September 20, 2020 “Conjuring The Devil” (* out of four) was a Godawful horror show about a young woman (April Love) struggling with her own faith and guilt in life and finds herself under attack from a vicious and possessed nun who is out to destroy her so she decides to fight back and attempt to send her back to Hell. Or something like that. Recycled themes of countless other demonic/religious/possession horror cliches that film is almost the weary equivalent of a garbage recycler on screen. Shoddy filmmaking may give you even more reason to scream and say your hail Mary’s! Maybe it’s about time horror creators “conjured” up some new ideas before they themselves deserve eternal damnation in Hell! Continue reading →
September 19, 2020 “The Paramedic” (**1/2 out of four) was a mildly engrossing foreign-language melodrama about an emergency-ambulance worker (Mario Casas) who is involved in a severe car accident and then begins to physically and mentally deteriorate and soon becomes suspicious of his partner (Deborah Francois) and starts to hold her hostage while his sanity unravels. Mixture of moody character study and Hitchcockian thriller themes doesn’t fully gel but keeps you in its grip thanks to solid performances and tight dierction from Carles Torras. Story starts to get lurid and over-the-top in its final third so this is overall a mixed bag. Continue reading →
September 19, 2020 “The Secrets We Keep” (**1/2 out of four) was a moody but muted melodrama set after WWII in which a woman (Noomi Rapace) is struggling to rebuild her life after the war; upon meeting her neighbor (Joel Kinnaman) she believes he is a former Nazi war criminal and she kidnaps him to interrogate and inflict back the pain and suffering she endured in the war. Rapace is first-rate as usual and story has historical intensity but it’s somehow never as powerful or compelling as it should have been. Very similar story was told prior in Roman Polanski’s 1994 “Death And The Maiden.” Continue reading →
September 18, 2020 “Cult Girls” (** out of four) was a better-than-average horror thriller about a woman (Saara Lamberg) and her two younger sisters (Ava Bakaitis and Milla Bakaitis) who grow up in a Pagan apocalyptic cult led by an ancient Baltic goddess of death and reincarnation; they subsequently escape but the torment of this eats away at them for years leading them back to their ancient grounds where they grew up to conquer the evil spirits that have been haunting them. Umpteenth story of mumbo-jumbo horror and paranormal activity is given a definite boost by director Mark Bakaitis who knows where to put his camera and infuses this with a searing and striking visual style. Well-produced and well-shot by Trent Schneider on a low budget. Filmed about 5 years ago but worthy of its release and may become a “cult” favorite. Continue reading →
September 18, 2020 “Paranormal Attraction” (*1/2 out of four) was an enervatingly routine horror show about a young woman (Brooklyn Haley) who moves into an abandoned house which (to the surprise of no one but her) turns out to be haunted with evil spirits and subsequently all Hell breaks loose. Passable beginning soon gives way to too much mumbo and too much jumbo and film sputters as it covers territory covered in millions of other direct-to-DVD horror films. Originally titled “Unholy Attraction” but the word paranormal is just too damn popular these days. Continue reading →
September 17, 2020 “The Last Laugh” (** out of four) was an unconvincing melodrama about a stand-up comedian (Steve Vanderzee) on the verge of both a breakout and an emotional breakdown who is about to perform in a theater when he discovers that a murderer is on the loose and he cannot convince anyone that this is not part of his act! Awkward attempt at mixing elements of both horror and comedy with backstage drama and elements of mental illness. Writer/director Jeremy Berg deserves points for trying something new but viewers eager for a more deft and powerful look at similar subject matter would best watch Martin Scorcese’s masterwork “The King Of Comedy” instead. Continue reading →
September 17, 2020 “One Hour Outcall” (*1/2 out of four) was a tedious melodrama about a middle-aged businessman (William Norrett) whose interludes and relations with a high-class escort (Natalia Ochoa) force him to re-examine his relations with his own family and to confront his own problems in life. More of an experiment than an actual film and on that basis it runs out of steam pretty quickly and soon turns into a bore. Opens up well but after a while you’ll want to hang up on this wrong number. Norrett also scripted. Continue reading →
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 →
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