February 21, 2026 “Wages Of Sin” (**1/2 out of four) was an uneven but watchable pulp-underworld melodrama about a businessman (Paul Sloan) who is plunged into the brutal L.A. underworld of fetanyl and he has to stay one step ahead of lethal enforcers (Danny Trejo, Stephen Cyrus Sepher, and others) and corrupt cops (Anthony Sinopoli, Nazo Bravo, and others) to clear his name and stay alive. Flavorful mix of the slick and the sordid actually turns out to be anti-drug moralistic melodrama about the genuine fatal dangers of fetanyl and its deadly impact on our country. Imperfect but better-than-average for its type. Sepher also wrote the script. Continue reading →
February 21, 2026 “The Neighbor Who Saw Too Much” (*1/2 out of four) was a ludicrous suspense thriller that viewers will most definitely regret once they “saw”; a curious teen (Sage Moore) befriends her handsome new neighbor (Devante Winfrey) but soon comes to realize he is a disturbed killer but no one not even her hard-working mother (Kia Dorsey) believes her. Packed with story holes and plot contrivances and hamstrung by its overall predictability. 2007’s “Disturbia” told almost the same story with more tension and humor nearly 20 years ago. Continue reading →
February 18, 2026 “Amityville Emanuelle” (* out of four) was a startlingly awful horror hodgepodge about a woman (Dawn Church) who moves into the famous haunted house and starts to notice changing behaviors and sensual desires that begin to overwhelm her and affect the lives of everyone (Shane Ryan-Reid, Chris Spinelli, and others) around her. Unbearable hybrid of the “Amityville Horror” and “Emanuelle” series is an amateurish mess. Incredibly this is the 66th (!) entry in the endless “Amityville” ouevre which makes it the longest-running horror series ever Continue reading →
February 18, 2026 “An Unusual Suspect” (** out of four) was a contrived, cold-hearted courtroom melodrama about a defense attorney (Christie Leverette) who fights to get one of her clients (Derrick J. Smith) released but then subsequently finds out he’s guilty as sin and then has to risk her job and her life to get him put back behind bars where he belongs. Promising storyline is stymied by predictable plot complications and lack of logic especially in second half. Leverette’s sincere performance helps keep this on track but not enough to overcome film’s shortcomings. Continue reading →
February 14, 2026 “Vanished” (** out of four) was a tepid suspense melodrama about an ambitious young woman (Shaquita Smith) who discovers a corpse which in turn leads her to uncover a criminal enterprise that plunges her life into deception and duplicity in which she doesn’t know who to trust. Glitzily shot and directed but feels like it’s comprised of the spare parts of far too many other and better movies. Smith is a real knockout and holds the screen but this one will likely “vanish” on its own after a few weeks. Continue reading →
February 14, 2026 “Time For Sunset” (** out of four) was a tedious character melodrama about a seasoned assassin (Don Worley) on one last job who finds he’s been set up and is taunted by an unseen rival assassin (voice of Nicholaus Wendel) who says if he leaves the hotel room of his job he will be shot and executed. Intriguing storyline and material are muffed by mediocre script and mundane execution. Somewhat similar to 2003’s “Phone Booth” but that was a lot more fiery and stylish. Continue reading →
February 14, 2026 “Absolution” (*1/2 out of four) was an absolutely empty pulp melodrama about a retired Vietnam veteran (John Mefford) who saves the life of a young girl (Mariana Garcia Montes) from a brutal street gang and incurs their wrath and vengeance but they don’t realize who they’ve messed with as he serves up grisly vigilante justice. Interesting premise but thoroughly stale result and becomes rancid and sordid. Mefford’s sincere performance is wasted. Continue reading →
February 14, 2026 “Best Served Cold” (** out of four) was a languid psychodrama about two best friends (Elisse Joson and Alexa Miro) who discover an opulent resort but find out too little-too late that it’s run by cannibals and that they’re both on the menu. Director Richard Somes works with a nicely twisted flair and has a macabre sense of dark irony and humor but film never establishes much dramatic momentum and thus remains distant and detached. No relation to the 2024 melodrama of the exact same name. Continue reading →
February 14, 2026 “The Priest Thanksgiving Massacre” (* out of four) was a sodden horror slasher about a group of friends (Holly Higbee, Jo Krayer, Brooklyn Ross, and others) who spend Thanksgiving at an isolated cabin in the woods and are unaware it was the cite of an ancient series of murders and that the priest (Mark Topping) who committed these murders is still on the prowl. Dreadful throwback to ’80’s slasher movies doesn’t even have any good kills to justify its existence and its bad acting and bad dialogue are enough to make anyone want to say their hail mary’s. Continue reading →
February 14, 2026 “The Final Run” (*1/2 out of four) was a monochromatic muddle about a retired drug smuggler (Jeff Fahey) who is forced back into the game with the sudden illness of his dying wife (Katie Amess) and to save their house from foreclosure but encounters a group of determined F.B.I. agents (Judd Nelson, Steve Blanchard, and others) who have been long-waiting to take him down. Good cast is left high-and-dry in heavy handed story which actually gets slower and talkier as it gets going and as a result never detonates. Sidney Lumet’s “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” told a similar story back in 2007 with more flair and verve. Continue reading →
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