“Amityville: Where The Echo Lives” (*** out of four) was a stirring horror melodrama about a paranormal investigator (Sarah McDonald) who has to confront a sinister and dark entity that is invading a neighbor’s home which causes her to confront other various personal demons in her own life. One of the better entries in the endless “Amityville” ouevre, thanks to moody direction from director Carlos Ayala, a strong lead performance from McDonald, and a haunting and lyrical music score also by Ayala.

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“Santa Isn’t Real” (*1/2 out of four) was a humbug horror thriller about a young woman (Kaya Coleman) who survives a brutal attack on Christmas Eve from Santa Claus; upon coming out of her coma, she tries to convince her friends (Scarlett Sperdeto, Trey Anderson, and others) about what happened and stop Santa Claus before he comes back and tries to make it their final Christmas ever. Exploitative movie tries to juxtapose elements of psychodrama and PTSD into its slasher story but it winds up a real lump of coal. Striking cinematography from Sean Conley and Coleman’s strong performance are film’s few assets.

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“Canary Black” (*** out of four) was a rock-solid suspense melodrama about an assassin (Kate Beckinsale) who is blackmailed by various terrorists and government officials (Ray Stevenson, Saffron Burrows, Michael Brandon, and others) to save her kidnapped family and has to resort back to her survival skills to stay alive. Routine story of doublecrosses and governmental conspiracies made to a stylish sheen from director Pierre Morel (“Taken”) and film is well-crafted and well-oiled. Beckinsale is strong in a perfectly cast role; film is dedicated to Stevenson in one of his final roles.

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“Missing Couple” (** out of four) was a perfunctory horror melodrama about a couple (Austin and Janna Jenkins) who set out on an adventure to renovate an abandoned farmhouse in rural Mississippi but fell prey to strange occurrences and ancient horror rituals that resulted in them missing. Strictly for those who can’t get enough of the found-footage horror genre as film liberally rips off “The Blair Witch Project” at times but does have a few jumps and spooks to keep it watchable at times. On the whole, though, film is “missing” the vitality and shock that “Blair Witch” and others had over 25 years ago.

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“Depravity” (*1/2 out of four) was a leaden horror melodrama about three roommates (Victoria Justice, Sasha Luss, Devin Ross) who accidentally kill a man (Dermot Mulroney) who they suspect of being a serial killer and their individual guilt kills all of them and turns them against one another. Heavy on spooky atmosphere but everything else about it is heavy as well and dull. Quite a genre change for writer/director Paul Ramsay who previously wrote the “Air Bud” series.

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“Stream” (*1/2 out of four) was a sub-routine gorefest about a family (Danielle Harris, Charles Edwin Powell, and others) who go on vacation to a hotel owned by a deranged lunatic (Jeffrey Combs) who has a competition and game for who can enact the most violent kill. Mixture of elements from “Scream” and “Saw” combined with the in-your-face shock value of the “Terrifier” series is a wildly uneven ride. Film was ironically made for theaters but was removed and relegated to streaming after only 4 days. Of note solely for being Tim Curry’s first role in 15 years although he is masked the entire time.

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“Seven Cemeteries” (** out of four) was a thinly conceived action melodrama about a recent parolee (Danny Trejo) who enlists the help of a Mexican witch (Maria Cannals-Barrera) to resurrect his posse so they can enact revenge on a vicious drug lord (Sal Lopez) and a corrupt sheriff (Ronnie Clark). Mildly amusing and relatively watchable but a little of this goes a long way and it wears out after a while. Trejo’s rock-solid presence and effortless charisma give film a strong charge as usual.

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“Carved” (*1/2 out of four) was a slapdash collection of horror thriller “carved” out from much better movies; on Halloween, a group of survivors (Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Corey Fogelmanis, Carla Jimenez, and others) find themselves stranded in a historical reenactment village where they find themselves stalked and slashed by a vengeful pumpkin. Writer/director Justin Harding adapted this from his 2018 short film of the same name but in this case less is/was definitely more. It’s hard to make a scary film in general about a killer pumpkin!

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“Venom: The Last Dance” (** out of four) was a tired third entry in the Marvel comic series about Eddie and Venom (Tom Hardy) who face pursuit from various figures (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifians, and others) from both worlds which forces them to realize it might be the end of their symbiotic relationship together. Filled with the usual tongue-in-cheek humor and visual effects that you would expect from Marvel entries but it’s all pretty half-hearted and by-the-numbers and for fans only. Final half hour sci/fi blowout makes this worthwhile for Marvel diehards.

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