July 12, 2020 “Wyatt Earp Shoots First” (* out of four) was a cheapjack Western that shoots all blanks about the legendary gunslinger (Paul Clayton) and how he returns to being a lawman and has to question his own past beliefs about not firing first as he sees lawlessness and murder in his own town. Film covers all the usual banalities of Westerns (shooting standoffs, saloons, whiskey, etc.) and is utterly threadbare and amateurish. Some of film’s shootouts look like they were shot in the filmmaker’s backyard! For a much richer and vivid film on Earp, watch 1993’s “Tombstone” instead. Continue reading →
July 12, 2020 “Restricted Area” (* out of four) was a horrendous horror thriller about four friends (Paige Lindsay Betts, Philip Andre Botello, Rose Britz, and others) who take a camping trip into the wilderness where- to the surprise of no one- they are besieged by a redneck hillbilly cult and they have to fight back and survive. Both “Deliverance” and “Mother’s Day” told virtually this same story nearly 40 years ago with much more charge and vital shock and “Wrong Turn” stylized and updated this for a new generation about 20 years ago so perhaps this tired material should in itself be a “restricted area.” Ridiculously overlong also, at nearly two hours. Continue reading →
July 12, 2020 “The Beach House” (** out of four) was a sputtering horror thriller about two young lovebirds (Noah Le Gros and Liana Liberato) who go on a romantic getaway to a beachfront property when a mysterious infection sets in and affects all of them and they realize that they have to get out before they are all killed one-by-one. Film takes a long while to get going and offers some creepy scares once it does but then lags once again and never sufficiently rises and congeals to a solid whole. Director Jeffrey A. Brown shows some promise but is hamstrung by rote material. Continue reading →
July 9, 2020 “Body Of Night” (* out of four) was an over-the-top and garish melodrama about a playful young woman (Ro’shae Etienne) who begins to explore the dark side of online dating when she meets a young businessman (Jason Toler) who introduces her to the dangerous and erotic adventures of S & M and extreme sex. Unintentionally and hilariously awful dialogue and acting may give you some yuks but unfortunately this isn’t meant as a comedy. Film aspires to be in the vein of “50 Shades Of Grey” but winds up 50 shades of awful instead. Watch “Body Of Evidence” instead. Continue reading →
July 9, 2020 “Broil” (*1/2 out of four) was a laughably obtuse horror psychodrama about a family of demons (Timothy Murphy, Alyson Bath, and others) who (yes) like to broil and devour their victims and become concerned about the future of their family empire especially as a new series of victims prove trickier but perhaps tastier to capture. A failed attempt at absurdist black comedy which wins some points for audacity but otherwise is a waste of time. Overcooked (no pun intended) in more ways than one; some unintentional laughs provide only amusement. Continue reading →
July 9, 2020 “The Barge People” (** out of four) was a passable horror thriller set on the British countryside in which two sisters and their boyfriends (Kate Davies-Speak, Makenna Guyler, Mark McKirdy, and Matt Swales) set off for a relaxing vacation on a barge when they are suddenly besieged by mutant flesh-eating fish that turn their trip into a nightmare. Occasionally jolting and does feature a few scares but not enough to sustain a full feature-length film as movie thins out at only about an hour-and-20 minutes. “Humanoids From The Deep” and “Deep Star Six” told similar story with more camp and laughs and charge. Good music score by Sam Benjafield. Continue reading →
July 8, 2020 “Browse” (* out of four) was an abysmal psychodrama about a solitary man (Lukas Haas) who starts to mentally unravel as he begins to be convinced that someone hacked into his devices and they’re being used to manipulate and control him. By the end of this misfire, you’ll feel as if you’re starting to mentally unravel also. Molasses-moving (and minimalist) film takes forever to get going but turns into a hodgepodge even when it does. One-time child star Haas (“Witness”, “Solarbabies”) is still a likeable actor but needs to “browse” some better scripts instead. Continue reading →
July 7, 2020 “The Bone Box” (* out of four) was a stillborn horror thriller about a grave-robber (Aaron Schwartz) who comes to believe he’s being haunted by the ghosts of the corpses he’s stolen from over the years and this has destructive effects on his overall sanity and well-being. Sounds juicy and fun but is unbelievably dull and without even the saving grace of humor. You can only imagine what the Sam Raimi of the “Evil Dead” series would have done with a storyline like this but this one is bad to the bone. Continue reading →
July 6, 2020 “Twisted Twin” (** out of four) was a serviceable timefiller about two twins (Lorynn York) separated at birth who reunite later in life as one is going to college but things soon turn ugly when she realizes the other is hatching a plan to steal her life and she’ll do anything to achieve this including duplicity and murder while their hard-working mom (Jennifer Taylor) tries to sort all this out. York plays both roles but that’s about it for story originality; not bad as these things go and decently made and acted but without much suspense or surprises that enrich this material. Continue reading →
July 6, 2020 “Clown Doll” (* out of four) was a stultifying pile of doll-movie cliches; you know the routine by now, a dedicated mother (Sarah T. Cohen) purchases the title clown doll and no sooner than that, friends and family begin disappearing in mysterious fashion and she too-little too-late realizes the doll is responsible for the grisly murders. Virtually the exact same storyline as 1988’s “Child’s Play” except that movie was made with skill, style, and scares. Brutal, in every sense of the word. Continue reading →
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