By the third time, the effort and enthusiasm can still be appreciated, but knowing where all the scares are takes away from authentic thrills.

“We Are What We Are” looks great, sounds great, and is thick with mood that other efforts can only dream of accomplishing.  It is also stretched out, takes its time catching fire, and lacks the hearty meat that makes genre audiences respond.

If “Dead Weight” were a movie made by your friends, you could tell them that they did a great job and it would not be a lie.  But that is exactly what “Dead Weight” comes across as: a movie made by a group of your friends.

Aside from its franchise association, there is nothing in “Paranormal Activity 2” that is not readily available in dozens of similar, and better, entries in the same sub-genre.

The best advice is to pocket conventional expectations and take the film with the same “let’s just see what happens” approach that the Rambler has.  “The Rambler” would not be the strangely appealing movie it is if it were presented as any less off the wall.

If one-tenth of the effort put into trumping up the film’s IMDB page was put into the acting, script, cinematography, or anything else about the movie, “Paranormal Apparition” might have been worth watching.

“Paranormal Activity” has to be admired for straightforward storytelling, a well-crafted structure, and relatable horror with an inarguable ability to captivate conventional audiences.

Those who only want a stark horror film rooted in reality that engraves nightmarish imagery in the mind's eye will find that “Megan Is Missing” can accommodate in spades.

Flawed, imperfect, and at times irritating, “Skew” is a movie that gives more thought than most to its narrative, even if the cohesiveness can be considered tenuous.

“The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill” favors pseudo-documentary over purely fictional horror entertainment to present what a real-life ghost chase would actually be like: frightfully boring.

“Fear Lives Here” ping pongs between “okay I guess” and connect-the-dots conventions while depicting an exceptional example of what makes a horror movie mediocre.  The overall film may not completely sink to the bottom, but it certainly does not rise to the top, either.

The problem for "The Upper Footage" is that it has no chance to thrill as suspense or to engage as a character study because its characters are thoroughly obnoxious by design.

“+1” presents a fearless approach to storytelling ... the overall effect is one of a movie that has a unique take on venerable sci-fi ideas about reliving the past and meeting one’s clone.

“I Am ZoZo” is a too tame horror story that develops an occasionally eerie atmosphere, but it never delivers a solid jab, much less a knockout punch.

Everything in the first act that asks for attention ends up not mattering in a storyline that only leads to routine suspense fare any number of films have already done better.

The zombie genre is too saturated to take notice of a few animated muzzle flashes and some digital blood spray in service of an underachieving tale about three battle-hardened Army men and their dull autobiographer.

If not for the "twist" given away by the poster, "Mother" would play perfectly as one of those educational films masquerading as entertainment that teachers force bored students to suffer through.

"The Seasoning House" does not reinvent the revenge thriller, but it encapsulates all of the elements and feelings ... that give the sub-genre such power to leave a lasting impression on the mind.

All three shorts stroll leisurely through their storylines with a stride buoyed by a rich roster of supporting players, but pulled under by excessive padding weighing down the energy.

Unless the goal was for the audience to feel the same confused abandonment as a troubled orphan, "Dark Touch" misses as a psychological thriller with its slow to gel purpose and a lead character that is just not compelling.