“Blood Conscious” (** out of four) was a not-bad horror thriller about a vacationing family (Oghenero Gbaje, DeShawn White, Lenny Thomas, and others) in a cabin in the woods who become besieged by a deranged redneck shooter (Nick Damici) who claims to be fighting sinister and evil forces; is he telling the truth or are they all having mass hallucinations which may kill all of them? Writer/director Timothy Covell holds you with his mood and grip and keeps you watching but film takes a while to get going and never fully escapes or transcends its origins from “The Shining” and “The Strangers.” By this point, maybe its time horror filmmakers made a “conscious” effort to avoid stories about families on vacation and being stuck in the middle of the woods.

Continue reading →

“Teen Wolf: The Movie” (** out of four) was an uninvolving adaptation of the popular MTV television series about a new terrifying breed of wolves and lycans that are on the prowl and only the heroic werewolf Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) can stop their deadly threat by gathering new allies and former lycan friends. Aimed squarely at fans of the series who probably will like this better but even for them it’s awfully long at nearly two-and-a-half hours. Original series director Russell Mulcahy brings the same flash he did to his music videos and also the “Resident Evil” movies but it’s a lot of energy expended over nothing. Very loosely based on the 1985 cult classic with Michael J. Fox.

Continue reading →

“The Plot To Kill My Mother” (*1/2 out of four) was an illogical suspense melodrama about a young woman (Romy Weltman) who grew up in federal witness protection and reels after the loss of her mother but soon uncovers various information that leads her to question everything she has accepted as truth in her life. Allegedly based on a true story but hard to believe since the majority of the movie rings false and hollow. Weltman’s sincere performance is flattened by film’s pat screenplay and direction and predictable “plotting.”

Continue reading →

“Night Train” (*1/2 out of four) was a stalled action thriller about a single mom (Danielle C. Ryan) unable to stay afloat financially as a teamster who starts working on the black market running medical supplies and drugs while attempting to evade capture from a ruthless F.B.I. agent (Ivan Sergei) who tries to anticipate her every move. Routine and boring action made out of spare parts of too many other past thrillers. Both director Shane Stanley and star Ryan both made last year’s “Double Threat” which had virtually the same story and plot points.

Continue reading →

“Candy Land” (0 stars out of four) was a terminally sour horror potboiler for freaks and masochists only about a young woman (Olivia Luccardi) who immerses herself into the world of underground truck-stop sex workers and realizes she has found her true calling in life but this feeling of bliss is interrupted by finding out that one of her sisters-in-commerce is a killer. Sleazy and stupid (and proud of it) but also logy and boring; the very definition of a worthless film. William Baldwin sleepwalks his way through a dreadful performance as the town sheriff. Film climaxes with Crowded House’s classic “Don’t Dream It’s Over” but trust me- any and all viewers by that point will be preying this is over as soon as possible.

Continue reading →

“Attack Of The 50 Foot Camgirl” (* out of four) was an abysmal horror comedy about a popular social media personality (Ivy Smith) who ingests an unknown formula and becomes a gargantuan 50-foot giant while her husband and his friend (Eli Cirino and Christine Nguyen) plot her destruction. Grade-Z throwback to broad comedies and monster movies of the 50’s and 60’s; most of the laughs are unintentional and come from the dreadful acting and certain parts might actually remind you of “Honey, I Blew Up The Kid.” Film is only a little more than an hour long but believe me you won’t be complaining.

Continue reading →

“Play Dead” (*1/2 out of four) was an abjectly tedious horror thriller about a young criminology student (Bailee Madison) who fakes her death to be able to get into the city morgue to try to obtain crucial evidence but soon finds that the coroner (Jerry O’Connell) is a serious sicko and she has to play dead in order to survive and stay alive and escape. One-note story is made with little tension or suspense and goes on endlessly at nearly two hours. O’Connell is woefully miscast as the coroner; this effort is unlikely to bring his career back from the “dead.”

Continue reading →

“Don’t Look Deeper” (** out of four) was a generic sci/fi melodrama about a typical disaffected teenager (Helena Howard) who begins to suspect she’s something less-than-human and begins to uncover various factions of artificial intelligence that have rumblings involving everyone around her. Sincere performance from Howard can’t enliven tired proceedings combining teenage angst and futuristic intelligence. Director Catherine Hardwicke (“Thirteen”, “Twilight”) once again shows her empathic connection to youth and outcasts but don’t look for much “deeper” than that here.

Continue reading →

“Betrayed By My Bridesmaid” (*1/2 out of four) was a subpar suspense melodrama about a newlywed couple (Ashley Dakin and Steven He) who discover to their shock that her bridesmaid (Shana Goodman) is trying to splinter them apart after they find out too little/too late that she is a sociopath (or is it a psychopath?) Yet another thriller made for those- and only for those- who’ve never seen a thriller before. Film is so by-the-numbers it could have just been spit out of a computer. Watch “Betrayed” or “Bridesmaids” instead.

Continue reading →

“Black Warrant” (** out of four) was a reheated and rehashed action potboiler about a retired C.I.A. agent (Tom Berenger) who is recruited by an old pal (Jeff Fahey) to stop a multi-tentacled terrorist organization and teams up with a hard-nosed D.E.A. agent (Cam Gigandet) when the organization tries to attack the nation’s power grid. Good cast attempts to add spice to a very old recipe as film is a stale cocktail blender of Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, and Jason Bourne. Film’s story and co-script were by actor Michael Pare.

Continue reading →