June 27, 2020 “The Scientist” (*1/2 out of four) was a rambling horror thriller about an iconoclastic scientist (Robb Hudspeth) who is caring for his terminally ill wife (Kristin Keith) and their daughter (Addison McGarry) and embarks on a journey to find a cure for his wife which includes tampering with human DNA; it may save his wife but may also lead to the extinction of humanity but film asks what would you do in same dire situation? You have to admire writer/director Derrick Granado for trying to ingrain an added moral and emotional element to this tired horror framework but result is stillborn and forgettable. Maybe scientists need to work more on saving the horror genre. Continue reading →
June 26, 2020 “Spirits In The Dark” (*1/2 out of four) was a moribund horror thriller about a lonely widower (Joszek Gallai) who finds a mysterious video on his computer that leads him to a spooky town in which an unknown but scary supernatural entity is devouring people’s souls and murdering them. Star/writer/producer/director Gallai bears most of the blame for this dreary time-waster; even at a little more than an hour long, this starts to grow really thin. By now, it might be time to retire the horror cliches of supernatural forces and small towns for a while. Continue reading →
June 24, 2020 “Birthmother’s Betrayal” (** out of four) was a perfunctory thriller about an adopted young girl (Monica Rose Bentz) who yearns to find out and meet her real mother (Aria Pullman) but when she does- she finds out that she’s not exactly mommy dearest and is a real sicko who is bent on not only controlling her life but destroying it as well. OK cast and production can’t begin to save pedestrian script and predictable plotting. By now, you’ve seen this story way too many times for it to carry any surprise or shock value. Continue reading →
June 23, 2020 “Top Gunner” (*1/2 out of four) was a stale, synthetic action melodrama about a group of renegade pilots (Buck Burns, Julian Cavett, Reavis Dorsey) from the U.S. Air Force who have to protect a biological weapon from falling into the wrong hands of the Russian military who want to seize it any costs. Result is such an obvious rip off of “Top Gun” (right down to its title, no kidding) but it also rips off “Iron Eagle” and also “Red Dawn” to make it feel like a KMart greatest hits of ’80’s action fare. Eric Roberts sneers his way through a token role as the group’s tough but tender instructor. Continue reading →
June 23, 2020 “Zombie With A Shotgun” (* out of four) was a witless adaptation of the title web series about two teenagers (Braeden Baade and Kathryn Kuhn) on the run because he is infected with a zombie virus that allows him to (!) communicate with other zombies while at the same time trying to find the source of the infection and thus save the world from eradication. I wasn’t a big fan of either of the “Zombieland” movies but this movie makes them look like Noel Coward by comparison; sputteringly stupid at times and cheaply made as a bonus. Continue reading →
June 22, 2020 “Revenge Ride” (** out of four) was a disjointed action melodrama about a young girl (Serinda Swan) who is a member of a vicious biker gang (led by Polyanna Macintosh) who she rounds up to embark on high-speed revenge when her young cousin is drugged at a party. Cheeky visual style and some amusing ideas fail to sustain film at feature-length and its overall unpleasantness eventually wears you out. Both visually and thematically inspired by both “Mad Max” and “The Road Warrior” but there’s no Mel GIbson or George Miller here. Continue reading →
June 21, 2020 “House Of Many Sorrows” (*1/2 out of four) was a slapdash horror show about a mentally unstable man (Tom Malloy) who takes over his mother’s bed-and-breakfast operation and begins slashing and killing the various members who show up until a few unhappy guests (Barry Gillis and Samatha Brownlee) decide to fight back and attempt to escape. Marginally stylish touches from Gillis’ direction (he also wrote and directed) are unable to provide this crude schlock with much distinction. Not the worst of its ilk but you’ll likely have many sorrows from wasting your time by the end of this. Continue reading →
June 21, 2020 “The Tent” (** out of four) was a frustrating melodrama set after an apocalyptic event called The Crisis in which an elderly man (Tim Kaiser) and a younger woman (Lulu Dahl) cross paths as they are both stranded in the wilderness for survival in which they both take refuge in a tent to ward off the ugliness and uncertainty of the outside world. Dour and aloof storyline is hard to get involved in for much of film’s running time but the final third and film’s ending does have some touching moments about loss and death. Give writer/director Kyle Couch some credit for making a new take on the post-apocalyptic genre but it’s overall effects are mixed and muted. Continue reading →
June 21, 2020 “The Evil Rises” (* out of four) was a grade-Z horror thriller about a group of young friends (Bailey La Flam, Michael Glauser, Julian De La Mora) and others who discover an ancient statue that (yawn) unleashes an evil spirit and entity unto the world; it’s up to a pizza delivery boy, a detective, and (naturally) a priest to save the day and send the statue back to the bowels of Hell. Or something like that. Incredibly low-rent thriller is also low on thrills and low on brains. Movies like these make you wonder whether the horror genre will ever effectively “rise” again! Continue reading →
June 20, 2020 “Abducted On Air” (** out of four) was a tame suspense thriller about a local news reporter (Kim Shaw) with aspirations of being a television star who is kidnapped on air and suddenly is thrust into the spotlight and becomes a media firestorm. Was this kidnapping real or was this something engineered to bring her more notoriety and coverage? Competently made and acted but lacking in suspense and scares that make these kinds of movies satisfying. Director Gus Van Sant told a similar story with much more comedic and satiric flair in 1995’s “To Die For.” Continue reading →
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