“Witch Hunt” (** out of four) was witch hokum set in a parallel time universe in which witches are all real and witchcraft is illegal; a sheltered teenager (Gideon Adlon) must make the different decision on whether to help two young witches (Abigail Cohen and Echo Campbell) and help them seek refuge and asylum in Mexico but has to make sure she is not tempted herself to convert to witchcraft. Elegantly made and told by writer/director Elle Callahan but her own absurd story causes it to sink under its own weight. Watch “The Witches” again instead.

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“The God Committee” (** out of four) was a misguided medical melodrama about a hospital administration committee (Julia Stiles, Kelsey Grammar, Janeane Garaofalo, Colman Domingo, and others) who have one hour to decide which of three patients deserves a life-saving heart but seven years later- they all struggle with their conscience and consequences as to whether they made the right decision. Intriguing and interesting plot points get lost as film becomes muddled and overall ineffectual. Stiles is rock-solid and holds film together at least for a little while.

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“Lockdown 2025” (*1/2 out of four) was a substandard (and umpteenth) rip-off of “Night Of The Living Dead” about a strong-knight family (Glenn Plummer, Cosey Parker, Marcus Tark, and others) who turn to their home shelter in the midst of a nationwide lockdown and martial law but soon find that the real horror and evil may exist from within as they soon turn on one another. Nothing you haven’t seen done before and done better many times over; sad to see the talented Plummer wasting his talent in direct-to-DVD fare like this

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“Let Us In” (** out of four) was a half-baked sci/fi hodgepodge about a small-town girl (Mackenzie Moss) who begins to investigate the sudden disappearance of several other friends in her area and begins to realize that there may be other and larger sinister forces at play and turns to a local cultist (Tobin Bell) for help. Well-intentioned and well-acted but never escapes the feeling of warmed-over Jim Henson, Steven Spielberg, and Ron Howard all ground up in a mild blender. Bell seems to be doing outtakes of Jigsaw all over again and is in film very briefly.

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“Werewolves Within” (*1/2 out of four) was a lame adaptation of the Red Storm video game set in a small town in winter in which a new forest ranger (Sam Richardson) and a postal worker (Milana Vayntrub) and other townfolk (Michael Chernus, George Basil, and others) find themselves under siege from a mysterious creature that is terrorizing the community. Toothless horror comedy manages to actually rip off “The Howling” and also “Night Of The Living Dead” in equal measure; packed with annoying characters who spout off even more annoying dialogue. For hard-core fans of the video game only.

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“Blood Pageant” (* out of four) was a disastrously lame horror comedy about a cheesy reality show in which the various actors (Chris Gilmore, Anthony Sands, Beverley Mitchell, and others) find that their set is being stalked by a maniac slasher who seems to have watched “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Halloween” one too many times. Relentlessly dumb attempt to satirize reality television and combine it with a horror movie; it’s not a good sign in a movie when you’re rooting for the killer and waiting for all the annoying characters to die. Snoop Dogg, Stephen Baldwin, and Danielle C. Ryan pick up a couple of extra bucks in superfluous cameos.

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“Extraction Point” (0 stars out of four) was an execrable time-waster about a UFO which is taken by top-secret shadowy government operatives; one concerned citizen (Farid Jamal Khan) snoops around and ends up finding a secret laboratory run by a sinister doctor (Joe Bei) and becomes friends with his assistant (Tara London) and finds that all Hell is about to break loose. Mind-numbing incoherent dreck suggests an “X-Files” episode filmed on someone’s cell-phone. Literally impossible to follow but film is so cheap and dull it’s not even worth the bother. Do yourself a favor and “extract” this one from your list.

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“Till Death” (** out of four) was a stylish but empty suspense thriller in which a woman (Megan Fox) wakes up handcuffed next to her husband (Eoin Macken) who commits suicide; she then has to attempt to unshackle him while two coldhearted killers (Callan Mulvey and Jack Roth) attempt to finish her off. Handsomely produced and well-shot by Jamie Cairney but movie stalls and lags after a while and never fully takes off. Fox does what she can with a limited role but is handcuffed herself by mediocre script. Not all that different from Stephen King’s “Gerald’s Game.”

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“The Hike” (* out of four) was an abysmal horror thriller about a group of girlfriends (Jemma Bolt, Lisa Marie Long, and others) who embark on a camping trip and are besieged by (how’s this for originality) a group of rednecks and they have to fight back against them to make it out of the woods and stay alive. Hard to believe that 2 horror movies with the EXACT SAME TITLE and almost identical plot could be released in the same week but seeing is unfortunately believing. For anyone who needs further proof of horror films’ bankruptcy of new ideas, look no further.

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“Ripper Untold” (*1/2 out of four) was a drably done horror thriller set in 18th century London in which a detective (Jonathan Hansler) and a medical examiner (Chris Bell) start looking into a series of bizarre and gruesome murders; however, they soon begin to suspect that one of them may be the killer who is to become Jack The Ripper. Some sharp dialogue between the two is drowned out by film’s uninspired and dreary presentation and film’s languid pace. At this point, maybe they should leave Bloody Jack alone and let him rust in peace.

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