June 19, 2026 “Chum” (**1/2 out of four) was a better-than-average horror thriller about a group of friends (Lisa Yaro, Alice Eve, Eric Michael Cole, and others) aboard a Mediterranean yacht who find that a ravenous shark is in the water and the psychotic yacht owner (Jim Klock) wants to sacrifice them. Yes, it’s another killer-shark movie that rips off “Jaws” (and also the James Bond film “Never Say Never Again”) but it’s proficiently made and as a bonus the shark looks genuinely vivid and scary. Yaro stands out in the cast and is especially winning. Continue reading →
June 19, 2026 “Badland Rising” (** out of four) was a joyless suspense melodrama set in the Australian outback in which an ordinary bloke (Jake Ryan) is taking a long ride home and realizes he’s being pursued by two dangerous criminals (Nathan Phillips and Steve Mouzakis) who want him dead at all costs. Pretty Australian scenery is nicely captured by cinematographer Timothy Carr but it upstages the limited dramatics and banal drama onscreen. Even still, this won several international awards at various Australian film festivals. Continue reading →
June 19, 2026 “The Caretaker” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster action melodrama about the caretaker (Charles Bronson lookalike Robert Bronzi) of an abandoned ghost town who teams up with his former partner in crime (Quinton “Rampage” Jackson) to safeguard a young woman (Avaryana Rose) from a ruthless crime boss (Daniel Baldwin). Director Fady Jeanbart seems to be attempting to emulate the spaghetti Western stylings of Sam Peckinpah, Clint Eastwood, and Walter Hill but result is sluggish and wooden. Too serious and self-important for action fans and too garish and silly for anyone else. Continue reading →
June 19, 2026 “Skate To Hell” (* out of four) was a disastrously lame horror comedy about a cursed skateboard created by the Devil himself (Robert LaSardo) for his son (Joseph Poliquin); when the board is stolen by a group of teens, he has to visit Earth to retrieve the board and his son by any means necessary. Inept throwback to 70’s grindhouse cinema may make you throw up instead. 80’s stars Robert Carradine, Oliver Robbins, and Eric Roberts are all wasted in token supporting roles Continue reading →
June 13, 2026 “Finger Licking” (* out of four) was a numbingly awful character melodrama about a man (Gary Flowers) seeking therapy from childhood trauma and goes to see a psychiatrist (Dana Cornelius) who actually played a figure in some of his traumatic memories and he seeks to turn the tables on her and enact psychiatric and psychotropic revenge. Intriguing material is completely bungled by terrible script and direction that makes you feel locked in a psychiatric insane asylum. This one deserves to get a big middle “finger” from audiences. Continue reading →
June 13, 2026 “Ketchup On Waffles” (0 out of four) was a rancid horror “comedy” about three masked gunmen (Ian O’Boyle, Rob Rappa, Max Unlu) who hold up a small-town diner and proceed to terrorize the diner patrons (and the audience) and hold them hostage. Indescribably awful film is filled with shrill characters and dumb dialogue which is made even worse by in-your-face and ugly direction. Even die-hard horror fans will likely get indigestion from this mess. Continue reading →
June 13, 2026 “Signal One” (** out of four) was a muffled sci/fi melodrama about a groundbreaking computer scientist (Isabella Fuhrman) who is recruited by a tech billionaire (Dennis Quaid) to work on a project with other humanitarians (David Thewlis, Josh Hutcherson, and others) that could change the state of humanity and its place in our universe. Good cast helps to keep this watchable and on track but it’s a half-baked series of ideas and story fragments from David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, and James Cameron stirred in a synthetic blender. Robert Zemeckis’ “Contact” also told a similar story with more grandeur and gravitas back in 1997 Continue reading →
June 13, 2026 “Neglected” (** out of four) was a relatively tame horror psychodrama about a troubled detective (Josh Duhamel) on his last day before retirement who finds out his son (Dylan Sprouse) has been abducted by a serial killer and buried alive and he has to solve 3 grisly murders before he is able to find him. Obvious and obscure story moves pretty much through what you’d expect and even the final twist isn’t all that much of a surprise. Carried along somewhat by Duhamel’s usual strong performance but this is another one all-too-obviously linked to the film DNA of “Se7en.” Continue reading →
June 12, 2026 “Shiver Me Timbers” (** out of four) was a one-note horror show set in 1986 California in which a group of friends (Amy Mackie, Leona Faye, Yu Hung Li, and others) go on a camping trip to witness the passing of Hailey’s Comet but soon realize the arrival of the comet has dredged up the body of a formerly dead killer (Tony Greer) and they all have to run for their lives. More-or-less what you would expect although it does have a few flamboyant kills and doesn’t shy away from packing in gore. Numerous tongue-in-cheek film jokes abound for hardcore horror fans. Continue reading →
June 12, 2026 “Popeye’s Revenge” (** out of four) was a cardboard sequel to last year’s cult hit “Popeye The Slayer Man”; this time, everyone’s favorite spinach champion (Steven Murphy” goes after a group of camp counselors (Emily Mogiliner, Connor Powles, Danielle Ronald, and others) who intend to re-open their summer camp on property that he deems his own. Unnecessary sequel to a movie that wasn’t great to begin with but having said that it has a few good kills and minor scares. Relatively well-made also on a low-budget considering it was filmed in only 9 days Continue reading →
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