April 19, 2022 “Gabriel’s Inferno: Part Two” (*1/2 out of four) was a sodden suspense melodrama about the title character Gabriel (Giulio Berruti) who learns the truth about Julia (Melanie Zannetti) but his realization comes too late as she has already left so he is left in a moral quandary about trying to save the relationship and also save himself. Second in the series of the books from author Sylvain Renard is no improvement over the original; a third one is on the way but something tells me the third time won’t be the charm. Strictly for hardcore fans of her novels and those who thought “50 Shades Of Grey” was robbed at Oscar time. This deserves to be thrown in its own “inferno.” Continue reading →
April 17, 2022 “Seal Of Desire” (*1/2 out of four) was a sordid psychological suspense thriller about a manipulative psychologist (Markiss McFadden) who specializes in couples-counseling as a means to break up marriages and seduce the wife he’s counseling; his game runs out when he meets a woman (Ravyn Rochelle) even more malicious and manipulative than he is. A vanity project for writer/director/co-producer/star McFadden who can’t get enough of showing himself without his shirt on and takes to rip off “50 Shades Of Grey” and also “Red Shoe Diaries”, just to name a few. It’s movies like this that give counselors (and filmmakers) a bad name. Continue reading →
April 17, 2022 “Infinite Storm” (*1/2 out of four) was a flimsy action adventure about a mountain climber (Naomi Watts) who gets caught in the midst of a dangerous blizzard and finds a stranded stranger (Billy Howle) and they both have to fight for survival and try to get down the mountain before nightfall. Watts is rock-solid as usual but is overcome by an avalanche of cliches and plot predictability. Storm effects and mountain scenery are passable given film’s shoestring budget but for an “infinitely” better version of almost the same story watch “Cliffhanger” or “K2” instead. Continue reading →
April 17, 2022 “Reed’s Point” (** out four) was a middling horror thriller about a woman (Madison Ekstrand) who is declared missing from a deadly crash; on the anniversary of the crash, her cousin (Sasha Anne) and her boyfriend (Evan Adams) go out searching for her convinced that she is still alive but they soon are besieged by an infamous New Jersey devil who threatens their lives and everyone around them. Pretty predictable and routine without any real surprises although it’s overall well-made and does have some inventive and gory kills. Martin Sheen’s younger brother Joe Estevez has a minor but key role as a searcher to track the monster down. Continue reading →
April 17, 2022 “Room 203” (** out of four) was a stylish but slight suspense melodrama about two female roommates (Francesca Xureb and Viktorya Vinyarska) who gradually become more-and-more convinced and terrified of evil entities located within their apartment and they have to escape without losing their sanity. Good-looking film has strong atmosphere and lush cinematography from Joel Froome but unfortunately story never develops much momentum and thus is never really involving. Xureb and Vinyarska are good and have strong chemistry. Continue reading →
April 17, 2022 “Choose Or Die” (*1/2 out of four) was an incoherent horror thriller about a young woman (Iola Evans) who discovers and revives a long-lost ’80’s horror survival game but this game starts to blur the lines of reality and mayhem and murder start occurring around her at alarming rates and she has to figure out is this real or all part of the game. Film is loaded with arbitrary and contrived plot points that are incomprehensible. Director Toby Meakins attempts to compensate by dressing this all up in style and with ’80’s rock classics but it’s all for nothing. Don’t “choose” to play this one. Continue reading →
April 16, 2022 “Bulldozer” (*1/2 out of four) was a ridiculous action thriller about a former underworld heavy (Michael Lazar) who is pulled back into the depths once his girlfriend is kidnapped and he has to resort to returning to his former ways and becoming a hard-core thug once again. A vanity project for writer/director/star/co-producer Lazar but it’s unfortunately all a load of bull. You’d best re-watch “Commando” which told the same story with a lot more action and humor as well. Continue reading →
April 11, 2022 “Alien Sniperess” (*1/2 out of four) was a disposable action thriller about a female sniper (Olivia Okoro) who tries to fulfill the wish of her deceased fiance by leaving her sharpshooting life behind her but is called back into action when a hostile alien invasion threatens to overtake the planet. The direct-to-DVD equivalent of junk food, as it moves relatively quick and is easy to watch, but has no nutritional content and is utterly forgettable. Roger Corman used to produce movies like this in his sleep years ago. Continue reading →
April 11, 2022 “Broken Soldier” (**1/2 out of four) was an earnestly done melodrama about a newly released veteran (Mark Kassen) with PTSD who befriends a young girl (Sophie Turner) but her controlling father (Ray Liotta) wonders if he can be trusted which puts all three of them on an eventual collision course. Potent subject matter and Liotta’s usual strong performance hold your attention for a while even as the drama starts to dissipate towards the end as story contrivances start to seem evident. Imperfect but still overall worthwhile. Continue reading →
April 9, 2022 “Hillwalkers” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary horror thriller set on the Irish countryside in which some hikers (Elise Brennan, Aoife Honohan, and others) who tresspass onto private land in which the landowner (Mark Agar) turns out to be (what else?) a redneck psycho intent on killing them. By the time this concludes, you may wish they all just had some Lucky Charms and Guinness and had a party together instead. Yet another ripoff of the classic “Deliverance” that fails to deliver. Even the Ireland scenery looks lifeless and dull, much like the movie itself. Uafasach! Continue reading →
dlepikcom 