April 23, 2019 “Hell Of A Night” (*1/2 out of four) was a stylish but dumb and derivative horror thriller about a young college student who retreats to the country for a weekend getaway but finds out (to the surprise of no one) she is not alone and has to fight for her life to survive. Exceptionally good-looking horror movie (kudos to cinematographer Brian Childs who also wrote and directed) is also unfortunately exceptionally by-the-numbers and predictable with no surprises and hardly any scares. Hell of a shame, really. Continue reading →
April 22, 2019 “The Curse Of La Llarona” (*** out of four) was a chilling horror thriller about a C.P.S. worker (Linda Cardellini) and her children who are drawn into a frightening supernatural realm for which they must enlist the aid of a troubled priest (Raymond Cruz) to exorcise the demons and save their lives. Yet another story about paranormal activity and religious horror but this one is exceedingly well-directed and acted (especially by Cardellini) and features some genuine scares and style. A real sleeper. Beautifully and atmospherically filmed by Michael Burgess. Continue reading →
April 19, 2019 “Thriller” (** out of four) was a pretty routine urban slasher drama about a childhood prank gone wrong which comes back to haunt the group of South Central teens (Noah Abbott, Jessica Alain, Big Boy, and others) involved when their victim returns home for bloodthirsty revenge over Homecoming weekend. Mistitled slasher story is tepid at best and lifts quite a bit from “I Know What You Did Last Summer” among others but remains watchable. Mykelti Williamson (as a sympathetic cop) and RZA (as the school principal) add some style in supporting roles. Continue reading →
April 19, 2019 “The Killer Downstairs” (*1/2 out of four) was a painfully predictable thriller about a disillusioned middle-aged woman (Cindy Busby) who rents her basement out to a recently divorced charmer (Marcus Rostner) and soon people in her life start getting murdered. Could there be more to this guy than meets the eye? Do we really need yet another retread of “Fatal Attraction”? Stale movie offers no surprises and thus no thrills or sparks. Continue reading →
April 19, 2019 “The Professor And The Madman” (*1/2 out of four) was a ponderous adaptation of Simon Winchester’s novel set in 1857 about a doctor (Mel Gibson) who is overseeing the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary and forms a relationship with another doctor (Sean Penn) who is a deranged lunatic and in prison. Both Gibson and Penn are good as usual but are unable to enliven or enrich this dry material which meanders in too many different directions and for far too long at over two hours. Made in 2016 and was re-tooled many times to no avail. Director Farhad Siminia successfully sued to have his name removed from the film. Bear McCreary’s rich music score is one of film’s few virtues. Continue reading →
April 19, 2019 “Klippers” (*1/2 out of four) was a disjointed, dumb action potboiler about a hitman (Ofu Obekpa) who is hired by an evil millionaire (Robert Pralgo) to murder his ex-girlfriend (Libby Blanton) and attempts to follow through on this but things go astray when he realizes he starts to fall in love with her! Film begins passably but soon sputters and goes nowhere, as you gradually realize you don’t care about any of the characters or who gets “klipped.” Story borrows a lot from “A Prayer For The Dying” and “Faithful” and is almost as bad as those misfires. Continue reading →
April 19, 2019 “After” (** out of four) was an earthbound love story about a new college student (Josephine Langford) who begins a turbulent relationship with a bad boy (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin) from the wrong side of the tracks which affects their families and their personal lives which causes them both to think if they are going to live happily ever after. Story never takes wing and is never particularly compelling or moving, despite engaging performances. Disappointing adaptation of the much more adult-oriented novel from Anna Todd. Continue reading →
April 19, 2019 “The Pining” (* out of four) was muddled story that audiences won’t be pining for about a detective (Jackie Dallas) who begins to investigate a series of gruesome murders that lead her to a group-therapy leader (Tom Sizemore) who may know more than he is leading on but there are many other suspects and clues from the groups he has been leading. Absolutely incoherent story never builds any tension or suspense and subsides into meaningless and confusing story tangents instead. Dallas is good in the lead and does what she can with a nothing role; Sizemore is well-cast as a drug counselor. Continue reading →
April 17, 2019 “Trust No 1” (*** out of four) was a fairly engrossing action thriller about a determined cop (Douglas Rouillard) who investigates a series of brutal murders which the department thinks is the work of a serial killer but he starts snooping around and soon realizes it involves the federal government and paramilitary operations. Typical cop-and-conspiracy story is put over by Rouillard’s intense and charismatic performance and a well-sustained mood of lurking danger. A good directorial debut by Daron Niemerow and well-produced on a low budget. Continue reading →
April 16, 2019 “Hellboy” (** out of four) was an unimaginative reboot of the graphic novel series showing Hellboy (David Harbour) once again caught between the world of the supernatural and the human and who becomes engaged in a battle with an ancient sorceress (Milla Jovovich) bent on world domination. Film opens entertainingly and the inevitable F/X blowout at the end is fun but film is talky and surprisingly dull in the middle and thus cannot top the two earlier versions and winds up one more unnecessary movie reboot. Harbour is good in the lead and ably duplicates Ron Perlman’s tongue-in-cheek style. Continue reading →
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