“Mauler” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty awful horror thriller about a group of friends (Kate Noel, Breck Cuddy, Tanya Champoux, and others) who enter a creepy murder house and a $25,000 dark-web contest but soon find that there is a maniac on the loose who’s intent on killing them one-by-one on camera. Inept timewaster practically mauls the audience with terrible acting and dialogue. Incredibly- this film seems inspired by (and rips off) the even worse “Halloween: Resurrection” and “The Blair Witch Project 2.” Can’t ANYONE make an effective horror movie these days???

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“Witchboard” (0 stars out of four) was a worthless remake of the superior (and underrated) 1986 cult classic about a couple (Madison Iseman and Aaron Dominguez) who play around with a ouija board and awaken and summon a dark spirit that haunts them and threatens to kill them and everyone around them. Unbearably dull collection of cliches from various ouija-horror movies with cheap production values and tacky filmmaking being the icing on the moldy cake. And it goes on (what feels like) forever! A major disappointment and step down from director Chuck Russell who in better days directed one of Arnold’s best movies “Eraser.”

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“Freakier Friday” (** out of four) was a superficial sequel to the 2003 smash about the continuing misadventures of mom-and-daughter (Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan) and her daughter’s now-teenage daughter (Julia Butters) and how they all have a personality swap and extended identity crisis. Enthusiastic performances from its high-spirited cast help but it’s awfully thin stuff and runs out of steam (and story) far before its 2 hours are up. A bright finale might make you smile anyway. Fans of the original (I wasn’t) might like this better.

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“Full Moon Fever” (* out of four) was a full-on bore about a wealthy man (David Lee Madison) who is attacked in the woods one night and has to unfortunately count down (along with the audience) until when he becomes a werewolf. Allegedly “inspired” somehow by the classic Tom Petty album of the same name but other Petty song titles like “About To Give Out”, “You Wreck Me” and (especially) “Let Me Up- I’ve Had Enough” describe what it’s like sitting through this. Madison directed also and evidently watched “The Howling” and “Wolf” a few times before filming this timewaster.

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“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (*** out of four) was a rock-solid retelling of the comic-book series about the title foursome (Pedro Pascal, Reed Richards, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn) who have to defend Earth against the evil forces of Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and the enigma of the Silver Surfer who threaten world domination. Not exactly fantastic but by far the best of the series’ adaptations with strong acting from Pascal in particular and some spectacular visual effects and action scenes especially in the final third to give fans their money’s worth. Fittingly enough- this is the fourth adaptation and the one where they finally got it right!

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“The Conjuring: Last Rites” (**1/2 out of four) was a well-crafted sequel in this endless series about the two paranormal investigators (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) who have to take on one last case involving mysterious entities that question their state of reality as they have to utilize all their past investigative knowledge to try and survive. One of the better series entries, thanks to some good soundtrack selections and occasional scares………….but it’s still pretty thin stuff and (like other entries) goes on way too long. Series fans (I’m not) will likely like this better but it’s about time horror filmmakers “conjured” up some new ideas.

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“Afterburn” (**1/2 out of four) was an efficient B-movie action melodrama set in the not-too-distant future in which a massive solar flare has destroyed the Earth’s eastern hemisphere and a mercenary for hire (Dave Bautista) is hired by a malevolent millionaire (Samuel L. Jackson) to travel to Europe to steal the Mona Lisa painting and finds a beautiful woman (Olga Kurylenko) but encounters bloodthirsty treachery every step of the way. Very mechanical movie mirrors the sort of 80’s action vehicles you would see with Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme but having said that- it’s filled with action and has some humorous dialogue. Bautista is strong in the lead and Jackson dominates his scenes as always.

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“The Man In My Basement” (** out of four) was a pretentious melodrama thriller about a down-on-his-luck man (Corey Hawkins) who is about to lose his ancestral home and is approached by a bizarre businessman (Willem Dafoe) to rent out his basement; out of desperation, he agrees but soon finds out there is much more to this than he realized. Starts out creepy and effective but loses its way in a field of mumbo-jumbo twists and dialogue midway through and turns hokey and banal. By film’s end you’ll likely be calling out “huh?” Two strong performances from Hawkins and Dafoe help keep this on track as long as possible but even they eventually go down in the haze.

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“Burner” (** out of four) was a muddled underworld melodrama about a single mom (Kacy Owens) who returns home from prison and is trying to rebuild her life and her relationship with her daughter (Akina Wylie). However, when her violent ex (James Oliver Wheatley) re-appears in her life and threatens both of them- she realizes she has no other choice but to have him eliminated without parole, the law, and the mob finding out. Lumpy mixture of mother-daughter story and underworld action intrigue and as a result doesn’t connect as either one. Owens’ sincere performance is film’s strongest merit. Similar story elements were told much more powerfully and effectively in 2006’s “Sherrybaby.”

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“Terror Comes Knocking” (*1/2 out of four) was a botched adaptation of the true story of Marcela Borges (Dascha Polanco) who was pregnant and had to defend her family when armed intruders (Mitchell Jaramillo, Ivan Lopez, and others) showed up at her Florida home and demanded $200,000 or they would all be executed and she had to outwit and outmaneuver them. Thoroughly stale execution of a true story that (one would think) would have taut tension and suspense and instead winds up a yawning retread of “Desperate Hours.” This is one “knock” not worth answering.

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