Grant Hermanns

Both the dramatizations and the interview segments of the film are artistically gorgeous, showing a remarkable grip on genre styles, from film noir to pastel-soaked satire and shadow-heavy psychological thrillers. With animation from April Kovacs and Brad Brown also deployed to tap into Werhun's love of literature, there's not a single frame of the film that doesn't immediately catch the eye.

With thin character work and a familiar story surrounding it, the movie ultimately proves more disposable than enjoyable.

Pizza Movie is a refreshing delight. The simply titled Hulu comedy knows who its audience is, and it delivers plenty of gross-out gags for them to laugh at. But it also takes its genre's formula and infuses it with a real shot of originality that gives even non-stoner-comedy fans plenty to sink their teeth into.

Director Vicky Jewson and her stunt team... properly make dance a large part of its central characters' fight sequences, which gives them a very different flavor. However, this only elevates the film so far beyond its fairly underwhelming script.

As fun as the film is when it leans into its genre trappings, Touch Me wouldn't be anything without its small-but-superb cast. Olivia Taylor Dudley, largely underutilized beyond her time on The Magicians and with Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, is transcendent as Joey, easily delivering a career-best performance.

It's something of a disappointment that the film, as a whole, fails to live up to Byrne's great work in it. But it's certainly not a bad film.

With its molasses pacing and bland direction, this film is an absolutely forgettable dud.

Day's commanding performance as Jimmy is Kill Me's other greatest asset. For a good portion of the film, he taps into the comedic skills he's famous for, at times playing Jimmy like a more grounded take on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's iconic Pepe Silvia scene. But when the film turns to Jimmy confronting his demons, Day really shines."

Thankfully, despite the movie feeling imbalanced in parts, One Another still proves to be a generally charming enough diversion.

Infused with a sharp exploration of the immigrant experience in America and a smattering of such high school tropes as mean-girl cliques and prom queen competitions, the movie is a wonderfully bonkers ride.

For all of its missteps, calling Dolly an outright bad movie still doesn't quite prove an accurate descriptor for Blackhurst's slasher thriller. It's got a solid cast of performers, occasionally stylish direction, and some shocking brutality, but can never quite find the right rhythm to bring it all together.

While it has a mix of fresh and familiar concepts, Protector ultimately still feels too routine to stand out from the crowd.

The creepy imagery in the first act improperly sells just how dull the movie ultimately ends up being for the majority of its overlong runtime, and while its snail-like pacing and lackluster acting fail to make its psychological themes land with anything more than a mute thud.

Despite having some really good parts driving it forward, it's unfortunate that The Mortuary Assistant never quite finds its rhythm.

The Wrecking Crew has finally put Momoa and Bautista on screen together and, thankfully, it largely lives up to the potential of the acting duo.

Gans and co-writers Sandra Vo-Anh and Will Schneider clearly wanted to try and make a faithful translation of the second game in the series, but between unnecessary lore changes and a lack of thematic heft in some of its storytelling, the filmmaker's return to the franchise is a weird mix of exciting recreations, gorgeous visuals and disappointing execution.

Co-writer/director Ryan Prows has assembled a star-studded cast, some of whom wonderfully elevate their potentially one-note characters into intriguing figures, and its base structure of corrupt cops being vampires is one rife for tackling the very real issues of police corruption in the world, yet the mix never quite comes together.

Its sometimes rushed pacing and overstuffed arcs often work against the meaningful messages at the core of the story, particularly the ending, but with enough charming moments and soulful performances from its cast, particularly Bacon and Sedgwick, it really toes the line between being a must-watch and an acceptable skip.

It hits the familiar beats that many find comforting, it has an undeniably adoring dog front and center for much of its runtime, and has a well-meaning enough outcome to its plot. But for those looking for something that doesn't quite literally skate the surface of its premise and characters, this is definitely not the film for you.

I can't deny Krawchuk has absolutely improved on some of his missteps from the first film, but in his apparent effort to pull from the success of Terrifier 2, he learned the wrong lessons regarding mythology pacing and crafting a compelling final girl, making this slasher sequel another learning experience rather than a celebration.

While it may not be the most refined example of its genre, it's really hard not to fall in love with A Little Prayer. Both in the script and performances, the characters feel thoroughly well-realized, the themes at the heart of the story are universal and tackled deftly, and MacLachlan's direction creates a richly tender visual palette.

The haunted object formula actually has some proper stakes, while the imagery proves memorable enough. Yet its clumsy story, bizarre character choices, and awful dubbing turn it into a truly messy affai

In addition to providing a great script, Russell proves to have an excellent eye in the director's chair. He and cinematographer Pat Scola nicely mix a range of visual styles for their scenes, making particular use of handheld close-ups, putting us right into the emotion of each scene.

Year of the Fox is a movie far too marred by its narrative missteps to fully embrace its better parts. The dialogue becomes increasingly predictable and mind-numbing, which makes for a very misguided effort.

Site is a movie that's made up of a solid foundation with an interesting concept, ambitious direction, and a talented cast that can't find a way to maintain its better efforts along the way.

As the stakes rise alongside the body count, Canning nicely captures Candice's struggle between her enduring faith and doing anything to protect her son, giving us just enough of an emotional center to overcome the film's familiarity.

It may not reach the heights of other great dysfunctional family indies, but the characters are at least engaging enough to watch that the movie isn't a waste of time.

What's even more impressive about Osiris are its visual effects, which rival even those of some of the big-budget studio movies.

Even while Thorne's performance proves effective enough to keep us attached to her story, the rest of Saint Clare's cast fails to attain the same feat.

While she may not have been given the best material to work with, Meg Clarke proves to be one of the few bright points in The Banished as Grace.

It's kind of disappointing just how in the middle Almost Cops is when it comes to how safe it plays, even with its mature rating.

It may not be the most original, but it still proves to be a funny enough endeavor.

Unfortunately, the filmmaker's style lacks the same panache or intrigue as many other creature feature directors before him, which could partly be attributed to Gator Lake being his feature directorial debut, but also could just be that the movie's modest budget prevented some of his grander ambitions from coming to fruition.

The action itself is where 11 Rebels' mix of modern and classic filmmaking really shines and had me gripped.

The movie shows both the best and worst parts of Trachtenberg making two separate Predator movies simultaneously.

While I wish the movie's tone and story were a little more even, there's definitely enough here for many to enjoy.

With The Ruse , writer-director Stevan Mena aims to go for a more grounded and slow-burning thriller, but unfortunately, it lacks any kind of burn or tension.

Given The Furst Brothers are clearly aiming for an over-the-top and ridiculous tone, I'm sure the awful CGI was part of their vision, but rather than feel like a tongue-in-cheek genre film, it instead makes the movie one of the best it's-so-bad-it's-good horror films I've seen in a long time.

Featuring everything from handmade pasta to beautifully rolled cannolis and even the unique delicacy of capuzzelle, I could practically smell the kitchen through the screen, and it certainly kept me hooked on hanging out with the movie's charming cast.

The Trouble with Jessica's cast still can't overcome just how unlikable their characters are.

While it's a shame the movie around the cast doesn't quite match their efforts, it at least gives them just enough to keep Havoc from being a complete waste.

Even if I didn't quite love the film, I can't deny I hope it inspires more to take the same bold risks Hernandez and Stephens did.

As a longtime fan of the franchise, it is disappointing that we still can’t get a good Hellboy movie from start to finish, and even in comparison to Harbour’s reboot, this one lacks any major style or energy to have it linger in my mind.

Though the movie goes by way of Shaun of the Dead and refuses to ever use the z-word, there's no denying that We Bury the Dead is a zombie movie, even if a more scaled-down one than some might come to expect.

Despite its fun concept and novel creature designs, Night of the Zoopocalypse ultimately finds itself weighed down by its lackluster script.

While the movie starts off on a pretty straightforward note, one of the things that took me by surprise was just how often I was left guessing how the story was going to play out.

While the animation may struggle to convey some character nuance, its voice cast is more than up to the task. This is particularly true for Doug Cockle.

For those with even a general interest in gaming and looking for a charming twist on the theater industry, Grand Theft Hamlet is still worth a watch.

It's ultimately Hunter and Brandy's performances that keep The Front Room from feeling like a complete missed opportunity and an occasionally engaging watch.

The unfortunate thing about Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare is that it fluctuates far too much between a sincere thriller and a tongue-in-cheek take on the character that it's just never as fun as it could be.

Despite some of the movie's flaws, Santosh's cast truly shines, particularly Shahana Goswami in the titular role. Serving as an audience surrogate, Goswami nicely balances the feeling of curiosity and uncertainty as she becomes more embroiled in the case and her job.

Though the movie's final act somewhat stumbles through its attempt at a big twist, it proves to be a refreshing approach to the formula.

Black Cab has a pitch-perfect combination of Goodison's surreal direction and Gazelle Twin's ethereal score.

The Gutter is ultimately an enjoyable throwback to the broad-skewing sports comedies of the '90s.

While the movie may never fully overcome its feeling of familiarity, Panettiere and Williams' performances truly ground us throughout the tense ride.

Even once the movie elects to deal away with its ambiguity and get right to its demonic horror, The Demon Disorder still feels largely too familiar and predictable.

Hell Hole is a really rewarding experience for horror genre fans who have longed to see a crazy body horror outing in the vein of The Thing.

Despite their best efforts, though, Wahlberg and Berry's chemistry is never quite enough to fully lift The Union from being another mediocre Netflix action offering. The story is both far too simple and predictable, the worldbuilding isn't thought out enough to be believable, and the action isn't so exciting as to fully turn one's brain off and enjoy the decently paced journey.

Ultimately, Watchmen: Chapter 1 is a relatively promising start to this two-part adaptation of Moore's graphic novels, though it's brought down by familiarity, failure to surpass its prior adaptations, and a somewhat rushed pace.

The Convert is by far one of Tamahori's best films in years.

Thanks to the movie's skillfully executed and relentless action and a couple of major twists, Kill largely overcomes its few hurdles to be an absolute thrill ride.

Despite the movie's obvious problems, it's hard to deny that Emma Roberts and Tom Hopper do their best to make Space Cadet a generally charming ride to watch.

While it does succeed in creating a bizarre atmosphere that captures plenty of simmering tension, it's trapped between being a proof-of-concept short film and a feature-length effort.

Croke's script seems content with delivering reality-questioning thrills rather than offering anything meaningful to keep audiences thinking beyond the movie's 90-minute runtime, or even within it.

Melding gut-wrenching body horror with unique parallels between puberty and transformation, writer-director Amanda Nell Eu's feature debut is thoughtful and intriguing, even if it doesn't fully soar.

Though its characters and story could've benefited from a deeper, more original development, Roache-Turner ultimately knows what audiences are coming to see and delivers that in droves, offering horrific deaths, a tense atmosphere and stylish direction to entertaining effect.

Despite some of the struggles with the moral depictions of the figures, the actors behind Scoop's characters are all mesmerizing in their different roles.

It's thanks to this cast that Shirley remains a rousing and emotional tribute to an important figure in American history.

It's not only a modern classic of the zombie genre, but one that is sure to stand the test of time for the next 20 years and beyond.