June 23, 2023 “Legend Of Hawes” (* out of four) was a cheapjack horror-western hybrid about the survivor (Emily Whitcomb) of a brutal attack from marauders who hires the disgraced drunken title gunman (Mike Markoff) to track them down and administer revenge. Lame attempt at mixing both genres and is completely bereft of scares or skill. Whitcomb resembles a young Olivia Wilde but all other resemblances end there. Long-lost ’80’s actor Richard Tyson plays a character here named Mister Tyson, if that shows you the level of imagination here. Continue reading →
June 23, 2023 “Coyote” (** out of four) was a not-bad futuristic melodrama set in yet another dystopian future in which two women (Therica Wilson-Read and Borislava Stratieva) are in a forbidden love triangle and escape genocide through new transportation technology but become separated and in order to be reunited have to take part in an underground human-trafficking ring. Writer/director Dustin Curtis Murphy shows some impressive style and cool-to-the-touch directorial touches that hark back to early Stanley Kubrick but he’s hampered by a routine story and framework. By this point, there’s not to much in the movies of the future that we haven’t already seen in the past. Continue reading →
June 22, 2023 “Devilreaux” (*1/2 out of four) was a ponderous psychodrama set in the 1800’s in which a group of slaves (Tony Todd, Vincent M. Ward, and others) are set off by a supernatural voodoo to kill off their masters and also each other until they can get to the root of their sinister and malicious urges. Director Thomas J. Churchill and co-writer/co-star Ward obviously have some social and allegorical points to make regarding historical drama and present society but they’re bludgeoned by film’s shapeless and molasses pacing. While it’s always great to see Todd again, he is wasted in a nondescript supporting role that only brings back memories of the similarly plotted and themed “Candyman 2: Farewell To The Flesh.” Continue reading →
June 21, 2023 “Cannibal Cabin” (*1/2 out of four) was a strictly by-the-numbers horror dud about a group of friends (Harvey Almond, Jane Buckle, Sophie Fisher) on a road trip who take a detour and wind up in the lair of violent cannibals and have to fight to the death in order to escape and survive. Undernourished story full of predictable story elements, dumb dialogue, and uneven acting; it’s movies like this that make you realize what a masterwork the original “Wrong Turn” was and make you appreciate other movies like “Cabin Fever.” Film reunites some of the cast and crew of “The Ghosts Of Borley Rectory”. Continue reading →
June 20, 2023 “The Wrath Of Becky” (** out of four) was a heavy-handed sequel to the 2020 cult hit showing the continuing adventures of the title character Becky (Lulu Wilson) who after escaping the violent attack from the previous film now finds herself up against a sadistic terrorist organization (led by Seann William Scott) and has to use her survival skills to take them down. Cheeky attitude and good visual sense of humor from directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote can only carry this so far, as film starts to seem thin as it descends into an ozone of violence and ugliness. Wilson’s enthusiastic performance helps keep this watchable and film will likely entertain fans of the original. Continue reading →
June 20, 2023 “Extraction 2” (*** out of four) was a pulsating sequel to the 2020 Netflix smash about the return of Tyler Drake (Chris Helmsworth) who barely survived the last mission in Bangladesh and is called back into action for a new mission but finds that this may be more than meets the eye. Packed with the same international intrigue and explosive action as the original and highlighted by a spectacular single take 20-minute action sequence that will leave you in awe. Story wanes a little in the final third but is revved back up again for a solid finish. Third entry in the series is on its way. Continue reading →
June 17, 2023 “Pocket Dial Murder” (** out of four) was a blandly synthetic melodrama thriller about an unsuspecting wife (Kirsten Comerford) who receives a pocket dial from her husband (Steve Byers) and hears the death of a woman on the other line; when her husband comes home, he says he lost his phone. Is he telling the truth or is he a duplicitous murderer? Slickly made and filmed but obvious at every turn and thus carries no voltage of shocks or surprises. Film has inherent echoes of Hitchcock’s “Dial M For Murder” (right down to its title) but this is pretty much a wrong number all around. Continue reading →
June 17, 2023 “Fear The Invisible Man” (*1/2 out of four) was a drably done adaptation of H.G. Wells’ sci/fi novel about a young widow (Mhairi Calvey) who shelters a former friend (Mike Beckingham) who has somehow managed to make himself invisible and as his fear and isolation increases he gradually descends into sanity and provides a reign of terror for the outside city. Certainly one of the dreariest and least exciting of Wells’ novels to make it to the screen; there were probably more scares and thrills in Chevy Chase’s “Memoirs Of An Invisible Man.” Calvey tries in the lead role but this is still hardly worth “seeing.” Continue reading →
June 17, 2023 “Jagged Mind” (** out of four) was a hollow suspense melodrama about a young woman (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) who starts to become plagued by blackouts and hallucinatory visions and begins to suspect that this is all the doing of her girlfriend (Shannon Woodward) who has them both in some sort of time loop or is it also possible she is losing her mind? Well-acted movie never achieves much in the way of suspense and instead becomes jumbled and detached as its cerebral story unfolds. Feature-film directing debut from noted short-story filmmaker Kelley Kali who also has a small role as a hostess. Continue reading →
June 16, 2023 “Eradication” (*1/2 out of four) was a grindingly inert and routine futuristic melodrama set in the midst of a worldwide pandemic in which an unknown disease has wiped out most of the Earth’s population and a man (Harry Aspinwall) with unique blood has been isolated for study but has to break quarantine to save his wife (Anita Abdinezhad) and finds himself hunted by monstrous beings and (yawn) a shadowy government agency trying to bring him back in for testing. Just a series of derivative ideas borrowed from many other (and more skillful) movies, specifically “28 Days Later.” Stark cinematography from Alexandra Gilwit and Zachary Ludescher is only virtue. It’s about time these post-apocalyptic/futuristic/end-of-the-world thrillers were “eradicated” themselves. Continue reading →
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