October 7, 2020 “On Halloween” (*1/2 out of four) was an interminable horror show about an inquisitive journalist (Giselle van der Wiel) who tries to uncover a series of brutal deaths murders which lead back to an urban legend about (yawn) a serial-killing clown that has stalked the area for hundreds of years. Perfunctory story of a killer clown on the loose is cheaply and amateurishly done and has little gore to satisfy rabid horror fans. Film is only an hour-and-a-half long but feels much longer than that. Fans would be much better off re-watching “Halloween” or “Friday The 13th” instead of watching this on Halloween. Continue reading →
October 7, 2020 “Halloween Party” (** out of four) was a sub-routine horror pic about a college student (Amy Groening) who unleashes sinister evil all through the campus via an online meme she submits and she finds out too-little/too-late what she’s done and all Halloween Hell breaks loose. Good production values and shows some clever touches but this is a party you have been to all-too-many times before. Groening is the daughter of “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening and shows some promise here. Continue reading →
October 6, 2020 “American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rules” (**1/2 out of four) was a formulaic but likeable entry in this series about four girls (Madison Pettis, Lizze Broadway, Natasha Benham, and Piper Curda) in their senior year of high school who band together to try to lose their virginity before moving onto college and on with their lives. Ninth movie in a series that began in 1999 doesn’t win any points for originality but avoids much of the forced crudeness of previous entries and is given a boost by its winning cast. For “Pie” fanatics, Broadway’s character is a relative of original character Stifler and this is the only entry not to star original dad Eugene Levy. Continue reading →
October 6, 2020 “12 Hour Shift” (** out of four) was a genuinely bizarre melodrama about a drug-abusing nurse (Angela Bettis) and her cousin (Chloe Farmworth) at an overnight shift at the hospital on one very long night in they have to find replacement organs for an organ trafficker (Dusty Warren) as they try to keep their cool while a series of bodies pile up. Too audacious to be easily dismissed (as it incorporates touches of macabre wit and flashy violence) yet too weird and over-the-top to be easily enjoyed. David Arquette and Mick Foley pop up in supporting roles and add to film’s anything-goes style. Continue reading →
October 6, 2020 “Red Letters” (*1/2 out of four) was an earthbound supernatural thriller about two private investigators (Jim Klock and Mike Capozzi) who are assigned on a case involving paranormal activity which leads them straight into the heart of darkness and the hands of satanic evil which proves to be more than meets the eye. Ominous opening titles and beginning are a false alarm, as film soon dovetails into a swamp of spiritual hokum and bad acting. Klock also co-wrote and directed this clunker Continue reading →
October 6, 2020 “Shortcut” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary horror story about a group of friends (Zak Sutcliffe, Molly Dew, Jack Kane, and others) on a bus trip who take a shortcut into the wilderness where they are mauled by (what else?) a mysterious creature who won’t let them live or leave. Unexpectedly missing are any hillbilly rednecks, a gas station psycho, or excessive and gratuitous gore but that’s not enough to lift this cheap-looking movie out of the muck. Horror fans would best take their own “shortcut” and watch “Deliverance” or even “Wrong Turn” again instead. Continue reading →
October 6, 2020 “On The Rocks” (*** out of four) was an amiably entertaining melodramatic comedy about a young mother (Rashida Jones) who reconnects with her hedonistic father (Bill Murray) while in NY which brings her to realize how she may be at a personal and professional crossroads in her own life. Director Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray try to recreate the ambiance and froth of their “Lost In Translation” with several homages and stylistic touches and they mostly succeed. Not heavy on plot but given enough charge (and laughs) from Murray and him and Jones’ lighthearted camaraderie. Continue reading →
October 5, 2020 “Dying To Be A Cheerleader” (*1/2 out of four) was an utterly dumb suspense thriller about a new girl in town (Dominique Booth) who tries out for her school’s cheerleading team but inadvertently humiliates the most popular girl in school (Nicolette Langley) who turns out to be a nutjob hellbent on revenge. Completely unnecessary and forgettable thriller made for people who have never seen a thriller before. Film’s ending is pretty laughable but at least it’s over right afterwards. Continue reading →
October 5, 2020 “Cover Me” (*1/2 out of four) was a misbegotten muddle about a female career executive (Jules Wilcox) whose encounter/dream with an older man (Danny Trejo) gives her a second chance at her work and her finances and thus her life. Inept time-waster can’t decide whether it’s a witless comedy, a lame thriller, or a flat inspirational drama and thus fails at all of them. Trejo adds some welcome spice and style as usual but he should have put a machete through this script instead. Continue reading →
October 4, 2020 “Android Uprising” (*1/2 out of four) was an artless sci/fi thriller set in yet another repressive futuristic society in which humans have survived a battle against an army of drones; one sergeant (Kate Britton) becomes paralyzed and becomes placed in an android body in order to survive and this leads to a series of conflicts with antigovernment activitists that lead to the possibility for (yawn) worldwide destruction. Junky pastiche of “Blade Runner”, “Total Recall”, “The Terminator”, “Avatar”, and virtually every other futuristic sci/fi movie you’ve ever seen; after a while it’s pretty boring. Just because a movie is about drones doesn’t mean it has to feel like it was made by them. Continue reading →
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