October 9, 2020 “Dark October” (* out of four) was an insufferable horror thriller about four friends (Brittany Booth, Beth Bowser, Mia Custer, Amelia Gross) who travel to Salem for a Halloween rock concert but take an unexpected detour which leads to them encountering a demon which could end their lives. Sounds promising but is practically worthless on every level thanks to molasses pacing and bargain-basement production. Directed by David Mankey who made the 3 “Dark Shade Creek” movies and based on this time-waster he may want to give the word dark a rest for a little while. Continue reading →
October 9, 2020 “Batman: Death In The Family” (** out of four) was a slight animated feature about The Dark Knight (voiced by Bruce Greenwood) who has a crisis of conscience about risking his and Robin’s (voiced by Vincent Martella) safety and starts to ponder a more normal life but has to contend with the ongoing villainous destruction of the Joker (voiced by John DiMaggio). Notable for being the first interactive animated movie in which viewers can choose the fate of a key character; aside from that it’s pretty meager and routine. Greenwood makes a good voice for Batman though. Continue reading →
October 8, 2020 “They Live Inside Us” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster horror melodrama about a writer (James Morris) who seeks inspiration for his new book by staying in a haunted house but soon realizes this was a very bad idea and he is subject to all kinds of hallucinations and visions of real horror. You keep thinking something significant will happen but nothing does, as film drags and plods and is grim in the extreme. “House” told virtually the same story back in 1985 with a lot more scares and style. Continue reading →
October 8, 2020 “Cheer Squad Secrets” (*1/2 out of four) was a ridiculous suspense thriller about a girl (Margaret Anne Florence) who wants to do whatever it takes to become captain of her cheerleading team and then subsequently finds out that the team coach (Anita Brown) is distributing- and encouraging- the team to use steroids and will stop at nothing including doublecrossing and murder to keep things a secret. Absurd storyline has plenty of the usual logic gaps and implausibilities but not much in the way of thrills or scares. Brown does what she can in the thankless lead role. Continue reading →
October 8, 2020 “Tales From The Hood 3” (*1/2 out of four) was an execrable horror show about a father (Tony Todd) and his young daughter (Sage Arrindell) on the run from an unseen evil and the girl then tells her father four tales of horror: a greedy real estate agent tries to burn down a home to drive a family out, a struggling singer who tries to kill a wealthy family member to advance her career, etc. None are worth listening to. Third in this wearisome series is the worst yet and is alternately crude, stupid, and plain boring. Co-written and co-directed by series creator Rusty Cundieff but this is a long way from “Fear Of A Black Hat” or even “Sprung.” Continue reading →
October 8, 2020 “Hunter’s Breed” (* out of four) was a bewildering bore that fires all blanks about a redneck widowed hunter (Duane “The Dog” Chapman) who reunites with his old church buddies (Mickey O’Sullivan, John Victor Allen, and Wesley Truman Daniel) to film a hunting show in the wilderness but a strange and supernatural presence forces him to have to confront his faith and his next steps in life. Molasses-moving and static most of the way until its final third which liberally rips-off “The Blair Witch Project” (right down to its camerwork and choreography) but you’ll likely be grateful that at least something finally starts to happen. Continue reading →
October 7, 2020 “Ouija Craft” (** out of four) was a cliche-ridden horror show about two witches (Allison Shrum and Lacy Hartselle) who summon the power of an ancient ouija board to bring back a dead member (Ivy Rhodes) of their coven from the grave but soon find that she has been resurrected not quite herself and has otherworldly powers that threaten them both. Tired amalgam of horror-movie elements of paranormal activity and witchcraft and possession but at least it moves fast and is relatively lean at only 75 minutes. Still, maybe it’s time horror filmmakers “crafted” some new ideas and left the ouija titles and elements alone. Continue reading →
October 7, 2020 “Anonymous Killers” (** out of four) was a mildly diverting horror melodrama about four professional killers and one professor (Patrick Caberty, Natassia Halabi, Kevin Glikkman, Gabriela Lopez, and Dominic Pace) who are captured by a demented maniac (Andrew Bongiorno) and held in chains for which the reason for this remains a secret. Relatively well-made and well-paced but many filmgoers may note after a while this is a little overly similar to “Saw” and also “Rashomon.” OK for what it is. Continue reading →
October 7, 2020 “On Halloween” (*1/2 out of four) was an interminable horror show about an inquisitive journalist (Giselle van der Wiel) who tries to uncover a series of brutal deaths murders which lead back to an urban legend about (yawn) a serial-killing clown that has stalked the area for hundreds of years. Perfunctory story of a killer clown on the loose is cheaply and amateurishly done and has little gore to satisfy rabid horror fans. Film is only an hour-and-a-half long but feels much longer than that. Fans would be much better off re-watching “Halloween” or “Friday The 13th” instead of watching this on Halloween. Continue reading →
October 7, 2020 “Halloween Party” (** out of four) was a sub-routine horror pic about a college student (Amy Groening) who unleashes sinister evil all through the campus via an online meme she submits and she finds out too-little/too-late what she’s done and all Halloween Hell breaks loose. Good production values and shows some clever touches but this is a party you have been to all-too-many times before. Groening is the daughter of “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening and shows some promise here. Continue reading →
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