“The Clovehitch Killer” creates an atypical serial killer thriller with intangibly haunting consequences for its characters and audience alike.
TALES FROM THE HOOD 2 (2018)
“Tales from the Hood 2” still gets the basic job done, though its lack of refinement means it may as well be slugged out of a Solo cup instead of a stemmed glass.
HE'S OUT THERE (2018)
What kind of quality can be expected from a movie whose director used a pseudonym and whose publicist employed imaginary praise to drum up an illusion of acclaim?
BLOOD CHILD (2017)
I would believe “Blood Child” is a true story before I’d believe any one of its actors as an authentic person.
SLICE (2018)
“Slice’s” episodic story plays out in film form like stream of consciousness ramblings randomly ripped from a stoner’s notebook.
MARA (2018)
“Mara’s” mediocrity prevents it from being memorable, even among its equally unimpressive peers in the sleep paralysis subgenre.
HOSTILE (2017)
Even though “Hostile” hits bumps impeding immersion in its fiction, inventive craftsmanship enables it to be more easily appreciated as a movie.
OUIJA HOUSE (2018)
Mischa Barton and Tara Reid I understand. But what in the world are Dee Wallace and Chris Mulkey doing in something like “Ouija House?”
BLOOD FEST (2018)
It’s simply splattery and silly, but in a blackly good-humored way that has the colorful enthusiasm of an R-rated “Goosebumps” movie for adults.
THE BAD NUN (2018)
Stick to the advice offered earlier and don’t see this movie. Unless it’s already too late, in which case, welcome to our collective misery.
THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS (2018)
I came out badly wanting the movie to be better than it is. Should you choose to cruise into its black hole of humor, you’ll come out with the same wish.
NIGHTMARE SHARK (2018)
“Nightmare Shark” positions itself as the “Nightmare on Elm Street” of killer shark movies, but it’s not even the “Bad Dreams” of killer shark movies.
SANTA JAWS (2018)
A family fantasy tone makes the film feel like a Hallmark holiday movie with a dash of Syfy creature feature cream spilled in its campy coffee.
DOWN A DARK HALL (2018)
More of an indifferent nibble on Netflix than a specifically sought after rental, “Down a Dark Hall’s” plainly straightforward nature earns it a median grade.
THE BASEMENT (2018)
If you’ve seen M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split,” you’ve already seen a better version of “The Basement.”
UPGRADE (2018)
“Upgrade” plays less like a lower-budgeted 1980s Schwarzenegger extravaganza and more like a bigger-budgeted Full Moon sci-fi romp.
PATIENT ZERO (2018)
Although “Patient Zero” isn’t as abysmally awful as “Day of the Dead: Bloodline,” it isn’t a particularly fascinating, full-bodied, or worthwhile film either.
DEAD NIGHT (2017)
Because “Dead Night” is so incomprehensibly conceived, I’m morbidly curious how much worse “Applecart” possibly could have been.
ALONG CAME THE DEVIL (2018)
Issues with “Along Came the Devil” have as much to do with what we’ve seen before as they do with what the movie perplexingly never shows us at all.
THE KEEPING HOURS (2017)
You absolutely have to be in the mood for a movie designed to make you reach for tissues. Expectations for anything else can only end in dulled disappointment.
Without any interesting arcs, side plots, or even a main plot to go along with the gore, “Ice Cream Man” devolves into a lot of meaningless mayhem.