The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 68

MOVIE SCENE 70 I An invasion by the cinema of horror -J Dallas, played by Tom Skerritt, finds the source of mysterious distress transmissions in Watching them wander aimlessly through the mall's Muzak-filled tiers is Romero's most acidly funny comment on today's robot-like society. Unfortunately, Romero's wit what there is of it takes second place to his obsession with grand guignol. In the final analysis, "Dawn of the Dead "exploits more than illuminates the bloodlust of our times. No technical proficiency, however cleverly utilized, can quite cover up the hole in its moral center. "Prophecy," next on our list of streamlined horror hits, is another matter entirely.

The violence here is of PG variety and the film, directed by John "(The Manchu-rian Candidate)" Frankenheimer even makes moral noises about what industrial pollution is doing to our lives. But "Prophecy's" moral aspirations turn out to be mere window dressing for an old-fashioned and not very convincing monster movie. A just-pregnant Talia Shire and husband Robert Foxworth are leaving New York for Maine as the picture starts. He's a public health examiner doing a report on the effects of a lumber mill on the environment, especially as it concerns the lives of an Indian tribe living nearby on a government reservation. As it turns out, the lumber bigwigs are using mercury in the water to soften the timber.

The resulting water pollution carried by the fish, has produced alarming genetic defects in the Indians who use the fish as a daily staple in their diet. Indian children, born deformed, are subsequently abandoned in the woods by their terrified parents. Before long we find that a few of these deformed discards have grown to gargantuan heights and ugliness and are bent on wreaking vengeance with a special preference for the polluters. For a plot complication but mostly to provide her with something to do the unsuspecting Talia eats one of the polluted fish making her the likely momma of the next monster. Everything gets more hysterically ludicrous after that, with Talia getting suddenly maternal about one little monster she finds forsaken while hubby Foxworth busies himself trying to kill the biggest of the mutants before it gobbles up the greater part of the eastern seaboard.

"Prophecy" provides a few decently scary moments, most notably when a mutant fish devours a duck in one mouthful, but the under exposed photography (even By PETER TRAVERS "When there's no more room in hell," explains a character in George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead." "the dead will walk the earth." Well, that character is half right. These days, the dead are walking sure enough, but their ambulatory pursuits seem to be confined to the nation's movie houses. I can't recall a time when horror flicks so dominated our screen fare. Three particular films are sending audiences screaming into the night, but not before the willing victims have plunked down an astonishing amount of box-office dollars. The aforementioned "Dawn of the Dead" is the most gruesome of the three by far.

A sequel to producer-director-writer George Romero's 1968 cult classic, "Night of the Living Dead," it goes its predecessor a lot more than one better in the blood and gore department. "Night of the Living Dead," still shown on the midnight theater circuit, was a low-budget, black -and-white production so fuzzily filmed that at times the more graphic chompings of its marauding zombies were not always readily discerned. There is no fuzziness at all about "Dawn of the Dead," a technical improvement for which you may not find yourself too grateful. This time the man-eating zombies go about their deadly business in living color and sharp focus. You don't miss a drool.

The blood flows like buttered popcorn as rifle bullets blow off heads at close range and the zombies munch merrily on the limbs, flesh and intestines they keep ripping off any available warm-blooded body. It is not critical hyperbole when I warn you that "Dawn of the Dead" is not for the weak-stomached. As disgusting screen spectacles go, this one has no peer. It is also, I must admit, wickedly well done. When the cannibals let up momentarily, Romero even allows a bit of his devilish humor to seep in.

Setting most of his film in a huge suburban shopping mall a modern-day horror if there ever was one-was pure inspiration. Besides feeding off their victims who then become zombies too, the film's "dead" still follow a few of the natural impulses that drove them in life. As Romero sees it, they still haven't lost theii homing instinct for shopping centers. appearance in miniature form) pops out clicking its razor-like teeth and slithering snakelike out the door to find a new hiding place. This is a scene to successfully rival "Dawn of the Dead" in the "yucck" sweepstakes.

The alien makes other appearances later, but none to rival this one. This is a problem director Ridley Scott attempts to solve by turning up the volume on the, soundtrack. "Alien" never gets any scarier than that early moment, but it does get earbustingly louder. The most intriguing aspect of the film is actress Sigourney Weaver, who cuts quite an imposing figure as the one intelligent member of the ship's crew besides the monster and she's a lot easier on the eyes. It's fun to watch her punch guys around, refusing to play the traditional female simp role so common to films of this genre.

For women's lib, "Alien" must rank as a sci-fi high. PFTKR TRAVF.RS regularly reviews mov ies for Sunday, magazine. the day light scenes are dark so we can't look too closely at the tacky special effects) work against the film's mealy-mouthed message. Worse, the monster is a real fizzle. It looks like a gaint wad of jello with acne and isn't half as frightening.

"Alien," the last of our current movie chillers, provides the most convincing monster of all. It takes any number of sizes and shapes all of them menacing. A space-age garbage scow is cruising the stratosphere looking for discarded metal to refine and bring back to Earth for profit. Along the way, the ship's computer prompts an unscheduled stop. While investigating a strange planet, crew member John Hurt gets a glob of goo stuck on his face and the ship's doctor can't get it off.

So Hurt and the goo head back to Earth anyway. A day later, the goo mysteriously vanishes. A relieved Hurt starts to enjoy a meal with his shipmates. Suddenly, he begins choking uncontrollably. His chest bursts open and the alien (making its first ON THE RECORD 3 The best of Randy Vanwormer yet to come? N.Y., the record company's headquarters.

Before that, he lived in Colorado and Cornwall, England. He was born in Indian Hills, a town of 2,000, 30 miles west of Denver. "Dad died when I was 12," Vanwarmer says. "A couple of years later, my mother was in a bit of a loose end. "She was reading Daphne du Maurier and she decided to move to Cornwall, which is a very romantic place.

One older and one younger brother and I went with her. "About three years ago, Dave Loggins made a great album, with a song with a beautiful melody, 'Come to that wasn't recognized. It worries me that people can do things that good and have no substantial recognition." Vanwarmer's single record is No. 16 on the best-selling chart of July 7. For two weeks in mid-June it stood at No.

5. The Bears-v i 1 1 album it's from, "Warmer," is No. 82 on the best-selling chart of July 7 and climbing slowly. Van-warmer lives in Another older brother stayed with a family and ended up marrying the daughter of the family. It's an incredible marriage, have three kids now.

''People thought my mother was crazy. Everybody said she'd be back in six weeks. I think they were worried that anything could happen to us. She is very naive. She doesn't ever see the obstacles.

Funnily enough, she doesn't run into them, either. "She still lives in Corn, wall and loves it. We all (Please turn lu 16M) "It is real hard work to write good songs. And you never can relax quite, because you know you have to do that to be satisfied in some way." Vanwarmer, who is 24, mentions songwriters he likes, including Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon and Judy Sill. "She was my first musical crush," he says.

I'd like to record her song, 'Jesus Was a Cross She writes very gospel-oriented melodies. She is one of my heroes I feel has not been recognized, By MARY CAMPBELL AP Newsfeatures Writer Randy Vanwarmer is a bit chagrined that his hit single, "Just When I Needed You Most" is one of the best songs he has ever written. He wrote it two years ago and it bothers him that he hasn't written a flock of better songs since. "It is encouraging to know some song writers have come up with several classics, though. I've written about 200.

I hope I have my best songs to come. How depressing if 4 L. Randy Vanwarmer.