“Black Phone 2’s” crossover into “A Nightmare on Elm Street” territory works well on the surface, but not as well for the familiar fiction operating underneath.

This is an unentertaining sequel that’s poorly designed as a movie, and unnecessarily plodding as a story.

“Good Boy” rises above its gimmick label by adding thematic heft to what could otherwise have been a one-and-done stunt.

“Vicious” erases potential resonance with inessential stuffing that’s overlong, unnecessarily ambiguous, or just plain boring.

“V/H/S/Halloween” represents the series’ rebound, as it’s easily the franchise’s strongest and most consistent collection in years.

“The Toxic Avenger” feels like a true Troma film, but older, wiser, and with a lot more wit to go along with the grossouts and B-movie bloodbaths.

The real thing these shorts have in common is that they're all too long by about 20%, and some have nearly nothing to do with the supposed sci-fi frame.

The result is a consecutive collection of incongruent stories whose tenuous connection is just that they're sheltering under the same thin umbrella.

Where “Night of the Reaper” hits a hard snag with its comparatively calmer tone is in not establishing the same sense of dread that “Halloween” does.

Everything about “Witchboard” 2024 can be described as “average,” with “below” fitting in front of that word more often than “above” applies.