“Trouble” (*1/2 out of four) was a lifeless melodrama about a woman (Ebony Tates) in treatment for cancer and whose finances are straining for her and her husband (Emory Lawrence); when her wealthy ex-lover (Montreal Diggs) returns and re-enters their lives, it throws them all into a whirpool of bitterness, jealousy, and duplicity. Ironically titled fiasco goes nowhere slowly, despite talented and attractive cast. By the end, it’s hard to care about anyone or anything.

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“Mr. Buzzkill” (* out of four) was a terminally low-grade horror thriller about a group of friends (Jason Crowe, Kaylee Williams, Celeste Brandon) who go on a partying camping trip and reminisce about the title horror legend who is still out there on the prowl and shows up to slash them all one-by-one. It’s horrendous movies like these that make you realize how great the original “Friday The 13th” really was. Climactic song “We Gonna Smoke Some Pot” easily ranks as most annoying movie song of the year.

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“The Vindicator” (* out of four) was a mind-numbing, ugly horror melodrama about a sadistic serial-killer who interrupts a live-stream broadcast and challenges its presenters (Anna Green, Dez Kuchiara, Chris Maher, and others) to nightmarish tasks that uncover their darkest impulses and secrets and push their survival instincts to the mental brink. In-your-face imitation of “Saw”, without any hint of that film’s cleverness or craft. For freaks and masochists only.

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“The Bad Guardian” (** out of four) was an earnest but empty melodrama about a woman (Melissa Joan Hart) who tries to save her ailing father (Eric Pierpoint) from the clutches of a villainous and vindictive court-appointed guardian (La La Anthony) who wants to exploit him and steal all his money. Well-intentioned story attempts to shed light on the exploitative and the evil side of elderly health care but it covers all-too-familiar ground and is pat and predictable. 2020’s “I Care A Lot” covered similar material with much more pizazz and sharp satire.

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“Gimme The Loot” (* out of four) was an absolutely awful urban melodrama about a group of exotic dancers (Shenetta Malkia, Sabea Darling, Tia Mitchell, and others) who dance at a strip club during the day but at nighttime they engage in a series of violent heists which initially brings them an influx of money but later leads to distrust, duplicity, and double-crosses. Potentially juicy material is undone by amateurish filmmaking and acting and is full of padding even at only an hour-and-12-minutes. Mitchell is a real knockout and stands out in the cast but this still is hardly worth spending your “loot” on.

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“Paradise Records” (* out of four) was an obnoxious comedy about the owner (Diedrich Bader) of the title record store and his eccentric staff (Pauline Dorsey, Tajh Jordan, and others) and the various customers (Kevin Corrigan, Arkira Chantarantana, and others) they interact with over the course of 24 hours. Crude, stupid movie with shrill characters and desperately dumb dialogue. Film’s final half-hour is especially tough to endure. This make the similar “Empire Records” look like a masterpiece by comparison. Joseph Gordon Levitt, Kevin Smith, and Jason Mewes all show up in unfunny cameos.

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“Please Don’t Feed The Children” (*1/2 out of four) was a vapid horror melodrama about a gang of orphans (Zoe Colletti, Andrew Liner, Dean Scott Vazquez, and others) who are forced to travel down South in the wake of a viral outbreak that decimates society but soon find themselves at the mercy of a psychopathic woman (Michelle Dockery) with a series of dark secrets. Directed by Steven Spielberg’s daughter Destry but let’s just be kind and say she doesn’t appear to have inherited his superior filmmaking skills. Often laughable went it isn’t boring. Film’s end credits actually say “no children were eaten during the making of this film.”

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“Eye For An Eye” (*1/2 out of four) was an obtuse melodrama about a young woman (Whitney Peak) whose parents die and she relocates to the backwoods of Florida to live with her grandmother (S. Epatha Merkerson) and finds that there are strange occurrences going on that threaten her sanity and safety. Grim and dour at the beginning and then goes in multiple different directions and becomes erratic and overly weird. Peak’s strong performance is film’s strongest asset. Incidentally- this is not a remake of the 1996 Sally Field/Kiefer Sutherland cult classic of the same name.

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“Kill Me Again” (*1/2 out of four) was a grindingly monotonous and unpleasant pulp melodrama about a serial kiler (Brendan Fehr) who finds he’s repeating the same 24 hours over-and-over again with the same waitress (Majandra Delfino) whom he meets at a diner; initially he embraces this fate but soon finds (as does the audience) that it wears down on his sanity. Imagine “Groundhog Day” with a mass-murderer instead of a weatherman and minus its razor-sharp wit and irony and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect here from the grim proceedings. Juergen Heinemann’s striking cinematography is one of film’s few assets.

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“Sew Torn” (** out of four) was an ungainly comic melodrama about a seamstress (Eve Connolly) who takes a briefcase that she finds from a drug deal gone wrong and has to play a livewire game of cat-and-mouse with the small-time drug dealer (Callum Worthy) who it belonged to with a multitude of consequences for both of them. Writer/director Freddy Macdonald works in an off-the-wall style that harks back to early Peter Jackson (“Bad Taste” and “Dead/Alive” especially) but it soon runs thin and wears out after a while. Even still, this won the Baia del Silenzio-Redelfi award for Best Film at the 2025 Riviera International Film Festival.

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