“The Minute You Wake Up Dead” (** out of four) was an overly contrived suspense potboiler about an insurance investor (Cole Hauser) who gets mired up in a financial scheme with his neighbor (Jaimie Alexander) which leads to the involvement of the hard-nosed town sheriff (Morgan Freeman) and all of them begin to question whose double-crossing who as the bodies start piling up. Packed with neat twists and turns that keep you watching and guessing but become improbable after a while and film’s underlying problem is you don’t simply care about the characters and what happens to anybody. Good cast keeps this together as much as possible but Freeman is a little long in the tooth to continue playing cops.

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“On The Line” (** out of four) was an uneven suspense thriller about a late-night radio show host (Mel Gibson) who is alarmed when a deranged fan calls and threatens to kill the host’s family while on air unless he complies with all of his instructions and takes part in a survival game in the building of the show, leading the host to frantically try and stay alive all while trying to uncover the identity of the caller and save his family. Somewhat gripping in its setup and suspenseful midsection…………but unfortunately, film veers off the rails in its final third and takes a series of ludicrous (and irritating) plot twists that pull the rug out from under you. Gibson is rock-solid and almost makes this worth watching. A remake of the Japanese horror cult classic “Midnight FM.”

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“Safe House” (** out of four) was an overall disposable action thriller about an F.B.I. analyst (Andrew Chapman) who is ordered to build a safe-house headquarters in order to get his job back but this leads to a multitude of duplicity and backstabbings from his other analysts and various criminal underworld figures (Deanna Little, John Turner, and others). Fast-moving enough to be watchable but script and story are one-note and don’t give you much to keep you involved. Incidentally, this is not a remake of the 2012 Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds thriller of the same name despite similar story elements.

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“Hex” (**1/2 out of four) was a moderately entertaining suspense horror thriller about a group of skydivers (Kayla Adams, Bryan Roberts, Matthew Holcomb, and others) who begin to experience paranormal and frightening occurrences after one of them mysteriously disappears. Hybrid of B-movie horror elements and sensational skydiving action doesn’t quite jell but the stunts and skydiving scenes are well-captured and film does have enough eeriness and minor scares to make it worthwhile.

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“Six Feet” (*1/2 out of four) was a pointless horror melodrama about a motel owner (Raymond Cruz) who is battling a multitude of mental health problems while trying to coordinate all the complicated affairs at his motel which attending to quarantined guests during a deadly worldwide pandemic. Film bludgeons you with so much unpleasantness and cheap filmmaking that you feel like you may need to be in your own quarantine by the end. Cruz is good in a nearly unplayable role but he should have stayed more than “six feet” away from this timewaster.

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“My Nightmare Office Affair” (*1/2 out of four) was a trifling suspense thriller about a married yuppie (Marc Hermann) going through sudden difficulties with his loving wife (Kristi Murdock) who decides to have an affair with his co-worker (Laurie Fortier) who (naturally) turns out to be a serious sicko who turns his life upside down. Typical “Fatal Attraction” clone with the usual contrivances and story holes. Fortier vamps it up and tries to liven up the proceedings but this is still pretty much an “affair” to forget.

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“Axegrinder 4: Souls Of Blood” (* out of four) was a punishing horror thriller about a helpful social worker (Andrea Martina) who takes a group of non-violent criminals into the woods for a trip as part of a rehabilitation program; unfortunately for them a murderous killer (Sam Hoger) is on the loose and out to dismember anyone who gets in his path and oh byetheway his weapon of choice is a large ax. Nearly unwatchable movie looks like it was shot on someone’s cell-phone and has awful acting that needs to be seen to be disbelieved. Film’s scariest component is it leaves the door open for “Axegrinder 5” which is already in production.

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“American Murderer” (**1/2 out of four) was an absorbing but hollow crime melodrama based on the true story of Jason Derek Brown (Tom Pelphrey) a charismatic con man who eventually progresses to murder and becomes tracked by the FBI and one agent (Ryan Phillippe) in particular who is determined to put an end to his game for good. Two strong performances from the two leads and sturdy direction from writer/director Matthew Gentile keep you watching but somehow film is never as compelling as it should have been and never shifts into high-gear. A feature-length adaptation of Gentile’s own short film of the same name from 2019.

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“Feed Me” (* out of four) was an unappetizing horror thriller about a recent widow (Christopher Mulvin) who spirals into a state of depression and then is abducted and imprisoned by a cannibal redneck (Neal Ward) who tries to torture him and he realizes he has to overcome his mental health struggles to break out and survive. Disgusting and stupid but worst of all boring; it’s movies like these that make you wish Hannibal Lecter would come out of retirement. Guaranteed to give horror fans indigestion.

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