[4] M. Night Shyamalan, the once celebrated big-budget thriller maker of films like The Sixth Sense and Signs, has been relegated to low-budget horror movies for several years. I keep hoping that his budgetary confines will result in a burst of innovation, but that hasn’t happened yet. Knock at the Cabin is a small ensemble, one-location, claustrophobic thriller with a promising premise based on a …
[7] Kenneth Branagh directs and stars as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot in this most recent iteration of Death on the Nile. Poirot is on vacation in Egypt when he’s asked to join a wealthy socialite’s honeymoon party down the river Nile in the late 1930s. When the socialite (Wonder Woman‘s Gal Gadot) is discovered dead, Poirot is back on the case. Was it her husband …
[7] [SPOILER WARNING] Writer/director Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) delivers his third solid horror-mystery with Nope, the story of sibling horse wranglers (Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) who discover a UFO hiding in a stationary cloud above their gulch ranch. At first the pair decide to get rich by capturing the first high-resolution photographic evidence of the phenomenon. But when the UFO reveals itself to …
[7] Director Sidney Lumet (Network, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead) brings Ira Levin’s hit play to the big screen, showcasing Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve as warring playwrights who resort to real murder to further their careers. Caine plays the mentor desperate for a comeback after suffering a series of duds. Reeve plays the idolizing student whose written a new play Caine thinks will …
[6] Hot off her Oscar win for Network, Faye Dunaway headlines this thriller about a controversial photographer whose focus on sex and violence makes her a sensation in New York’s advertising world. Dunaway’s title character begins having visions of murder — from the killer’s direct point-of-view. One by one, models and associates in her career begin dying, stabbed in the eyes by the mysterious killer. …
[5] Ethan Hawke stars as a true crime novelist who moves into a house where a family was mysteriously hanged from a tree in their back yard. He finds 8mm home movie reels in the attic, each a snuff film of various families in different locations over a period of forty years. With the help of a deputy (James Ransone) and a college professor knowledgeable …
[5] Sigourney Weaver plays an agoraphobic expert on serial killers summoned to help a San Francisco detective played by Holly Hunter when a murderer starts imitating serial killers of the past. The two phenomenal stars of Copycat are its greatest attributes. Weaver’s part is a terrified paranoid — a little one-note, but certainly within her wheelhouse. Hunter gives the more remarkable performance, giving nuance and …
[6] I like all the Scream movies, and I’m happy to say that trend continues with this fifth entry in the franchise. Not that the fuel tank isn’t getting low. While the original movie marries an inspired script with tight direction and terrific casting, the sequels have largely skated by on the merits of charismatic stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette. They were …
[4] Martin Sheen (Badlands) stars in this dark thriller about a black magic cult practicing child sacrifices in New York City. Sheen’s a single father and police therapist who gets drawn into the case when a police officer (Jimmy Smits) become the prime suspect. The truth turns out to be more disturbing, especially when the cult targets Sheen’s own son (Harley Cross). To be fair, …
[2] A woman and her boyfriend travel to her brother’s British estate after learning of his sudden passing. Once there, the sister-in-law begins flirting with both visitors while conspiring with a Satanic cult that likes to have sex. A lot. I mean, a whole, whole, really big lot of sex. I think about half the run-time of the movie is women squirming in exaggerated ecstasy. …
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