds the city peaceful. As Tulio and Chel start to leave, they spot smoke on the horizon, realizing that Cortes and his men are approaching the city with the help from Tzekel-Kan. To protect the city from the Spanish troops, Tulio determines they can use the boat to slam against rock formations under the waterfall path that will cave in and block access to the city. The city residents pull down a large statue to create a wave to propel the boat, but Tulio cannot get the sails up to give the boat enough speed to avoid the statue. Miguel forgoes his chance to stay in the city and jumps into the boat with Altivo to finish hoisting the sails. The boat clears the statue in time, and Tulio's plan is successful. Though the boat and its treasures are lost, the entrance to El Dorado is sealed for good. Tulio, Miguel, Chel, and Altivo hide as Tzekel-Kan brings Cortes and his men towards the waterfall. Once Tzekal-Kan finds out that the entrance has been blocked, an angry Cortes takes this as a lie. Cortes and his men then march away with a humiliated Tzekel-Kan in their hands. Tulio, Miguel, and Chel, though disappointed they lost their treasure, take off in a different direction for a new adventure, unaware that Altivo still wears the golden horseshoes he was outfitted with in the city.

Former FBI secretary Erin Grant (Demi Moore) loses custody of her young daughter Angela (Rumer Willis) to her ex-husband Darrell (Robert Patrick), a criminal who cost Erin her job as a secretary for the FBI (as Darell was a drug addict and dealt in illegal drugs). The judge was sympathetic to Darrell as he was collaborating with the Miami Police Department as an informant. To afford an appeal to get her daughter back, Erin becomes a stripper at the Eager Beaver, a strip club in Miami. Erin has been working there for 8 weeks and needs to come up $15k in 6 weeks to appeal her daughter's custody decision. Erin is the top draw at the Eager Beaver and patrons come specifically to watch her strip on stage. Other strippers include Monique (Dina Spybey) who comes from Paris, Lorelei (Barbara Alyn Woods) who is a transfer from a rival club called Flesh Farm and Urbana Sprawl (Pandora Peaks). Erin would have to dance day and night and hope for generous tips to have any chance of making the money she needs for her appeal. Meanwhile Darrell has moved without informing Erin and is using Angela to steal hospital medical supplies and selling them on the black market. Rita (Siobhan Fallon Hogan) is Darell's sister, and Erin tries to find out from her where he has moved to. Shad (Ving Rhames) is a bouncer at the club and looks out for Erin. Shad wants to get rich by suing a yogurt company for a cockroach he found in their product. In reality, Shad had put the cockroach inside the yogurt himself to make his case. A Congressman named David Dilbeck (Burt Reynolds) representing Florida's 5th congressional district, visits the club and becomes infatuated with Erin. Erb Crandall (Robert Stanton) is Dilbeck's executive assistant. A patron named Paul Guber was at the club for his bachelor party. He got enamored with Erin, got on stage and hugs her, causing Dilbeck to attack Paul with an empty Champagne bottle. Shad was busy in the backroom and hence was not around to protect Erin. Aware of Dilbeck's embarrassing indulgences, another Eager Beaver patron Jerry (Orly) approaches Erin with a plan to manipulate the congressman to settle the custody battle and help her get Angela back. However, as he is the chairman of the subcommittee on sugar, Dilbeck has powerful business connections including lobbyist Malcolm Moldowsky (Paul Guilfoyle) his right-hand man, and father-and-son sugar barons Willie and Chris Rojo, whose price supports are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and who want to ensure he remains in office. Consequently, those who can embarrass him (including Jerry, who contacted Malcolm to blackmail Dilbeck) in an election are murdered. Attorney Alan Mordecai (Stuart Pankin), who has acquired photos of the night when Dilbeck became intoxicated at the club and assaulted fellow patron Paul Guber, his client, invites Shad, a bouncer and the club's head of security, to join him in a scheme to blackmail Dilbeck. Meanwhile police officer Al Garcia (Armand Assante) has fished out Jerry's body from a lake. Al Garcia is on vacation there with his wife Donna and son Andy. Autopsy has revealed that he was drowned in tap water first before being thrown into the lake. It was murder. Jerry had Erin's photos all over his apartment and that's how Al finds Erin at the Eager Beaver and understands her full situation. Erin wants Al to make sure that Miami PD dumps Darrell as an informant, so that during her appeal he doesn't have any protection from the police department and can be exposed for the criminal he is. Fully sympathetic to her plight, he complies. However, L.W. Fingerhut, the judge overseeing Erin's case in civil court, suffers a fatal heart attack and is pronounced dead on arrival at Don Shula Hospital, causing her appeal to be delayed by six months. To protect Angela, Erin retrieves her from Rita's care, having found Darrell's address by stealing her mail. Alan approaches Dilbeck with the picture from the Eager Beaver and Malcolm is worried. Erin takes Angela to work and sees Erin dancing on stage, topless. Darrell attacks Erin outside the club, but is saved by Shad, who breaks Darrell's hand. Angela tells Erin that she looked pretty dancing on stage. Al Garcia meets Erin and tells him that Congressman Dilbeck has a crush on her and shows her the photo being used for his blackmail. Al wants Erin to contact him if Dilbeck is in touch with her. Dilbeck's personal interest in Erin persists, and she is invited to perform privately for him. He asks her to become his lover and later his wife, despite his staff's concerns that she knows too much. Malcolm threatens Erin that he knows that Angela is with Erin illegally and will put Angela in state care if Erin talks about Dilbeck to anyone. Eventually, Alan turns up dead as well and Al is now worried about Erin. However, Erin and Al Garcia begin to suspect the congressman's guilt in the murders, and Erin concocts a plan to bring the congressman to justice. But she doesn't know that Malcolm knows that Al is in touch with her (& that she is ex-FBI). Dilbeck and Malcolm then debate whether to kill Erin or simply silence her by threatening to take away her daughter. Malcolm gets Dilbeck to invite Erin for another private show and plans to kill her just after. Erin goes for the private dance without Al or Shad. Darrell then interrupts the dance, allowing Erin to retrieve a gun and force him and Dilbeck to the nearby Belle Glade sugar refinery, where she has arranged for TV crews to arrive for a news conference. On route, she forces Darrell to write a note releasing custody of Angela to her and once there, she tricks Dilbeck into confessing to the murders on tape. As Malcolm arrives, Garcia suddenly appears along with the news crew, and Dilbeck is soon after arrested. Erin, having regained full guardianship of Angela, thanks Garcia and Shad for assisting her and jokingly expresses interest to Garcia in running for Congress as Dilbeck's replacement.

While on a stakeout at an amusement park in Los Angeles, California, police detective Ned Ravine (Armand Assante) is approached by a flirtatious, sultry blonde woman (Sean Young). However, he must leave her to pursue culprit Milo Crumley (Blake Clark), known as the "pantyhose bandit." After arresting Milo, Ned, who is also a defense attorney, offers to represent him in court. At his law office, Ned relies on his devoted secretary, Laura (Sherilyn Fenn), who is always efficient except when tortured by flashbacks of her abusive husband. After successfully defending Milo in court, Ned receives a surprise visit from Lola Cain, the blonde woman from the amusement park. The beautiful seductress asks Ned to meet her the following evening to look over some papers that she cannot understand. While workaholic Ned is on police duty at night, his wife, Lana Ravine (Kate Nelligan), has been having an affair with auto mechanic Frank Kelbo (Christopher McDonald). Lana asks Frank's advice about her husband's accident insurance policy, and learns that it contains a triple indemnity rider worth $9 million, if Ned is shot with a pistol, falls from a northbound train, and drowns in a freshwater stream. Undaunted by the complications, Lana plots to murder Ned that weekend while he travels to a legal symposium in Santa Barbara, California, and agrees to share the insurance payout with her lover. She instructs Frank to tamper with Ned's car, so he will be forced to take the train. At his office, Ned receives instructions to meet Lola at Le Hot Club and from there, the two proceed to her mansion. After looking over her "papers," a laundry receipt and a lottery ticket, Ned succumbs to Lola's sexual advances and engages in various erotic scenarios with her throughout the house. In the morning, Ned reminds Lola he is married and cannot continue their affair. The rejection shocks Lola, and she gives Ned a deranged look. Meanwhile, criminal Max Shady (James Remar) is released from prison and is determined to take revenge on Ned for losing his case seven years ago. Laura shows Ned the multiple death threats Shady has faxed to the office, but the attorney believes the criminal just needs to vent his anger and is not concerned. At home, Ned wants to make amends with his estranged wife and buys her a pet skunk, but she is unimpressed and remains focused on killing him. When Ned treats Laura to shopping and dinner for her birthday, she looks at her handsome boss with affection, hoping he will take an interest in her. At the restaurant, an obsessive Lola interrupts them and threatens Ned with an ice pick, giving Laura another reason to worry about her boss's safety. Unable to use his car after the engine goes missing, Ned initially considers flying to Santa Barbara. He is fearful about taking the train since several members of his family have been killed in train wrecks, but Lana persuades him and advises that he stand in the vestibule between cars to calm his nerves. Lana and Frank secretly get on the train with Ned, who is also being followed on board by Max Shady. As the train leaves the station, Ned is anxious and sweating. After he gets up from his seat and walks toward the vestibule, Lana follows. She enters the area and shoots a man in the back, who is standing by the exit door and wearing a suit similar to Ned's. She believes she has shot her husband, but the man who falls out of the train, riddled with bullets, is Max Shady. Ned appears from the adjacent bathroom and is grateful to his wife for risking her life to protect him. However, as a police officer, he must arrest her for Shady's murder, but agrees to serve as her defense attorney. At the murder trial, Ned succeeds in convincing the jury that his wife should be acquitted. As soon as she is free, Lana kills her accomplice Frank over concerns he might betray her. Lola witnesses the deed and blackmails Lana. Ned walks in the house as Lola is talking to his wife, and denies knowing the blonde woman. Later, an angry Ned goes to Lola's mansion and warns her to stay out of his life. During their altercation, Lola reveals that Lana is her identical twin sister, who stole her boyfriend Dwayne, the love of her life. When a confused Ned remarks that the two women look completely different, Lola explains that Lana destroyed her original face with a shovel and she had to endure fifty-three plastic surgery operations. Ned is amazed at the beautiful result, but Lola disagrees, calling herself "ugly." She says Dwayne abandoned her for Lana after he saw her transformation. Lola's attempt to destroy her sister's marriage to Ned was part of her revenge. She also tells Ned that Lana murdered the mechanic. When Ned informs Lola that the mechanic's name was Frank Kelbo, she is devastated, realizing that Frank was the son of Dwayne, whose last name was Kelbo. Returning home, Ned finds hot water running in the bathtub, but his wife is absent. Laura, who has been conducting her own investigation, arrives to alert Ned that his wife and Frank were plotting to murder him so they could collect on his insurance policy. She also confides about her difficult past and fleeing from her obsessive-compulsive, abusive husband. As Ned and Laura talk in the kitchen, Lana saws a break in the upstairs handrail, but Lola surprises her sister and drowns her in the bathtub. When Ned goes to investigate the faucet noise, he discovers his wife's dead body and is assaulted by Lola. Meanwhile, downstairs, Laura's sadistic husband sneaks into the house and confronts his wife. After Ned and Laura subdue their attackers, they embrace and share a passionate kiss. Suddenly, the two apparently dead sisters recover and rush at Ned and Laura with sharp objects. However, Laura proves to be a skilled sharpshooter as she simultaneously kills Lana and Lola with two pistols, but blowing out Ned's eardrums when she fired the guns close to his head. In the final scene, Laura and Ned propose marriage and spend their first night together, as the pet skunk watches from his hiding spot in the dresser.

When Judy was 8 years old, her life's desire was to have a big house, nice clothes, 2 closets, a live-in maid, and a professional man for a husband. Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), a 28-year-old Hebrew woman from a sheltered wealthy upbringing whose lifelong dream is to "marry a professional man,". Judy marries Yale Goodman (Albert Brooks) in an elaborate ceremony, and it seems that all Judy's dreams are coming true. Judy is a blonde who is more worried about the color of the upholstery, and the matching carpets in her house, than any practical matters. Even her parents do not take her seriously. Judy and Yale have planned to visit Jamaica for their Honeymoon. Judy's new husband dies on their wedding night during sex. Yale was a lawyer and was handling a divorce case even on the evening of the wedding. Judy is 28 years old and even her parents know that she is trained for nothing (Judy used to work as a secretary as her dad's office as only he would give her a job). Judy's mother Harriet asks her to start dating again to find another man to look after her. Her parents are worried that Judy will spend the rest of her life living with them. From the age of 2, she has always had a boyfriend, who looked out for her. She has already been married twice. Judy leaves her parent's house without telling anyone. Judy checks into a motel and ponders what to do if she is not going to be married. Adrift, Judy tells her story on a radio call-in show. On the call, Judy talks to an Army recruiter who says that he knows what Judy needs and asks for a meeting. Judt meets Army recruiter, SFC James Ballard (Harry Dean Stanton) the next day, who leads her to believe military life will provide the "family" she seeks. He pitches the service as a glamorous getaway, comparing it to a spa vacation with Condos and private rooms with yachts. James says that 89,000 women are currently serving in the army and serving their country. The recruiter says that the job pays $458/month, a job of her choice, food, housing, medical and 30 days of paid vacation. James also adds that a woman with Judy's educational background could easily land an assignment in Europe and promises to get her into the best physical shape of her life. Judy decides to sign up for the army. But Judy has a rude awakening upon arriving at basic training at Fort Biloxi. She falls asleep on the bus and is rudely awakened by the drill instructor who makes her do 20 push-ups. She wants to quit almost immediately as she has to sleep in one room with 20 strangers, no drapes, and dirty linen, but is astonished to find out, contrary to the assertions of her recruiting sergeant, that she cannot leave and that she has to serve a full 3 years. Private Wanda Winter (P. J. Soles) is a class favorite and does everything by the book. Private Gianelli (Toni Kalem) is the rebel, her only other choice was to go to jail. Colonel Clay Thornbush (Robert Webber) is the CO of the base. Captain Doreen Lewis gets Judy to clean all the bathrooms, when she complains about unsanitary conditions. She tries to escape at night but gets caught in the barbed wire. Army regulations and the continual disapproval of both Captain Doreen Lewis (Eileen Brennan) and SFC L. C. Ross (Hal Williams), the drill sergeant, frustrate Judy. Her parents Theodore Benjamin (Sam Wanamaker) and Harriet Benjamin (Barbara Barrie) arrive at Fort Biloxi to take her home. They think it is bad for their social status and Theodore says she is incapable of making her own decisions. Benjamin decides to stay and finish basic training, which she does with distinction after a war games exercise in which her squad exposes an affair between a member of her training platoon (Private Einter) and a rival company officer Captain William Woodbridge (Craig T. Nelson) (with whom Lewis was also having an affair) and takes the both of them hostage. Lewis is livid that she was made a fool and orders the entire company to clean up the barracks. In response, Judy gets into Lewis's bathroom and fill her shower head with a blue dye. Lewis attends the graduation ceremony, looking like Smurf. Upon completion of basic training, Judy and her friends spend the weekend on leave in New Orleans, where she meets Henri Tremont (Armand Assante), a French doctor there for a medical conference. After a brief romance, Henri returns to Paris and Judy begins training with an elite paratrooper unit, the Thornbirds. Judy quickly discovers she was chosen for paratrooper training because the unit's commander finds her attractive. After the other trainees have jumped from the plane, he attempts to sexually assault her. When Judy refuses to comply, he attempts to have her transferred far from Biloxi as soon as possible. Rather than accept what she sees as an undesirable post in Greenland or Guam, Judy negotiates (with a threat of reporting sexual assault attempt) an assignment to SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in Belgium and meets up with Henri again on a visit to Paris. He proposes marriage and she accepts, but when Captain Lewis, who is also posted to the same base in Belgium, discovers that Henri is a communist, Judy is forced to choose between the Army and love. Benjamin chooses Henri and gets engaged. But then Henri reveals his childish, controlling nature. He tries to "remake" Judy, and also insists she sign a prenuptial agreement (in French) to protect his centuries-old family home. Finally, when Henri sleeps with the house maid and also makes it obvious that he hasn't gotten over his ex-girlfriend Clare, Judy has a change of heart. On her wedding day, in the middle of the ceremony, she realizes she is on the verge of a huge mistake. Judy abandons Henri at the altar and heads off into the unknown, empowered by her newfound freedom and excited about what may lie ahead.

A group of teenage girls from Atlanta, Georgia go to summer camp, an, unbeknownst to the adults, two of them made a bet as to which one will lose her virginity first, with all the girls in camp betting money on the contest. The girls involved in the contest are opposites and rivals: cynical, suspicious and streetwise poor girl Angel Bright (Kristy McNichol) and naive, prissy and romantic rich girl Ferris Whitney (Tatum O'Neal). The rest of the girls divide into two teams, each rooting for or egging on either Ferris or Angel. The two girls the choose guys they want to lose their virginity with. Angel targets Randy Adams (Matt Dillon), a boy from the camp across the lake, and Ferris attempts to seduce Gary Callahan (Armand Assante), the (much older) camp counselor. The girls engage in typical teenage camp behavior, like food fights and singing around a campfire. Both girls discover that sex is not what they thought it would be. Ferris thinks of sex as love and romance and wine and flowers and poetry. She imagines herself swept off her feet by Gary. When she lies about making love with him, Gary gets in trouble for having sex with a fifteen-year-old. She discovers that physical sex can have disagreeable consequences. Her attitude is now more grounded in reality; she has become more like Angel. Meanwhile, Angel approaches the same issue from the other side and learns the opposite lesson. She views the contest as a purely biological action, "no big deal" and "nothing", as her mother told her. But when she attempts making love with Randy in a boathouse, she becomes confused by scary feelings she did not know she had. She behaves defensively, like she doesn't want this. Now also confused, Randy is discouraged by her recalcitrance and leaves her behind. Angel sees that sex is more than just a mechanical function she can cynically turn on or off. This involves feelings and caring and love. Sex is important, and something she deeply wants. As Randy leaves, she tearfully protests "But I like you!" She meets Randy a few days later with a much improved attitude - one closer to Ferris'. This time she pays attention, not to condoms and clothing, but to Randy and her feelings about him. As the novel described this, "All her fear and resistance melted as they kiss. Soon, she didn't know who was touching whom, only that this was wonderful and right and fine." Angel has sex in the boathouse, but doesn't tell the other girls. Ferris remains a virgin and lies about an evening of romantic passion ("We had chilled Chablis; the darkness enveloped us"). Eventually, Ferris discovers that sex is not just a fantasy of poetry and flowers and moonlight or something from a novel, that the biological aspect is not necessarily romantic, and Angel discovers that biological sex involves powerful emotions that touch her deeply and transform her soul. Neither girl is quite ready for the emotional aspect that sex brings; When Randy seeks her out, Angel admits that while she likes him, she is not ready for that kind of a relationship (he says they can start over, but Angel observes that it's too late and wouldn't be enough), and Ferris apologizes to Gary. Together, the girls talk with the Camp Director and confess the situation, saving Gary's job. Angel and Ferris, the two outsiders, discover they are more alike than different, and as they return home to their parents, they become best friends.

Tracking two lost lumberjacks through the night, a rescue team nearly follows a hound over a cliff. Two men rappel down to retrieve the fallen hound, but they are killed. The third, hearing screams down below, rappels down to investigate, where he finds his team mates dead, only to be killed himself by an unidentified creature. Dr. Robert Verne is fed up with dealing with the squalor of city tenements. He does not feel he is making a difference. He accepts a job from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to write a report on a logging operation near the Androscoggin River in Maine. The loggers are in a dispute with the local American Indian "Opies" (i.e., "O.P.s"), the original people. Dr. Verne's wife Maggie accompanies him on the trip. She is pregnant but is apprehensive to tell her husband as he is set against having children. When they fly in, they meet a man, Travis Nelson and his two children Paul and Kathleen who are embarking on a trek into the wilderness. They also meet Bethel Isely , the director of the paper mill, who is to be their host. He tells them about his missing rescue team and lays the blame at the feet of the Opies. The latter have their own explanation: Katahdin, a vengeful spirit of the forest that has been awakened by the activities of the loggers. Isely describes Katahdin as "larger than a dragon with the eyes of a cat". As Isely drives the couple to their cabin, their path is barred by a party of Opies. They refuse to let Isely's people pass and a fight ensues between the leader of the Opies John Hawks Armand Assante and Kelso (Everett Creach), one of Isely's heavies. The heavy is armed with a chainsaw while Hawks has only a double-bit axe. The scuffle ends with Hawks laid on the ground with the chainsaw nearly at his throat. The Opies relent and let the cars pass. Verne and Maggie are visibly shocked by the incident. While fishing, Verne sees a huge salmon devour a duck. Later, after he and Maggie have eaten his catch, they are attacked in their cabin by a deranged raccoon. Verne kills it and sends a tissue sample to be tested. The next day Hawks and his wife Ramona Victoria Racimo approach Dr. Verne to put over their side of the story. If Verne is concerned about the environment then he should include the people in his assessment. Something is making the people ill: still births, mental illness and birth defects are rife. Hawks takes Verne and Maggie to the home of Hector M'Rai, Ramona's grandfather. Hector claims to have seen Katahdin and describes him as "part of everything in God's creation". Verne sees plant roots growing on the surface that should be underground; Hawk nets a bullfrog-sized tadpole from the water to show Verne; Hector has cigarette burns on his hand but feels no pain. As the evidence mounts the idyllic setting gradually takes on a sinister hue. Verne and Maggie tour the paper mill to look for incriminating evidence but the chemicals used in the processing are demonstrated to never leave the plant. Isely tells them that the water is routinely tested for purity. As they leave, however, Verne notices mercury deposits on Maggie's boots. It is a mutagen that causes birth defects and progressive nerve damage. It has long been used in logging as a fungicide because it is cheap. It will not show up in Isely's water purity tests because it sinks to the bottom. Verne needs more evidence and determines to take blood tests from the Opies. That night, the Nelson family, who have set up a camp in the woods, are suddenly assaulted by Katahdin; a ferocious bear with one of it's sides containing horribly mutated skin. The horrified Paul tries to flee, but the beast swats him into a rock, killing him. The next day as Verne and Maggie are taking blood samples, Isely and Sheriff Bartholomew Pilgrim arrive to arrest Hawks and his men whom they mistakenly believe to be the ones who killed the Nelson family. Hawks, however, escapes. Verne, Maggie and Ramona take a helicopter to the campsite to investigate the killings. Verne and Ramona find huge scratch marks on the trees while Maggie finds two mutated bear cubs trapped in a salmon poacher's net. One of the cubs is still alive and Verne is determined to save it so it can serve as empirical evidence of the contamination. However, the weather has turned and the pilot, Huntoon, refuses to take off in the high wind. They make for Hector's home and Verne sends Hawks to fetch Isely and the sheriff. Verne sets up an emergency room in one of Hector's tepees and helps the cub survive. Maggie is clearly distressed by the ordeal so Verne takes her aside and assures her that it will all be over soon. Shockingly, she reveals to him that she is pregnant and she has eaten contaminated fish like the mother of the cubs. Isely and Sheriff Pilgrim arrive and see the mutant cub. Isely is contrite, knowing that Hawks and his men weren't the killers. Hector arrives, when suddenly Katahdin attacks the camp in search of her cubs and kills everyone in sight. Everyone else seeks shelter in tunnels beneath Hector's home. All goes quiet so Pilgrim decides to check it out. He pokes his head up out of the tunnel and Katahdin kills him. The next day, the survivors make their way out of the forest. The helicopter is not an option as Huntoon was severely mauled in the beast's initial attack. Isely heads up to Mount Emery to try to reach a radio tower and call for help. Isley finds the radio tower but the monster immediately finds him and before Isley is able to call help, Katahdin kills him as well. The others find the Opie village mysteriously isolated and the Opie people gone, but take a truck and try to drive out along the winding forest road. Katahdin turns the truck over and finishes Huntoon off by devouring his head. The others run off through the forest with the beast in pursuit. They arrive at the river and swim across. The cub continues to bite Maggie but Rob pulls it off her and holds it underwater, drowning it. Hector stays behind to make Katahdin flee but fails and he is killed as well. Katahdin seems reluctant to follow them at first, but then enters the water and vanishes. They believe she drowned but then she suddenly emerges. They take shelter in a log cabin, but Katahdin tears down the walls. Maggie is knocked unconscious by debris, but Ramona is crushed. It is later revealed that she survived the incident. Verne finds a Winchester Model 1892 rifle in the cabin and shoots the monster twice with some effect. Hawks shoots arrows into Katahdin's hide until the beast sends him airborne with a mighty swat from her paws, then he lands on the ground, dead and bloodied. Verne picks up an arrow, then Katahdin hoists him up, only to be stabbed repetitively in the face and eyes until she collapses into the lake. Rob notices that the monster still moves slightly and leaps onto the beast and stabs her a few more times until her corpse finally sinks below the water. Verne and Maggie fly over the forest the next day, but not knowing that there is another mutant animal still alive in the forest.

In 1946, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, after panhandling and pretending to be blind, Cosmo Carboni (Sylvester Stallone) is picked up in a truck by his younger brother, Victor (Lee Canalito), an ice deliveryman. On the way to visit their older brother, Lenny (Armand Assante), an injured World War II veteran who works as an embalmer, Cosmo stops to flirt with Annie O'Sherlock (Anne Archer) and arranges to see her later at the dance hall where she works as a dime-a-dance girl. That night, when Sticky (Jeff Wald), the dance hall proprietor, chides her for being rude to a customer, Annie retorts that she is getting over a broken heart. Meanwhile, at a bar, Cosmo complains to his brothers that the Carbonis should be more successful. When the bar owner, gangster Stitch Mahon (Kevin Conway), and his crew come in, Cosmo notices they carry a monkey that belonged to a recently-deceased neighborhood street performer. Cosmo is certain he can make money with the animal and, despite Lenny's disapproval, arranges an arm wrestling match between his brother Victor and Franky the Thumper (Terry Funk), Stitch's henchman. Cosmo bets $100 against Stitch's monkey that Victor will win the match. When it looks like Franky will best Victor, Lenny whispers words of encouragement in his brother's ear and Victor wins the monkey for Cosmo. Afterwards, Victor and his girlfriend discuss their dream of getting a houseboat in New Jersey, though Victor believes he will not have enough money saved for several years. The next day, Cosmo fails to make any money performing on the street with the monkey. When Bunchie (Joyce Ingalls), a beautiful blonde, stops by, Cosmo promises to see her later. That night, as he dances with Annie at the ballroom, she exchanges a meaningful glance with Lenny, her former boyfriend. Cosmo leaves to visit Bunchie, whom he has been meeting for three years. Bunchie feels she, not Annie, is the one who really understands him. Cosmo scoffs that because Bunchie is a prostitute, she cannot grasp his desire for a real relationship. Later that evening, Cosmo takes Lenny to a private club called Paradise Alley which is owned and managed by a slick con artist known only as 'Burp' (Joe Spinell) who also works as the announcer and master of ceremonies. Cosmo and Lenny learn that anyone who can go one round with a wrestler named Big Glory (Frank McRae) will win $100. Cosmo convinces Victor to wrestle Big Glory. After Cosmo introduces him as "Kid Salami," Victor steps into the ring, beats Big Glory and wins the prize money. After the bout, Lenny argues that it is wrong for Cosmo to take advantage of Victor. Cosmo reminds his older brother that Lenny once had brains and ambition but after injuring his leg in the war, he now has nothing. Cosmo is determined to do whatever necessary to get out of the Hell's Kitchen district. Lenny goes to Sticky's Ballroom to see Annie and apologizes for not contacting her but did not want to be pitied by her. Annie argues that she never cared about his injury and she does not want him back because she is worried that he will leave her again. As Lenny walks Annie home, he tries to convince her they should resume their relationship. Annie relents and kisses him. Later that night, Cosmo stops by Annie's home and sees Lenny in bed with her. In the morning, after Lenny leaves, Cosmo accuses Annie of leading him on. She denies the accusation but admits she has always loved Lenny and is happy to be back with him. Cosmo visits Bunchie, who urges him to forget Annie and focus on his relationship with her because she loves him. Later, Cosmo tries to persuade Victor to wrestle full time, pointing out that his brother can make money much faster as a wrestler. The two go to Paradise Alley where Cosmo hopes Big Glory can convince Victor to wrestle. They find him living in the basement where he talks to them about his plans and prospects. The wrestler advises Victor to get a manager he can trust. After the brothers leave, Victor asks Lenny for advice. Lenny does not like the idea of Victor wrestling but agrees to help him if Victor decides to do it. Victor realizes he will never make enough money in the ice business to buy his houseboat and consents to try wrestling professionally. Over the next several days, Cosmo trains Victor, and Lenny agrees to handle the business. Cosmo expresses his sense of betrayal that Lenny has reunited with Annie and they agree that they are now just business partners instead of brothers. When Lenny tries to set up a wrestling match at Paradise Alley, Burp informs him that first Victor has to make a name for himself and inspire spectators to bet large sums on him by fighting established wrestlers. Lenny assures the man his brother can win fifty fights by Christmas. As Victor starts winning matches and money, Cosmo worries that he will get injured, but Lenny pushes Victor to continue wrestling. Meanwhile, Annie frets that Lenny is allowing the wrestling business to take him away from her. On Christmas Eve, Victor asks Lenny how much money they have, but Lenny only urges Victor to trust him. Later, Lenny visits Annie briefly, claiming he has to leave right away for business. She accuses him of cheating and they end their romance. Elsewhere, Cosmo exchanges Christmas gifts with Bunchie, then leaves for Paradise Alley. He visits Big Glory, who is badly beaten after fighting Franky the Thumper. The two get drunk and drive to Stitch's bar where Glory pulls down his pants and "moons" Stitch and Franky. Cosmo and Glory then drive to the Hudson River where Glory admits he has no money and knows his career is over. After the fun night that Cosmo has shown him, Glory finally feels happy and is ready to jump in the river. When Cosmo tries to talk him out of committing suicide, the wrestler urges him to think carefully about the high cost of wrestling, then jumps into the river. In the morning, Cosmo reunites with his brothers and, mindful of Big Glory's fate, urges Victor to quit wrestling. In response, Lenny promises to set up a match with Franky that, if he wins, will make it possible for Victor to achieve his dreams. Cosmo cautions Victor against doing it, but Victor wants money for the houseboat. Victor and Cosmo and arrange with Stitch a match between Victor and Franky, with the Carbonis betting the $9,000 they have made on Victor to win. As the fight begins that night at Paradise Alley, Lenny urges Victor to win but Cosmo lets Victor know he can still back out. Victor thinks Cosmo should be proud, since he was the one who pushed him into wrestling. Throughout the match, Lenny and Cosmo squabble on the sidelines. Between rounds, Victor asks his brothers to stop arguing. After 22 rounds, Victor crumples to the mat and Stitch pressures the referee to call the match for Franky. However, when Stitch's men hassle Lenny and Cosmo, Victor revives and pulls them off his brothers. Fighting resumes and Victor is declared the eventual winner. However, he admits to Lenny and Cosmo he was planning to throw the match and lose their money because he liked it better when it was just the three of them.