Amanda Evans’ directorial feature debut is a psychological portrait exploring a fractured marriage facing internal as well as external threats.

“My Friend Dahmer” tells a tragic tale of a teen as invisibly inconsequential as any other, yet fated to be remembered as anything but.

Put expectations on “popcorn” and its domino line of expertly crafted illusions culminates in a crash of devilishly crowd-pleasing shrieks.

The movie’s suspense is subdued by its sullen setting when its noir-ish tone and tension is shouting to have a more scorching edge.

“Replace” positions horror using alluring atmosphere that is suggestive, seductive, and disconcertingly dreamlike in quality.

When you realize “47 Meters Down” aims to be an uncomplicated summertime thriller best consumed with a box of Milk Duds, it’s easy to settle into its style of suspense.

As a purely offbeat, “out there” experience unlike few other films in existence, “The Lure” is an acid trip of alluring oddness.

Whatever the audience was meant to get out of it, what they receive is a dippy movie that doesn’t try nearly hard enough to have real impact.

“The Lawnmower Man” wears the crown for being the adaptation of a Stephen King work to least resemble its source material.

What does a 1980s Full Moon fright flick look like when it has a multimillion dollar budget and an all-star cast?

“Prisoner X” combines the Samuel L. Jackson thriller “Unthinkable” with the sci-fi setup of “Predestination.”

If the entire movie were as gleefully silly as its final scenes, it would be easy to grant “200 Degrees” a blessing for being “guilty pleasure” entertainment.

The viewer becomes caught in a conflict of wanting superficial salaciousness to be backed by substance the story simply doesn’t have.

Invest in the atmosphere and stick with the story and “Camera Obscura” rewards with a moodily macabre chiller, albeit a quietly self-contained one.

Look past the bare spots in atmosphere and acting and one can see deeper meaning aching to be acknowledged.

It’s a textbook thriller built for one late night watch, for which it is perfectly fine, adequate, serviceable, and not bad.

Take out the second screen novelty, which isn’t strong to begin with, and “Capture” is largely forgettable as “found footage.”

I’ll be sent to Mars in a rocket ship before I’ll be able to make heads or tails of the story and describe the movie in any meaningful detail.

Spectacular visual style would be more impressive if the pace could keep sleepy eyes open enough to appreciate the effort.

Director Andrew Getty "was addicted to train wrecks.”  Apparently so much so that he obsessed over orchestrating one of his own.