March 28, 2026 “Anaconda: Blood Coil” (*1/2 out of four) was a listless continuation of the series about a group of friends (Belle Taylor, Olivia Burley, Page Haim, and others) who go on vacation in the Amazon and are terrorized by multiple anacondas who are on the prowl and scowl their every move. Recommended ONLY for those who thought the 1997 original wasn’t that great because this makes that one look like “Halloween” by comparison. CGI snake effects aren’t bad considering film’s threadbare budget but the snakes are otherwise the best actors (and characters) in the film. Continue reading →
March 28, 2026 “Betty’s Revenge” (* out of four) was an insufferable horror dud about a group of college seniors (Samuel J. Bennett, Faith McKinstry, Emma Claire Dykes, and others) who stumble onto the title character Betty (Hannah Fierman) who is a former cabaret owner who has evolved into a sociopathic/psychopathic killer who (yawn) stalks-and-slashes all of them one by one. Full of annoying characters with even more annoying in-your-face acting but even this doesn’t keep the movie from being dull. This “revenge” is preferable to Montezuma’s- but not by much. Continue reading →
March 28, 2026 “Axes And Os” (*1/2 out of four) was an utterly generic and forgettable slasher thriller about four college friends (Jamie Bernadette, Stephanie Kirves, Cass Huckabay, and Heather Fraley) on a weekend getaway who are hunted by an axe murderer but they soon turn the tables on him and the hunter becomes the hunted. Litany and library of horror movie cliches from (off the top of my head) “Sleepaway Camp”, “Deliverance”, and “Friday The 13th.” Duds like this were much more fun in the 80’s. Continue reading →
March 28, 2026 “Creatures Of The Night” (*1/2 out of four) was a sodden horror thriller about a rogue drifter (Michael Socha) who wanders into a castle in the English countryside from a family (Andrew Readman, Ricky Tomlinson, Dean Ackerman, and others) and finds that it is inhabited by bloodthirsty werewolves and he has to fight tooth-and-nail to get out. He should have wandered to a video store and rented “The Howling” instead because that was a werewolf movie made with wit and style. One good rampage scene is film’s only pulse but that comes at the end. Continue reading →
March 28, 2026 “Don’t Answer” (**1/2 out of four) was a mildly effective horror psychodrama about a criminal psychopath (Jack Amsler) who is released back to society due to overcrowding at the incarceration asylum; upon being released, he gets a job as a delivery driver where he resumes his violent impulses leading to the town on edge and his prison psychiatrist/officer (Annabel Storm) trying to track him down. Hindered by a low budget and horror-movie minimalism but is tense and creepier than most of its ilk and holds your attention. Film ends with scary statistics about delivery drivers and murders that may surprise you. Continue reading →
March 22, 2026 “Georgia Peach” (*1/2 out of four) was a sour and stale psychodrama about a nurse (Jasmine Burke) in recovery from alcoholism who finds her brother (Christopher Deon) in trouble and must risk everything to go into the seedy underworld and get him out and rescue both of them. By-the-numbers storytelling and filmmaking and ugly plot dynamics make this hard to digest. Burke’s sincere lead performance is film’s only virtue. Continue reading →
March 22, 2026 “The Knock Knock Man” (**1/2 out of four) was a better-than-average horror show about a group of friends (Ty Bialik, Kamryn Emory, Callie Grayson, and others) who summon the title urban legend as a dare but are startled and terrified when he actually comes to life and starts killing them all one-by-one. Never transcends the horror-movie origins of “Candyman” which it was obviously inspired by but is solidly done B-material with stylish direction and some inventively gory kills. Overall a “knock” worth answering and MUCH better than most of its ilk. Continue reading →
March 22, 2026 “Golden” (*1/2 out of four) was a shallow, derivative underworld melodrama about a master counterfeiter (Brian Austin Green) who finds himself in a maze of ruthless criminals (Glenn Plummer, Robert Miano, Josh Gilmer, and others) and has to outsmart them one-by-one to find his way out and stay alive. Uninvolving and unpleasant pretty much all the way through with an occasional touch of style to enliven things but not enough. Austin Green is still pretty bland in the lead; the great Plummer is wasted again. Film will not likely be the “golden” comeback ticket for either of them. Continue reading →
March 22, 2026 “Black Shadows” (0 out of four) was an embarrassingly awful and unwatchable urban thriller hodgepodge about three separate stories of intersecting characters (Ayla Thompson, Michael Habibeh, Oscar Porter, and others) and their various dark fates as they try to outsmart one another and figure out whose playing who. Each story is worse than the next and in this case- less really would have been more. Film mashes your face in numbing ugliness and sleaze and looks like someone’s bad cell-phone footage. Avoid like COVID. Continue reading →
March 22, 2026 “Song Sung Blue” (** out of four) was a one-note musical biography about the true story of Lightning & Thunder (Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson) who in middle-age started performing as a Neil Diamond tribute act and became one of the biggest cover bands/tribute acts of all time before heartbreak and tragedy cut their musical odyssey short. Both Jackman and Hudson work well together and do their own singing but film never shifts into high-gear and remains earthbound. Hardcore Diamond fans may like this a little better. Disappointing result from writer/director Craig Brewer who made the much more potent “Hustle And Flow” back in 2005. Continue reading →
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