What Still Remains (2018)

One person's freedom is another's prison

By: JWBM

With the population dwindling from a decades past event, human interaction has taken on another life of its own. It comes down to having enough strength and defensive tactics to make your own choices, or having choices made for you by those in a position of power.

"What Still Remains" is a post-apocalyptic drama along the lines of "The Walking Dead" meets "The Handmaid's Tale" that follows a young woman named Anna living on her own in the wilderness. She befriends a kind and hopeful man named Peter who welcomes her to his community to escape her solitude.

The film deals with a mix of emotions: from loneliness, mistrust, control, fear, and hope. Despite more open spaces to roam and lack of laws and government, those still standing become more vulnerable from predatory types lurking at every corner. The story shows us one person's freedom is another person's prison.

The lead character, Anna—played by Lulu Antariksa—feels like she doesn't always strike a balance between her tough, untrusting nature, to looking at the brighter sides of things, to then losing control when the situation gets out of hand. Her role is more show than tell, but her face and body language is often a mask, and doesn't always make you feel the hardships of what she's going through. Some of that could be excused if this were a gritty, hard-boiled action film, but as progressively paced as this film is it's not as commanding as it could have been with a more dramatic involvement. The character of Peter—Colin O'Donoghue—has more of a consistent driving point and duality to his role, but starts to come apart at the seams towards the finale.

What holds the film back from being more powerful is the direction and pacing feels like a formulaic television drama that steadily gives you bit by bit to lure you on. Then due to the shorter length of a feature film, some of the nuances are grazed over and feel rushed for a conclusion. This is not a film that's going for colorful creativity, explosions, gore, or terrifying jumps, but instead the human condition. However, it could have benefited with some more scenes to create its own unique mood, or to actually get the heart racing. If it's any consolation, the story isn't confusing and it moves with you, but without some more thrilling moments, or some break out performances to back up those complex ideas and emotions, the overall experience feels middle road.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Josh Mendoza
Actors: Lulu Antariksa, Colin O'Donoghue
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

Haunting on Fraternity Row (2018)

Can be watched with the lights on

By: JWBM

A rowdy, life-is-one-giant-joke-and-party fraternity is throwing a luau to end all luaus. The drinks are bottomless, dancing is all night, and as a safety precaution pledges are there to keep things in order for what's going to be one heck of a cleanup. Oh, right, the horror portion of it. The story throws in some secrets uncovered at the same time. Soon enough, buzzes and sex drives are squashed when some strange ghost like stuff starts to feed on the festive energy.

This is filmed as a moment-by-moment, shaky camera mockumentary with both a raw and measured take. You get a flashy feel one moment, random shenanigans over here, and then some loose shreds of a story over there with a human element for some character to character connection, and then also a supernatural side for mystery's sake. It's up to a paranoid pothead to weave back and forth from the party to research what should have stayed locked away.

The film feels like it's trying to pull the loose vibe of, say, "Dazed and Confused" meets an amateur YouTube compilation meets a haunted house experience. You get a crazy collection of hopeful, young people with little direction and more energy than they know what to do with up against an unmatched entity. It ends up coming across as a clash of tones from jumping back and forth and having little to show for itself other than a few creative ways to have fun and some skin in the mean time.

The horror portion is pushed to the wayside in order to gear up for a finale, but feels like it was thrown in as an after thought. You get your standard pop-ups and did-you-see-that CGI scares that are so vague and lazy in build up as to be more head-scratching than anything remotely terrifying or even cinematically gripping. You could watch this with the lights out, with black candles burning, and the worst-of-the-worst tarot cards laying on the coffee table and the mood still wouldn't be set with how this constantly pulls you out of it.

"Haunting on Fraternity Row" doesn't come full circle. You get characters that either suddenly flee, or die at random with little fight. It desperately tries to be diverting with your typical, brainless college age revelers, but never ends up overcoming its superficial characters and story that doesn't require a second thought as soon as the credits roll.

Rating: 2/10

Director: Brant Sersen (Blackballed; Sanatorium)
Actors: Jacob Artist, Ashton Moio, Shanley Caswell, Molly Tarlov
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

Romina (2018)

Last place in a creative race

By: JWBM

"Romina"—a low budget Mexican made horror feature—is a nonsensical mix of a camp slasher with a rape-revenge plot with no commentary to speak of, nothing to read between the lines, and on top of that weak thrills and suspense that only gets weaker as the wall clock seems to slowly come to a crawl.

It involves the kind of homicidal psychopath that only exists in movies, except where others would use that gross exaggeration to create a powerful, commanding villain full of raw energy and memorable characteristics, the film's driving point and plot are so far gone as to have been mixed in a blender, swallowed, half digested, and then thrown up. It feels like a short paragraph of premise was outlined on a napkin on the way out the door, and before you know it production was underway with little funding and a group of close friends to make it happen. I can only imagine it was a blast to shoot for those involved, but for everyone else it feels like a stretched out exercise in wasted energy.

The story is deceiving because initially the flow and direction seems simple enough—a group of energetic young men and women on a road trip to their potential doom—but then how one aspect leads up to another is like a hand-me-down jigsaw puzzle missing all the important pieces. You get to watch spineless characters excitedly talking over each other, bickering, and then splitting up and running around with little background, no direction, or game plan in mind. Yep, they're sure to be executed in a bloody fashion, but the film fails to make you care. I've been more moved by a half-heard quick sensationalist clip on the local news. Sure, the main point is to emulate the old grindhouse classics, and to also see some sex and carnage—adding another notch to the realms of horror and widening the eyes a little further—but even then the suspense and build-ups lack creativity and vision to feel like nothing more than a numbing wound.

Rating: 1/10

Director: Diego Cohen (Perdidos; Honeymoon)
Actors: Francisca Lozano
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)

Wasted energy

By: JWBM

The main focus of "The Cloverfield Paradox" takes place in the cold, harsh realms of space with a crew of international scientists on a mission to undergo a potentially hopeful, though risky experiment to save humanity during a life or death energy crisis.

Back on the big blue planet, you watch one of the crew's husband act as your eyes and ears, except with every excuse not to show something more interesting: from reading vague messages, to half-heard reports, close-ups, confused conversations, hiding themselves away. I get the whole mystery angle this series relies on and using the ol' noggin for interpretation, though as a third film laying the ground rules it would make more sense to show some of the unimaginable beasts and utter pandemonium you've long wanted to see since the original film came out. It tries to go for the global consequences of "Armageddon" meets "The Day After Tomorrow" with an "Event Horizon" twist, except without the intricate steps or layers to get there. Just a repeat of the outline of the main agenda—we need energy NOW—making that portion feel an after thought and lose its driving point. Including an all-huff-no-facts conspiracy theory dude made one cross their arms more than it did solidify the message.

The most interesting and grab your attention feature here is the moral questions related to multi-dimensional alternate choices and circumstances. It's a perfect mix of something technical meets something emotionally relatable. While the story makes attempts at being fresh and exciting with some creative scenes, it also feels like it makes up rules and circumstances with the wave of a hand. You get slick looking sets, on top of neat gadgets and gizmos like any science fiction film with a budget, except they're often used as major plot points on a whim. Right. Those. While the acting had its certain charms and layers of emotions, it also felt like it created a sense of false drama out of nowhere. I mean, turn up the heat back home with warring nations, though a group of scientists coming together for a greater cause was treated like a petty group of nobodies.

In some respects the film moves quickly and makes attempts to be dramatic and set itself apart from the usual fare. In other respects it clashes tones and grazes over the finer details to make you drop your guard and be fully taken away by its sense of magic.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Julius Onah (The Girl Is in Trouble)
Actors: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, Chris O'Dowd
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

Extinction (2018)

War and peace

By: JWBM

The majority of us are just busy ants locked into our day to day lives. Some would argue that we lose sight of the world as a whole as a result, while others ignore the naysayers and prefer that bubble that keeps us comfortable and content. Putting your guard down and getting too relaxed can also have its own share of problems when something would otherwise interrupt that near-sighted tranquility.

A man is having strange visions that are beginning to affect his work and personal life. All at once, the answers to a swirling mix of questions comes to light. "Extinction" is a sci-fi/action in the vain of "Independence Day" meets "Total Recall." It's a kill-kill-kill, destroy-destroy-destroy everything kind of film, but with a twist. While this had the potential to be another among the ranks of science fiction to reference or look back on, the story is delivered in an otherwise clunky, convenient, and black and white fashion.

Some scenes have some emotion injected, though two little girls who are incessant screamers and huggers gets tiring. The bad guy has actions that are commendable over your typical villain, yet he feels more planted by the writers to submit to everything the audience wants to hear than a personality with actual backbone that gives and takes. The lead—Michael Peña—plays an imperfect but loving dad who's currently out of step. The character is withdrawn and aloof, but then transitions into a one-track, every-kind-of-man concoction that does and says the right things than his own thinking, reasoning person.

Some of the surprises don't always have a smooth transition, with how one aspect is important towards social justice and giving this some sentiment, but other aspects towards defense or evolution are swept under the rug? It makes it feel more noticeably slanted and manipulated to evolve around a single surprise; making it backtrack more than it expands on its concept. Its mode of action turns into a stale formula: wasn't there for my family, now I must be there for my family when dire events arise. Must run, hide, scream, hug, and fight as bullets and explosions mysteriously fail to never hit their targets while everyone else is conveniently obliterated as the good cinematic martyrs they are.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Ben Young (Hounds of Love)
Actors: Michael Peña, Lizzy Caplan
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

#SquadGoals (2018)

Death by scholarship

By: JWBM

On its surface, this is a day in the life story of some articulate, mature, and personable high school students about to head off to the next phase of their life. Underneath, an uglier side lingers that might threaten their future outlooks when some fellow students die in strange ways. Adults never listen and it's up to the head school reporter to unlock the truth.

As a drama-light this works to a degree with some decent acting chops and natural chemistry between the characters, though as a mystery/suspense film the premise never gets over being preposterous to fully get behind its darker side. It has long enough stretches in between its more thrilling moments in order to get to know the individual roles, but at the same time it causes you to put your guard down and then never put it up again. Its delivery is more on the safe side than it is crass, menacing, or blood-thirsty; more like a sarcastic/self-aware, tongue-in-cheek tone than anything else.

Sure, "#Squadgoals"—aka "Deadly Scholars"—is charming to an extent and some trying things happen for kids that age, but it's also not daring or adventurous enough to make this a two-times over watching experience. It feels like your everyday, by-the-book TV drama that decided to throw in some attempts of a crazed person angle, but both end up jiving like a shark hunting prey on land. It's got that we need to explore everybody's feelings and let that simmer angle, with the putting you on the edge of your seat for something that will keep you up at night side screaming to get out. It's hard to tell who this would be targeted at, but it's not to say that the filmmakers and performers didn't put some effort into what they were given.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Danny J. Boyle (Killer Assistant; Abduction of Angie)
Actors: Kennedy Lea Slocum, Sheryl Lee, Corey Fogelmanis, Alexa Mansour, Peyton Clark
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

Kuntilanak (2018)

Prime for the pickin'

By: JWBM

This Indonesian horror film is based on Malaysian folklore depicting an evil female entity who died while carrying a child. It turns the legend into a kind of found object horror tale with a one-track minded diabolical presence that catches unsuspecting victims in its snare. It's a sort of "The Monster Squad" meets a more recent "Stranger Things" and "It" with a group of young kids who take a strange mystery into their own hands while adults are busy doing adult things.

How the legend is depicted starts to feel as ordinary as they come if you watch horror on a regular basis. For the folks that seldom do, then maybe this might catch you off guard and be something new. The story relies on sheer coincidence that the object would land in the hands of a household with a young kid. This particular foster home has five, which ends up being a buffet for the spirit with sharp teeth and talons designed for unimaginable pain to potentially feast on. Even with that, the villain feels like a con man who shows up with a gun and ski mask that's all show and no bite, rather than slowly trapping them with something more creepy and consequential. On the one hand, it's relentless and keeps your attention to a degree, but on the other all of its mystery is out in the open: you know what it is, you know what it is after, yet you watch the kids still follow it into traps over and over again.

This has all of the familiar horror trappings: splitting up, can't reach help, following noises or visions where you shouldn't. The end result is accompanied by a sudden noise and jarring image to make you throw the popcorn in the air and shout "Lord have mercy" with the enthusiasm of a 60 year old black lady in Sunday dress. While the sets and cinematography gives this a slick look, and there are some grisly effects and a few inventive takes on this beastly looking demon, after doing the rounds on that formula it starts to feel predictable.

It's one of those stories where the villain hasn't reached a true plateau yet, and the filmmakers are meanwhile gearing up to set up a finale over dropping a bomb shell too early. The kids give some of their own personable attributes of little squabbles, getting a closer connection to each other despite their differences, along with some kind of over-used xylophone effect to signify that you should laugh on cue with them. When it gets time to throw down, they are still kids with kid logic who's main go-to is yelling each other's names back and forth to the point that you should have them memorized by the time the credits roll.

All and all, "Kuntilanak" is a simple movie with simple results you can count on at times, but shouldn't expect much more than that.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Rizal Mantovani (The Chanting; 5 cm)
Actors: Sandrinna Michelle, Aurelie Moeremans
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube trailer

The Secret: Suster Ngesot Urban Legend (2018)

A secret that fall on deaf ears

By: JWBM

Time. One has ample opportunity in this day and age to do something that amuses and entertains. We could go out and enjoy the fresh air; find a corner and read a book; or sit down and potentially get lost in another world with a film. "The Secret: Suster Ngesot Urban Legend "—an Indonesian horror/thriller—is neither an adequate escape, nor will you come out better than you left for deciding to spend the next hour and thirty eight minutes with it.

Essentially a young woman races out of her dad's glitzy mansion. Blinded by emotions, she veers off the road and ends up in the hospital. Then after she gets random visits by a series of zombie-like ghosts who always pop up when you least expect. This feels like it was directed by one of the interns on a soap opera set where the acting is overly dramatic, there are more coincidences than you can count, and the tone has a tendency to have erratic mood swings.

One of the biggest issues is it has a tendency to jump right into something, then backtrack as to where it was headed. It's to the point that when attempting to establish frights, you have no idea what you're supposed to be actually scared of. Often it works up to some suspense, then fizzles away as if the day goes on. It has little driving point to get behind other than borrowing this or that from more effective thrillers. Something bad is happening to a spoiled woman who has the personality and character development of a wooden shoe. Is that really a selling point? There are a share of non-sensical, out-of-place scenes that go from head-scratching, annoying, to laugh-out-loud for all the wrong reasons. It feels like the film had a different script rewrite each day.

The setups and the character interactions feel forced and often times come on too fast. Even the little things that would make this world real: such as a cut and pasted scene at the hospital with a woman who mishears a nurse and thinks her relative got it more worse was supposed to be a comedic setup. The main character gets invited into a home of a person she doesn't know. Cut scene to "Drink this," and they are intimately chatting about supernatural events like it's an every day occurance. Practically everything here feels like a puppeteer that becomes visible and you can't get the strings orchestrating it out of your mind.

Its footing flows as smooth as cleats on concrete. It has no concept of natural progression, or establishing any sort of suspension of disbelief. You end up feeling so disconnected to the events and characters that every slow and agonizing second that goes by feels another minute you could have been doing something else.

From Black to Red recommends instead: "The Abandoned" for showing us how you can take a simple haunted house type story and effectively make the hairs stick up on the back of your neck.

Rating: 1/10

Director: Arie Azis
Actors: Nagita Slavina, Raffi Ahmad
Info: Wikipedia link
Trailer: YouTube link
Urban legend info: Link 

Malicious (2018)

Don't open, don't follow, don't trust

By: JWBM

A couple gets the chance to move to a large house in a remote area for a fresh start. With a new career and a baby on the way, things are looking up. Yet, an item gets delivered to their home that sets off a chain of events that leads to an evil spiral of despair.

At its dark heart, "Malicious" is a simple story of a hopeful family being torn apart at the seams by a manifestation beyond their powers. It sets up a certain atmosphere with a growing collection of scares, though not much else. It's the kind of film that's catered to the audiences' perspective either with the score, camera angles, to certain crafty setups. The individual performances and chemistry, on the other hand, leave more to be desired. They manage to connect the scenes together and give this a certain flow at times, yet there aren't many scenes that give the actors more room to grow or expand on their roles beyond that boxed in scope. It's more of an aesthetic film that relies on past horror formulas than it is one of greater substance or creativity to break out of the mold.

The husband's range goes from either holding back his emotions, to jumping out of his shoes from fright when his eyes play tricks on him. The actor—Josh Stewart—plays the role with a mumbling intonation and in a sort of daze that never clears from the get-go. The wife is limited to a range of no-one-believes-me, to thanks-for-believing-me-it's-a-little-too-late. The sister—Melissa Bolona—plays an unlikable character on top of having wooden acting chops, which makes her on screen presence feel like unexpected lemon juice in the eyes.

There are some aspects that become redundant: such as returning to a random painting, or repeating a math phrase over and over. That or illogically included: such using evil doppelgangers that feel borrowed from other films that had a more effective reasoning for it, such as "The Broken." The villains also aren't the brightest bulbs and end up harming whatever diabolical plan they had in mind through their own volition.

This is the kind of horror that's going to hit you where you're most vulnerable, then dig in deeper just because. The first half of the film delivers some mystery and intrigue for what will come next. It had me scooting closer to the screen and nodding my head. Some work was put into the sets, camera angles, and score. However, when it eventually gets to its more action oriented scenes, it doesn't always come with a balanced upper hand that's passed from its victim to villain. What also holds it back towards the end is that its driving point for a greater dynamic or resolution starts to fizzle due to doing its worst early on. Then again, it's hopeless and dark, well, because it can be.

Rating: 4/10

Director: Michael Winnick (The Better Half; Code of Honor)
Actors: Bojana Novakovic, Josh Stewart, Delroy Lindo
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

He's Out There (2018)

Before pressing play, power down the brain

By: JWBM

What could be better to get away from it all than a nice relaxing time with the family at the summer cabin by the lake? Love, laughter, and a sadistic, masked killer with another diabolical plan in mind. Well, everything except for the last one.

"Friday the 13th Par...," I mean "He's Out There" has a straightforward plot that's as simple as they must stay alive and dodge getting their innards splattered from the bad guy with an obsession for tea parties and severed body parts. After some introductions, this delivers a moment by moment horror/thriller where every second counts. You get to see trip-over-their-own-two-feet, ordinary people getting pulverized by a villain with too much time on his hands to trap his victims every move.

The film has a certain timing to it, to where the tension is constant. By keeping the maniacal ax wielder in the shadows, it manages to make him become everywhere at once. It's more of a tried and true, emotionally jarring movie than it has anything to do with having deeper layers or being a sophisticated one. With that, it doesn't always keep your mind from racing or thinking ahead to see some of the predictability of it all if you've seen a few trapped in a house by an unflinching murderer kind of films. I mean, some violent and twisted things happen to pass the time, though the film isn't as memorable as, say, the sheer intensity and terror of "Inside" or "The Collector." These are still normal people like you or I with two scared out of their minds little girls that are more high-pitched squealers than they are fighters. Now, that would have been an interesting twist.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Quinn Lasher
Actors: Yvonne Strahovski
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube trailer

All Light Will End (2018)

Thrillers: weekend retreat killers

By: JWBM

A woman—who suffers night terrors from childhood—debates going on a trip to her home town for her brother's graduation. She finally makes the decision and a group of her friends gear up for the road trip to head to her parents' cabin. There, the culmination of her nightmares rears its head.

The film drops pieces to the puzzle and delivers some mood with dreams and flashbacks, though it's to the point where the mystery angle becomes unbalanced and it turns into a giant string-along. I mean, we get to see the lead's day-to-day, which is often a numbing, withdrawn experience as she's haunted by something inexplicable. Either from lack of direction or an undeveloped character, her face is like a pretty backdrop that rarely changes expression. Her dad—the local Sheriff—has a strange investigation going on around the small country town with his inept, out-of-place, comic relief back up that stands around cracking sarcastic jokes.

The story is so vague and rough around the edges for a portion of its duration that by the time it decides to pull out of a lower gear to create tension and suspense, they lost you to a maze of vagaries. It's far from predictable, yet it's like the writer went back in the script and took out every related clue that would have given away the twist. But at the same time it took the wind out of its sails and made the ride somewhat obscured, directionless, and head-scratching related to some segments after the fact. It's a prime example of just how challenging writing and then, in turn, telling a well-rounded mystery can be; it requires gravitating characters and a layered story you can get behind more so than crafty manipulation or smoke and mirrors. Eventually there's a violent finale in the vain of a horror showdown, however without the intricate motivations to make this reality believable, it comes across as shake-the-head ridiculous. 

"All Light Will End" has fragments of potential that might have instead worked better as a short mystery/thriller to keep the experience flowing like a well-greased machine. As a full length feature it lacks the kind of consistent and intriguing content to keep your eyes wide and your brain searching in the right directions.

Rating: 2/10

Director: Chris Blake
Actors: Ashley Pereira, Sarah Butler, Andy Buckley
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube link

House of Deadly Secrets (2018)

She makes a killer cherry pie

By: JWBM

A mother and daughter move into a new house that turns out to have a dark past. Meanwhile, one of the neighbors—a kind of Betty White meets Norman Bates—has the intention to see that they get out no matter the consequences.

This has the look and feel of a stepping stone movie where almost everyone involved already has their sights on the next project. It's somewhat dry and boxed in at times; the difference of a peak at a real home versus a department store catalog one. For a story about deep rooted issues related to obsession and dual personalities, it feels awfully pedestrian and like they were imitated from other fiction. Instead of having the character act out her motivations, she often narrates out loud and takes the punch right out of her supposed dark actions. I'm all for stories taking their time to build up suspense and character development, though it strikes too much of a balance in that she's able to conveniently recognize her own behavior as normal or strange when it suits the story. They made her jaded but sympathetic, which seemed like the only focus to details.

This is not an experience to constantly jolt the senses—it's more basic story-telling that explores one aspect at a time and then leads into the next progression. Though even with that, its layers are as easily visible and exciting as a glass ant farm with a few ants moving about and every now and again something happens that would alter their course. Minimalist stories can work either through mood, pacing, or the performances to keep the senses awake, yet this still feels somewhat lacking in an overall gravitating immersion that instead requires a few pauses and stretches to get through it.

The actors tend to read their lines and meet their marks without bridging that into something more than the script called for. For instance, the whole shaky relationship angle between mother and father felt slapped in for some forced drama; the reasoning was just a weak excuse to have resolution. The mother and daughter also acted more as a catalyst to the events than characters with layers or backbone. One of those, "I don't know what's going on, but this is crazy" kind of casual observers you see at the scene of a crime rather than someone with more stakes and involvement.

While the film was professionally made to an extent, the story was too easy at times. Watch it on a sleepy, rainy afternoon, though don't expect it to make your Saturday night more alive.

Rating: 3.5/10

Director: Doug Campbell (Locked Away; Bad Sister)
Actors: Patty McCormack, Angie Patterson
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube trailer

Curse of the Nun (2018)

An evil nun is in the neighborhood

By: JWBM

This centers around—you guessed it—a diabolical nun that has a one-track mind to kill. Where it gets strange is she has the power to distort reality and trap people within this normal looking suburban house. For a gal named Anna—who's about to move out with her family to a place of her own—it just turned into her worse nightmare she never knew she had when she's suddenly terrorized by Sister Catherine.

This goes for a sort of "The Evil Dead" tone where it straddles between being dark to almost cartoonish and self-aware. It likewise has a low budget, but the former still managed to concoct a constant barrage of creativity, atmosphere, and down-right zany creations. Essentially, where it goes off the cuff or makes fun of itself, it has three more tricks up its sleeve to win you over. "Curse of the Nun" injects some personality and doesn't take itself too seriously at times to not end up feeling like your typical, wooden horror feature. Though it also doesn't always come with the same amount of unique aspects or ambiance that would put to rest some of the short comings it points out itself. There is action here, yet most likely due to budget constraints the characters also have tendency to bide their time by talking or hiding.

This turns your standard linear story up on its head in how what you see, feel, or hear can't always be trusted or relied on. It uses some drama and backstory to establish Anna and give her a constant driving point to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Her back and forth struggle with the crazed nun is like an unwelcome boot camp in how she's constantly running, ducking, and putting her body to the test. I feel like they established her well and gave her room for some range of emotions, yet I can't help but feel the undead nun angle is slapped in. There's no tragedy or intrigue related to Sister Catherine, just one weak excuse to throw her in there. It makes it a challenge to fully get behind that.

On the one hand the story is using an unlikely place you'd least suspect to create horror, though it's still an unexplainably dark and twisted nun haunting a modern house that never changes the look and feel of being, well, an average home. Sure, lure them into what looks like something out of "Pleasantville," but then they should have slowly peeled away the layers of its true identity with something more infectious and gravitating. Take the classic "Dead Dudes in the House," for instance. That way there's more dynamic with making the home a character in itself. Otherwise, it causes its world view to be somewhat limited and your imagination to stop expanding.

If it's any consolation, I can imagine this was fun to make for those behind the scenes. There was also enough effort past the norm or just getting by that I can see the next project being capable of working through some of its kinks to suck you in further.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Aaron Mirtes (Clowntergeist)
Actors: Lacy Hartselle, Brad Belemjian, Jonathan Everett, Rae Hunt
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube trailer

Fear Level (2018)

An anthology on fear and morality

By: JWBM

This ambitious project has different moods, shades, and masks it alternates throughout. It begins as one thing, branches off into another, and before it's over you're able to walk away with a cloudy head—for better or worse.

The story explores interconnected stories specifically related to irrational fears of various types: from ones that are grounded—such as jealousy—to others that are out of left field—such as killer clowns. It begins with purpose and intent, like a Ted Talk went out and produced a drama-horror movie by showing how this emotion us humans call fear can consume us or bring down others. Then at some point it does a 180 and goes full dark and abstract. It has a sense of sadness, tragedy, and terror, like a doom and gloom segment of the local news met an episode of "Tales from the Crypt" by showing grave consequences of choices gone wrong in the blink of an eye.

This comes with more intent and meaning than your typical horror feature. I dig the theory behind making this, though I wish I could have enjoyed the actual experience more all the way through. It handles some aspects well, such as the dramatic segment about a girl gone missing. The score, pacing, and acting were well done. The mother did a fantastic job of conveying melancholy and desperation to a realistic degree. Though with others, its meaning can be seen a mile away. Such as the over-the-top religious fanatics being bigots in one way, shape, or form. Or the racist gang straight out of a rated R cartoon.

The film has an experimental quality that helps set itself apart, yet it doesn't always come with a careful refinement to seize every moment. For instance, the camera angles and movement in the first few segments are often disorienting and confusing on where its main focus lies. It shifts around so much that it calls unnecessary attention to itself and takes away from the interactions between the characters. There are some points where it feels like a ghost shadow boxing the characters. The cinematographer has a penchant for low-to-high shots, extreme close-ups, blur-outs, and people's lower halves can be shown as much as their face. It constantly makes your eyes adjust to focus on what's going on. Towards the latter half of the feature, the set ups start to let the characters take hold of the reins more and it seems more fitting to the experience.

Instead of being treated by, say, a haunted house maze under the banner of a main, tangible villain, this uses our own actions and choices to battle against us from anywhere. That in itself is a unique concept. You get a taste of this and that, with the central idea to give an overall sour feeling that will carry over after everything is said and done. In order to pull that off, there needs to be a certain steady focus to explore those deep rooted thoughts and motivations, which would lead to some common ground, relatability, or connection. The director takes on one segment at a time, but I can't help but feel a slight disconnect. For instance, I'm not going to be irrational enough to the point of paranoia, or even angry enough to commit violence against a significant other. Others certainly might though. Convince me.

With shorter segments and an ambitious overview, it tries to fit it all in while not always being on top of everything. The last half of the film compared to the first—while creative and came with a darker edge—went from walking on concrete to attempting to tread the clouds off on its own. One half of me wants to say that it was an unexpected turn, while the other half of me wants to say the writers didn't know how to wrap this one up so they buried their final intention under a few feet of effects and dream-like imagery. Splitting this into a few less segments might have worked better to develop the characters more, not to mention for the audience to get behind and fully invested in each idea as it passes. Juggling this many themes and varying personalities reduced the feature to convenient extremes, or viewpoints that are more predictably black and white.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: JD Allen
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: YouTube trailer

College Pranks (2018)

Anything for the camera or a quick buck

By: JWBM

To be young: cash strapped, looking for direction, and ready for the next adventure and opportunity at the drop of a hat. Up comes a chance to win $25,000 in a game held at a remote area of the Colorado mountains with a couple of lucky, hand-picked contestants. Nothing could go wrong there.

This combines reality TV contests with YouTube prank fads sweeping the web. The story follows four college age folks going about their everyday life before they get selected to take part. Once they make it to mountains, rumors spread of past deaths in the area. Then things start to get a little strange, making it too late to turn back.

This is a horror film on the low budget side with a share of upcoming talent, so some things aren't going to be dealt with by using a fine tooth comb. Think: local film festival quality over bombastic Hollywood theater experience. Some of the more elaborate setups are going to take some suspension of disbelief on your own part. Though what actually hurts the film is namely the script and direction.

The initial premise is not a terrible idea on paper, however the filmmakers spend too much time setting up everyday interactions with little worry about putting you on the edge of your seat for the horror/thriller portion. Having someone being jumpy from typical pranks—such as messing with a sleeping person, or water dumped on the head—doesn't count as nerve wracking. The tone has this light, friendly, carefree quality. It's like a bunch of people showed up for one gathering, turned it into a party and winged it on theme.

Once the game begins, even their cut and pasted motivations for wanting to compete don't give it solid reasoning or tension. The idea is to show that they're everyday people just like you or I, then—BAM!—they get struck by some terrifying, mind-boggling event. Yet, the director missed horror movie 101 by not setting up a consistent atmosphere to back it up, apart from a few out-of-nowhere scenes sprinkled in that are more head-scratching than intriguing.

The pacing is slow moving and stretched out at times; leading the audience on towards hopefully a bigger pay off for your patience. What makes the head shake so hard it spins, and both hands take turns slapping the forehead, is the horror turns into a "Saw" set up—except far enough distanced in quality to be a third cousin's neighbor's friend who seldom visits—with one ludicrous and coincidental motivation after the next. The weight of that nearly crumbles in on itself with too many ridiculous revelations at once and then an ambiguous ending that's more what?! than it is nightmare inducing.

If the direction went more drama/action-adventure it might have worked by using past family troubles and future outlooks, combined with the unique scenery and harsh landscapes of the mountains. Heck, "Deliverance" still holds up almost 50 years later for showing us how vulnerable we are in a naturistic setting. Yet, as a horror experience "College Pranks" falls flat.

Rating: 3/10

Director: Brian McCulley (Broken Cross)
Actors: Shannon McKinnon, Kevin Derkash
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

The Row (2018)

...gently down a blood-filled stream

By: JWBM

This is filled with the fun, carefree life you may or may not have had in your 20s: trendy, flashy, cool, hip—all the lingo and nothing that actually scratches deep below the surface for a second thought. This packs in all the missing memories from a buzz-fueled, adventurous time: shaky camera, emotionless music, dancing, no brains, and a buffet of close-ups of college-age butts. Somewhere in there a darker mystery simmers and then boils into a violent slasher where beauty flourishes and then ultimately dies.

Loads of female victims to punish; smarter-than-the-rest lead; a growing list of suspects; over-protective dad cop. Check, check, check, and check again. The tone is a clash of moods: from party lifestyle, senseless murder, past mystery, to family squabbles. It's great that they attempted to add other avenues, some personality, and potential meaning to the experience, though it feels rushed, unpracticed, and convoluted. I mean, apart from a few actors, a share of the dialogue feels dry and like it was read off of the page. I'm looking at you Randy Couture and his wooden cop companions straight out of the coloring book version of a serial killer on the loose thriller.

I'd be all for this for an easy distraction, except it's like you're actually watching a film that's a carbon copy of fragments of other films, rather than being sucked into something more refined and unique to get lost in. The actual experience is about as disconnected as channel surfing with similar characters on different stations. Unfortunately, "The Row" is an exercise at filling space and killing time, while being forgettable after the credits roll.

Rating: 3/10

Director: Matty Beckerman (Alien Abduction)
Actors: Lala Kent, Randy Couture
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube trailer

My Teacher, My Obsession (2018)

There is no "us" or "we"

By: JWBM

Many adolescent girls or boys generate infatuations from a limited world view. While those fantasies often never materialize, in a way they help us formulate what we may or may not want to strive for in future relationships. Once we mature, we realize it's a give and take. Though with a handful of others, something never clicks and puppy love takes a dark and controlling turn.

A ruggedly handsome English teacher—Chris—and his late teen daughter—Riley—move to small town suburbia for a fresh start. Riley soon meets Kyla: a smart, pretty, and determined gal who quickly connects from her attentive and confident nature. Kyla says all the right words, but has other schemes in mind when she sets her eyes on the muscle-bound teacher who's an older and single man. Soon we find out how emotionally manipulative Kyla is to get her way at the expense of others. Nothing is mutual, self-less, or genuinely giving—it's all feigned in a desperate effort to satisfy fantasies and dominate someone else's needs and feelings.

While this didn't have any glaring or outright confusing flaws with the initial story, it still feels somewhat careful and safe as an overall experience. It takes on taboo topics, though the mode of storytelling keeps it simple by analyzing one aspect at a time. It doesn't leave room for surprises or to keep your mind going in different directions, other than what you can somewhat predictably guess will happen next after taking a gander at the trailer. It's about as transparent as a freshly cleaned window on a bright day; not giving the actors much to work with behind the boxed in scope.

"My Teacher, My Obsession" is more a family and relationship drama than it is pulse-pounding thriller. The performances—while not award winning to begin with—were often undercut by over explanation on motivation and feelings, leaving little for the audience to take away after the fact. Instead of centering on the teacher, it keeps him more in the background to further the story by making him oblivious and have mental blocks to put the obvious pieces together of practically anything in front of him. I mean, the guy is an English teacher with perspective and analytical skills. This is not "Fatal Attraction" with a back and forth, cat and mouse game. Instead we get to watch Kyla's step by step planning—behind the scenes and in front of others—making any bit of daring bite the narrative could have had never break the skin.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Damian Romay (Below the Surface)
Actors: Lucy Loken, Rusty Joiner, Laura Bilgeri
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link 

Slender Man (2018)

The twist: his tailor is divine

By: JWBM

There have been many different incarnations of "Slender Man" from the initial outset of being created on an online forum. What started as a spark of an idea, spawned into a legend for anyone to expand on. Now, it's an actual full length horror experience fleshed out: one that keeps it dark, moody, and mysterious, though something that also feels lacking in scope to get this far.

Four high school aged girls are having a sleep over. You know the drill: there's always gotta be something risky going on, or what you're "not" supposed to do. Why else would sleep overs exist? One thing leads to another and a website is pulled up centered on this tall, lanky silhouette. At first it's something new and daring, but after a little while the strangeness settles in and starts to turn nightmarish when one of them disappears without a trace.

This feels like your standard formulaic horror feature with scares and storytelling boxed in and somewhat lazy from what's been done before. I mean, take "Candyman," for instance, which had layered characters, reasoning, and captivated with a local legend that was genuinely unsettling but also intriguing. Heck, even the video-game-turned-film "Silent Hill" was ambiguous as they come, and only had a rough outline of what was going on, but still set up an interesting, out-there, and demented world to get lost in. This has four girls that are, well, four ordinary girls that remain that. The outside characters are two dimensional, and the interactions start to feel similar but with slightly different variations instead of creating new paths to take you down. It's like they're just biding time till the tall man—who often hides in corners, at the end of hallways, or mixes with branches in the woods—does a sudden "boo!" without you expecting it. There was a particular scene that used a first person Facetime kind of effect where the character was too paralyzed to move, but could only watch as something crept up. It made little sense, but I felt it genuinely worked for the moment to lock you in and throw away the key to a dungeon of possibilities.

To its credit, it does make generous attempts at mood. That's what it set out to do, and that's practically all it did. I mean, I'm all for letting my guard down for a weird or atmospheric ride, but this gets to the point of grazing over certain fundamental interactions and riding off the rails. It tries to put the horse blinders on you, but you can't help but feel this world isn't real and a made up fantasy. The story forces you to believe, instead of giving space for you to believe yourself. Sure, it's dark, and as far as horror features you wouldn't bring it home to your mother, though it's like a weak "The X-Files" episode that didn't make it from lack of greater substance or overall intrigue.

The film keeps it simple to the point of being predictable at almost every turn. The Slender Man, here at least, is essentially a more decorated Boogey Man in different form. He's that dark and mysterious entity that transforms into something abstract depending on who's perspective he's talked about from. It's like he wants to make you squirm, though with no clear or apparent purpose. He's reduced to being a prankster that decided to wing it on punchline. Maybe you'll get a visit, maybe you won't. It seems if you're not visiting shadowy websites or hanging out in the woods, you may not be bothered. Without putting you in their shoes, the fear is reduced and isolated to terrorizing four random teenage girls who had one curious night on the internet. What were their names? Who can remember these things.

Rating: 3.5/10

Director: Sylvain White (I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, The Losers)
Actors: Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

10 Things Slender Man Really Wants:

10. Tea
9. A nice tie
8. A night light
7. To help with top shelf needs
6. Nail clippers
5. Conscientious recyclers
4. To be able to scream in a library
3. To dominate in some hoops
2. A small companion
1. A face

10x10 (2018)

A complex room, not simple multiplication

By: JWBM

Our society works as a careful balance. We have certain aspects set up to make things go as smooth as possible, from something as simple as a stop sign, to something as complex as the consequences to murder. It takes a different kind of person to commit a heinous act against another with little regard for the law. Though there is a gray area where sometimes things are more tricky than they seem: this is where "10x10" takes place.

The tone is a mix of mystery and drama with some built up suspenseful moments. This is a simple revenge tale with the exception of having a custom padded cell hidden away in a remote house to spice it up. A tormented man kidnaps a local woman in broad day light at a public parking lot no less. What looks to be a random or predatory, can't-resist-this-woman encounter, turns out to be that both have a commonality.

The story reveals bit by bit as it unfolds, with the heat getting turned up to a boiling degree by its showdown. The man, Lewis—played by Luke Evans—is an everyday man who's consumed by a fuming mix of anger and depression that makes him unpredictable and nearly broken. The woman, Cathy—played by Kelly Reilly—is your everyday looking redheaded gal around town, but once caged has an inner strength and determination of a few women combined.

This is mostly a no-fuss tale of payback. You get a little drama for emotional impact and some violent moments to get the heart pumping. On paper, the story is as far-fetched as they go. Played out, it comes with some worked through moments to get behind, along with some eye-rolling, illogical ones to shake your head to: such as their mismatched physicalities at points (if you've seen the muscled Luke Evans in "Immortals" you'll understand the contrast).

The direction turns out to be both its strength and its weakness. Instead of an over-the-top, roller-coaster of an experience with little time to look back on such as, say, "Taken" that deals with one-dimensional retribution, the pacing of "10x10" comes with a particular methodical balance to it that grounds some sense of disbelief. Though, what may ruffle some people's feathers, is it incidentally gets the brain working more, but doesn't come with many challenging layers or complex questions to fill in the space with substantial substance. As such, it's a padded feature—albeit with some attempts at atmosphere—that could have been much more.

As far as revenge tales, this isn't going to be anywhere near as grueling as "Oldboy," inventive as "Memento," or even as memorable as "The Count of Monte Cristo." It's a basic, formulaic film with not much in the way of something new to the game, though it gets the job done as a story to put on and put the brain to rest. If you're looking for anything more, you may be disappointed.

Rating: 4.5/10

Director: Suzi Ewing
Actors: Luke Evans, Kelly Reilly
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

Deadtime (2012)

Sex, drugs, and murder

By: JWBM

The trailer for this film looks like a promising drama, murder-mystery with a music angle. One could surmise there'll be blood, surprises, some risque scenes, and, of course, attitude—it's a rock 'n' roll story after all. 

A group of English musicians—who look like they don't get along from the get-go—are brought to a large maze of a recording studio till the sparks fly and a groundbreaking album is produced. A slasher premise is hinted at; you know the drill: cell phone reception weak, something terrible happens, and so much is at stake that it becomes a stalemate till those still standing are forced to go into survival mode when a head-cocks-this-way-and-that killer is on the loose. Once the doors are locked behind, the viewer is soon treated to a nauseating soap-opera with back and forth bickering that's neither interesting, or entertaining. The movie then jumps into more tone changes than vegetable varieties at your local supermarket. The plate isn't always set with a smooth-blend, more like, "Hey, now we're a drama; a music video; faux documentary; the romance is on; tongue-in-cheek sarcastic; oh, horror movie, right." Nothing looks back; the momentum is always forward. Though one has to ask themselves, what audience is this tailored to? The only one with that in mind after the fact is the marketer of the trailer who realized the actual movie was all over the place. 

The filmmakers intentions may have been in the right place here, as this feels like something that may have worked on paper, or even as a graphic novel where the rough kinetics of it all would have tied in better. It's over the top, it's different, and attempts to be creative, though it's not a seamless experience. It's not "Demons" or "StageFright" with a purposeful "cheesy" formula going on, but with certain worked through scenes and tones that you can get behind. Instead it dances from one scene to the next, and then manages to fall flat on nearly every one of them. Its idea of exposition is to cut and paste. I mean, it jumps feet first into an escalating drama, then tries to backtrack its motivations related to it. But ultimately drops it to go into other avenues such as some steamy scenes, rock 'n' roll antics, someone getting chased or killed, or even some random offshoot of the dark arts. The villain is weakly motivated enough to feel more uncomfortable than terrifying when this person goes all crazy. 

I'm all for films with zany plots and various twists and turns, though this feels more like an overambitious film that tries desperately to fill space; while successful in doing just that, the scenes that transpire tend to come with a case of the hiccups that only get worse and worse. If it's any consolation, it looks like it was fun for those behind the scenes. I just can't recommend this film for the casual viewer as it's most likely going to be a frustrating experience. 

Rating: 2/10

Director: Tony Jopia

Actors: Laurence Saunders, Carl Coleman 

Info: IMDB link

Trailer: Youtube link