• Blu-ray Review – The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs

    Joe Bob Briggs is a respected writer and media personality, best known for his work on cable television, developing a cult following during his stint as the host of “Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater” (which ran for a decade). Briggs is a genre admirer with an encyclopedic brain for all things horror, walking viewers through the oddities of the films he covers, making sure his audience walks away with a new appreciation for the pictures featured on the show. This commitment continued to TNT’s “MonsterVision,” which ran for four years, returning Briggs to his natural place of authority when it comes to fright films. When that gig eventually ended, Briggs was away from the small screen for quite some time, eventually called back into service for streaming service Shudder, reemerging with “The Last Drive-In” in 2018. The show was initially an experiment, with executives putting a little Joe Bob out there to see if people were still interested. And they were, inspiring a return to duty for Briggs, joined by his co-host, Darcy, the Mail Girl (Diana Prince), launching a fresh wave of hosting achievements, interviews, and general monologuing, often about the strangest topics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – I Love You Forever

    Writer/directors Cazzie David and Elisa Kalani look to explore the struggles of the Gen Z dating experience with “I Love You Forever,” which is a darker take on romantic comedy happenings. The pair hope to pull off a bit of a switcheroo, initially tempting viewers with the usual in sassy dialogue and quirky characters before gradually reducing lightheartedness as elements of abuse and obsession take over the viewing experience. David and Kalani aren’t polished filmmakers (they make their feature-length helming debut here), and there’s an overall clunkiness to the picture that’s difficult to ignore. However, they aim to explore a certain reality facing many young people dealing with the world of toxic relationships and dating woes, trying to reach the target demographic with a more honest understanding of the dangers out there. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Drug-O-Rama Video Party

    “Drug-O-Rama Video Party” is an offering from the American Genre Film Archive, who seek to preserve the work of Something Weird Video and the company’s quest to find and preserve the strangest offerings of cinema around. For this release, the focus is on “drug-and-sex-crazed” releases from the 1960s, when counterculture pursuits began to take national attention, bringing fear and disgust to the establishment. Included here are “The Hard Road,” “Alice in Acidland,” “Help Wanted Female,” and “Hedonistic Pleasures,” and while the title of the collection emphasizes mind-bending chemical adventures, focus actually favors carnal experiences, finding sexploitation dominating the viewing experience, which isn’t nearly as bizarre as tales of addiction and dangerous experimentation, viewed through a conservative lens. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • 4K UHD Review – Shakespeare’s Shitstorm

    Troma Entertainment doing a Shakespeare adaptation? Again? Well, not really, but screenwriter Brandon Bassham is trying to do something with The Bard in “Shakespeare’s Shitstorm,” which uses “The Tempest” as inspiration for…well, that thing Troma always does. Director Lloyd Kaufman hopes to conjure absolute madness for the endeavor, which combines a light appreciation for iambic pentameter and floods of fecal matter for this examination of revenge. Perhaps there’s an audience for “Shakespeare’s Shitstorm,” but that doesn’t make the feature magically appealing, watching Kaufman try to merge his tired sense of humor with feeble commentary on the state of the social justice world in 2018. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – City Wide Fever

    Giallo cinema is generally beloved by horror fans, celebrated for its ways with violence and reality-bending atmosphere, also providing mysteries to solve for those interested in puzzling. It’s a secret-handshake subgenre for those in the know, and one fan of it all is certainly writer/director Josh Heaps, who doesn’t have any money or interest in working with HD gear, out to craft his own little homage to giallo events in “City Wide Fever.” It’s a low-res valentine to the brain-bleeding aspects of European storytelling, with Heaps placing attention on the seductive qualities of the unknown and the hunt for information. The picture isn’t going to win hearts and minds from a technological standpoint, but for those who really enjoy filmmaking that’s in love with filmmaking, “City Wide Fever” has its highlights, with genuine enthusiasm for the storytelling mission, even during its most underfunded scenes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Ready or Not 2: Here I Come

    2019 seems like such a long time ago, and the film year was brightened by the arrival of “Ready or Not.” It offered directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet a chance to upgrade their fondness for genre entertainment, working with a decently twisty script by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy, which embraced ghoulish fun with its macabre take on relationship issues and the game of hide-and-seek. The filmmakers (a.k.a. “Radio Silence”) used their hit movie to jump to the big leagues, eventually taking possession of the “Scream” franchise (helming sequels in 2022 and 2023), and they went deep into blood and guts in 2024’s “Abigail,” which failed to attract much of an audience. Looking to regain career momentum, Radio Silence returns to “Ready or Not” with a sequel to a feature that enjoyed a mostly definitive conclusion. “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” reopens old dramatic wounds and shouts at the devil once again, and while a few enjoyably grisly moments remain, the sequel doesn’t have much in the way of freshness, acting more as a remake than a continuation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Tow

    “Inspired by a true story,” “Tow” finds screenwriters Jonathan Keasey and Brant Boivin out to turn the saga of Amanda Ogle and her lengthy battle to get her car back from a towing company into a dramatic study of persistence. There are a lot of layers to Ogle’s experience, and the writing respects most of them as it hunts for a way to merge the power of personal difficulties with the more audience-pleasing elements of underdog cinema. Grittiness isn’t tested with the picture, but director Stephanie Laing does a capable job working through characterization, getting a sense of life out of the players in this game of frustration, and emotional intimacy is protected. Laing also has star Rose Byrne, who contributes another excellent performance as Ogle, working with a nuanced dramatic arc that gives her plenty to play while surrounded by a colorful supporting cast. “Tow” is a little unusual as it straddles the line between mainstream and indie moviemaking, but it delivers heart and significance with its unusual understanding of persistence. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Late Shift

    “Late Shift” is a German and Swiss production about nurses and all the difficulties they encounter while trying to do their jobs. It’s not a melodrama about heroism or a tale about a bustling hospital and all the craziness contained within. Writer/director Petra Volpe (“The Divine Order”) does away with expanse to remain strictly focused on a single character enduring an average night of employment as she handles the wants and needs of many patients. Volpe is looking to identify a “global health crisis” in the making as nursing staff numbers plummet everywhere, creating an intense understanding of struggle for a woman who’s doing her best, facing an impossible demand for constant multitasking. “Late Shift” isn’t an easy sit, but it’s an important one, vividly dramatizing the challenges of a difficult vocation, taking moments to understand the endurance and concentration the job demands, generating a riveting sit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – I Swear

    John Davidson is a Scottish man who’s been the focus of several documentaries and news reports throughout his life. He lives with Tourette syndrome, and he’s used his days to help educate others on the motor disorder, trying to spread the word about its symptoms, which brought him great trouble during his formative years, surrounded by a world that didn’t understand his situation. Writer/director Kirk Jones (“Waking Ned Devine,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2”) elects to dramatize such a life experience in “I Swear,” exploring the woes and sense of self-discovery as John learned more about Tourettes, trying to balance physical issues with emotional needs. “I Swear” is pretty standard as bio-pics go, but the lead performance by Robert Aramayo is sensational, delivering full-body work that captures the turmoil within John as he endures a lot of pain before finally finding his way to a level of peace. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Pizza Movie

    Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher are a comedy duo known as “BriTANicK.” They specialize in short-form internet clips, creating funny business for companies such as College Humor and FunnyOrDie, and the pair even did time on “Saturday Night Live” for a bit. They’re out to conquer a feature-length film with “Pizza Movie,” taking directing and writing credits on a picture that’s working hard to be R-rated streaming catnip for teen viewers. It’s profane, violent, filled with non sequiturs, and contains some of the broadest acting likely to be found in 2026. McElhaney and Kocher found success with goofballery that was brief and straight to the point. Now they’re faced with extending their brand of silliness to 90 minutes, and they can’t manage the workload, trusting obnoxiousness and overkill will be enough to please their target audience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Vampires of the Velvet Lounge

    If people purchase tickets for “Vampires of the Velvet Lounge,” expectations will certainly be in place to see something frightening, or maybe seductive. Writer/director Adam Sherman doesn’t possess much interest in finding the horror in bloodsucker activity, instead creating a study of the online dating scene that’s periodically interrupted by monster and demon hunter encounters. “Vampires of the Velvet Lounge” is a very bizarre picture, and not in an engrossing manner, watching Sherman work to assemble something coherent out of different tones, performances, and ideas that are meant to deliver a wild cinematic ride. Confusion tends to dominate the viewing experience, as viewers are offered a feature that doesn’t really know what it wants to be, but it has a defined purpose to spill as much fake blood as possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Black Panther of Shaolin

    Martial arts activity hits the streets of Manila in 1975’s “The Black Panther of Shaolin” (also known as “Bamboo Trap,” which is the title on the print). The Philippines-based production is directed by Ernesto Ventura, who seeks to compete with all the action films of the era, mounting his own take on heroes and villains in the feature, looking to cash in on the frenzy for martial arts movies after the rise of Bruce Lee. “The Black Panther of Shaolin” intends to be a kidnapping drama of some sort, but Ventura isn’t that committed to storytelling, launching a somewhat baffling tale of escalation between the bad guys and the men hired to save the day, also working in a couple of cultural ceremonies, big turns of character, and oddball editing to bring the picture to life. It’s not a terribly exciting movie, and incoherence is a major issue, but as an offering of violence from the Philippines, the endeavor has select moments of excitement. Just not enough of them. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – The Black Six

    1974’s “The Black Six” certainly appears to be a movie set up for great success. It has a heck of a casting hook, bringing in six NFL players to populate a Blaxploitation picture, giving the endeavor interesting marquee value, just not thespian might. It’s a biker movie concerning the exploits of black Vietnam vets trying to distance themselves from their pasts, running into trouble in rural California, or “cracker country,” when a death goes without investigation, putting the gang on the hunt for the killer. It’s a low-budget endeavor, but one with great potential, using the football stars to offer an unusual level of screen intimidation and camaraderie, and for about 15 minutes, it works. It’s the rest of “The Black Six” that carries tremendous disappointment, watching director Matt Cimber and screenwriter George Theakos fumble (heh) the basics of investigation and revenge, going as slow as humanly possible with material that’s bizarrely uneventful. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Playroom

    Manny Coto, best know as the director of 1992’s “Dr. Giggles,” makes his helming debut with 1989’s “Playroom” (a.k.a. “Schizo”), establishing his love of horror with a story about a man confronting his past while reuniting with his insanity during an archaeological expedition in Yugoslavia. Coto and screenwriter Keaton Jones (the once and future Kelly Leak, Jackie Earle Haley, takes a story credit) arrange a small-scale inspection of an unraveling, keeping their budget low with a semi-slasher that struggles with psychological elements and basic suspense needs. While it has a cast who appear committed to the cause, “Playroom” just isn’t very thrilling, eventually settling on a few creative choices that border on the bewildering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Blu-ray Review – Relay

    Screenwriter Justic Piasecki makes his feature-length debut with “Relay,” and he offers a very interesting idea about a relationship the develops between two people involved in a whistleblower event gone horribly wrong. It’s a fascinating story that blends procedural action with deep characterization, at times recalling some of the better paranoia thrillers of the 1970s. Director David Mackenzie (who hit a career high with 2016’s “Hell or High Water,” only to come back down to Earth in 2018’s mediocre “Outlaw King”) is tasked with maintaining steady pressure on the audience, creating unusual tension from scenes of communication and surveillance. For the first two acts, “Relay” is excellent, hitting a few logic gaps while generating an impressive amount of suspense, promising a great conclusion to come. A satisfying ending doesn’t arrive, but Mackenzie and Piasecki get most of the way there, handling the nail-biting needs of the tale and its unique study of planning and pursuit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Gates

    Writer/director John Burr tries to mix elements of headline news and B-movie thrills in “The Gates.” It’s a study of racial tension inside a gated community, but Burr doesn’t have any real investment in a nuanced understanding of tensions. He’s making more of a blunt instrument with the picture, but one that holds attention with its gripping set-up and understanding of threat. “The Gates” backs off from anxious moments at the midway point of the feature, but Burr manages some successful scenes of shock and confrontation, playing with the rough edges of bigotry and exclusion to feed a partially kinetic offering. It’s definitely not a film that’s trying to make sense of hatred, instead using it to power a mostly effective exercise in suspense and plot turns, which Burr handles to the best of his ability. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Preschool

    As an actor, Josh Duhamel typical gravitates toward more serious roles, often portraying characters struggling with life or troubled people stuck in bad situations. When he directs, Duhamel only makes comedies, and broad ones at that, highlighting his love for slapstick and crudeness in two installments of the “Buddy Games” franchise (yes, two). He’s back with silliness for “Preschool,” joining screenwriter Richard D’Ovidio (“Thirteen Ghosts,” “The Call”) for an examination of two dads engaged in a destructive battle to join an elite school for their young children. It’s not the most inspired story, and the writing doesn’t go out of its way to deliver laughs. Duhamel plays it safe with the picture instead, providing a tired sense of mischief with a movie you’ve seen before. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Reminders of Him

    The next step in the Hoover-ication of romantic cinema is “Reminders of Him,” which is an adaptation of a 2022 book by Colleen Hoover. The picture arrives after the enormous success of 2024’s “It Ends with Us” and 2025’s “Regretting You” (which did decent business), keeping Hollywood on the hunt for material from the prolific author, who specializes in melodramatic beach reads. It’s been tough to recognize the writer’s power over readers, and the previous two films were difficult to digest. Enter director Vanessa Caswill, an English helmer who previously turned in fine work with 2023’s “Love at First Sight,” and now has the challenge of transforming Hoover’s iffy imagination into reasonably interesting cinema. Caswill remains remarkably committed to preserving a human touch to “Reminders of Him,” delivering a feature with some honest emotions and a less manipulative way of doing business. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Project Hail Mary

    “Project Hail Mary” is the first film from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller since 2014’s “22 Jump Street,” not counting their hands-on approach to overseeing production on the two animated “Spider-Verse” movies. It’s been quite some time since “The Lego Movie” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” filmmakers have been in control of a production, and their latest certainly plays like a purging of ideas build up over the years. They’re put in command of an adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 “hard science” novel, with “The Martian” writer cooking up another tale of desperation in space and all the intellect required to solve problems. Screenwriter Drew Goddard handles the literary translation (returning to duty after work on 2015’s “The Martian”), and the production team is clearly out to make an epic with “Project Hail Mary,” which offers space exploration, a complicated mission to save Earth, and contact with a helpful alien. Lord and Miller attempt to go very big with the offering, which remains engaging enough, but the directors are definitely out to win hearts with the feature, getting a little too pushy with sentimentality as the story unfolds. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Slanted

    Amy Wang makes her feature-length directorial debut with “Slanted,” and she takes on an interesting storytelling challenge with her screenplay. It’s a teen-friendly introduction to body horror, examining the emotional struggles of a young Chinese woman hoping to find a way to fit in with the white society that surrounds her. There’s satire in play, but the picture is mostly sincere in its concern for a fragile mind taking a big health risk to alter her identity, which only manages to create even more complications. “Slanted” has an angle on low self-esteem and acceptance issues that’s worth examining, and Wang offers an appealing cultural perspective to help support dramatic entanglements. The movie isn’t razor sharp and doesn’t get weird enough, but Wang’s creative voice remains clear in this thought-provoking offering. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com