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 →
February 14, 2026 “Death Among The Pines” (* out of four) was a vapid horror thriller about a woman (Nicolette McKeown) who is paid a visit by a stranger (Nathan Shepka who also co-wrote and directed) in the middle of the night but this seemingly random encounter is more than meets the eye and she realizes her life might be in danger. Interesting story might have made an engrossing 2-character play or chamber piece but is deadly and tedious as a feature-length film. Watch “A Place Beyond The Pines” again instead. Continue reading →
February 8, 2026 “Sinderella” (*1/2 out of four) was a sinfully dull and banal suspense thriller about a woman (Anissa Lashay) who enters a relationship with a seeming prince charming (Mikeal Griggs) but soon finds out that (yawn) he is a narcisstic sociopath and that her life- and everyone she loves- is in jeopardy. Yet another run-of-the-mill “Fatal Attraction” clone except this one is fatally short on sparks, thrills, or even sex. Most clever thing about the film is its title. Continue reading →
February 8, 2026 “Deranged Lover” (* out of four) was an anemic suspense psychodrama about a woman (Nadirah Shakir) who is killed and left for dead and returns to confront her husband (Vernon Snoop Robinson) who has moved on with his new lover (Missy Lee) and she seeks vengeance and retribution on both of them. Film’s title seems fittingly appropriate since it seems like it was made by deranged filmmakers and only runs a little more than an hour long. Film (ineptly) incorporates elements of “Fatal Attraction”, “Payback”, and also “Dream Lover” but is still an all-around mess. Continue reading →
February 8, 2026 “The Lies We Bury” (** out of four) was a contrived suspense melodrama about a young lawyer (Kyla Nova) who investigates a long-buried murder case involving someone (Doug Noble) who she believes was wrongfully convicted but soon finds this unearths a multitude of repercussions and problems that puts her and everyone she loves in grave danger. Slickly made and put together but riddled with plot holes and cliched story fragments from “A Time To Kill”, “The Chamber”, “The Lincoln Lawyer”, and many other (and better) movies. Nova is sincere and strong in the lead but this one will still likely be “buried” and forgotten soon. Continue reading →
February 8, 2026 “The Bachelorette Party” (*1/2 out of four) was a glossy but empty melodrama about a bachelorette party that turns deadly when secrets and a series of duplicitous and cruel intentions start to reveal themselves and everyone has to wonder who to trust. Promising beginning soon goes nowhere as character motivations are murky and film gradually sags. Film doesn’t so much end as stop but you’ll likely have given up by then anyway. Continue reading →
February 8, 2026 “Send Help” (** out of four) was a disappointing horror melodrama about an employee (Rachel McAdams) and her smug boss (Dylan O’Brien) who crashland their plane and are stuck on a deserted island where they must put aside their differences to survive but are at the same time constantly outthink and outsmart one another. Director Sam Raimi mixes in some of the tongue-in-cheek horror of “Evil Dead” and “Drag Me To Hell” with the moral quandaries of “A Simple Plan” but lacks those films’ incendiary spark; ultimately the film it reminds you most of (and rips off) is Robert Zemeckis’ “Castaway.” McAdams’ usual rock-solid performance can’t even really keep this one alive. Continue reading →
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