May 3, 2018 “Primal Rage” (**1/2 out of four) was a middling horror thriller about a newly reunited couple (Casey Gagliardi, Andrew Joseph Montgomery) whose drive home through the Pacific Northwest turns into a grueling nightmare when their car breaks down and they are besieged by local rednecks and a monstrous local creature who preys on humans. First-half is tense and exciting and often has you on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately, film’s second half becomes pretentious and dull as it deals with the local law enforcement and the creature’s origins. A horrifying climax brings film back on track but what a shame. Jay Lee’s striking cinematography is an undeniable standout through-out. Continue reading →
May 3, 2018 “Darc” (*** out of four) was a moody, stylish underworld thriller in which a shady Interpol agent (Armand Assante) is forced to turn to the title character Darc (Tony Schiena) who is a former criminal turned vigilante with inside knowledge of the Yakuza mafia and attempts to bring down a global trafficking ring with ties to his troubled childhood. Plenty of martial arts action and hand-to-hand combat keep this moving solidly. Schiena is one-note and often blank in lead role but is surrounded by a strong supporting cast. A solid directorial debut for one-time Steven Seagal producer Julius Nasso and this often resembles a movie Seagal could have made 20 years ago in his heyday. Continue reading →
May 2, 2018 “The Body Tree” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring horror thriller about a group of American kids (Erica Dasher, Emma Dumont, Kyle Jones, and others) who travel to Siberia for honoring the member of their murdered friend but then uncover a sinister plot that threatens them all. Promising beginning leads nowhere as film soon sputters and becomes predictable and dull. Filmed in Canyon Ranch, unsuccessfully passing itself off as Russia. Continue reading →
May 1, 2018 “The Beach House” (** out of four) was a treacly drama about a confused young woman (Minka Kelly) who has to confront her past when she returns home to restore the family beach house. Oh- did I forget to mention that her estranged mom (Andie Macdowell) has cancer and that the two work together to save hundreds of sea turtles during a storm? Typical Hallmark production full of hollow sentiments and hokey plot points although it has some scattered effective moments and good performances. Hard to believe this was directed by Roger Spottiswoode who once directed “Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Shoot To Kill”, and “Terror Train.” Continue reading →
April 29, 2018 “The Ferryman” (** out of four) was a hollow melodrama about a young woman (Pamela Ashton) who becomes haunted by visions of a malevolent ferryman after she attempts suicide which causes her life to unravel. Ashton is good under the circumstances and the film has a strong mood and atmosphere of melancholy but never comes alive and becomes really bizarre after a while. Final third really starts to test your patience and film doesn’t end so much as stop. Continue reading →
April 29, 2018 “The 4/20 Massacre” (*1/2 out of four) was a none-too-potent horror thriller about five young girls (Jamie Bernadette, Vanessa Rose Parker, Stacey Danger, Justine Wachsberger, and Marissa Pistone) who go on a camping trip in the woods when they stumble on a marijuana-growing operation run by a backwoods slasher whose a nutjob. A few gory kills stand out but otherwise you’d be better off watching “Deliverance”, “Mother’s Day”, or even “Half Baked”. The killer’s hilariously awful makeup makes him look like “Swamp Thing.” Continue reading →
April 29, 2018April 29, 2018 “Scarecrows” (*1/2 out of four) was a scareless teen-horror thriller about a group of teenagers (Hannah Gordon, Mike Taylor, Umed Amin, Maaor Ziv) who are stalked to the death by a psychotic retard who has a fair resemblance to Bayou Billy and apparently gets his kicks by killing kids and making them into scarecrows in the crop fields. Not to be confused with the 1973 drama “Scarecrow” with Gene Hackman and Al Pacino which come to think of it had a lot more scares and laughs than this does. Continue reading →
April 29, 2018April 29, 2018 “Candy Jar” (** out of four) was a saccharine comedy-drama about two dueling high-school debate champs (Jacob Latimore and Sami Gayle) who are at odds at almost everything in life but attempt to forge ahead to get into the college of their dreams as they transition onto the next stage of their lives. If they’re so good at debating, they probably could have worked on improving the script. Pleasant but pointless and utterly predictable. John Hughes did these high-school movies to perfection three decades ago anyway. Continue reading →
April 28, 2018 “The Escape Of Prisoner 614” (** out of four) was a drab melodrama about two inept small-town deputies (Martin Starr and Jake McDorman) who catch an escaped prisoner (George Sample III) who they gradually believe was wrongly convicted and the majority of the film involves their trip with him through the wilderness to bring him back to civlization back to their corrupt sherriff (Ron Perlman). Pretty photography provides some life but otherwise this is pretty flat and aimless. Perlman is wasted in a throwaway role and it’s about time he “escaped” direct-to-Redbox pics like these. Continue reading →
April 28, 2018 “Avengers: Infinity War” (*** out of four) was a hugely ambitious, entertaining Marvel superhero extravaganza in which the Avengers (Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Helmsworth, Chris Evans, Don Cheadle, and Scarlet Johannson) and their allies (Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, and too many others to mention) must put aside their differences to defeat Thanos (Josh Brolin) who threatens worldwide destruction. Third in the action adventure series impressively juggles 28 different Marvel characters with a sharp script, spectacular action scenes and visual effects, and a surprisingly touching ending which makes this the best of the series and one of the best Marvel comic book movies in a while. The next in the series is due next year! Continue reading →
dlepikcom 