Before you know it, viewers gradually transform into frogs slowly boiled alive without realizing the dangerous heat enveloping them until it’s too late.

“Venom: The Last Dance” is one of the most accurate representations of comic book concepts and qualities in film format I’ve ever seen.

“The Soul Eater” probably works better as a book since it’s not quite the movie seemingly sold by the art or the pedigree of its directors.

If you don’t get major “The Last of Us” vibes from “Elevation,” it’ll only be because you didn’t play the games or watch the HBO series.

Expect an aggressively implausible whodunit where the who is unsatisfying and the how and why they dunit has holes deeper than the Mariana Trench.

Whether you like the film’s irreverent attitude or not, “Street Trash” is exactly the rude, ridiculous, rebellious movie Kruger means for it to be.

Although sleeker and perhaps scarier, “Smile 2’s” fault is that it’s arguably “more of the same” rather than a real advancement on what came before.

At least the movie only runs 70 minutes, though I suppose that extra 10 technically disqualifies it from being a literal amateur hour.

While the movie works as an atmosphere-building slow burn, the lack of substance in the story makes “Black Cab” harder to get into as a narrative.

What’s on the other side of the cellar door is far more disappointing than anyone can imagine, and so is the bland movie bearing its name.

It’s hard not to think a better heroine and a little more linearity might have earned “Last Straw” another full star.

Terry Gionoffrio’s ordeal simply seems like a trial run for what Rosemary Woodhouse experiences in a scarier, sleeker, superior movie.

Everyone else who has no problem with a fright flick that feels like “Lizzie McGuire” decided to get dark with a PG-13 Halloween special should do just fine.

Coralie Fargeat and “The Substance” showed me things I’ve never seen before alongside things I didn’t even know a movie could do.

“Don’t Move” relies heavily on serendipitous events and “you’ve got to be kidding me” behavior, which amasses an amount of disbelief not all viewers will be willing to suspend.

Emotionally charged performances make “Woman of the Hour” a consistently compelling, and occasionally unsettling, examination of violence’s often overlooked victims.

“Carved” has a creative concept. What the movie does not have is a punchy, popping personality to match its peculiar premise.

The movie you might think you’re getting may not be the movie it actually is, as “Never Let Go” packs a different punch than the one you see coming.

The return to a familiar formula focused on fan service puts the film in a fight against creative freedom to stamp a standout mark in the series.

Enjoyable without being empty, and sincere without being sappy, "Mr. Crocket" manufactures a solid selection for a "31 Nights of Halloween" marathon.