Category: Film Review

Co-writer/director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (“The Platform,” “The Platform 2”) delivers a fascinating story in “Rich Flu,” which imagines a new global pandemic, but the illness only reaches the most affluent of people. It’s a different kind of fright involving the privileged class, and an absolutely ripe idea for cinematic inspection, opening the door to a satiric take on the true power of the powerful, or perhaps horror could be summoned as desperation sets in for those unaccustomed to struggle. For the first half, Gaztelu-Urrutia pursues a tone of panic, following the main character as she gradually understands the danger coming for her, desperate to make sense of a situation that’s beyond comprehension. Gaztelu-Urrutia can’t maintain suspense in the film’s second half, but “Rich Flu” isn’t even interested in maintaining pace and pressure, eventually reaching for a Big Message that takes an hour for the helmer to investigate, only to finally arrive at a forgone conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There have been reports suggesting that “War of the Worlds” was shot in 2020, and the film certainly plays like a production trying to deliver screen intensity while maintaining COVID-19 guidelines. It’s a screenlife take on the 1898 H.G. Wells novel, which has been explored in all forms of media (and will continue to be exploited as a public domain option for B-movie producers), putting music video director Rich Lee in charge of a global alien invasion story that’s explored only through computer and phone screens. Scale normally associated with the brand name isn’t present here, and suspense is missing as well. “War of the Worlds” feels very amateurish and undercooked, out to sell panic and paranoia with limited resources and a script (by Kenneth A. Golde and Marc Hyman) that’s painfully routine, aiming to merge a paint-by-numbers family drama with worldwide destruction. There’s a lot of keyboard action and screen switching, and perhaps there’s a Big Idea on the state of surveillance in America, but it’s all turned into generic mush as Lee has little to work with beyond remote production clumsiness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After the minor box office success of 1995’s “Billy Madison,” Adam Sandler was a comedy star with potential. He was quickly gifted another starring vehicle, and 1996’s “Happy Gilmore” went on to become an even bigger hit, helping to launch his big screen career with arguably one of his best movies, and a title that’s gone on to amass a huge fanbase. The best time for a “Happy Gilmore” sequel would’ve been 1998, but instead of a quick turnaround to remain in Sandler’s youthful ways with silliness, “Happy Gilmore 2” arrives 29 years later, and not a lot has changed for the character or the screenwriting (credited to original writers Sandler and Tim Herlihy). Growth, comedic or otherwise, isn’t the creative goal of the follow-up, as director Kyle Newacheck (2019’s “Murder Mystery”) is basically making “Callback: The Movie,” setting up a recycling factory for the star, who reworks almost every bit from the previous endeavor, deflating the fun factor of seeing Happy back in action. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After this much practice, it’s about time Marvel got this one at least somewhat right. There have been four previous cinematic adventures for the comic book family The Fantastic Four, and none of them really clicked. A 1994 version was doomed from conception, though it worked extremely hard to pull off amazing things without a budget. Iterations in 2005 and 2007 weren’t nearly as fun as they could’ve been, held back by an unadventurous director. And a revival in 2015 was downright awful, killing off future interest in the brand name. The Marvel Cinematic Universe tries again with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” and the production is a lot more confident with its fantasy vision this time around, creating a screen space big enough to handle heroism and gigantic villainy, with director Matt Shakman (a television veteran) mostly in command of the material’s sense of threat. It’s a lumpy endeavor that doesn’t always connect the dramatic dots, but it’s periodically huge, capturing a significant comic book battle previous “Fantastic Four” offerings couldn’t manage without falling apart. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Actress Molly Gordon has been making a positive impression over the last five years. She nailed a supporting role in 2020’s exhilarating “Shiva Baby,” and 2023’s “Theater Camp” found Gordon also accepting responsibilities behind the camera, making her directorial debut with the wonderful film. “Oh, Hi!” presents a different acting challenge for Gordon, who’s tasked with portraying a slightly manic woman trying to process a horrible turn in her romantic life, getting in deep with her partner while he’s chained to a bed. Writer/director Sophie Brooks (“The Boy Downstairs”) doesn’t set the scene for a horror experience, going darkly comedic instead, while retaining some sensitivity around fragile emotions involved in the end of a relationship. “Oh, Hi!” doesn’t really have enough substance to fill a feature-length run time, but it connects in spots, and Gordon is terrific in a complicated role involving pain and pleasure, keeping the feature as compelling as possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Mike Wiluan heads to the fringes of World War II to inspire his latest film, “Monster Island.” With a title like that, images of rampaging creatures doing battle in a remote part of the world come to mind, but the helmer isn’t aiming for a kaiju battle royal. What’s here is actually small in scale, putting two soldiers from vastly different backgrounds against a sea creature who’s intent on defending its terrain. A long game of survival and communication makes up most of “Monster Island,” though Wiluan is attentive to genre needs, delivering a decent amount of blood and guts for horror fans, and he doesn’t follow a digital path for the most part, making sure the ghoulish beast at the center of the story maintains plenty of man-in-suit appeal. The endeavor certainly strains to reach its already short run time, but there’s a modest amount of entertainment value in the offering, especially for those who enjoy creature features. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When we last saw director James DeMonaco in action, it was 2021’s “This Is the Night,” which pulled the helmer away from his duties overseeing “The Purge” franchise to make a coming-of-age movie about the wild night when “Rocky III” opened in Staten Island. At least it wasn’t another “Purge” sequel. DeMonaco tried a dramedy on for size, and it didn’t quite work, urging him back to horror for “The Home,” co-scripting the endeavor with Adam Cantor. The tale concerns a young man and his battle with the unexpected inside a senior care center, and one might expect DeMonaco to find an actor of true dramatic might to help give the fright film some gravitas. Instead, we have Pete Davidson in the lead role, and boy howdy does he look uncomfortable to be there. “The Home” (which was shot three years ago) asks way more of Davidson than he’s capable of giving, and DeMonaco’s no help, submitting a poorly constructed offering of screen terror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenwriters Paul Reichelt and William Kaufman clearly like action movies from the 1980s, working to update the formula with “Osiris,” which often plays like a blend of “Aliens” and “Predator.” It’s derivative stuff from Kaufman, who’s been in the business of B-moviemaking for many years now, and he returns to the realm of limited lighting and locations in the endeavor, which is mostly set inside tiny, dark rooms. “Osiris” is small-time sci-fi, and it’s passably interesting to watch Kaufman treat the offering with seriousness, out to create an exploratory bruiser that pits human warriors against alien hunters. The feature isn’t big enough to really do its premise justice, and Kaufman isn’t clever enough of a filmmaker to make the routine of gunplay and exposition compelling. The picture means to pack a punch, but it rarely excites, and while actress Linda Hamilton is the sole focus of the marketing, it’s best to temper expectations for what’s nothing more than a glorified cameo for the once and future Sarah Connor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The Smurfs have been around for nearly 70 years, explored through most forms of media, including a highly successful cartoon series in the 1980s and various cinematic efforts, the last released in 2017. It’s been very strange to watch Paramount Pictures figure out how to sell a new Smurfs movie to today’s kids, electing to put 100% of their marketing might behind the casting of pop singer Rhianna as the voice of Smurfette, plastering her name everywhere they possibly can. Apparently The Smurfs and their extended hold on pop culture isn’t enough to excite potential viewers anymore. However, after seeing “Smurfs,” perhaps the studio is fully aware of what they’re doing, pushing to deflect attention from the film itself, which is missing a tremendous amount of charm and enjoyable comedy. Director Chris Miller (“Shrek the Third,” “Puss in Boots”) chases other animated offerings with the endeavor, limiting the natural appeal of the source material to create a wearisome picture that’s a blend of “Trolls” and “Inside Out.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After scoring a box office and critical hit with 2019’s “Midsommar,” writer/director Ari Aster was offered an opportunity to take a big creative swing with a sizable budget. The gamble resulted in the creation of 2023’s “Beau is Afraid,” which failed to attract an audience, and perhaps understandably so. Aster crafted a picture that was intentionally unbearable, showing little interest in keeping viewers involved in his vision of absolute misery. Aster returns to screens with “Eddington,” and he’s not giving up on his mission to make the audience feel awful about the world around them. The helmer turns to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic for this study of psychological corruption, returning to his love of tortured characters and the impossible situations of survival they find themselves in. “Eddington” has a range of interesting ideas to share about the insanity of the last five years, but Aster retains his habitual indulgences, losing the impact of his examinations the longer he draws out the run time. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Sequels can mean big business for Hollywood, and recently there’s been the trend of resurrection in horror cinema, bringing back old franchises for fresh exploitation, while the people in charge of titles have the easiest job of all. There was 2018’s “Halloween,” which was a sequel to 1978’s “Halloween,” and there was 2022’s “Scream,” which was a continuation of 1996’s “Scream.” Now there’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” which connects to 1997’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” putting co-writer/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (“Do Revenge”) in charge of reviving a brand name that’s been fully worked over (including two sequels and a television series), merging members of the original cast with a new team of panicking young characters. It’s a formula that resulted in box office success for other franchises, but the new “I Know What You Did Last Summer” isn’t exactly a thrilling ride of slasher cinema nostalgia, finding Robinson unable to recapture the simple charms of the original film. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There haven’t been many animated pictures made for adult audiences, but director Genndy Tartakovsky is the right person for the job. While he’s been building industry cred with his work on the first three “Hotel Transylvania” movies, the helmer has always shown interest in more mature visuals and hard-edged storytelling, as seen recently in his series, “Primal.” There’s nothing sophisticated about his latest, “Fixed,” but Tartakovsky is absolutely committed to providing an R-rated viewing experience for fans of crude cartoon adventures, making sure this study of a dog trying to save himself from being neutered deals directly with all kinds of canine behavior. “Fixed” wins on energy, offering a traditionally animated tour of coarse happenings and strange characters, and while laughs are limited, Tartakovsky is clearly having a ball (or two) with this tribute to animal activity and human-like neuroses. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While once a safe, dependable helmer of Hollywood entertainment, director Ron Howard’s recent career choices have been anything but predictable. His oeuvre could technically be classified as a roller coaster ride, going skyward with movies such as “Rush,” “Thirteen Lives,” and “Jim Henson: Idea Man.” And it’s plunged into the depths, including one of the worst films of 2020, “Hillbilly Elegy.” To his credit, most of these endeavors work to challenge Howard’s moviemaking skills, presenting him with different genres and locations to expand his storytelling horizons. “Eden” is one of those big swings, exploring a developing situation of survival on Floreana Island nearly 100 years ago. Screenwriter Noah Pink (“Tetris”) reheats a true tale of community tensions, out to examine the dramatic potential of strangers forced to endure the elements and one another in the middle of nowhere. “Eden” slips out of Howard’s control in many ways, though its examination of manipulation has its powerful moments. There’s just not enough of them to support the unsteady viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Saint Clare” is an adaptation of the 2012 book titled “Clare At Sixteen,” written by Don Roff. From all evidence, the novel has very little to do with the movie version, including the age of the eponymous character, who’s now a college student. Changes have been made to generate a more adult understanding of what’s really YA literature, but writer/director Mitzi Peirone doesn’t do enough to really shake up the threat level of the picture. “Saint Clare” (which was shot three years ago) hopes to be unsettling with its central mystery of missing women, and it looks to define a different kind of heroism with its lead character, a person using divine influence to take on the scum of the city. Peirone doesn’t have the money to make a nail-biter, so she delivers what’s basically an episode of television instead, playing the offering flatly and without surprises. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A study of Edward Drake’s filmography almost qualifies as a horror experience. He’s been grinding out low-budget actioners for five years now (nine movies in total), and all of them involved the participation of Bruce Willis (who, as we understand now, was fighting a painful health decline due to a developing dementia diagnosis), involving himself in a particularly icky professional situation that provided him with something of a career. It’s amazing there hasn’t been a book written about the alleged exploitation of Willis, but until that day arrives, we still have to deal with Drake, who returns with a new lead actor in Kevin James for “Guns Up,” which is very much like every other feature he’s previously helmed. Also claiming a screenwriting credit, Drake delivers an extraordinarily generic offering of violence and cutesiness in “Guns Up,” supplying nothing new to viewers as the endeavor goes through a tiresome routine of shoot-outs and unwelcome broadness. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Although Tyler Perry once proclaimed he was retiring his most popular character in 2019, Madea returns once again to wreak havoc on the lives of friends, family, and customer service workers. Perry goes the Adam Sandler route in “Madea’s Destination Wedding,” gifting himself a vacation with the endeavor, which takes the gun-totin’ grandmother and her troubled clan to the Bahamas for a change of scenery. There’s more sun and hotel action in the picture, but Perry isn’t about to alter his usual way of moviemaking business, intent on keeping the offering crude in every way. “Madea’s Destination Wedding” is more of the same from the filmmaker, who offers sloppy work and random screenwriting, and Perry has no interest in timing, keeping the tiresome effort caught up in endless riffing and episodic shenanigans, only saving storytelling for the very end of this dismal feature. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Screenlife movies are difficult to pull off. The subgenre requires viewers to sit with characters as they work with their keyboards and phones, often in suspense situations involving killers and predators. There’s not much movement to be found, beyond screen activity, creating inherent limitations when it comes to physical action, which is usually paired with thrillers and chillers. “Don’t Log Off” is another attempt at screenlife suspense, this time examining the dangerous ways of a video conference birthday party, with the guests pulled into a troubling evening when one of their own goes missing during the gathering. Co-writer/directors Brandon and Garrett Baer show a command of screen movement and are dedicated to making sure viewers understand these personalities, but “Don’t Log Off” doesn’t come to life with any sort of fear factor. The picture is lethargic and anticlimactic, and the helmers don’t solve any of the storytelling issues that come with this style of filmmaking, remaining muted with horrors meant to shock the audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s interesting to note that writer/director James Gunn has made seven movies over the last 20 years, and six of them have been based on or influenced by comic books. The man loves superhero cinema, and the success of his “Guardians of the Galaxy” series has turned him into an industry authority, even placed into a leadership role for DC Studios, tasked with launching a fresh round of world-building for the comic book company. “Superman” is meant to pour the foundation for this new direction, giving Gunn control of arguably the most famous superhero of all time, and one who’s been brought to the big screen on many occasions. The new “Superman” is striving to be massive and loaded with comic book references, but there’s a limit to how much the screenplay can take before it starts to ignore its primary appeal, and Gunn’s feature gets close to collapsing on multiple occasions. It’s loaded with characters and story, though it’s really at its best when dealing with Superman, giving star David Corenswet an opportunity to shine as he carries a wobbly, overwritten franchise-starter across the finish line. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Sovereign” is based on a true story, using the details of the 2010 West Memphis police shootings to inspire a study of American insanity as it spreads throughout the land and across generations. Writer/director Christian Swegal makes his feature-length helming debut with the endeavor, and he dips into a particularly dark tale of influence, examining the experience of a teenage boy who’s completely guided by his father’s radicalization, eventually challenged to understand his parent’s poisonous way of thinking as he begins to mature into an adult. “Sovereign” is a riveting picture that aims to identify the frustration of those lost to indoctrination, also providing a parallel perspective with law enforcement to balance out the viewing experience. Swegal is careful and observant with the film, which reaches many chilling moments and painful reminders of U.S. extremism, and it’s held together by star Nick Offerman, who provides a searing performance in one of the best roles of his career. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2018, residents of the Hawaiian Islands experienced quite a jolt during an average January morning. Instead of enjoying some sleep or the start of daily routines, the area was presented with an Emergency Alert System communication warning that a ballistic missile was headed for the area, urging people to immediately seek shelter. Citizens were left in a state of panic for 38 minutes, believing the end of the world had finally arrived, only to be told the whole incident was a horrible mistake. Writer/director Deena Kashper appears to be using the nightmare situation to inspire “Nuked,” which examines tensions inside a rural California home as a birthday party is interrupted by news of a missile launch, leaving partygoers to deal with a lot on their minds as death and destruction looms. Kashper hopes to turn such despair into a comedy, but she’s not entirely committed to funny business, taking “Nuked” into a few intimate directions as it explores a tense situation of terror. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com