July 6, 2018 “West Of Hell” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster Western/horror movie/historical baloney about a gunslinger (Michael Eklund), a vengeful former slave (Tony Todd), and a runaway (Jennifer Laporte) who board a midnight train to Atlanta and soon discover that the train is haunted by a malevelont force and they must band together to survive the night. Todd is hilariously awful in what may be the worst performance of his distinguished career and makes his “Candyman”/”Final Destination” performances look like Oscar material and co-stars Eklund and Laporte aren’t much better. Co-Star Lance Henriksen is listed in the credits as “The Devil.” Continue reading →
July 5, 2018 “Big Legend” (*1/2 out of four) was a big bore about an ex-soldier (Kevin Makely) who ventures into the Pacific Northwest to uncover the truth behind his fiance’s disappearance and finds that a mysterious creature is responsible and that him and other tourists are next on the menu. Good production values for this type of movie with crisp cinematography and beautiful Northwest scenery but story dawdles and lags and is pretty routine. Former horror stars Adrienne Barbeau and Lance Henriksen have practically one scene each and are wasted! Continue reading →
July 4, 2018 “Armenian Haunting” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring horror thriller about an Armenian-American journalist (Vaneh Assadourian) who begins to do research on the sudden deaths in her family which turn her into a ghost hunter as she realizes they are connected to (what else?) paranormal activity. Low-budget thriller is even lower on style or originality or any scares. Recommended only for those who were in a depressed state when the “Paranormal Activity” series came to a close. Assadourian is good in the lead. Continue reading →
July 4, 2018 “Counterfeiting In Suburbia” (*** out of four) was a vividly done teen drama about two high-school girls (Laurissa Albuquerque, Kayla Wallace) who encounter the seductive world of counterfeiting money and convince themselves they’re not harming anybody but their scheme goes haywire when their impoverished and malevolent teacher (James Dean) and the Secret Service become involved. An unusually well-made and absorbing teen story about the thrill and addiction of making easy money and it’s consequences. Story starts to get overly contrived in its final third but it’s still entertaining. Sarah Butler has a key role as one of the girl’s cash-strapped aunt and conscience. Continue reading →
July 4, 2018 “Minutes To Midnight” (** out of four) was a passable slasher thriller in which numerous friends gather around a cabin for a New Years Eve party and are gradually killed one-by-one by a mutant stranger (Bill Moseley who can play this role in his sleep by now) with a mysterious agenda. Not bad of its type but not anything you haven’t seen in other movies before, especially “Wrong Turn” and “Evil Dead” and also “Saw” which film’s finale rips off. All in all- a collection of horror-movie cliches but film is also amusingly a collection of long-lost ’90’s stars with William Baldwin, Richard Grieco, and Dominique Swain in minor roles. Continue reading →
July 4, 2018 “Ouija Seance: The Final Game” (*1/2 out of four) was a by-the-numbers timewaster about a group of young kids (Holly Louise Mumford, Katharina Sporrer, Alan Cappelli Goetz, and others) who go vacationing to a villa where they (yawn) resurrect an ancient evil spirit via their ouija board which threatens them all. They should have instead attempted to resurrect this script and story which practically has no life. You would think by now characters in movies like these would know to leave ouija boards alone but hey- at least that word final sounds good! Continue reading →
July 3, 2018 “Chappaquaddick” (*** out of four) was a stirring biographical drama about the 1969 incident on the Chappaquaddick in which the ambitious U.S. senator Ted Kennedy (Jason Clarke) left the scene of an accident involving his campaigne strategist Mary Jo Kopechne (Kate Mara) and how this incident and its subsequent media firestorm altered the course of history for his (and his family’s) plans for his run for presidency. Not a great film but an interesting story of political machinations, media coverage and coverups, and one man’s difficulty in following his family’s legacy. Clarke gives what may be the best performance of his career as a man who finds his conscience drowning along with the incident. Ed Helms is also strong in an unusual part as Kennedy’s cousin Joseph Gargan and Bruce Dern is first-rate in a small-role as Kennedy’s father Joseph, Sr. Continue reading →
July 3, 2018 “Hot Summer Nights” (**1/2 out of four) was an endearing coming-of-age story as a teenager (Timothee Chalamet) spends his summer in Cape Cod where he encounters his first experiences with girls, drugs, and wild times. Offbeat story is told with an engaging sense of humor and is nicely and gently directed by writer-director Elijah Bynum in his debut but is marred by unnecessary unpleasantness in its final third. Still worthwhile though for fans of coming-of-age stories such as “Stand By Me” and “The Spectacular Now.” Continue reading →
July 1, 2018 “The Domestics” (*1/2 out of four) was a dull post-apocalyptic thriller in which a couple (Tyler Hoechlin and Kate Bosworth) race across the country in search of safety as they desperately try to survive and stick together as militant gangs try to hunt them down. Pointless story mixes elements of “Mad Max” and “28 Days Later” but is bereft of those films style and energy. It might be time by now to leave these post-apocalyptic futuristic nightmares in the past. Continue reading →
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