“House Of Deadly Secrets” (*1/2 out of four) was a misbegotten thriller about a mother and her young daughter (Angie Patterson and Violet Hicks) who move into a new house not realizing that it has a dark history and the elderly woman who lived there previously (Patty McCormack) is a psychopathic killer who wants to reclaim it as her own. No suspense and story will be pretty obvious after the first 20 minutes to anyone whose seen a thriller before. McCormack is creepy though as the senior-citizen killer.

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“A Model Kidnapping” (** out of four) was a passable thriller about a young aspiring model (Lucy Loken) who meets with a fashion photographer (Wes McGee) in the hopes he’ll launch her career but is instead kidnapped and held hostage for him to show off on his new online website he is trying to launch and she must figure out a way to stay alive and escape. Tension builds but story is fairly predictable and general plot outline is unpleasant. Decent actors do what they can with cardboard roles.

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“Psychedelic Psychopaths” (0 out of four) was a disastrously lame and inept horror show about four none-too-bright friends (Patrice Burton, Lucia Romero, Tom Zarzecki, and Crispin Rosenkranz) who party hard and subsequently have difficulty differentiating reality from hallucinations and stumble upon other swell folks who are partaking in an occult ritual and want to involve them in this. Terrible filmmaking and acting provide the only real terror here and film is also stupid and disgusting, as it shows kids being tortured and killed! Co-star Zarzecki also wrote and directed and bears most of the blame for this mess.

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“Crystal’s Shadow” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty dismal horror melodrama about a young woman named Crystal (Mhairi Calvey) who is stalked by a strange man in black and flees into the dark countryside seeking help. Is this man a figment of her imagination or is she going insane? Some interesting ideas are “overshadowed” by film’s funereal pace and low-rent filmmaking. Film’s credits say it is dedicated to fellow travelers, mind expanders, truth seekers, and the morbidly curious!

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“The Red Sea Diving Resort” (** out of four) was a tepid melodrama based on the true story of a heroic Mossad agent (Chris Evans) who in the late ’70’s/early ’80’s used a deserted holiday hotel in Sudan as a front to smuggle thousands of refugees to Israel and help many who were diseased and dying but this put him in personal and political crossfire with his organization superiors (Greg Kinner and Ben Kingsley) and his fellow agents (Alessandro Nivola, Haley Bennett, and others). Undeniably intriguing story has a few good scenes but never fully detonates and takes off and goes on too long. Similar stories were told with far more power and conviction in “Hotel Riwanda” and “Argo.” Good music score by Mychael Danna

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“Dead Love” (*1/2 out of four) was an incoherent mystery thriller about a young man (Elias Harger) who falls in love with a mysterious funeral director (Kate Linder) with several dark secrets that threaten to envelop them both. Too much mumbo and too much jumbo and not enough fun in this potboiler. By the end, it literally makes no sense but you’ll probably be happy it’s over by that point. “Dead Movie” would have been a better title for this mess.

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“A Score To Settle” (** out of four) was a muddled melodrama about an ex-convict (Nicolas Cage) who returns home after 22 years of wrongful imprisonment and seeks vengeance on his former mob cohorts (Benjamin Bratt, Mohamed Karim, and others) and simultaneously tries to rebuild a relationship with his estranged son (Noah Le Gros). Cage is good in an unusual role for him but story wanders and is limited in its emotional power and thus never excels as a pulp-revenge thriller nor as a character study. Cage actually played a similar character in “Gone In 60 Seconds” with more juice. A middling “Score” at best.

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“Coyote Lake” (*** out of four) was a potent border melodrama about a teenager (Camila Mendes) and her overbearing mother (Adriana Barraza) who run a bed-and-breakfast along the U.S./Mexico border but two guests arrive in the middle of the night threatening everyone’s safety and they have to try to outsmart them and at the same time find their personal and criminal motives for this. Interesting and intriguing story harks back to early-day Sam Peckinpah and keeps its grip thanks to Mendes’ stirring lead performance through occasional lulls. Final third is particularly strong as many of the characters’ lives and fates intersect.

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“Bottom Of The 9th” (** out of four) was a sincere but undistinguished melodrama about a once-aspiring baseball player (Joe Manganiello) who returns home to his Bronx neighborhood after 17 years in prison and attempts to pick up the pieces of his life and reconnects with his former coach (Michael Rispoli) who is able to fulfill his dream of playing baseball again. Strong performance from Manganiello helps keep this watchable but story is never as powerful or compelling as it should have been, and thus only results in a mild hit rather than a home run. Sofia Vergara is strong in an underwritten role as his former girlfriend.

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“Fast And Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” (**1/2 out of four) was an outlandish spin-off of the “Fast And Furious” series in which rogue agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and crew member Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) are forced to team with Shaw’s sister (Vanessa Kirby) when a genetically enhanced villain (Idris Elba) threatens worldwide destruction. Full of the series’ usual large-scale action scenes and moves fast enough but it starts to wear out after a while as story eventually starts to become tiresome, even though it keeps slamming you over the head with loud action and effects. Johnson and Statham make an engaging team and Elba is an entertaining villain but this still feels like an unnecessary (and cartoonish) extension of the series.

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