“Devil’s Mile” is a film rooted in surreal unreality, yet there is no indication of conscious thought behind what anything’s intended purpose is or how it pertains to a discernible, unifying theme.
WER (2013)
“Wer” wants so badly to be weighed as a “realistic” take on the werewolf mythos that it ends up being unrealistic with how common conceptions are conspicuously avoided on both sides of the camera.
VARSITY BLOOD (2014)
This isn’t bad acting and uninspired filmmaking winking with post-modern irony. It’s just bad acting and uninspired filmmaking.
PRESIDENT WOLFMAN (2012)
Filmmaker Mike Davis recuts, rewrites, and redubs the kitchen sink soup to produce a surprisingly smart send-up of American culture, political chutzpah, and the entire medium of film itself.
THE QUIET ONES (2014)
The film does evoke some of Hammer’s hallmark gothic gloom, yet “The Quiet Ones” never manufactures a jolt that isn’t induced by a quick cut or ear-covering audio.
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (2013)
With so many scenes of sleepy-eyed sulking set to hypnotic hums while everyone onscreen lounges about, the film is a virtual dare to not fall asleep after becoming entranced by excessively depressive despondence.
CRAWL OR DIE (2014)
As simple a goal as crafting a poor man’s “Alien” might be in theory, it is still a much bigger bite than “Crawl or Die” has the teeth to chew.
PROXY (2013)
Its arthouse indie shine goes from working for to working against when the film lets every thread wander as far as it wishes for as long as desired.
THE DAMNED (2014)
“The Damned” is the sort of ho-hum horror where some indeterminate amount of time later, your memory will be unable to recall if you actually saw it or not.
DOCTOR WHO: AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND TIME (2013)
This is a love letter written to the series as well as to a passionate fanbase hungry for a proper way to honor their favorite program’s half-century birthday.
AT THE DEVIL'S DOOR (2014)
Those who still cannot shake the sickly feeling of evil crawling on the underside of the skin left by “The Pact” will find “At the Devil’s Door” lingering long in the mind in a suitably similar way.
THE POSSESSION OF MICHAEL KING (2014)
You might think you've seen this movie countless times before, (but) “The Possession of Michael King” is a smarter, more sinister take on a demonic possession tale.
LIVID (2011 - French)
With “Livid,” co-directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo opt to craft an open-to-interpretation dark fairy tale rooted in Guillermo del Toro-like horror fantasy.
JERSEY SHORE MASSACRE (2014)
If a parody of Jersey Shore stereotypes framed as a ... slasher movie piques one’s curiosity, it is hard to imagine that “Jersey Shore Massacre” does not meet whatever expectations might come with the concept and a cast that includes Ron Jeremy.
THE PURGE: ANARCHY (2014)
“The Purge” was a narrowly concentrated home invasion horror. “Anarchy” expands that universe by taking the Purge onto the streets for a more open world look at the widespread effects of the concept.
SEPTIC MAN (2013)
With only overused gross-outs to fill in the blanks, the film doesn’t offer enough personality to fulfill the promise of its off-the-wall premise.
THE PACT (2012)
Without cobwebs, creaks, or Victorian parapets, “The Pact” manages to make a grim haunted house out of an average, modern home in suburban California.
KILLER LEGENDS (2014)
The material is ultimately so narrow that I can’t help but feel as though “Killer Legends” is like four half-episodes of “48 Hours Mysteries” strung together for a feature-length film.
CROPSEY (2009)
“Cropsey” bears all the trappings of a traditional horror tale. Except this is a true-crime thriller with a deeper theme of what takes place when myth melts into materiality.
AFTERMATH (2012)
It doesn’t have anything “new” to say regarding the same human survival scenario that horror has been exploring since Ben and Barbra first went into that Pennsylvania farmhouse in 1968.
Maybe more eyes will notice how short the legs are on the concept of a resilient heroine unleashing whoop-ass on empty upper-class stereotypes.