Author: dlepikcom

“Hounds Of War” (** out of four) was a predictable action potboiler about a a mercenary (Frank Grillo) who is the only one left alive from a group of renegades and has to enact revenge at a group of friends and family (Robert Patrick, Rhona Mitra, Mark Strange, and others) as he fights back to stay alive. Action, intrigue, and combat by-the-numbers in this routine programmer. Grillo adds some style as always but can play this role in his sleep by now and for that matter so can Patrick.

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“Slingshot” (** out of four) was a muffled suspense melodrama about an astronaut (Casey Affleck) who struggles to maintain his sanity aboard a space shuttle with other space travelers (Laurence Fishburne and Emily Beecham) on a trip to Saturn’s moon Titan as he finds himself gradually losing his grip on reality. Well-acted and stylish but hollow and hokey and never sufficiently delivers as a thriller or as a human drama. Fishburne seems to be more-or-less playing Morpheus all over again here. This sat on the shelf for 2 years after completion.

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“The Critic” (** out of four) was a disappointing melodrama set in 1934 London about a powerful film critic (Ian McKellen) who becomes embroiled in a duplicitous web of intrigue and murder in which he employs a young woman (Gemma Arterton) to seduce his boss (Mark Strong) who wrongfully terminated him from his job and destroyed his life. Doesn’t take off, despite the best efforts of a stellar cast. Film has some various points of intrigue and good atmosphere but never develops substantial momentum and thus never becomes fully involving.

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“Speak No Evil” (*1/2 out of four) was an unspeakably dull suspense melodrama about a group of friends (James McAvoy, Mackenzie Davis, Scoot McNairy, and others) who are invited to spend a weekend in the countryside but soon find that (what else?) a sinister dark force is in existence that threatens all of them. Remake of a 2022 Danish horror film of the same name but really it’s more-or-less the same plot of any horror film these days about couples who go on a getaway. Even McAvoy’s effortless charisma can’t breathe much life into this one.

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“Bad Fish” (*1/2 out of four) was simply a bad movie about a marine biologist (a miscast Jonny Lee) who investigates a series of deadly attacks on fishermen in an Oregon town and finds that the offender is a lethal mermaid who needs to find a mate before returning to sea. Laughably silly movie either needs to be played for camp or trash but doesn’t do either and winds up a waste of time. Horror fans would best watch “The Little Mermaid” for more cheap thrills.

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“Hellboy: The Crooked Man” (** out of four) was an uninspired comic-book action melodrama set in the 1950’s about Hellboy (Jack Kesy) and a rookie agent (Jefferson White) who are sent to the Appalachians where they discover there is a community dominated by witches and led by the title sinister demon (Martin Bessindale) and they have to take him down to save civilization as they know it. Film marks the second reboot of this series and seems to be running on exhaust fumes. Some hard-boiled dialogue and macabre humor are sprinkled in with some good action scenes along the way but it never shifts into high-gear and rings hollow.

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“Creeping Death” (** out of four) was a lukewarm horror thriller about a man (Matt Sampere) whose mother (Monique Parent) has terminal brain cancer; to cheer him up, his friends (Alan Maxson, Delian Lincourt, and others) steal a sack for their weekend getaway but it unleashes an evil spirit that threatens to overtake them all. Just another collection of Halloween and Celtic-themed cliches although it’s proficient enough to remain watchable. Star Sampere also wrote, directed, co-produced, and edited so he at least gets an A for effort on this one.

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“The Twisters” (** out of four) was a cheesy mock-buster of “Twisters” (if you couldn’t guess from the title) about a series of deadly tornadoes in the Midwest that converge into one while a group of daredevils and weather specialists (Tiffany, Mark Justice, Kayla Fields, and others) try to study it but at the same time steer clear and stay alive. Not bad for what it is, with some good visual effects and action scenes, but simply a low-budget replicant of the real thing.

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“Lady Scorpions” (*1/2 out of four) was an underwhelming underworld melodrama about a rogue DEA agent (Cynthia Rockrock) who teams up with her equally tough-as-nails daughter (Caitlin Dechelle) to save her granddaughter (Sofia O’Brien) from the clutches of a powerful head of a criminal organization (Jeff Fahey who can- and does- play this role in his sleep). Fairly fast-paced but still fizzles and doesn’t have much to keep you invested or involved. Action fare like this was a lot more fun in the 80’s.

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“Wrongful Death” (*1/2 out of four) was a wrongful movie about a narcissistic journalist (Alexander Man) and a mean-spirited woman (Isabella Brenza) who are captured in a room where an unseen man (Michael Pare) torments them in a game of life-and-death in which they have to follow all his instructions and rules to survive. If this sounds at all familiar, one of the characters even comments on how this is all similar to the movie “Saw” as justification for ripping that movie off. This timewaster should quickly die it’s own “death” at Redbox before vanishing forever.

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