(B-) Quintessentially 80s-y horror flick. An obvious rip of "Evil Dead" and "Demons", but a reasonably stylish, creepy one. The characters tend to be pretty annoying, though.

(C-) Pretentious Van Sant take on Columbine reminds us all how boring high school was. The actual shooting is fairly striking, but the rest is an exercise in tedium, and decidedly does not make the end more impacting.

(C-) Early Raimi pic written by the Coens is nevertheless totally forgotten, and with reason. The Coens' purely farcical scripts are their weakest, and Raimi doesn't have much money to work with. To put it bluntly, it ain't funny.

(C+) Korean thriller is well-acted and generates some atmosphere, though it's almost painfully slow at times, and is ultimately nothing new.

(C-) Indie drama is comically bleak with outrageous overacting, so nitwit critics think the acting is great, and that it's oh so deep. Only the lovely and naturally sad-looking Rose Byrne maintains her dignity, with a fine performance in the one truly effective segment. By the way, this was directed by a woman, of all things.

(F) I'd never seen a flick from uberhack Franco, and he didn't disappoint, I guess. Nauseating sexploitation with dumpy women and some totally tacked on horror. Also, lots and lots of walking. One of the worst films I've seen.

(B-) Early Allen anthology pic is uneven, but it's very fun at times, and the weaker parts end soon enough. Wilder is great, as usual.

(B-) Exploitation thriller about a killer targeting strippers is amusingly sleazy. It's also atypically well-made for such material, as most Ferrara films are, and the cast is solid enough.

(C) Reasonably competent low-budget horror, but it's hopelessly dry.

(C-) Late 80s giallo lacks the flair and intrigue of the early 70s heyday. Not one of L. Bava's better pics, and his career is, generously speaking, quite uneven.

(B) One of the better Z flicks yet, with another enjoyable performance from Katsu and a relatively full and intriguing story.

(B-) Late 80s zombie/asylum pic deserves credit for twisting the genres somewhat, and actually trying to generate atmosphere. It's not w/o the standard low-budget flaws, but it's fun.

(B) The prior movie looked terrible, but this one is quite energetic and entertaining. I'm not saying it isn't goofy, but in a good way, and it has a grade-A cast slumming it up nicely.

(B) A bit overlong, and it pales next to the sequel, this is still a pleasantly dark comic book movie. Also, I like to see the great C. Murphy get to ham it up a bit. Looks like he had fun with this.

(C+) Competently filmed and acted, but "Othello in high school" is just too silly a conceit to really work. Also, Shakespeare w/o the soliloquizing is pretty thin. However, this has gotta be the first and only film with the line, "Where's the %$@#ing scarf!!!"

(B+ for Dead of Night) Famed horror anthology is possibly the best horror pic from the 30s or 40s. The quality varies a bit, but the best segments are truly excellent, and they're all at least solid.

(B+) Ultra-surreal horror pic plays like a Mexican "Blood on Satan's Claw." It looks great despite the budget, and the affected overacting creates a sort of operatic feel that suits the pic well. Definitely a strange little gem, though not for all audiences. Moctezuma's "Mansion of Madness", however, isn't particularly good, Has some decent visuals, but it never comes alive. (C)

(C+) Eco-horror pic is, like many of the sort, overly pious and self-serious, not too mention talky. Nevertheless, the kill goo-bear is quite entertaining, once he finally shows up.

(B+) Immensely entertaining apocalyptic horror film with a surprisingly strong cast. Walken and Mortenson, in particular, are very entertaining.

(B-) T. Scott's ridiculously kinetic filmmaking keeps this interesting, though it's nearly collapses under the excess length. One more: "Vanilla Sky" (C+) Moderately entertaining "What is real?" pic, but it lacks the mysterious ambience of the best of these films, and Cruz is grating.