January 5, 2024 “Healed” (*1/2 out of four) was a banal horror melodrama about a celebrity couple (Guinevere Turner and Emily Goss) who attend a therapeutic seminar event but soon realize that they are being used as guinea pigs in an experiment that could alter both their lives. Intriguing storyline has some good dialogue but is usurped by sluggish pacing and sheer boredom. Continue reading →
January 4, 2024 “Secret Love Triangle” (*1/2 out of four) was a shapeless suspense psychodrama about a woman (Brianna Cohen) who is falsely imprisoned for the murder of her best friend’s husband but then breaks out of prison and goes on the run with her own husband (Jonathan Stoddard) in attempt to unravel the web of mystery and also clear her own name. Shades of “Double Jeopardy”, shades of “Fatal Attraction”, and pretty much every other synthetic thriller you can think of compacted into this unwieldy mess. Film marks the third film together of Cohen and Stoddard but the third time definitely is not the charm here. Continue reading →
January 4, 2024 “Body In The Attic” (*1/2 out of four) was a ludicrous suspense thriller about a woman (Abigail Hawk) stuck in an unhappy relationship with a creep who happens to be the town mayor (Donny Boaz) and begins to have an affair and convinces her lover (Marc Hermann) to move into their upstairs attic (!) but when he winds up dead, everyone starts to suspect one another and find their worst instincts rising to the surface. Laughably dumb and silly and made even worse by ham-fisted direction and acting. Make sure to bury this one far in your “attic” where it won’t be re-discovered. Continue reading →
January 3, 2024 “Toys Of Terror” (*1/2 out of four) was a slack and shoddy horror romp about a family (Dayo Ade, Verity Marks, Saul Elias, and others) who move into a secluded mansion in which they find toys in the attic that magically come alive but things turn ugly when they realize the toys are killers who want them out so they can have the mansion for themselves. You’d best re-watch “Small Soldiers” or any of the “Toy Story” movies for more scares and certainly more entertainment value than this trifle. Chilly music score by Matthew Rogers is one of film’s few virtues. Continue reading →
January 3, 2024 “Hunting Games” (*1/2 out of four) was a wearily derivative action potboiler about a group of villaninous ex-military members (Tito Ortiz, Ed Morrone, and others) attempting to retrieve a lost bag of stolen money for a crime kingpin (Bruce Dern) but a stubborn hunter (Chris C.T. Tamburello) ends up finding it first leading to a showdown and bloodbath. Naturally. Danny Trejo finds his way into the story as a hard-nosed sheriff. Good cast can’t save floundering material and can’t counteract the bad taste this leaves in your mouth. By this point, both Trejo and Dern should be “hunting” for much better scripts. Continue reading →
January 2, 2024 “Impuratus” (* out of four) was an insufferable horror slog about a police detective (Tom Sizemore) who investigates a patient in a hospital (Lew Temple) who has obvious supernatural ties that threaten all of their safety. Grueling and pretentious and actually rips off some of the plot of “The Exorcist III” (my personal choice for the worst film of all time). Yet another waste of Sizemore’s talent. Mark David’s stark and foreboding cinematography is film’s sole worthwhile component. Continue reading →
January 1, 2024 “Unit 262” (**1/2 out of four) was a better-than-average action potboiler about the F.B.I. (Brian Eric Johnson, Myles McLane, and others) who join forces with the title unit which is a specialized Israeli fighting force in the attempt to capture an international crime kingpin (Hamzah Saman) who is trafficking in nuclear weapons. Proficiently made with good filmmaking and good suspense and action although it does start to unfortunately get mechanical after a little while and loses its grip and supreme tension. Far from great but better than most of its ilk and worthwhile overall. Continue reading →
January 1, 2024 “Rival” (*1/2 out of four) was a paint-by-numbers gore thriller set in a small town in which a mass murderer is running around and a high-school girl (Mickey Nunes) begins to realize that someone very close to her may be the killer and she has to go down her list of friends and enemies and possible suspects. Result is such a brazen knockoff of “Scream” (right down to its opening scene and the killer’s outfit) that viewers would be forgiven for thinking this was a remake, alas without that film’s killer wit and irony. Pretty desperate. Continue reading →
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