“Toys Of Terror” (*1/2 out of four) was a slack and shoddy horror romp about a family (Dayo Ade, Verity Marks, Saul Elias, and others) who move into a secluded mansion in which they find toys in the attic that magically come alive but things turn ugly when they realize the toys are killers who want them out so they can have the mansion for themselves. You’d best re-watch “Small Soldiers” or any of the “Toy Story” movies for more scares and certainly more entertainment value than this trifle. Chilly music score by Matthew Rogers is one of film’s few virtues.

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“Hunting Games” (*1/2 out of four) was a wearily derivative action potboiler about a group of villaninous ex-military members (Tito Ortiz, Ed Morrone, and others) attempting to retrieve a lost bag of stolen money for a crime kingpin (Bruce Dern) but a stubborn hunter (Chris C.T. Tamburello) ends up finding it first leading to a showdown and bloodbath. Naturally. Danny Trejo finds his way into the story as a hard-nosed sheriff. Good cast can’t save floundering material and can’t counteract the bad taste this leaves in your mouth. By this point, both Trejo and Dern should be “hunting” for much better scripts.

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“Impuratus” (* out of four) was an insufferable horror slog about a police detective (Tom Sizemore) who investigates a patient in a hospital (Lew Temple) who has obvious supernatural ties that threaten all of their safety. Grueling and pretentious and actually rips off some of the plot of “The Exorcist III” (my personal choice for the worst film of all time). Yet another waste of Sizemore’s talent. Mark David’s stark and foreboding cinematography is film’s sole worthwhile component.

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“Unit 262” (**1/2 out of four) was a better-than-average action potboiler about the F.B.I. (Brian Eric Johnson, Myles McLane, and others) who join forces with the title unit which is a specialized Israeli fighting force in the attempt to capture an international crime kingpin (Hamzah Saman) who is trafficking in nuclear weapons. Proficiently made with good filmmaking and good suspense and action although it does start to unfortunately get mechanical after a little while and loses its grip and supreme tension. Far from great but better than most of its ilk and worthwhile overall.

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“Rival” (*1/2 out of four) was a paint-by-numbers gore thriller set in a small town in which a mass murderer is running around and a high-school girl (Mickey Nunes) begins to realize that someone very close to her may be the killer and she has to go down her list of friends and enemies and possible suspects. Result is such a brazen knockoff of “Scream” (right down to its opening scene and the killer’s outfit) that viewers would be forgiven for thinking this was a remake, alas without that film’s killer wit and irony. Pretty desperate.

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“The Killing Room” (*1/2 out of four) was a vapid suspense psychodrama about four individuals (Nick Cannon, Chloe Sevigny, Timothy Hutton, and Clea Duvall) who sign up for a government research program under a sinister administrator (Peter Stormare) and realize all-too-late the program’s underlying malicious intentions. Good cast is wasted on an unpleasant story that gets slower and talkier as it goes along. Made in 2009 and being re-released now for unknown reasons but all it does is “kill” your time.

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“Raging Grace” (*1/2 out of four) was a graceless horror thriller about a young Filipina immigrant (Max Eigenmann) who gets hired as a caretaker for a terminally ill older man (David Hayman) but soon finds that there are dark secrets in his home that threatens to overtake her psychological stability and sanity. Film takes forever to get going and is pretty familiar and basic even when it does. Amazingly, this won an award at the SXSW Festival. Viewers will likely find more scares by re-watching “Raging Bull” instead.

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“The Last Page” (* out of four) was a terminally treacly soaper about a pair of twin brothers (Madison Bills and Andrew Biasotti) who are on the run but find solage and refuge with a family in Utah involving a loving young woman (Tara Berrett) and the dying patriarch (Link Lindquist) of the family and find that they are all able to ease one another with their various pains and problems in life. Seemingly endless film is suffocating with self-importance and hokey plot dynamics and winds up an earnest and empty bore. By the end, you may feel as if you spent an endless eternity in Sunday school.

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“A Roommate To Die For” (*1/2 out of four) was a laughably obvious suspense melodrama about a successful businesswoman (Angela Cole) who goes through a bitter breakup and decides to take in a new housemate (Zane Haney) who seems like Mr. Perfect until she realizes that something is very wrong with him and no matter how psychotic he is- she can’t evict him and that the law isn’t on her side! Thoroughly predictable thriller with multiple contrivances and logic gaps. Decent performances can’t begin to save it. Similar story told far more skillfully and suspensefully in 1990’s “Pacific Heights.”

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