Category: Uncategorized

“The Haunting Of Sharon Tate” (*** out of four) was an elegant horror film set in the summer of 1969 in which rising actress Sharon Tate (Hilary Duff) and her friends (Jonathan Bennett, Lydia Hearst) were slaughtered by Charles Manson (Ben Mellish) and his followers. Director Daniel Farrands does a masterful job of weaving suspense with character development in convincing 60’s detail and sustains an uneasy tension as he plunges you into one of the darkest chapters in American murder history. Imperfect to be sure but overall well-done. Duff is strong in the lead. Helped immensely by Fantom’s haunting music score.

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“Red Island” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring horror thriller about a vacationing couple (Georgie Daburas and Alex Essoe) who become stranded on an isolated island (hence the title) and are spooked and stalked by an unforeseen force. You keep thinking that something/anything will happen but nothing ever does as film drags and meanders towards its uneventful conclusion. Inauspicious directorial debut for noted cinematographer Lux but even his cinematography on this one looks pretty average.

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“Pet Graveyard” (*1/2 out of four) was a wretched horror thriller about a group of teens (Rita Siddiqui, Andrew Hollingworth, David Cotter, and others) who undergo an experiment which allows them to revisit the dead but naturally things go fatally wrong as their past mistakes and sins come back to haunt them. The kind of low-budget movie that is made and released to cash in on a much larger one (“Pet Sematary” in case anyone didn’t guess) but this actually rips off “Flatliners” and also “Witchboard” in equal measure so no one feels left out of the party. But you can’t bring dead themes and a dead movie back to life.

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“Us” (*** out of four) was a strikingly told horror thriller about a family (Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss) who vacation at a serene woodside home and are terrorized by a mysterious group of doppelgangers which causes them to mentally and physically unravel as they struggle to fight for their lives. Director Jordan Peele borrows much of his story and images from “The Shining” (and also “The Strangers”) but features plenty of creepy moments and stylish scares right up through the end. Soundtrack is a key boost also (you may never listen to Luniz’ “I Got 5 On It” the same way again).

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“Caller ID: Entity” (* out of four) was a horrendous sci/fi thriller centered around the messages and testimonials from victims (James Duval, Nathan Bexton, Denny Kirkwood) of mind-control technology who subsequently attempt to rise up and (yawn) overthrow their oppressive and controlling government. Yet another derivative piece of futuristic schlock based on ideas from other and much better movies (“Total Recall”, “Blade Runner”, “Resident Evil” just to name some). Would it kill filmmakers to make one movie where the future is a happy place? Hang up on this wrong number

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“Dumbo” (**1/2 out of four) was a reasonably cute and engaging live-action remake of the Disney classic. The young elephant is born into the care of two girls (Nico Parker and Finely Hobbins) at a circus run by a scuzzy promoter (Danny DeVito) who gets bought out by a greedy and evil enterpreneur (Michael Keaton) but whose soaring ears help him to fly and help him to save the circus and fly towards freedom! Director Tim Burton indulges his usual offbeat visual flair and effects but story and characters never fully take flight so it’s never as enchanting as the DIsney original. DeVito seems to be more-or-less playing the same character he did in Burton’s “Big Fish” and Colin Farrell is strong as usual as the girl’s father.

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“A Vigilante” (*1/2 out of four) was a grindingly unpleasant and tedious death-wish pulp thriller about a former abuse victim (Olivia Wilde) who takes it upon herself to help victims seek refuge and retribution against their assailants but soon finds that both her past and the law are catching up to her. Potentially juicy revenge thriller is undone by molasses pacing and meaningless and artless directorial touches that can’t decide whether to make this a shoot-em-up or a dramatic statement about violence and relationships. Wilde is terrific as usual but this muddled clunker is a poor showcase for her. Second half- source of the film’s title- is particularly tough to endure.

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“The Highwaymen” (**1/2 out of four) was a richly told but hollow crime melodrama set in the 1930’s in which two over-the-hill and retired law officers (Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson) agreed to team up and come out of retirement to go on a highway expedition to apprehend the notorious criminals Bonnie & Clyde and faced roadblocks almost every step of the way but never gave up their determination and ended up eventually put an end to their criminal career. Film is beautifully shot, well-acted, and has a stirring music score by Thomas Newman but story lags after a while and goes on so long at over two hours that it starts to lose its dramatic thrust and interest. A good showcase and teaming for both Costner and Harrelson but would have been tighter and stronger with more trimming.

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“The Generator” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary/sleazy sci/fi melodrama about a crazed scientist (Tommie Grabiec) who discovers that he can achieve human emotions by connecting himself to a computer server and attempts to expand this to mind control but two determined subjects (Leanne Courtney and Wesley Forke) attempt to thwart him by playing a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse within the virtual world. Or something like that. Unpleasant and uninvolving story fails to “generate” much emotion of its own and comes up empty on sparks or thrills. “The Matrix” more-or-less told this same story on a much grander scale almost exactly two decades ago.

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“Flashout” (*1/2 out of four) was an incredibly dumb sci/fi yarn set inside a space habitat in a parallel universe in which three young women (Lorynn York, Allison Dunbar, Maya Stojan) play a blind date reality game (!) called “Flashout” but soon unexpectedly find themselves trapped on Earth seeking the missing player of their game. Oh- did I forget to mention that they are pursued by a Reality Repairman (Jonathan Goldstein) whose assignment is to seal the hole between realities so they cannot return home? Never boring but story is senseless and silly and is best left for “Buffy- The Vampire Slayer” fans or kids with low attention spans. Director Richard Lerner is amazingly the same guy who directed the great 1986 documentary “What Happened To Kerouac?”.

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