August 28, 2024 “A Killer In The House” (*1/2 out of four) was a slapdash suspense thriller about a charming psycho (Phillip Andre Botello) who becomes obsessed with a beautiful girl (Katherine Gibson) he meets and will do anything to win her over, including killing anyone who gets in his path. Botello is such an obvious lunatic that film becomes an unintentional comedy at times; the rest is predictable and obvious thriller cliches. Another run-of-the-mill “Fatal Attraction” wannabe that the world didn’t need. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “The Mouse Trap” (*1/2 out of four) was a one-note horror show about a girl (Sophie McIntosh) celebrating her 21st birthday at an amusement park with friends (Callum Sywyk, Mireille Gagne, and others) when a homicidal slasher dressed as Mickey Mouse (!) is on the prowl and killing everyone one-by-one. This is what audiences get for making the “Winnie The Pooh” horror films a hit. Opening title sequence is pretty flippant and amusing but rest is standard stalk-and-slash fare. What’s next? Donald Duck as a strangler? Kermit The Frog as a kidnapper? Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “Trap” (**1/2 out of four) was a typically hit-and-miss and uneven M. Night Shymalahan horror thriller about a father (Josh Hartnett) who is actually a serial killer and takes his daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert of a pop star (Saleka Shymalahan) only to find out there is a massive manhunt for him at the show and he has to improvise on how to escape. Starts off as spooky and entertaining in the vein of early Hitchcock but once they leave the arena the suspense peters out and film becomes arbitrary and silly. Hartnett and Shymalahan are first-rate and she actually wrote her own songs which are really good. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “Snow White And The Seven Samurai” (**1/2 out of four) an agreeably trashy pulp-revenge thriller about a woman (Fiona Dorn) left for dead by her greedy stepmother (Gina Vitori) and is found by a group of samurai women who train her in martial arts and swordplay for her to enact bloody vengeance. Indefensible on a script or story level but director Michael Su works in a grindhouse style that is shamelessly entertainining and most importantly- never stops moving. Eric Roberts picks up a few extra bucks as the girl’s father. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “Top Gunner: America Vs. Russia” (**1/2 out of four) was a passable action thriller about an assassination attempt on a Russian president (Alex Veadov) while on a visit to the White House leading to all-out war when Russia retaliates and our own President (yes Eric Roberts again) strikes back sending numerous fighter pilots (Andrew Rogers, Kayla Fields, and others) into action to save the world. Third in this series all-too-obviously inspired by “Top Gun” (no kidding) but it’s fast-paced and has enough action and visual effects, if you’re not too demanding. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “Dagr” (** out of four) was a fairly conventional found-footage horror thriller about a group of YouTube bloggers (Riz Moritz, Ellie Duckles, Tori Butler-Hart, and others) who find themselves in a paranormal nightmare when they accidentally awaken a sinister occult from the past and find that all their lives are in danger. Plodding and dull for the first half but second half does provide some spookiness and scares although even these seem borrowed heavily from “The Blair Witch Project.” Title is Welsh for dagger, in case you were wondering. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “Escape Pod” (** out of four) was a rehashed sci/fi melodrama about a young astronaut (Patrick Sharn) who awakens in an escape pod with a fellow astronaut (Fallon Gyurko) with no memory of how he got there and has to gradually piece together memories of his past to save himself and his future. Not bad by these film’s standards with some decent filmmaking and effects but never really transcends its derivations and origins from other better movies (“2001”, “The Martian” to name a few). Works best in its final third but you’ll likely want to plan your “escape” before then. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “The Deadly Swarm” (* out of four) was a deadly awful “horror” thriller about a group of friends (Leona Clarke, Elliott Eason, and others) who attend a medical retreat of a loony doctor (Richard Kovacs) who is doing experiments with people’s minds and insects which unleash a fatal swarm. Yet another film poster in search of a movie, as film has minimal horror and action and the visual effects are pretty tacky. Maybe after this and the notoriously awful “The Swarm”- horror filmmakers should give killer bees a rest. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “Bittertooth” (1/2 out of four) was an insulting mess about two female podcasters (Genevieve Thomas and Autumn Ivy) who take it upon themselves to track down a brutal serial killer (Joe Altieri) and give him a dose of his own medicine by torturing and murdering him but they find out this is far more difficult than they realized. By the end of this trifle, viewers themselves will feel like they have been subjected to even worse torture. Film rambles in about 10 different directions for most of its length and only some stylish gore at the very end saves this from an absolute zero. Continue reading →
August 28, 2024 “Angels Fallen: Warriors Of Peace” (**1/2 out of four) was a corny but combustible sequel to the 2020 original about a war veteran (Josh Burdett) who receives a calling from an angelic higher power (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and others (Denise Richards, William McNamara, Randy Couture) to prevent an army of the dead from taking over the world. Maudlin and contrived but moves along quickly and efficiently and features so many familiar faces in the cast that it winds up surprisingly watchable. A little long but film’s fiery and exciting final third makes it worth it. Continue reading →
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