“Blade Of The 47 Ronin” (*1/2 out of four) was a pointless sequel to the 2013 original set 300 years later in which Samurai clans exist in complete secrecy but each vie for world domination and various warriors (Anna Akana, Teresa Ting, Mark Dacascos) attempt to co-exist while each pursuing and carrying out their own bloody vendetta. Supposedly a follow-up to the original but it has none of the original actors (no Keanu Reeves either) and instead features a lot of numbingly repetitive swordfights and tacky martial-arts combat which viewers have likely seen at least 47 times before.

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“Dead Bride” (*1/2 out of four) was a dispiritingly glum horror thriller about a woman (Jennifer Mischiati) and her partner (Christopher Hulsen) who return to her childhood home following the death of her father but soon find that all is not quite right and various evil spirits and entities still exist within the house that may kill them all for good. Or something like that. A few minor scares and jumps but film is overall dour and inert and fails to come to life. It’s about time horror filmmakers came up with some new ideas in order to raise this genre from the “dead.”

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“Amsterdam” (** out of four) was a sputtering period comedy set in the 1930’s in which three friends (Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington) witness an abrupt murder and soon find themselves suspects themselves and soon uncover an outrageous spy plot involving a political war hero (Robert De Niro) and other various underworld characters (Michael Shannon, Remi Malek, and others). Director David O. Russell’s throwback to Golden Age screwball comedy is initially engaging and funny with its sharp acting and rapid-fire dialogue but soon rings hollow as you realize film is much more style than substance and doesn’t have much story underneath and runs out of steam (and laughs). Taylor Swift has a small but key role at film’s beginning.

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“Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday” (** out of four) was a noisy action comedy sequel about the return of the title Accident Man (Scott Adkins) who has relocated to Malta where he has to beat the top assassins in the world while protecting the bratty son (George Fouracres) of a mafia boss and rekindling his relationship with his insane father figure (Ray Stephenson). Never stops moving and packs in as much as action as possible to give you your money’s worth but may wear you out after a while. A little of this does not go a very long way. Adkins is game and showcases his flair again for lighthearted comedy as well as brutal action.

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“Summit Fever” (*1/2 out of four) was an overlong and underdone melodrama about four mountain-climbing friends (Ryan Phillippe, Freddie Thorp, Hannah New, and Mathilde Warnier) who attempt to scale one of the world’s most challenging mountains but this turns into a life-or-death expedition when a deadly storm traps them near the summit with no hopes of survival. Some of the mountain scenery is well-captured by cinematographer Adam Hall but film otherwise strangely cuts back-and-forth in time structure and can’t seem to make up its mind whether it’s a harrowing survival story or a character melodrama and thus falters at both. Phillippe is rock-solid as usual but this film is hardly the “summit” of his career.

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“The Accursed” (*1/2 out of four) was a laughably solemn horror thriller about a young woman (Sarah Grey) who is hired by a family friend (Mena Suvari) to look after an elderly woman (Meg Foster) in a remote cabin for a few days but she soon finds that there is a demon hiding in the woman that is trying to break free. Game performances from all involved but they don’t save the film from overall being dull. One scary image of a hand crawling out of a dead woman’s mouth at the end is the only thing that will likely grab your attention. Watch “The Accused” instead.

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“Spirit Halloween: The Movie” (** out of four) was a fitfully engaging kids horror comedy about four friends (Donovan Colan, Jaiden J. Smith, Dylan Martin Frankel, Marissa Reyes) who spend Halloween locked inside the title store in a deserted strip mall but soon find out that they are going to have to use all their strength and horror-movie knowledge to survive. Thoroughly watchable movie aimed squarely at kids and hardcore consumers of the Spirit Halloween store but too bland for most others. Christopher Lloyd has a small but key role as a creepy villain.

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“Old Man” (* out of four) was an excruciating bore about a lost hiker (Marc Senter) who stumbles onto a house in the middle of the woods and finds an erratic old man (Stephen Lang) who takes him in but the two find a bond in kinship and camaderie even as they both try to turn the tables on one another. Imagine Lang’s other feature “Don’t Breathe” as a two-character chamber piece and you have an idea of what to expect about the static snooze proceedings here. Lang remains an underrated character actor but “Don’t Watch” would be a better title for this timewaster.

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“Halloween Ends” (* out of four) was a dreadful “final” end to this series set 4 years after the last entry in which the undying killer Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) forms a kinship with another alleged babysitting killer (Marteen); somehow they both end up wreaking havoc for Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who has attempted to move on in life and be a self-help personal writer. Hard to believe this was directed by David Gordon Green who made the chilling 2018 “Halloween” because this mess is as desperately bad as any of the previous entries (or Rob Zombie versions). Michael Meyers is hardly in this one. Even still- if you make it to the end of this, you may really wish that Michael died in that hospital fire and this series really would rest in peace.

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“Stalker” (* out of four) was a claustrophobic horror clunker set almost entirely in the confines of an elevator in which a down-on-her-luck actress (Sophie Skelton) becomes trapped in an elevator with a man (Stuart Brennan) who is stalking her and they get to know one another as she gradually turns the tables on him and enacts violent revenge. Both Skelton and Brennan are good under the circumstances but viewers will feel trapped right along with them after a while as film becomes crushingly monotonous. Yet another movie that might have (possibly) worked better as a two-character play. Bret “The Hitman” Hart has a bizarre cameo in a flashback as a hostile film director but this role just doesn’t provide him with any excellence of execution.

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