“The Jack In The Box: Awakening” (*1/2 out of four) was a dispiriting sequel to the even-worse 2019 original that not many I don’t think were clamoring for a follow-up to; this time around, a dying older woman (Nicola Wright) opens the title Jack and enters into a deal to cure her terminal illness in exchange for the lives of six innocent victims putting her at moral crossroads in which she has to question if her own life is more important than others. Stuffy and blah horror show without any style or imagination. Written and directed again by Lawrence Folder but there’s hardly any prizes in this “box.”

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“The Curse Of La Patascola” (** out of four) was an overly bland horror thriller about two couples (Patrick R. Walker, Najah Bradley, A.J. Jones, and Gillie Jones) on a weekend camping trip who are terrorized by the title monster who is a famed vampire from Amazonian folklore and they have to unite and put all their differences aside to stay alive. Film initially holds you with some tension and good dialogue but ironically- it slows down and flattens out once the monster actually arrives which is when the film should shift into high gear. A.J. Jones also co-wrote and directed. Kelsey Woods’ strong music score is a plus.

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“Shattered” (** out of four) was a stylish but staid suspense thriller about a millionaire businessman (Cameron Monaghan) who meets a beautiful girl (Lilly Krug) and they begin an affair but he soon realizes too little/too late that she is a sociopath and murderer intent on taking over his life and draining his finances. Well-made and well-acted enough to hold your attention but film seems to be following too familiar a pattern and is pretty obvious and predictable. Frank Grillo and John Malkovich are solid as usual in key supporting roles.

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“Amityville Uprising” (** out of four) was a disposable horror melodrama set entirely at a police precinct in which a chemical explosion at a military base sets off a toxic acid rain which turns people into (what else?) bloodthirsty zombies and a few cops at the station (Kole Benfield, Mike Ferguson, and others) try to figure things out and stay alive. Latest movie of the week to utilize the “Amityville” name but the movies this actually rips off the most are “Assault On Precinct 13” and “Day Of The Dead.” Relatively easy to watch but just as easy to forget.

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“Weekend Warriors” (*1/2 out of four) was a sputtering action thriller about two young kids (Jack Gross and Juliet Rusche) who are taken into the wilderness by their uncle (Jason London) for a weekend getaway; upon arriving, their uncle is killed by a warrior survival group (led by Daniel de Weldon) and the kids themselves are marked for death and have to use their own survival and wilderness skills to survive. Promising story sounds like a mix of “Home Alone” and “Surviving The Game” but is bungled by feeble writing and meandering pacing. Corbin Bernsen has a key role as an over-the-hill cop who tries to rescue the children.

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“Notorious Nick” (**1/2 out of four) was an earnestly done melodrama about a one-armed MMA fighter (Cody Christian) who gets a chance to compete for a championship and help his struggling mom (Elisabeth Rohm) and sees this as an inspirational opportunity for others with physical challenges. Gritty dialogue and surroundings and solid acting keep you watching but film seems to be following a much-too-familiar sports underdog movie pattern. Not surprisingly, this was from the producer of “Bloodsport” and “Kickboxer” which this movie often borrows from. Kevin Pollak has a minor supporting role as the boy’s grizzled trainer.

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“West Side Story” (***1/2 out of four) was a sweeping adaptation of the 1957 musical about the rivalry between two street gangs the Jets and the Sharks and how a forbidden love affair (Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler) both tears them apart and at the same time unifies them in rivalry and bluster. Director Steven Spielberg reminds you again why he’s a blockbuster director as he weaves together first-rate musical numbers with the magic and uplift of the original in a story that never fails to entertain and carry you along. One of the rare contemporary films which evokes and echoes the Golden Era of Hollywood.

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“Sensation” (**1/2 out of four) was a mildly compelling sci/fi melodrama about a meek postman (Eugene Simon) who becomes inducted into a top-secret superhuman DNA facility at a research facility and soon finds that he can send, receive, and control information based on the senses and “sensations” of others but is this a gift or a curse? Promising beginning holds your attention, with its striking mood and aura and Kubrickian aloofness, but starts to flatten out in its final third and lose its grip as you start to see the core of its sci/fi derivations. A game effort that doesn’t quite sustain as a whole for feature length. Jamie Burr and Martin Groff’s cool cinematography and Neil Myers’ eerie music score are sensational plusses.

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“Another Us” (*1/2 out of four) was pretty bland teenage melodrama about a disaffected high-schooler (Jarrett Bloom) who finds himself in an alternative reality in which his girlfriend (Bethany Visokay) and her family have no idea who he is and he finds himself at a crossroads as to whether continue in this reality or attempt to find a way back to reality as he knows it. Just another compound of ideas about reality and life taken from other and better movies (“The Matrix” and “Total Recall” off the top of my head to name a few). At least it’s refreshingly compact and short at only an hour-and-17-minutes but you’d still best pick “another” movie.

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“The Woman Who Robbed The Stagecoach” (* out of four) was a pretty lame Western which robs you of nearly two hours time out of your life about a famous female outlaw named Pearl Hart (Lorraine Etchell) who meets up with a European drifter (Travis Mills) and together they turn to a life of crime and decide to pull of a monumental heist of robbing a stagecoach. Cheapjack production was actually filmed on someone’s IPhone and looks it and at times looks like a play shot in someone’s backyard! Strictly amateur night in terms of filmmaking and acting. Mills also wrote, produced, and directed

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