Stalwart Shyamalan supporters may view the scaled-back scope and “found footage” frame as a welcome return to simple storytelling form for the critically embattled filmmaker.

While “Contracted” wanted quieter body horror chills, “Contracted: Phase II” takes on a tone of being an R-rated horror show episode of “Criminal Minds.”

Poorly put together as a first-person film, the only speed “The Cutting Room” has is along the fast track to Dullsville.

20 years earlier, when self-aware style was all the rage and haunted asylum spelunking was not yet an overdone theme, “Exeter” might have been ahead of its time.

Reasons to see "Paranormal Island" have quite a bit in common with ghosts and with flush-beating poker straights: they don’t exist.

For anyone who has ever wondered why the workplace has so little natural sunlight, “Bloodsucking Bastards” is just what the doctor ordered for an eerily appropriate horror-comedy.

There are still those of us carrying candles for fondly regarded shows such as “War of the Worlds” or “Psi-Factor” who cannot help but be swayed by the syndicated sci-fi style.

Be sure to brace expectations for a werewolf western that has more of the latter than it does of the former.

“Poltergeist Activity” is the cinema equivalent of ramen noodles ... Once the cup goes in the trash, so does all memory of the meal.

If only its trail sped down a hill of horror instead of slowly slogging up one, “Kantemir” might be more memorable instead of being mostly mediocre.

If none of the notable Star Trek personalities participated in this project, and everything else remained as is, how much enthusiasm would there be for “Star Trek: Of Gods and Men?”

“It Follows” doesn’t build scares on jumps and visceral thrills. Its horror is a slow-crawling virus that subtly disturbs with under-the-skin eeriness.

The challenge “Harbinger Down” has in front of it is coming up with a concept for a story that matches the concept for the creatures and the charisma of the cast.

There is simple charm in the straightforward story and retro horror appeal that makes “The Funhouse” the gold standard granddaddy of killer carnival thrillers.

In the face of superior backwards-unfolding suspense yarns, you may not remember ("Amnesiac"), which poetically befits a film about missing pieces of memory.

It is the equivalent of filmic escargot in that it moves with the urgency of a you-know-what, yet is flavored as a delicacy for palates seasoned to its patient cinematic style.

It sandwiches in so much of the same recycled UFO-related references and fiction that the story mirrors the first-person format as being boringly outdated.

Forced to choose amongst any of Blumhouse’s other teen-targeted thrillers like “Ouija” or “Unfriended,” “The Gallows” has marginally more to offer as a paranormal activity chiller.

The movie’s most distinguishing characteristic is that it will forever be known as “that found footage flashlight flick.”

Take an assembly line attitude towards crafting a low-level motion picture, and the result is a movie so flavorless, it cannot even be described as vanilla.