• 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

  • Film Review – Undertone

    2009’s “Paranormal Activity” was the surprise hit of the year, launching a haunted house-style viewing experience created with extraordinarily little money and story. The whole event was made up of loud noises and the occasional offering of threatening imagery, managing to win its audience over by trying to rattle nerves. The same concept for minimalist horror returns in “Undertone,” with writer/director Ian Tuason endeavoring to create a brain-melter with a severely limited budget, keeping the tale of a podcaster experiencing a week of torment to the confines of a single house. It’s not a found-footage effort, but more of a psychological chiller, putting Tuason to work building a sound design capable of carrying an entire feature, placing the main character in the middle of an aural hell. And sound is basically all “Undertone” has, unable to cook up a more dynamic haunting to follow as everything in the movie goes crash, bang, boom. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – Bodycam

    The “V/H/S” series of anthology films has been going strong in recent years, and just last year welcomed the release of the franchise’s eighth installment. The features focus solely on found-footage/POV horror, giving viewers a sense of immediacy as wicked things happen to hapless characters. “Bodycam” isn’t a lost chapter of the “V/H/S” saga or even a spin-off title, though it basically offers the same viewing experience. Co-writer/director Brandon Christensen (“Superhost,” “Night of the Reaper”) return to the chaos of gradually building insanity facing personalities who don’t understand what they’re up against, with two police officers involved in trouble, recording their night of terror on body-worn cameras. “Bodycam” isn’t anything genre fans haven’t seen before, and there are long stretches of the endeavor where little is happening, but Christensen gives minimalist horror a try, coming up with a few involving points of pressure and a decently hellacious conclusion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

  • Film Review – The Optimist

    Stephen Lang plays tough guys. He’s been doing it throughout most of his career, and he’s done it very recently, keeping up a villainous presence in “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and doing B-movie duty in the recent “Hellfire.” For “The Optimist,” Lang offers a welcome change of pace, tasked with portraying Herbert Heller, a Holocaust survivor who decided late in life in begin sharing the story of his experiences during World War II, with hopes to reach others carrying considerable pain. Writer/director Finn Taylor (“Dream with the Fishes”) looks to make an intense but sensitive drama from the tale, creating a study of unexpected connection found during troubling times, and Lang is there to hold the picture together with his sturdy, gentle performance. “The Optimist” runs into storytelling issues late in the film, but it remains a powerful understanding of endurance, providing intimacy with crisis and compassion. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com