A 15th-century prince denounces God after his wife’s death, becoming the cursed, immortal Dracula to bring her back from the dead
Dracula or Dracula: A Love Tale is directed by Luc Besson director of Léon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), Lucy (2014), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017), Dogman (2023) and many others.
Luc Besson’s Dracula feels like it saw Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)and said “I can do that too” and then proceeds to fail at doing so. While not the absolute worst adoption of Dracula, it is one of the most forgettable and uninspired ones that fails to bring the viewer into its world and suffers from very shallow character writing.
The performances aren’t bad here, Caleb Landry Jones does a pretty well as Dracula even if the character writing leaves a lot more to be desired. Matilda De Angelis is clearly having a blast as Maria, Christopher Walz is also not bad here at all. It’s really a shame the character writing is just completely flat, Jones, Angelis and Walz are great actors who try what they can with the script but it ultimately feels wasted on a very messy movie.
The production design and costumes are nice and fit well with the movie, they also do a great job of complimenting the period in time. But in between all of that is bizarre and terrible VFX animated gargoyles for absolutely no reason at all. It’s a bizarre choice from Luc Besson that ultimately does take you out of the movie due to just how out of place it really is. The cinematography from cinematographer Colin Wandersman can only salvage so much because these gargoyles do stick out like a sore thumb and you can’t exactly erase something that sticks out like that.
The writing is the movie’s biggest issue, as I said before the movie desperately tries to be Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and completely fails at it. The movie does have its original ideas but those fall flat almost immediately due to the writing just not being there to give them any power. Which leaves the movie desperately trying to pull from Coppola’s film which this movie does not even come close to, in fact if I could describe this movie in a single sentence it would be “Coppola’s Dracula but with terrible looking gargoyles.”
Not much else to say here, you can easily do a lot worse than Dracula but there are far better adaptions out there that are much more worthy of your time.
A new Ghostface emerges in Sidney Prescott’s new home, targeting her daughter, forcing Sidney to confront her past.
Scream 7 is directed by Kevin Williamson director of Teaching Mrs. Tingle. Scream 7 serves as a sequel to Scream VI (2023) and as the seventh installment of the franchise.
There is a saying that I have been saying ever since I started reviewing film and that is “I like to give every film the chance to impress, surprise or disappoint” I have stayed true to this ever since.
If you know anything about the production history of Scream 7 you will know that it was a gigantic mess, to put it in short Radio Silence left due to Spyglass wanting Scream 7 to be rushed into development (Radio Silence wanted to work on Abigail first.) Melissa Barrera was fired for a Instagram story she made about Palestine that Spyglass labeled “antisemitic” (it was not) and then soon after Jenna Ortega left her reason of leaving was solidarity with Melissa. Finally Christopher Landon who was the replacement for Radio Silence left due to death threats (which this goes without saying but should not have happened, I get people were upset about Melissa Barrera being fired but this was uncalled for.)
Despite all of this however, I gave Scream 7 a fair chance and unfortunately the movie itself is just not great at all. It might have been passable for a basic slasher movie, but as a Scream movie it completely misses on what makes the franchise so great and fun.
I’ll start with the performances that are decent and good, Isabel May plays Sidney Prescott’s daughter Tatum she is a fine enough addition to the series and admittedly does have a couple of decent moments with Neve Campbell. Tatum isn’t exactly a well written character but I guess what saves her here is Isabel May’s decent performance. Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox are the movie’s best parts, Campbell works her magic as Sidney Prescott and perhaps this is one of her best portrayals of the character. Courtney Cox who although disappears during the last bit of the movie, does a great job as Gal Weathers once again (although I will say her entrance to the movie is very corny and is the definition of a “please clap” moment.) Gal Weathers has always been my favorite character of the Scream characters who have been here since the beginning, so it was great to see her heavily involved. As a duo Campbell and Cox do very well, there is one scene in particular towards the end of the movie that works wonderfully and shows some character moments that I do wish the rest of the movie had more of.
Everyone else here is fine enough, McKenna Grace is sadly not in the movie for very long but at the very least results in the movie’s best kill by far. Matthew Lillard returns as Stu Macher which he does give a fine enough performance it’s just the writing that is really holding him back. What worked so well years ago with his performance does not exactly translate here.
The main issue with Scream 7 mainly comes down to the writing, a large amount of it is nostalgia and IP worship, think of The Rise Of Skywalker (2019). It’s clear that Williamson wants to relive the glory days, bring everything back to the start. Bringing in a bunch of cameos that people will point at the screen and say “oh look I remember that guy” Williamson is clearly a talented man but in Scream 7 it feels like this was done by an entirely different person. Scream 7 introduces AI into the mix which on paper it’s a fine enough idea, but the execution is very one note and does not really say anything about AI. It’s more so seeing someone use Stu as a way to taunt Sidney and then there is the cameo fest during the movie’s third act which is embarrassing and somehow gets worse as it goes on.
The movie’s reveals of the antagonists are embarrassing to say the least, the first one which happens about the middle portion is a Roy Burns from Friday The 13th: A New Beginning (1985) moment where you get one scene of this guy and never see him again until he’s unmasked. The final act reveals are way too predictable for their own good, the motivations are horribly written and feel like an afterthought, the antagonists themselves are also just not interesting enough at all, you do not care about their supposed motivations you do not care about them as people and they most definitely don’t take you into the movie.
Scream 7 is easily the worst of the franchise, say what you will about Scream 3 (2000) but at the very least that it said something about the movie industry and is genuinely fun. Scream 7 just feels like a whole lot of nothing, a bunch of ideas squished together that feel like more of something that the in universe film series STAB would parody. Much like the live action Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (2025) remake, for a movie that has had a lot of controversies when you look at it as what it is there is just truly not a whole lot to say here.
A group of high school students takes refuge in their school during a zombie apocalypse, forcing them to deal with their personal issues alongside the undead threat.
This Is Not A Test is directed by Adam MacDonald director of Backcountry (2014), Pyewacket (2017) and Out Come the Wolves (2023).
There really is not a whole lot to say here, This Is Not A Test is basically if you took any random zombie movie and put it in the young adult book adaption genre. There is definitely some positives here but a majority of the movie is bit too dull and does not really leave an impact on the viewer.
The cast is not too bad here however the stand out by a mile is Olivia Holt, she is given the most to work with and actually does have some genuine character moments especially during the movie’s opening. The dialogue definitely has young adult adaption DNA here, there are hints of emotional moments that admittedly do have promise. But none of it builds into anything particularly memorable.
The movie’s biggest problem here is it plays incredibly safe and does not really do anything to help it stand out from a very crowded genre, not every single movie needs to stand out but there just is not any sort of identity here. It’s nice that we get a ton of dialogue between the characters but when said dialogue is dull and not particularly interesting that becomes an issue.
You could do a lot worse than This Is Not A Test but you can easily do so much better.
This Is Not A Test is available on all VOD platforms.
Maya returns for a final, brutal showdown with the masked killers, seeking revenge and a way out of the cycle of violence.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 is directed by Renny Harlin director of A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Devil’s Pass (2013), The Legend Of Hercules (2014), The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024), The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) and many others. The film serves as the fifth installment of The Strangers series and the final installment of the new Strangers trilogy.
In my review for The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025) I said it made a huge accomplishment which was being worse than its predecessor. Well The Strangers: Chapter 3 repeats that trend by being somehow worse than Chapter 2. A lot of the issues with the last movie can be applied with this one, however there are a few differences worth mentioning here.
The acting is about the same as it was in the other two movies, Madelaine Petsch is the only one who gives a somewhat decent performance. While everyone else is just not great here at all, they all try their best with the script but none of it is effective. What remains the same is the shallow character writing, there are moments where the movie is desperately trying get you to feel something towards the characters which is incredibly strange considering how lacking of character writing this whole trilogy had.
The movie once again brings in the flashbacks that explain more about the strangers themselves, I already said this in my review for the last movie but I’ll say it again here. The flashbacks completely defeat the purpose of the whole concept, the original idea of The Strangers is that you do not know who they are. They are random people who don’t have a motive they just attack people randomly. Random attacks are a very real thing which is why the 2008 film was so effective for a lot of people. It was ridiculous to bring the flashbacks in the last movie and it’s somehow made even worse here, due to telling a story that is quite frankly dull and incredibly predictable.
What makes Chapter 3 worse than Chapter 2 simply comes down to the writing, the revelations this movie tries to present as shocking are incredibly predictable that almost anyone could have guessed. You are telling me that two characters who acted creepy are actually very creepy? No way! Another thing the movie tries to do is it hints towards Maya (played Madelaine Petsch) displaying signs of becoming a serial killer like the strangers. It’s a ridiculous idea that comes out of nowhere and does not have the character writing to back it up, Maya as a character throughout this whole trilogy was very thinly written and that does not change here.
Overall there really isn’t much more to be said about The Strangers: Chapter 3, as I said before a lot of the flaws from Chapter 2 can be applied here. This one just so happens to be a lot more dialogue heavy whereas the previous movie was more action, either way this trilogy fails in every single way possible.
The Strangers: Chapter 3 is available on all VOD platforms.
James Sunderland receives a letter from his lost love, Mary, and returns to the town of Silent Hill, where he must face terrifying creatures and his own sanity.
Return to Silent Hill is directed by Christophe Gans director of Crying Freeman (1995), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Silent Hill (2006) and Beauty and the Beast (2014). Return to Silent Hill is the third Silent Hill film and a reboot, this one is loosely based on the 2001 video game Silent Hill 2.
I really do not have a whole lot to say here, my only knowledge of Silent Hill as a franchise was the two previous films and Silent Hill 2 which I played years ago. With that being said it is a bit baffling to see Gans who directed the first movie and did a decent job with it come back for this one and do the complete opposite.
The acting is not horrendous but it most certainly is not great either, I think the main problem here is how lacking the writing is. There is only so much the actors can really work with, Evie Templeton definitely gets the bigger end of the stick. There’s some genuine atmosphere with Laura (played by Templeton) and captures the spirit of the character quite well, she is by far the highlight of the movie it’s just such a shame that the shoddy script prevented huge moments for her.
The script is all over the place, it’s trying to present new ideas with a mix of old ones a lot of it just does not stick here at all. Outside of a few moments towards the end that are genuinely decent along with Templeton’s dialogue there is just truly not a whole lot going on here unfortunately.
I will say that the technical aspects are great, the cinematography from cinematographer Pablo Rosso has the mysterious atmosphere of the franchise and the production design does the same as well. The two make some scenes a lot better but can’t salvage every single moment.
For me this is just a very forgettable horror film, had I been more of a fan of the franchise maybe I would have found this more horrible. But as it stands Return to Silent Hill is one of those movies that immediately leaves your mind a couple hours after watching it.
Return to Silent Hill is available on all VOD platforms.
A newly certified mortician, Rebecca Owens, takes a night job embalming bodies and uncovers a demonic conspiracy, forcing her to confront her own past to survive the night.
The Mortuary Assistant is directed by Jeremiah Kipp director of Slapface (2021), Love & Everything in Between (2017), The Sadist (2015) and a few others.
The Mortuary Assistant is one of the worst kind of terrible movies, it does not land in the “so bad it’s hilarious” territory and it isn’t fun either. Instead what you get here is a completely botched movie that is apparently based on the 2022 video game of the same name. From what I’ve seen with fan’s reactions it does a terrible job of telling the story and fails to capture the atmosphere of the source material. I haven’t even played the game and I absolutely agree that the atmosphere is completely missing along with many other things.
What immediately kills this movie is the acting, this is the sort of terrible acting that leaves the viewer flabbergasted to the point where you ask yourself “did they even try?” Willa Holland who I typically like just does not shine here, it does not help that her character Rebecca is given no strong character writing. Paul Sparks feels like he’s half asleep with his performance, it’s a very phoned in performance that leans into the terrible territory and keeps going further down.
The script is poorly written and at times very baffling. While premise is an interesting idea, the execution ends up being incredibly dull and wasted. It’s filled to the brim with terribly done horror elements that are handled with the amount of care of a bull in a china shop, the atmosphere is completely missing and does not offer the viewer any sort of time to really get into the environment. It’s also completely sloppily put together, it has the feel of a science fair project that is two seconds away from coming apart.
The technical elements are horrible as well, the music is bland, the cinematography, lighting, shadows and such are all lifeless and completely fail to capture this sense of suspense or dread. None of it comes together in the end and truly feels like this was all done in less than 5 hours.
Overall there really is not much more to say about The Mortuary Assistant it’s by far the worst movie I’ve seen so far this year. The only good thing I can say about it is that it very forgettable, mainly due to just how bland the experience really is.
The Dreadful follows Anne and her mother-in-law Morwen who live a solitary, harsh life on the outskirts of society – but when a man from their past returns, he will set off a sequence of events that become a turning point for Anne.
The Dreadful is directed by Natasha Kermani director of Shattered (2017), Imitation Girl (2017), Lucky (2020) and Abraham’s Boys (2025).
The Dreadful is one of those movies where soon as the movie ends you almost immediately forget what you watched. Outside of the atmosphere and the actually quite beautiful cinematography, there is just not a whole lot going on here making the whole experience feel empty and dreadful (I had to throw in at least one joke here) to sit through.
Kit Harington and Sophie Turner are not horrible here, but they aren’t exactly great either. Their performances just aren’t strong enough to overcome the movie’s terrible script that feels like a slog to get through. Their characters Jago (Harington) and Anne (Turner) are not interesting enough to make the viewer care for the story. What adds fuel to the fire is the two just don’t have very good chemistry, individually the performances aren’t horrible but together there is a ton of awkwardness that starts to rub onto the viewer and never goes away.
The atmosphere tries to do some heavy lifting and bring some scenes to life, which at times it does feel like I’m in this movie’s world especially when you combine it with the cinematography from cinematographer Julia Swain. Swain really tries to make everything work, she brings some beauty to certain scenes with the gorgeous cinematography that is quite detailed. Unfortunately the rest of the movie fails to compliment or take advantage of this, it’s frustrating because the ideas that the camera presents is far more interesting than the ones written in the script.
The pacing is painful, despite the movie only being 94 minutes long. It feels more like a 2 hour long movie that is purposely going as slow as possible, nothing invests the viewer throughout the movie. It’s a very dull and forgettable experience that the viewer will almost certainly check themselves out of by the time the movie is over.
Overall The Dreadful is terrible and there is just not a whole lot to comment on here. At the very least it’s forgettable so it won’t stick with you for that long when it’s over.
Two officers, trying to cover up a tragic accident, uncover a terrifying supernatural conspiracy, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare.
Bodycam is directed by Brandon Christensen director of Still/Born (2017), Z (2019), Superhost (2021), The Puppetman (2023) and Night of the Reaper (2025).
Right off the bat Bodycam has a good idea going for it, being a found footage movie that uses body cams to tell the story. Unfortunately this movie fumbles the ball almost immediately and never takes advantage of its own ideas. Instead it opts for jump scares, a laughably bad ending and a huge lack of atmosphere that tries to pull from video game franchises such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill which ends up being a complete and total mess.
The only major positive here is the performances from the movie’s two leads Jamie M. Callica and Sean Rogerson, the two do what they can with such a ridiculous and very shallow script. There are moments where they are able to make some of the dialogue salvageable, which ends up being some the only decently thrilling scenes the movie has going on. Unfortunately those don’t last for very long due to the movie’s need to fall in the incredibly ridiculous territory.
What ultimately really hurts this movie is the script, lack of an atmosphere and the ending. The script as I said before is incredibly shallow and has very little going on here. A lot of it is the typical found footage movie cliches and the overall story being incredibly undercooked, it’s a giant mess that hardly ever gives the viewer an idea as to why certain events are happening in the first place.
The lack of an atmosphere becomes apparent when you see that the movie resorts to jump scares…which is basically the entire movie. As I said before the movie tries to pull the atmosphere and feel of Resident Evil and Silent Hill however the movie does not have the psychological touch that the Silent Hill video game franchise has and it doesn’t have the fun and thrills that Resident Evil has. It’s a complete and total mess that tries to be a terrible replica but can’t even do that correctly.
Finally there’s the ending which is laughably bad, we do end up getting the reveal of what exactly is going on here in the end. But what we do get is this CG creature that feels incredibly out of place, it’s one of the most ridiculous endings to a movie I’ve seen so far this year and completely takes the viewer out of a movie that if it hadn’t taken you out of the experience before it sure will now.
Overall Bodycam is terrible, the performances from Callica and Rogerson are decent enough but that is nowhere near enough to save this complete and total mess of a movie.
Pedro (Hendler) is asked to look after his ex’s senile mother, Alicia (Maura), but she traps him in her home, turning a simple favor into a fight for survival
Crazy Old Lady is directed by Martín Mauregui director of Love (Part One) (2005).
Crazy Old Lady automatically hits you with this claustrophobic atmosphere as soon as it begins which is mainly thanks to cinematographer Julián Apezteguía’s camerawork. It’s a film that does meander a bit but it ultimately does reach the finish line with a solid conclusion.
The performances from Daniel Handler and Carmen Maura are what really make the film. Especially Maura who gives a genuinely intimidating performance, she’s able to capture this sense of dread in each scene. She effortlessly switches between personalities that really does make you wonder which one is going to take the front seat in the scenes of Alicia (played by Carmen Maura) and Pedro (played by Daniel Handler) exchanging dialogue. Maura captures the film’s claustrophobic atmosphere immediately when she enters the film and keeps it that way throughout the experience. Daniel Handler does a great job of displaying fear and realizing how insane the situation really is. He compliments Carmen Maura’s performance incredibly well and serves as this stone to build the movie’s haunting atmosphere.
The writing might not exactly be fantastic and there are cases where the movie is lacking a bit of depth, however the performances from Maura and Handler are able to elevate the material and make it a bit more interesting. With that being said the movie does meander a bit which does end up hurting the pacing at times, the pacing can feel breezy or it can feel rough it’s a very strange case of the movie using both.
Finally there are some backstory elements that are introduced but are not fully explored, the movie does make up for it with some symbolic elements such as the decaying house. The house actually does get development when it comes to the cinematography being so well detailed and with the lighting.
Overall Crazy Old Lady is a decent little film that does hold back at times, but it delivers when it comes to performances, cinematography and atmosphere.
A father trains his daughter to survive monsters from an alternate dimension that have invaded Earth, but they are eventually found, forcing them to fight for survival.
Worldbreaker is directed by Brad Anderson director of Session 9 (2001), The Machinist (2004), TransSiberian (2008), The Call (2013), Fractured (2019) and many others.
Not a whole lot to discuss here which is why this one is not getting a full review. The main notes I took during this movie were.
It’s an incredibly formulaic post apocalyptic movie, at times there is decent world building but not nearly enough to save this movie or make it interesting.
Luke Evans gave a solid performance, most of the movie it’s him training a teenage girl how to swing a sword. Yet he somehow squeezes a good performance out of it (whatever it takes to get a good performance I guess.) It might be because Evans is just naturally a great actor but there are some parts of his dialogue that are interesting enough.
Mila Jovovich is barely in this movie, if you are going into this movie as a Jovovich fan you are going to leave incredibly disappointed. Despite the poster making it seem like she’s a huge part of the movie she barely shows up, it’s kind of hilarious but at the same time it’s an incredibly odd choice.
My final note was simply “how did they get Brad Anderson to direct this movie?” Not every single one of Anderson’s films have been great, but Worldbreaker in particular feels very phoned in. At least with some of Anderson’s weaker films you can tell there was some sort of attempt to bring some charm, you simply don’t get that with Worldbreaker. The ending in particular is especially laughably bad, it really does feel like we watched a prologue scene from a bad video game and as soon as you get into the actual game it just ends.
Jerome Reviews... 