Category: Film Review

There are a lot of horror movie options that arrive every Halloween season. It’s a crowded field of competitors, but most fail to become memorable, even with heavy amounts of violence and disturbing content. “Hallowarrior” is no roller coaster ride of a film, but writer/director Ben Sottak (making his feature-length helming debut) manages to cook up atmosphere and urgency with the low-budget offering, and he’s committed to the Halloween vibes of the picture, examining a holiday preserved by a young woman after the rest of the world succumbs to a plague. “Hallowarrior” eventually gets around to more physical peril, but it’s mostly a study of a stand-off with periodic breaks to deal with gory and dire events, and Sottak provides some suspense in the stillness, best when he gets weird and wilder with the small-scale production. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Crawlers” is a spider attack picture, trying to sustain the subgenre after two previous efforts, 2023’s “Infested” and 2024’s “Sting,” failed to attract audiences. Writer Jayson Rothwell hopes to keep things eventful with the endeavor, managing a limited budget and many personalities with escalating trouble set inside an apartment building, ready to explore the inhabitants and the critters out to make life horrible for those who can’t escape. There’s not much of a set-up, but the material has the benefit of speed, getting survival challenges going fairly quickly, creating a few effective sequences of suspense. It’s the rest of “Crawlers” that disappoints, as Rothwell doesn’t have a big enough imagination for an effective final act, and director Angel Gomez Hernandez can’t land big enough scares during the run time, eventually losing suspense as the production tries to find a way out of the cinematic mess it’s created. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Ben Affleck returns to directing with “Animals” after reviving his helming career with 2023’s “Air.” Affleck also co-scripts with Billy Ray and Connor O. McIntyre, and takes a leading role, emerging as a man of many jobs on the production, which moves away from the lighter corporate gamesmanship of “Air” to deal with political and personal entanglements during a long night in Los Angeles. The feature is something of a riff on Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low” (which Spike Lee remade last year as “Highest 2 Lowest”), putting the characters through a test of morality and financial strain as they confront an unthinkable situation of sacrifice. “Animals” isn’t a rousing thriller, but Affleck lands many scenes of suspense, and brings together a capable team of actors to explore the pressurized situation, also playing into election season insanity as political gain often battles honor in this offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Rob Savage is working on his genre interests, sticking with horror offerings such as 2021’s “Dashcam,” and he found success with 2023’s “The Boogeyman,” which managed to attract an audience. Savage is back in the darkness with “Other Mommy,” which is an adaptation of a book by Josh Malerman (titled “Incidents Around the House,” which is not something that pops on a marquee), joining screenwriter Nathan Elston for a study of a seven-year-old girl who’s tormented by a demon that’s desperate to take over her body and experience life as a human. It’s an icky premise stuck inside a labored picture, finding the moviemaking fighting to make something that’s clearly designed for literary exploration make sense as a cinematic experience. “Other Mommy” has a little visual punch at times, as Savage works hard to put on a show, but it’s a dud everywhere else, unable to summon suspense or even make much sense as it speeds through the central crisis. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Hollywood making movies out of toy lines is nothing new. The Matchbox brand of little cars has been around since 1953, and let’s be real here, there’s not a lot to be done with the toys on a cinematic level. Screenwriter David Coggeshall (“Orphan: First Kill,” “The Family Plan”) accepts a challenge to transform a collection of little vehicles into an action movie event, and he does so by…mostly ignoring what Matchbox cars are. “Matchbox: The Movie” is a baffling viewing experience, as Coggeshall comes up with a global spy thriller and team comedy, not a celebration of child playthings, and he generates an incredibly generic plot in the process. Director Sam Hargrave (“Extraction” and its sequel) has been hired to deliver big thrills, and there’s a lot of screen activity to help distract from the reality of Coggeshall’s uninspired writing and a general disregard for the brand. There’s just not enough physical peril to save the film from slipping into dull routine. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

16 years ago, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin turned a book about the rise of social media titan Facebook into a movie about the battle for control of the company. Directorial duties were handed to David Fincher, who crafted a slick, sharp understanding of ego, working with Sorkin’s love of words and terms. “The Social Network” intended to identify the growing problem of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, viewing him as a villain, but one who didn’t fully understand the monster he was becoming. 16 years later, Zuckerberg is now fully established as a global menace, and Sorkin returns to the Facebook saga in “The Social Reckoning,” exploring whistleblowing efforts from an employee who understood the threat of the corporation. Fincher is now gone, replaced by Sorkin, who isn’t the same type of filmmaker as his predecessor, but he remains fired up about Zuckerberg’s reign, trying to deliver a call to arms with “The Social Reckoning,” out to dramatize the transformation of social media into a weapon. The helmer doesn’t always have the right ideas for a crowd-pleaser, but his passion for the subject is unmistakable, making sure viewers grasp the enormity of the issue. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When Bob Uecker passed away at the age of 90 in 2025, the world of baseball lost an absolute legend. Uecker was known for his time playing the sport and reporting on it for 54 seasons as a sportscaster for the Milwaukee Brewers, also achieving a great deal of fame through baseball-themed commercials and acting gigs over the decades. Heck, his nickname was “Mr. Baseball,” branding Uecker as a premiere personality and someone synonymous with Major League Baseball. Directors Steve Farr and Michael T. Vollmann recognize the specialness of the man and his professional mission, creating “Ueck,” which attempts to be an informational journey about the subject and his love of the game, only to become a valentine for Uecker and his longstanding dedication to the MLB. “Ueck” is built for Brewers fans, but the production makes sure everyone is welcome, presenting a warm, frequently hilarious, and heartfelt appreciation for a ballplayer who became a character, and soon an entertainment icon. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

One year ago, the “V/H/S” franchise hoped to provide a seasonal jolt in “V/H/S/Halloween,” assembling a collection of shorts involving horrible things largely happening to horrible people, much like the rest of the series. Horror is back in “V/H/S/Mixtape,” only now genre interests take a more musical turn, with the latest chapter of anthology storytelling providing tales of singing, producing, and performing, with each story highlighting violent interactions triggered by sound in many forms. “V/H/S/Mixtape” remains in line with previous endeavors, offering a few clunkers along the way, but when it connects, there are a few nightmarish experiences to enjoy, finding bits of creativity and weirdness to help flavor another round of short-form storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“A Prayer for the Dying” is not an easy film to watch. An adaptation of a 1999 book by author Stewart O’Nan, the story reaches plenty of bleakness as it follows the spread of sickness in a small Wisconsin town during a post-Civil War time. As the title suggests, there’s little hope for the characters involved in this quest for survival, with writer/director Dara Van Dusen taking her time detailing suffering and confusion as weeks pass. It’s not a feature for casual viewing, but for more adventurous viewers who appreciate darkness, “A Prayer for the Dying” certainly has its cinematic merits, including artful visual choices and strong performances from a cast asked to inhabit troubled people. Dramatically, it’s not the most fulfilling meal, but Van Dusen delivers an interesting picture that lingers on doom, but also tries to inspect purpose and authority in the midst of chaos. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For his third release of 2026 (following “The Strangers: Chapter 3” and “Deep Water”), director Renny Harlin keeps things chaotic and professionally manageable in “The Beast.” It’s an action film set almost entirely inside a moving car, following the President of the United States as he endures a hellish 90 minute ride to an extraction point while a global conflict breaks out around him. Harlin reunites with actor Samuel L. Jackson, and the pair did well in previous endeavors such as “The Long Kiss Goodnight” and “Deep Blue Sea.” “The Beast” isn’t as lavishly budgeted or tightly scripted as past films, but there are bursts of screen energy in the offering, especially when it deals with heat-of-the-moment attacks and panicked driving. Screenwriter Umair Aleem hopes to add a deep groove of psychological torment to the picture, but Harlin remains at his best when organizing mayhem. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Chris Rock doesn’t do much acting these days, and it’s been a long time since he directed a film, with his last effort, 2014’s “Top Five,” failing to grab much attention from ticket-buyers. He’s back on both sides of the camera with “Misty Green,” and he’s in a more indie mood with the offering, also claiming screenwriting duties with this examination of an actress’s life as she endures professional and personal trials during a seven-day-long countdown to homelessness. Rock has a lot to work through his system with the endeavor, which takes on the horrors of Los Angeles living and the brutality of the movie business, especially when it involves performers who can’t sustain their past success. “Misty Green” hopes to be a ‘70s-style understanding of a self-destructive character, and grittiness is intermittently present in the picture, but storytelling consistency isn’t quite there for the feature, which eventually wears out its welcome. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director Mike P. Nelson earned a lot of faith from film fans with his last two pictures. Faced with the unenviable task of reviving DOA franchises, Nelson managed to make an interesting movie out of 2021’s “Wrong Turn,” and an enjoyably gonzo one with 2025’s “Silent Night, Deadly Night.” Nelson steps away from remake duties, kind of, with “Beware Boiuna,” which is a production that certainly wouldn’t mind if the audience recalled the B-movie thrills of 1997’s “Anaconda” (not the goofiness of 2025’s “Anaconda”), but it generally tries to do its own thing. Trouble involving a humongous snake in the Amazon is once again the story, with another collection of overwhelmed characters forced to battle their way out of nature as a monstrous creature comes for them. It should be fun, but Nelson and screenwriter Alan B. McElroy (“Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever,” “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers”) don’t trust the inherent fury of the concept, struggling to create characters and generate intensity with a lukewarm offering of survival cinema. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For his third movie of 2026, writer/director Tyler Perry is looking to step away from his previous efforts that celebrated wild comedy (“Joe’s College Road Trip”) and anarchic relationship dysfunction (“Why Did I Get Married Again?”). He hopes to get small and sensitive with “Doing Life,” which examines the developing trust and romance between an ex-convict and a single mother who’s been burned by life too many times. It’s a traditional Perry-branded melodrama featuring broad characters and strained communication issues, lubed up with a few turns of trauma to keep audiences involved in the strain of such a union. Simplicity is the goal here, but Perry loses his way with the crudeness of the script, basically filming a middle school play with the endeavor, which fails to connect as a heartening tale of bonding and responsibility. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Verity” is the fourth chapter in the Colleen Hoover Cinematic Universe, with the author’s imagination for longing, pain, and endurance fueling previous endeavors, including “It Ends with Us,” and last year’s “Reminders of Him.” The film is an adaptation of Hoover’s 2018 novel, with screenwriter Nick Antosca setting out to make a cinematic event out of rough material concerning the possible murder of a child, following the writer’s love of extreme situations populated by unstable characters. Director Michael Showalter (who’s played in this beach read sandbox before, helming 2024’s “The Idea of You”) sets out to preserve the Hoover-liciousness of it all, keeping up with clunky dialogue and strange thriller plotting. “Verity” has the gas to go all the way with its dark trashiness, but Antosca doesn’t want to mess with the book conclusion, which is troublesome enough to suck the fun out of the entire picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Clark Duke was once an actor handling supporting roles in comedy films, working to brighten up pictures such as “Hot Tub Time Machine” and “Kick-Ass.” He’s refocused his efforts to directing in recent years, with his last endeavor, 2020’s “Arkansas,” failing to do something interesting with its story of backwoods crime and all the messiness involved with it. Duke is back behind the camera with “Stranglehold,” and he’s not venturing far from his comfort zone, returning with another study of backwoods crime, this time inspecting a showdown inside a strip club filled with trigger-happy criminals and a couple trying to pull themselves out of poverty by stealing a load of money. There’s a strong first half to “Stranglehold,” as the writing (credited to Duke, Billington Garrett, and Chandler Duke) is clearly having fun creating colorful characters, building trouble with a sense of humor. The rest of the movie isn’t as successful, but Duke improves on “Arkansas,” getting most of the way there with a violent examination of desperation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Once upon a time in Hollywood, director Bassam Tariq was planning to join the Marvel Studios movement, hired to return the vampire hunting character Blade to the big screen, joined by star Mahershala Ali. The project never made it out of development, but the general genre fury has been transplanted to another endeavor, with “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” losing Blade, but keeping some level of action and examination of cult activity. Tariq isn’t fully committed to an action movie plan with the project, more interested in the struggles facing the main character, who’s juggling family needs and criminal interactions while striving to keep his head above water. “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” offers an enormous amount of internalized feelings and patience with its dramatic interests, which creates a few sequences of power. The feature isn’t as dynamic as hoped for, showing more life with parental challenges than physical ones. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Throughout his career, writer/director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has set out to make challenging movies about unusual subjects and characters. He hit it big at the box office with endeavors such as 2015’s “The Revenant” and 2014’s “Birdman,” proving he could find an audience for his artful, idiosyncratic ways. Such a mission might be a little more difficult in the case of “Digger,” which looks to be incredibly obnoxious and broad throughout much of its run time, only to hide its true ideas deep within the folds of an abrasive viewing experience. Perhaps a few will find the genius once again, but “Digger” doesn’t make it easy, with the picture an intense study of excess from every conceivable angle, pushing down hard on the audience with volcanic thespian energy. It’s more of an endurance test than a film, but Inarritu is after something with the offering, though he doesn’t make it easy to follow him to the end. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Co-writer/director Romain Gavras (“The World is Yours,” “Athena”) is looking to make a statement on celebrity and environmental activism in “Sacrifice,” and doing so through the wily ways of a dark comedy. At least for about 30 minutes. And it’s a good 30 minutes, working with well-trodden topics such as the cluelessness and insecurity of famous people, and the emptiness of galas that use excess to spotlight urgency. Gavras finds amusing caricatures to play with, locating a few laughs while setting up insanity to come. However, the rest of “Sacrifice” isn’t quite as inspired. Gavras and co-writer Will Arbery struggle to turn broadness into something dramatic, losing their nerve with satire as they begin to take the central crisis seriously, trusting the audience has grown attached to shallow characters and their various battles with self-esteem and mythical purpose. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To film fans, Dolph Lundgren has been part of action cinema history, cementing his screen legacy with turns in “Rocky IV,” “Masters of the Universe,” and “Universal Soldier.” He was never a mainstream icon, but a star of a different kind, offering a bold presence and capable physicality to deliver all the hits when necessary, developing as an actor along the way. “Dolph: Unbreakable” is a documentary exploring Lungren’s life and times, getting past his thespian stoicism to understand the man that found his way into acting after enduring a rough childhood and unusual adolescence. Director Andrew Holmes doesn’t have the drive to really slice into Lundgren’s personal history, but he provides a fascinating overview of professional achievement, also acquiring intimacy with the details of a cancer battle that threatened to take the subject’s life not too long ago. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director J. Davis (“Manson Family Vacation”) is taking a risk with his latest endeavor. The title alone is probably going to be a tough sell for any audience, as “I Hate Myself and Want to Die” doesn’t exactly promise a bright and inviting viewing experience. The material doesn’t help the cause, trying to find the lighter side of suicide with a depress character who’s attempting to end it all one sunny afternoon in his home town. It comes as some relief to find the effort actually quite approachable, at least for those with a darker sense of humor. “I Hate Myself and Want to Die” scores many laughs along the way, with Davis attentive to the strange struggles of life and the odd comfort that comes with community, even with those who aren’t welcome. There’s a life-affirming message in here, and the helmer wisely keeps his picture short enough to find it, delivering an unusual offering of comedy that’s engagingly acted and charmingly irritable at times. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com