“Can’t Take It Back” (** out of four) was a mean-spirited and unpleasant horror story which runs nearly two hours you won’t be able to ever take back about a group of high-school students (Logan Paul, Noah Centineo, and Marnie Alexenburg) who leave hateful comments on the page of a fellow student who recently committed suicide. Or did they? Or have they come back? Reasonably well-directed and well-acted but story and characters are hard to care about and thus so is the movie. Similar in some ways to “Sorority Row” which was scarier- and better.

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“The 5th Kind” (* out of four) was the worst kind of horror movie, an umpteenth found-footage claptrap about three friends (Sean Taylor, Randall Cropp, Zech Johnson) who try to become internet-famous by filming a survival show out in the woods but a deranged redneck shows up and crashes the party. Unfortunately, neither him nor anyone else in the movie seems to have ever seen “Deliverance” or even “The Cabin In The Woods” for that matter. Practically worthless movie could have been made by anyone who had 5 bucks and a camcorder.

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“Antihuman” (*1/2 out of four) was an anti-entertaining horror thriller about a young woman (Anya Korzun) who returns with three friends to the secluded psychological research facility where her deceased mother used to work but they all soon realize that various ghosts of the past from the facility have returned to the present which tear away at all known bounds of time, memory, and space. Or something like that. Mumbo-jumbo thriller is confusing, weird, and boring. Korzun’s sincere performance is wasted. Some laughable scenes really need to be seen to be believed but in no way is that a recommendation.

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“Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House” (** out of four) was a curiously cool and aloof biographical drama about Mark Felt (Liam Neeson) who in 1972 went under the code-name of Deep Throat to help journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to President Nixon leaving the White House. Fascinating story of how one man ultimately led to the toppling of power and corruption is never as compelling or crackling as it should have been and never cuts loose. Neeson, however, is outstanding as usual and is surrounded by a first-rate supporting cast including Diane Lane and Josh Lucas. Same story was told much mesmerically in 1978’s “All The President’s Men.”

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“Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” (** out of four) was a wholly unnecessary sequel to the original which came out 22 years ago about four teenagers who play the same game Jumanji and become sucked inside the game and become adult avatars (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black) in the jungle fighting for their lives. Lots of action and visual effects but no sense of awe or wonder like the original had, and it goes on forever. Nice ending and good cast can’t save it. Gives new meaning to the term “bored games”.

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“Pitch Perfect 3” (** out of four) was a cloying third entry in this popular series about the Bellas (Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, and many others) who reunite one last time for an overseas USO tour but face their toughest competition yet from a group who plays their own instruments and Becca is later courted and offered an individual solo career apart from the Bellas. Fans of the original (I wasn’t) will probably like this but it’s a mediocre tune for the rest of us. Musical numbers are a highlight but this still feels like an unnecessary sequel. John Lithgow is unusually hammy as the villain and Wilson is annoying as usual. Ciao, bellas!

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“Bright” (***1/2 out of four) was a riveting, electrifying cop thriler about a middle-aged officer (Will Smith) who has to team up with an alien cop (an unrecognizable Joel Edgerton) but they soon find themselves in the midst of a conspiracy with the cops and the underworld which is much bigger than they realize and forces the two of them to go on the run as they fight for their lives. Director David Ayer pins you to your seat and doesn’t let go until the final third when it gradually starts to wane. Smith has his best role and starring vehicle in years and him and Edgerton have great chemistry in a first-rate script which combines hard-boiled dialogue, humor, and suspense in equal measure. Bullseye!

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“Hellriser” (*1/2 out of four) was a slapdash, chintzy horror thriller that sadly isn’t as clever as its title set in London in which a veteran detective (Steven Dolton) and his young partner (Charlie Bond) investigate a series of brutal murders which leads them to an insane asylum under the domination of a sadistic doctor (Andrew Coughlan) and his experiments on patients. Low-rent horror story starts off as a slasher thriller and then merges into another boring story about the gateways to Hell although I guess that’s what you should expect from a movie with the title “Hellriser.” Dolton’s strong performance is wasted.

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“Blood Circus” (** out of four) was a routine underworld melodrama about a retired MMA champion (Jamie Nocher) who becomes entangled in an underground club of brawlers called the Blood Circus in which he must fight to stay alive and protect his family while a concerned former friend and cop (Tom Sizemore) investigates. Half-baked and half-hearted rip-off of “Fight Club” is predictable every step of the way although Sizemore has one of his best roles in years as a sympathetic cop and so does Robert LaSardo as a treacherous thug who puts the club together.

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“Hitchhiker Massacre” (*1/2 out of four) was a wretched throwback to grindhouse cinema about numerous young beautiful hitchhikers who are being kidnapped and killed across the American Midwest and how one such hitchhiker (Ely Lamay) attempts to stand up to the killer and to survive. For freaks and masochists only and for those who simply can’t wait for the next “I Spit On Your Grave” and “Saw” entries. Katherine Cronyn who plays one of the hitchhiking victims is actually the granddaughter of both Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy but let’s just be kind and say this is no “Cocoon.”

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