A tighter focus while reducing fandom fluff would boost “Scary Stories” from decent documentary to definitive primer on ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.’

You won’t find much suspense in “Body at Brighton Rock,” but you will certainly see a lot of setup.

“I’ll Take Your Dead” represents Archibald and Black Fawn’s current peak of what their formula for high quality, low-budget genre fare can achieve.

You’ll never be able to hear Lisa Loeb’s ‘Stay (I Missed You)’ again without immediately seeing this movie in your mind’s eye.

You wouldn’t want to step in it while wearing wingtips for fear of staining good shoes with standard scares and connect-the-dots plotting.

“I Trapped the Devil” keeps its head above water with intriguing interplays, earnest intent to create something creepy, and an omnipresent tone of smoldering suspense.

“Hagazussa” exemplifies a movie made almost exclusively out of mood instead of a stable script. And that mood is more taxingly melancholy than unsettlingly macabre.

“Hail Satan” clarifies that for all of their provocative pageantry, Lucien Greaves’ group is composed of law-abiding rebels committed to promoting positive change on a global scale.

For the franchise faithful, director David Gregory’s quick skip down Memory Lane features all the nostalgia necessary to pull out plenty of fang-baring smiles.

“The Silence” answers the question, what would a Syfy creature feature look like if it replaced campy charm with a misspent big budget and name actors taking the tone too dourly?

If I had to Sophie’s Choice which adaptation I’d rather press Play on for another watch, I’m picking 1989 every time.

Pencils down everyone! “The Haunting of Sharon Tate” has aced the exam for who can create the most tasteless tie-in to one of pop culture’s most notorious murders.

These are those terms earned by “The Wind” that inspire intrigue for some and rolled eyes for others: patient, atmospheric, quiet, moody, bleak, and slow-burn.

What’s more disappointing than an un-fun microbudget mockbuster? An un-fun microbudget mockbuster that doesn’t even mock the movie it’s supposedly busting.

“Mercy Black” turns a tragic true crime into a standard spookshow that’s adequate for a disposable one-and-done watch, but not much else.

Overeager swooners putting backs of hands to fainting foreheads while proclaiming “masterpiece” could stand to dial down the hyperventilating hyperbole.

Director Adam Randall and writer Devon Graye hide an entire deck of suspenseful surprises up their sleeves to keep your imagination mired in mystery throughout.

The illustrations are so acutely dizzying that “Daniel Isn’t Real” becomes one of the most intriguing visualizations of dueling identities ever imagined.

I’m rating “Imitation Girl” down the middle because if the film laid an egg atop a steepled roof, I have no idea which side it would roll down.

It’s difficult to discern how much of “Darlin’s” seriousness and pseudo-slapstick is by design and how much of it might be due to a slipped grip on inconsistent tones.