September 14, 2022 “Bodies Bodies Bodies” (** out of four) was a pretty bland horror thriller about a group of hedonistic twenty-somethings (Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott) who gather at a remote family mansion to have a wild party but they soon begin to realize that one of them is (what else?) a backstabbing killer but can find they find out before it is too late. Suspense and scares are minimal and story and characters are too undernourished to have any resonance or conviction. Title is based on the improvisational game Murder In The Dark but this should otherwise be classified as a bored game instead. Continue reading →
September 13, 2022 “Tiny Cinema” (*1/2 out of four) was an aptly titled timewaster about a weirdo stranger (Paul Ford) who tells multiple different tales of various strangers (Shelby Dash, Tyler Cornack, Kristina Clifford, and others) whose fates are somehow connected by otherworldly events which will alter their lives forever. Practically incoherent movie with different segments and story fragments that have no relevance to one another. Its movies like these that make you realize how much “Tales From The Darkside” and “Creepshow” were taken for granted back in their day. Cornack also wrote and directed and shows some style in a few scenes. Continue reading →
September 11, 2022 “Paradise Highway” (** out of four) was a disappointing melodrama about a truck driver (Juliette Binoche) who is forced to smuggle illegal cargo in order to save her imprisoned brother (Frank Grillo) from a prison gang but she soon realizes that the cargo is a kidnapped teenage girl (Hala Finley) and that the police (led by Morgan Freeman and Cameron Monaghan) are on her trail. Well-directed by Anna Gutto and starkly shot by John Christian Rosenlund but never all that gripping or compelling and goes on way too long. Binoche is good and looks almost unrecognizable at first but Grillo is wasted and even Freeman looks bored and seems to be just going through the motions. Continue reading →
September 11, 2022 “Night Watcher” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring horror thriller about a young woman (Allison Tyler) reeling from the unexpected suicide of her mother and finds a friendship with a new man (Zack Stewart) in her life; she subsequently receives a terrifying voyeuristic tape in the mail showing that her mother was being stalked and soon the bodies start piling up around her one after another. Both Tyler and Stewart do what they can with cardboard roles but there’s little worth “watching” here. Made in 2008 and started decomposing on the unreleased shelf before being unceremoniously dumped to Redbox machines. Continue reading →
September 11, 2022 “End Of The Road” (**1/2 out of four) was an intelligent and efficiently done thriller about a family (Queen Latifah, Ludacris, Mychala Lee) who go off on a cross-country trip and become stranded in New Mexico and are harassed by white-trash rednecks and then stalked by a mysterious killer. Overall gripping movie holds you with its scares and suspense and good performances but doesn’t know when to quit. Worth watching but you may wind up wishing for the “end” to come before film finishes up. First screen collaboration for the Queen and Ludacris. Continue reading →
September 11, 2022 “Margaux” (*1/2 out of four) was a ludicrous suspense thriller about a group of college friends (Madison Pettis, Vanessa Morgan, Phoebe Miu, and others) who rent a house for a weekend of sex and partying but soon find that the house’s A.I. system Margaux (voiced by Susan Bennett) has sinister plans for all of them and turns against them. Perhaps the first movie ever about an evil A.I. house system is often laughably dumb. Lochlyn Munro has a small but key role here and this is a reunion for him and Vanessa Morgan but this just doesn’t have the conviction and intelligence of their last collaboration “Riverdale.” Continue reading →
September 10, 2022 “Pinocchio” (**1/2 out of four) was a visually enthralling but dramatically hollow live-action/CGI adapation of the classic Disney tale about the title puppet (voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) who is brought to life by his magical owner (Tom Hanks) and is then corrupted by the real world and then his inventor has to rescue him and attempt to restore the both of them to safety and security in an unsafe and insecure world. Full of eye-popping visuals (Pleasure Island and the final whale scenes are a wow) which give you your money’s worth but film as a whole comes up empty since the script, story, and characters are so mild and threadbare. Worth a look for family audiences and animation fans but this still bears the mark of another remake simply made for money, and not much else. Continue reading →
September 10, 2022 “Delia’s Gone” (** out of four) was a meandering melodrama about a young man (Stephan James) with mental retardation who is wrongfully convicted in the death of his sister (Genelle Williams) and breaks out of prison in search of the truth and to find the real killer and to seek personal/moral/legal redemption. James’ sincere and strong performance is the best asset of film which otherwise wanders and never peaks emotionally or dramatically and thus never achieves much impact. Marisa Tomei is solid as usual in a key role as an empathic cop on the case. Continue reading →
September 10, 2022 “It Hatched” (*1/2 out of four) was a stillborn horror melodrama made in Iceland about a young couple (Vivian Olfasdottir and Gunnar Kristinnson) who open a remote guesthouse and soon find that there is something evil lurking in their basement but it takes them a long time to find out what it is and why the need to escape. It’s much easier to simply escape the movie instead. Ugly cinematography and plodding storytelling turn this into a real chore to watch. Film received substantial critical praise in Iceland but regadless- it’s films like these that make you wish horror filmmakers would finally “hatch” some new and original ideas. Continue reading →
September 8, 2022 “The Dead Girl In Apartment 03” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster horror thriller about a young woman (Laura Dooling) who finds her roommate dead under mysterious circumstances and finds herself haunted in her apartment and physically and psychologically trapped and tormented there. Just an unpleasant pile of horror cliches (haunted house, loud shock effects, etc.) you’ve seen done before and done much better. Horror fans will note the return of “Friday The 13th” horror-siren Adrienne King as a hard-nosed detective but this movie is unlikely to bring her career back from “the dead.” Continue reading →
dlepikcom 