September 17, 2020 “Killer Therapy” (*1/2 out of four) was a muddled, unpleasant horror thriller which only kills your time about a mentally unstable young man (Michael Qeliqi) who seeks vengeance on all the therapists he blames for messing up his mind and life and goes out on a mission to kill them all one-by-one. Potentially intriguing storyline is drably executed and becomes ugly and unredeeming after a while. One-time horror siren P.J. Soles has a minor role as one of his therapists but she totally deserves better roles than this. Continue reading →
September 16, 2020 “Fear Pharm” (* out of four) was a dreadful Halloween-themed horror show about four friends (John Littlefield, Aimee Stolte, Emily Sweet, and Tiana Tuttle) who enter a maze in a cornfield for a Halloween contest but become stalked and slaughtered by the deranged family who own the property. Film’s setting is all-too-appropriate since the film itself is corny and also stupid and boring. David Minadeo’s striking widescreen cinematography is film’s only value. This was actually filmed on location in Dixon, California which has the largest cornfield in America but I doubt they want this film standing as its legacy. Continue reading →
September 16, 2020 “The Coming” (* out of four) was a staggeringly awful horror story set in the future in which a group of young friends (Christina Alexandru, Jamelia Amor, Charles Askenaizer, and others) have to use an all-mighty book in order to survive through a city of disarray and chaos and soon realize that only the strong will survive. Incoherent story is yet another post-apocalyptic pile of trash derived from other (and far better) movies. It’s movies like these that make you regret the day “Blade Runner” and “28 Days Later” were made. Terrible ending is the icing on this moldy cake. Continue reading →
September 15, 2020 “Silence And Darkness” (*1/2 out of four) was an uninspired thriller about two sisters who are both blind and deaf (both played by Joan Glackin) who live in a secluded house with their father (Jordan Lage) but soon begin to realize his vindictive nature and deteriorating mental state and that he has lied to them and kept them hidden from the world their entire lives. So little actually happens in this movie that this really is much ado about nothing. Solid performances do what they can but are unable to inject much life into this drab material. Continue reading →
September 14, 2020 “Archaon: The Halloween Summoning” (* out of four) was a mindlessly low-rent horror story about four college students (Christopher Dalton, Jaire George, and others) who stumble onto a 15th-century Celtic artifact and the resurrect the horror legend Archaon whose spirit haunts whomever puts on his mask and causes (yawn) all Hell to break loose. Utterly cheesy and unimaginative from the beginning; this snooze summons on its own the memories of much better films such as “Halloween”, “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers”, and also “Scream.” Give yourself a Halloween present and check those movies out instead of this time-waster. Continue reading →
September 13, 2020 “A Dark Path” (** out of four) was a lukewarm horror thriller set in Eastern Europe in which two girls (Makenna Guyler and Ade Dimberline) on their way home from a rave party end up stranded in a local forest in which they become under siege from a ravenous beast and they have to fight back together in order to stay alive. Impressively creepy atmosphere and elegant direction from writer/director Nicholas Winter hold your attention for a while but it soon sputters to a halt and starts to fizzle out just when it ought to be peaking. Not the worst of its disreputable genre but horror fans still needn’t bother going down this “path.” Continue reading →
September 13, 2020 “Parallel Minds” (**1/2 out of four) was a fairly engrossing thriller set in the not-too-distant future in which a revolutionary contact lens called Red Eye 2 can record data and help resurface buried memories; when a researcher (Tommie Amber-Pirie) at the Department Of Memory finds the owner of the program murdered, she teams up with a world-weary police detective (Greg Bryk) to uncover the murder and the larger business/governmental conspiracies at hand. Ultimately too derivative of too many other time-travel/futuristic thrillers but told with style and holds your attention with its gimmickry and good performances. Refreshingly tight also at less than an hour-and-a-half long. Continue reading →
September 13, 2020 “Switched” (*1/2 out of four) was an utterly bland teen comedy about a high-school outcast (Miya Horcher) who prays that her nemesis- a popular teen princess (Madeleine Byrne)- knows what it’s like to walk a day in her shoes and be bullied and her prayers her answered when they are unexpectedly switched. Engaging performances by the two girls do all they can to buoy this story but the execution is all wrong; it’s too silly when it should be sharp and biting and becomes maudlin and sentimental in the final third as the two become friends and understand one another. For a much funnier look at a similar story, watch “Vice Versa” or “Switch” instead. Continue reading →
September 12, 2020 “Parched 2: Hangry” (* out of four) was an abysmal horror show about a social media influencer (Remiara Eve) who brings her friends (Angelica Adams, Justen Chu, Steve Machita, and others) for a weekend at the lake for sex and boozing when an appetite stimulant is mistakenly dumped into the lake and turns them all into ravenous killers. Yet another horror sequel that virtually no one was asking for although it’s a worthy sequel in that it’s just as awful as the original. Hard to tell which is more annoying- the nonstop whining characters or the irritating handheld camera movements but it’s a scoreless tie. This is unlikely to make anyone “hangry” for part 3 Continue reading →
September 12, 2020 “Range Runners” (** out of four) was a thoroughly predictable suspense melodrama about an athletic woman (Celeste M. Cooper) hiking along on an isolated trail who is besieged and tormented by (what else?) two redneck hillbillies (Sean Patrick Leonard and Michael B. Woods) who want to steal her backpack but don’t count on her turning the tables against them and attempting to escape. Strictly for those who’ve never heard of or seen “Deliverance”, “Mother’s Day”, or even “Wrong Turn”; relatively well-made and well-acted but is overly familiar and overlong at nearly two hours. Bravura rock-to-the-head finale, though. Continue reading →
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