While its soap opera satire might fizzle, the enchanting artistry behind Anna Biller’s Technicolor romance mixed in a pulp fiction mood sizzles.
THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR (2016)
"The Purge: Election Year" inspires minor food for thought while entertaining with a vibrantly violent blend of suspense and satire.
THE DARKNESS (2016)
The movie is marred by the distinguishing characteristics of something that went through a wringer of rewrites and re-edits, paring it down into a predictable supernatural drama.
THE REMAINS (2016)
“The Remains” is equivalent to nondescript tract housing created from prefab components included in every other bland building already on the block.
DOOMED: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ROGER CORMAN'S THE FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)
“Doomed” is an emotional portrait of a close-knit cast and crew finding camaraderie in a common cause under unusual circumstances.
THE NEIGHBOR (2016)
Penned by “Feast” co-writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, “The Neighbor” is a spiritual successor of sorts to the pair’s “The Collector” and “The Collection” movies.
CLOWN (2014)
The actors’ earnestness balances with the filmmakers’ sarcasm to strike the right mood of weirdness that is sometimes amusing, sometimes revolting, but usually entertaining.
BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE (2016)
For fans, “Batman: The Killing Joke” is popularly regarded as one of the greatest Batman tales ever told. For the film, it’s “just another” animated Bat movie.
VIRAL (2016)
How you felt about the flavor from the first season of "Fear the Walking Dead" is a fair indicator of how you might take to this film’s tone.
KNUCKLEBONES (2016)
If a Jason meets Freddy madman stalking teens in tank tops is enough to make “Knucklebones” worth a watch, you don’t need me raining on the parade with critical comments.
THE GATEWAY (CURTAIN) (2015)
“The Gateway” is precisely the sort of inspired indie effort that fledgling genre filmmakers with minimal resources and maximum outside-the-box initiative should make.
THE AMITYVILLE TERROR (2016)
“The Amityville Terror” is what you get when limited time, a limited budget, and limited enthusiasm come together to pinch out an unoriginal horror film.
DEMON (2015 - Polish)
The movie brims with nightmarish nuance, though its late inning struggle to remain cohesive comes at the cost of undercutting its overall impression.
RED CHRISTMAS (2016)
Second guesses and conflicting intentions create a tone so disoriented, the likeliest audience reaction is utter uncertainty over what to make of the movie.
ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM: GRADUATION (2016 - Japanese)
"Assassination Classroom: Graduation” trades in a fair slice of the first film’s weird whimsy for a follow-up filled with bleak backstory.
SEOUL STATION (2016 - Korean)
In addition to chilling horror entertainment, “Seoul Station” offers a layer of thoughtful introspection regarding societal struggles to anyone desiring more meaning behind their monsters.
PARASITES (2016)
Maybe the film works better for those who mistakenly believe downtown L.A. is some sort of “kill or be killed” wasteland of “Escape from New York” proportions.
WE GO ON (2016)
Blending these subgenres intriguingly transforms associated tropes into a thoughtfully-plotted thriller that gives “We Go On” a unique identity in horror.
FURY OF THE DEMON (2016 - French)
This “Fury of the Demon” may be as fictional as its namesake, but it is completely convincing and creatively compelling from its first minute to its last.
THE UNSEEN (2016)
“The Unseen” isn’t always upfront about its entertainment intentions or its story’s destination, which presents a problem for the fiction’s flow.
Coralie Fargeat and “The Substance” showed me things I’ve never seen before alongside things I didn’t even know a movie could do.