“American Assassin” (**1/2 out of four) was a reasonably engrossing but lukewarm action thriller about a young hothead (Dylan O’Brien) whose girlfriend is murdered by Islamic terrorists while they are on vacation and is subsequently drawn into the world of the C.I.A. involving a counter-terrorism unit run by a former Navy SEAL (Michael Keaton) who mentors him as they try to team up and enact revenge and at the same time save the world. Film moves fast and features plenty of action scenes and has a spectacular action climax yet remains oddly aloof and never connects emotionally. Yet another “Bourne” wannabe that comes frustratingly close to working but yet falls short. Keaton is first-rate as usual.

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“The Child In Time” (** out of four) was a muddled story about a children’s book author (Benedict Cumberbatch) whose life begins to unravel and fall apart when his daughter suddenly goes missing and his relationship with her mother (Kelly Macdonald) subsequently falls apart. What starts off as a harrowing story of a child’s abduction and one man’s difficulty to cope and move on with his life badly loses its way, as story becomes aimless and adrift. Occasional touching scenes can’t save it. Cumberbatch is first-rate as usual but is unable to enrich the material.

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“The Hatred” (* out of four) was an inept horror thriller that horror fans really will hate about four college students (Sarah Davenport, Gabrielle Bourne, Bayley Corman, Alisha Wainwright) who travel to their college professor’s home in the countryside for a weekend getaway but soon find out that the house has a (don’t get scared yet) malevolent past and they are soon stalked to the death one by one. Opening scenes set in the past are laughable and reminiscent of “The Village”; later scenes recall any standard teen-in-peril or haunted house movie and aren’t much of an improvement.

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“Lone Wolves” (*1/2 out of four) was a toothless post-apocalyptic thriller set in another vast wasteland in which a tough soldier (Warren Otteraa) is forced to live in an abandoned shack at the base of a radio tower in trying to hide from roaming monsters; he finally makes contact with a scientist (Alana Tranter) and a doctor (David Leeming) stranded at a space station and together they attempt to save civilization. Director Christopher Jacobs shows some promise and he also wrote, produced, and composed the music but it’s all wasted on a story we’ve seen way too many times before that rips off “28 Days Later” for the umpteenth time.

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“Waffle Street” (** out of four) was a pleasant but predictable drama based on James Adams’ 2010 memoir about a young wealthy financial advisor (James Lafferty) whose laid off from his hedge fund during the recession and goes to work at a waffle fast-food chain and both rebuilds and expands his personal and financial knowledge with the aid of hard work and an elderly cook (Danny Glover) who befriends him. Glover is a pleasure to watch as always and it’s also good to see Marshall Bell back on the screen as the store manager but it’s all a bunch of empty calories. For a more stark and moving story about the recession, watch 2009’s “The Company Men” instead.

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“The Show” (** out of four) was an obvious melodrama about a television show host (Josh Duhamel) who has a nervous breakdown and starts a new show in which the contestants end their lives for money in front of a mass audience. Duhamel is no Peter Finch and this is no “Network” but Giancarlo Esposito’s heartbreaking, Oscar-worthy performance as a struggling father makes this worth watching for at least a few minutes. Esposito also directed and ironically- you wish he focused the film more on his character instead. James Franco appears unbilled in a minor role at the beginning

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“Last Rampage: The Escape Of Gary Tison” (** out of four) was a blah melodrama based on the true story of the 1978 prison break of Gary Tison (Robert Patrick) and Randy Greenawalt (Chris Browning) from Arizona state prison and the national manhunt from law enforcement (Bruce Davison, John Heard, and others) that followed. What may have seemed electrifying and revelatory back in 1978 seems overly pat and familiar now. Even the usually dynamic Patrick seems to be just going through the motions and has played this role one-too-many times before. Davison, however, has one of his best roles in years and Heather Graham is nearly unrecognizable as one of their family members. A mediocre effort from director Dwight Little who has directed several noted episodes of “Prison Break”.

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“Cult Of Chucky” (*1/2 out of four) was a low-rent seventh entry in this wearisome series about the killer doll (voiced as always by Brad Dourif) returning to terrorize his former victim Nica (Fiona Dourif) whose now in a mental hospital. More confusing and dumb than fun although final twist in which Chucky figures out a way to possess several bodies (hence the title) is worth half a star. Film marks a return for Alex Vincent (who played Andy Barclay in the original) and Jennifer Tilly but gives them almost nothing to do. Hard to remember how scary and clever the original was back in 1988.

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“Sniper: Ultimate Kill” (** out of four) was a hollow seventh (!) entry in this never-ending series about the American sniper (Chad Michael Beckett) who is sent to Bogota and teams up with a feisty DEA agent (Danay Garcia) to eliminate a ruthless drug-runner named “The Devil”; upon arriving to Bogota, he soon discovers that his father (Tom Berenger) has been called out of retirement and is running the C.I.A. operations there. Of note solely for a reunion scene between original “Sniper” veterans Berenger and Billy Zane. Other than that, this is more-of-the-same and strictly for series fans.

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“The Houses October Built 2” (* out of four) was a horrendous sequel to the equally horrendous original showing five friends (Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Mikey Roe, and others) recovering from the trauma from the original who decide to face their fears and go on a cross-country trek of Halloween haunted houses but find that the Blue Skeleton may still be alive and still stalking them. Desperate anthology of horror-movie and found-footage cliches offers no scares or jolts, and most of the characters are annoying and unlikeable. Final scene leaves the door open for another sequel and that’s scarier than anything in the film. Did anyone really like the original that much?

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