December 22, 2020 “Anything For Jackson” (** out of four) was a joyless horror thriller about a Satanist couple (Julian Richings and Sheila McCarthy) who kidnap a young pregnant woman (Konstantina Mantelos) so they can use an ancient spellbook to put the spirit of their dead grandson into her but this leads to a hellish chain of unholy consequences neither of them expected. Director Justin Dyck and cinematographer Sasha Moric infuse this with an atmosphere of melancholic dread but story lags after a while and treads on all-too-familiar territory. McCarthy and Richings are creepy in the lead roles. Continue reading →
December 21, 2020 “Serena Waits” (*1/2 out of four) was a wretched revenge horror thriller about three college louts (Colton Wheeler, Charles Chudabala, and David Marlowe) who find themselves haunted and hunted by a girl (Brialynn Massie) who they raped and attacked and thought they left for dead. Exploitative and unpleasant story is yet one more rip-off of “I Spit On Your Grave”; by this point, maybe it’s best if we let that movie rest in peace and moved on. You can feel the padding on this one, even at only an hour-and-20 minutes Continue reading →
December 20, 2020 “The Night They Knocked” (*1/2 out of four) was a blah, by-the-numbers horror show about a group of friends (Jack Buckley, Linnea Craig, Deirdre Kozcur, and others) staying at a mountain house for the weekend which is suddenly disrupted by (what else?) a savage murderer who knocks on the door in the middle of the night. Writer/director Sean Roberts actually had his cast watch “The Strangers” before production as preparation- and justification- for brazenly ripping that movie off. Even besides that, film is pretty scareless and devoid of style. Continue reading →
December 20, 2020 “Hunter Hunter” (** out of four) was a lumbering melodrama about a family (Devon Sawa, Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell) living in the remote wilderness whose tranquility is threatened by the return of a rogue wolf; when the husband attempts to track it down, he soon disappears leaving the mother and daughter to fend for themselves for the first time and try and stay alive. Pretentious and plodding and never really builds to all that much even though it gets pretty bloody by the end; crisp cinematography from Greg Nicod is film’s main plus point. Nick Stahl has a key supporting role in film’s second half but by this point in his career he ought to be “hunting” for better parts than this. Continue reading →
December 20, 2020 “The Reason” (** out of four) was a superficial religious drama about the arrival of a mysterious man (Alan Powell) in a small town who is able to incur miracles in the townsfolk: a struggling mother (Beverly Todd) who desperately needs help, a blind pastor (Louis Gossett, Jr) whose son hasn’t spoken in years, a young oncologist (Tatyana Ali) who needs guidance, etc. Earnest and well-intentioned story benefits from a solid cast and decent production but sadly these don’t give you sufficient enough “reasons” to check this out. Not bad but not especially memorable either. Continue reading →
December 20, 2020 “Modern Persuasion” (** out of four) was an artificial romantic comedy about a NYC career woman (Alicia Witt) who has to deal with the aftermath of a former relationship when her ex-boyfriend (Shane McRae) hires the company and this begins to rekindle old feelings and old flames that affect her company and her romantic path in life. Guess what happens next. Film is brightly acted and attractively shot but is completely bereft of the magic and bounce that would make this take off. Viewers should resist “persuasion” to watch this and watch “Pretty Woman” and “Sleepless In Seattle” instead for the right way to do this kind of romp. Continue reading →
December 19, 2020 “Bad Impulse” (** out of four) was a scattershot psychological horror thriller about a husband and wife (Grant Bowler and Sonya Walger) who are viciously attacked in their suburban home and subsequently buy a home security system from a sinister salesman (Paul Sorvino) but this soon leads to him going off-the-wall and losing his mind. Too underwritten and undernourished to have any real bite although Sorvino as always adds some style and the strong cast helps to keep it watchable. One more imitation of “The Shining” that is a shining example of why that film was a classic in the first place. Continue reading →
December 19, 2020 “Breach” (** out of four) was a wholly derivative action sci/fi thriller about a mechanic (Cody Kearsley) aboard an interstellar spaceship bound for New Earth who has to try and defeat a ruthless megalomaniac (Bruce Willis) who wants to take over the ship and use it as a destructive weapon and crashland it on Earth. Perfunctory movie rips off “Alien” and “Star Trek” in equal measure; not bad for what it is but never escapes (or transcends) its routine origins. Willis walks through his umpteenth DVD paycheck role; Thomas Jane is wasted in a throwaway supporting part. Continue reading →
December 19, 2020 “Beyond The Woods” (*1/2 out of four) was a limp small-town psychological thriller about a determined detective (Broadus Mattison) who investigates the death of a woman (Christie Burke) and the disappearance of her brother (Jeff Evans-Todd) and finds a suspect (Steven Roberts) who proves to be an elusive enigma that he has to both psychologically and physically trap. Striking and crisp cinematography by Zach Zhao is sole worthy component as film is buried in a blur of grim grandiloquence. Roberts also co-wrote the uneven screenplay. Continue reading →
December 18, 2020 “The Rodeo Thief” (**1/2 out of four) was a leisurely melodrama about an injured bull-rider (Thom Callum) who sadly realizes that his best days are behind him and starts to fall on hard times and decides to steal roping horses for a brutal loan shark (Robert Keith) but this leads to various complications for him involving the criminal underworld and potentially jeopardizes his career and his life. Nicely understated attempt to mix a neo-Western story with a violent melodrama; it moves slowly at times and doesn’t quite hit the bullseye but is held together (and made worthwhile) by Callum’s rock-solid performance, some beautiful scenery vistas from Anthony Gutierrez, and Ian McHugh’s stirring music score. Continue reading →
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