Author: dlepikcom

“Overrun” (** out of four) was a murky international espionage melodrama about a former military extractions expert (Omid Zader) who learns that his only hope to save his sister and others in his family is to track down a mysterious briefcase but soon finds that various underworld figures (Bruce Dern, Nicholas Turturro, and others) and the police (William Katt, Johnny Messner, and Haley Strode) are on his trail. Fairly fast moving but film itself is “overrun” by too many characters and plot complications and it soon bogs down. Much of the rock-solid supporting cast are wasted.

Continue reading →

“Satan’s Servant” (* out of four) was a dismayingly cheesy and low-rent horror thriller about two teenagers (Josephine Thompson and Ethan Gomez Zahnley) who investigate the disappearance of their friend and stumble onto a satanic plot in their small-town that could spell worldwide destruction. Utterly predictable and by-the-numbers and lacking in any sense of grandeur or thrills. Yet another schlock imitation of early Spielberg (particularly “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind”) that’s a real timewaster.

Continue reading →

“The Demented” (0 stars out of four) was a noxious horror thriller set in the underworld of sex trafficking in which a group of sickos buy and sell young girls continuously to the highest bidders and film their sexual abuse and murders as snuff films and one determined female detective (Felissa Rose) begins to investigate. Unwatchably ugly and sordid without any redeeming insights or even entertaininment value and worthlessly exploits a severe and significant worldwide problem. Bret “The Hitman” Hart makes his acting debut as an entrepreneur of snuff films; why he picked this film for his debut shows he may be the one whose really “demented.”

Continue reading →

“Eyes Without A Face” (0 stars out of four) was a blindingly awful horror mess about a young man (Dakota Shapiro) suffering from agoraphobia who lives with an online blogger and struggling actor (Luke Cook) and they both secretly hack into the webcams of young women but soon come to suspect that one of them is a serial killer. Inept timewaster mashes your face in ugliness and amateurish sleaze for nearly two hours. It’s movies like these that make you feel like taking a shower. Allegedly inspired by the Billy Idol song of the same name but other Idol songs “Endless Sleep”, “Scream”, and (especially) “Dead On Arrival” are more apt descriptions of sitting through this.

Continue reading →

“The Swarm” (** out of four) was a turgid melodrama about a feisty single mother (Suliane Brahim) who is determined to save her family farm from bankruptcy and begins a business of breeding and cultivating edible grasshoppers but she begins to grow an increasingly compulsive and self-destructive obsession with them while ignoring the plights and problems of her children (Marie Narbonne and Raphael Romand). Holds you in its grip thanks to Brahim’s strong performance but story is bizarre to say the least and never very compelling or moving. At least it’s better than the Godawful 1978 Michael Caine thriller of the same name.

Continue reading →

“Crime Story” (** out of four) was an unfocused crime melodrama about a dying old man (Richard Dreyfuss) who discovers he has terminal cancer and attempts to seek retribution on the thieves who have destroyed his life while simultaneously trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Mira Sorvino) who has become a cop. Heavy-handed mixture of the slick and the sentimental never fully connects and catches fire. Dreyfuss is miscast as a hard-boiled gangster bent on revenge; Sorvino is good as usual but has played similar role too many times by now.

Continue reading →

“Six Hot Chicks In A Warehouse” (* out four) was an excruciatingly stupid and trashy pulp melodrama about six women (Jessica Messenger, Sabine Crossen, Jade Wallis, and others) who are lured to a warehouse by an insecure photographer (Oliver Malam) and tortured and abused but they all conspire to turn the tables on him so they can survive and stay alive. You know better than to expect Oscar fare with a title like that but film doesn’t even provide much low-rent thrills or even S & M leaving you wonder who the hell this was actually made for. Filmed in 2017 and released now but should have been left to rot in a “warehouse” instead.

Continue reading →

“Out Of Time” (**1/2 out of four) was a reasonably diverting sci/fi thriller about a gruff Army intelligence officer (Blake Boyd) and a world-weary female detective (Nadege August) who have to team up to stop three mysterious figures who have escaped from the Mojave Desert and start to wreak havoc around L.A. and threaten world domination. Mixture of fantasy, sci/fi, action thriler, and cop melodrama elements doesn’t fully gel but is overall fast-paced and the writing is sharper than you would expect. Highly derivative of many previous genre classics but overall worth making “time” for.

Continue reading →

“The Suicide Squad” (** out of four) was a half-hearted sequel to the 2016 original about the crime-fighting squad (Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, John Cena, and others) who join the mysterious Task Force X and are plunged into the remote island of Corto Maltese in a battle against the vicious military and the villainous Thinker (Peter Capaldi) who are attempting world domination. Lots of action and visual effects but film lacks the spice and style of the underrated original and comes up empty; even Robbie who was dynamic in the original is more annoying than entertaining. Spectacular final half-hour compensates a little but film is numbing and overlong at over two hours.

Continue reading →

“Playing God” (**1/2 out of four) was an engagingly frothy screwball comedy about two con artists (Hannah Kasulka and Luke Benward) who recruit their mentor (Alan Tudyk) to play God in order to scheme and scam a dying billionaire (Michael McKean) but things do not go as planned. Directed with bounce and flair by Scott Brignac and enhanced by an enthusiastic cast although it starts to run out of tricks after a while and starts to run out of steam. Still overall entertaining and worth checking out. No relation to the 1997 David Duchovny thriller of the same name.

Continue reading →