V/H/S/94 brings back the VHS series with a huge bang!


A police S.W.A.T. team investigates about a mysterious VHS tape and discovers a sinister cult that has pre-recorded material which uncovers a nightmarish conspiracy.

V/H/S/94 is the fourth installment in the V/H/S franchise, the first two films were quite great and have sort of become cult classics especially during Halloween time. V/H/S Viral on the other hand was just downright awful, it took the series in a whole different direction that nobody really asked for it tried to turn the series into a horror comedy which backfired pretty badly. V/H/S/94 returns the series back to it’s roots in the best ways possible, so let’s go over a little bit of each segment since there’s only four of them (I won’t be talking about the wrap around segment Holly Terror). The first segment is “Storm Drain” directed by Chloe Okuno, this one follows a news reporter and a cameraman reporting on a supposed “Ratman” which is a basic enough premise that still remains interesting and quite a lot of fun, the gore is pretty solid, the urban legend type feel to it is really strong and it’s just a very strong way to start out an anthology horror film. Plus the use of found footage here is quite fantastic, it also gets bonus points for the ending which is definitely something interesting! Next up is Simon Barrett’s “The Empty Wake” which is about a young woman watching over a coffin with a someone who supposedly died, at first I thought was not going to go anywhere interesting. But luckily it picks up very quickly and starts to get actually pretty creepy, the found footage even adds to the creepiness of the segment and does a pretty good job of not going into cliche territory. It’s filled with dark atmosphere and suspense, the segment gets the job done pretty well! The third segment is Timo Tjahjano’s “The Subject” which is hands down the best segment of the film, it’s a scientist does a disturbing type of experiment type story kidnapping people off the streets and experiments on them. Tjahjano turns this segment into a action horror wild ride, with some fantastic gore and kills that really get you into the segment. It heavily reminds me a lot of the Doom video game franchise (after watching this segment I would love for Tjahjano to direct a live action Doom film) it’s a blast from beginning to end! Finally there’s Ryan Prows “Terror” while I understand what he was trying to go for it was easily the weakest of the bunch, it does have some pretty decent kills and again some great gore. But a lot of the humor failed to land and even some of the acting wasn’t quite great either. Overall V/H/S/94 is fantastic addition to the series, in some ways I would argue that it’s better than the first and second installments of the series, if your a fan of the franchise or a found footage fan you will most definitely love this one!

V/H/S/94 is now available on Shudder!

8/10 B+

The Year Of The Everlasting Storm is a solid anthology film even if it’s a bit uneven!

Seven stories from seven directors from around the world chronicle the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Year Of The Everlasting Storm I only heard about due to it premiering at Cannes film festival, it’s an anthology movie with the only similarity between the shorts that they mention COVID or something pandemic related is shown or talked about. As with a lot of anthology movies you have your very strong segments and your not so strong segments, I will give the movie this none of the segments here are necessarily bad. It’s that some of them could have been a lot more or just didn’t do much for me overall. The movie starts off very strong with the first two segments Jafar Panahi’s segment “Life” and Anthony Chen’s “The Break Away” both tell very interesting stories that feel concluded and have a nice wrap up, with fantastic acting and writing. Life is about humans and animals plus their daily lives which if you know me you know that I love films or shorts about the lives or daily lives of people, creatures and so on. The Break Away is about how the pandemic is effecting a family and their relationship which I found quite interesting, it also does have that daily life aspect which worked well here. Both shorts are beautifully directed and as I said it was a very strong start to the movie, however the next few shorts were really disappointing the only other two shorts besides the first two that stood out were David Lowery’s “Dig Up My Darling” and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Night Colonies” (which was the final segment! Dig Up My Darling was a very interesting one while I wasn’t sure what was going on entirely from what I can tell it was a very captivating story that was well directed. Night Colonies was bugs bugs and a lot more bugs…which I really liked. I’m sure there is a deeper meaning behind the movie but I definitely think it’s up to interpretation! Overall The Year Of The Everlasting Rain is definitely a solid anthology movie, even the segments I didn’t really care for as much still have decent acting and writing. This movie could have definitely been a lot better but for what it is I recommend giving it a go!

The Year Of The Everlasting Storm is now available on all VOD Platforms!

7/10 B

Madres is a missed opportunity while The Manor is flawed but well executed!

Expecting their first child, a Mexican-American couple move to a migrant farming community in 1970’s California where strange symptoms and terrifying visions threaten their new family.

Madres is the third movie of this year’s “Welcome To The Blumhouse” while it’s better than Bingo Hell and Black As Night it still suffers from a ton of flaws. I will say the acting is all around pretty decent, the cast genuinely gave some solid performances and there were moments that were effective. What didn’t work however is the social message the movie was trying to tell, while the message itself is indeed important it feels completely wasted due to the movie feeling like a “nothing special about it” horror movie. It ends up feeling way too predictable and feels way too familiar towards the middle of the movie. Then suddenly at the last couple minutes it brings up the horrors of eugenics which yes is very true it feels like it comes right out of nowhere. Had this movie scrapped the whole supernatural elements and just made a horror film about the horrors of eugenics this could have been far more interesting. Overall Madres isn’t entirely bad but it has no clue what it wants to be.

4/10 D+

After suffering a mild stroke, Judith Albright reluctantly moves into a historic nursing home where she becomes convinced a supernatural force is killing the residents.

The Manor is the last movie of the “welcome To The Blumhouse” series of this year and it’s by far the best of the four. The Manor has a interesting premise that for the most part is executed very well, there’s some genuinely creepy moments that are quite effective. Barbara Hershey and the rest of the cast do a very solid job in their roles and actually give the story some genuine emotion. The Manor does feel a bit familiar at times especially the twist that’s pretty predictable, however it doesn’t stop the movie from being genuinely interesting and engaging with it’s style!

7/10 B

Both Madres and The Manor are now available on Amazon Prime Video!

Diana: The Musical is a boring and disastrous musical.

The dazzling and devastating life of Princess Diana takes center stage in this original musical, filmed in advance of its official Broadway opening.

I’m not going to harp on this one for too long because there really isn’t much to comment on. Diana: The Musical is another one of those recorded performances that was put on to a streaming service in this case Netflix, which I don’t mind streaming services doing this however the line gets drawn when something (and I hate to use this word) cringe gets shoved on the platform. Diana: The Musical has nothing going for it, the songs feel like the exact same thing, the show feels way too long and feels grating. The plot is not interesting at the slightest, heck I’m not even entirely sure what the plot is due to it feeling like a complete and total mess. I’m sure the performers are talented people and they definitely tried with what they were given, but not once did I feel any sort of emotion or good performance being put into it. I really don’t have anything else to say, originally I was going to skip this one and I wish I did.

Diana: The Musical is now available on Netflix!

Disgrace To Cinema F

Aileen Wuornos: American Boogywoman is yet another disaster from Daniel Farrands!

The early years of notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who marries a wealthy, older man in 1976, only to inflict mayhem within her new family and Florida’s high society.

Everything I said about “Ted Bundy: American Boogyman” can be applied here, it’s almost the exact same movie but a different serial killer, only that this one is actually a bit better than Ted Bundy: American Boogyman. It has some unintentionally hilarious moments that I just couldn’t help but laugh at, everything else about the movie is typical Daniel Farrands garbage. Horrendous acting, terrible writing and very predictable plot that you can predict less than five minutes into the movie. Peyton List is just horribly miscast here, Tobin Bell definitely tries his best with what he’s given but it’s honestly not enough to save this garbage. What’s weird about this one is that the style has that exact same failed high school project feel as Ted Bundy American Boogyman did. It’s probably due to Daniel Farrands not giving a crap and putting out both these movies very close together in the exact same year. I really have nothing else to say, it’s another garbage movie from Daniel Farrands that I highly recommend skipping.

Aileen Wuornos: American Boogywoman is now available on all VOD Platforms!

Disgrace To Cinema F

The Addams Family 2 is somehow worse than it’s predecessor!

Hoping to get closer as a family, Gomez, Morticia and the rest of the Addams clan embark on an adventurous road trip in a hideous and humongous camper.

The Addams Family 2 somehow ends up being worse than the first movie, if you don’t recall the major problem I had with the first movie was the jokes and it just being an unremarkable movie all together. Addams Family 2 takes all of that and does nothing to improve on the first movie, the jokes this time around are FAR worse. We have a Billie Eilish joke, “Squad Goals” “I’ve always been socially distancing” and much more along those lines. Which that right there is clear to me that the writers have very little understanding about The Addams Family, I get they want to market this to a younger audience and that’s perfectly acceptable. But don’t dumb it down kids are much smarter than that, you don’t need to shove in a bunch of jokes that you only put in hoping to get a “they said it” reaction, the cast like last time is the only good part about this movie. They all try their best with what they are given but it’s not nearly enough to save this movie from being a dumpster fire, as for the plot it’s another one of those “family members have a road trip hoping to bring one of their family members closer” sort of plots. Which at this point has been done to death, but I wouldn’t mind it as much if they tried something new with it….this movie does not do that. It plays exactly how you think it will and that’s the end of it. I will give the movie this…there is this one part with Lurch singing “I Will Survive” that was actually not badly done. It’s sort of random and comes out of nowhere but it’s still a nice scene. That’s really all I have to say about The Addams Family 2 it’s a very unremarkable sequel that had very little point to it, how it ended up being worse than the first movie I will never know. This could have been the chance to improve but instead it went backwards.

The Addams Family 2 is now available on all VOD Platforms!

2/10 F

I Carry You With Me is a raw film full of emotion!

Ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate in Mexico and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.

Carry You With Me was a film I wanted to watch for awhile now, after getting a couple delays due to COVID-19 and such, for the most part the movie was worth the wait! The main leads Armando Espitia and Christian Vázquez was fantastic and felt very raw, it really captures a beautiful bond that gives the audience several types of emotions. The writing is also pretty powerful as well, while I do feel in some areas the writing could have been a bit stronger, it still gives this sense of rawness that keeps you invested into the story that’s being told. The major flaw is the pacing that does feel very uneven especially with the first act of the film, it takes a bit to get going and to fully invest into the film itself, but once that does happen the film itself is incredibly solid. The third act is by far the best part of this film as it does throw in a few elements you wouldn’t expect! Overall I Carry You With Me might not be one of my favorite films of the year but it is still an incredibly solid film that I recommend checking out!

I Carry You With Me is now available on all VOD Platforms!

7/10 B

Bingo Hell and Black As Night are disappointing entries into the “Welcome To The Blumhouse” series.

In the barrio of Oak Springs live a strong and stubborn group of elderly friends who refuse to be gentrified. Their leader, Lupita, keeps them together as a community and family. However, their beloved bingo hall is about to be sold to a much more powerful force than money itself.

So Welcome To The Blumhouse has returned from last year, which was overall pretty decent (with the exception of The Lie that was terrible). Bingo Hell is not a good start however, Adriana Barraza was pretty solid as the lead, she had some genuinely great moments that really made her standout. Richard Brake as the villain was very enjoyable, it seemed like he had a lot of fun which actually really helps here. I also do like that the movie is centered around senior citizens something we don’t often see in a lot of horror movies, so I give the movie credit for trying something different. However the rest of the movie ends up being a whole lot of nothing, the writing is really not that good, it’s clearly trying to go for this B-movie feel to it which at some points it works and other times it doesn’t. There are times when Bingo Hell takes itself seriously which is very strange considering the premise especially towards the end. That’s when things truly turn into a giant mess, it feels like the writers just threw several ideas in at once and couldn’t decide on what ideas should be used. I will say the gore is pretty neat! Overall Bingo Hell is very forgettable, if you take away the main focus on senior citizens and the premise, you are left with a very typical straight to VOD horror movie that you might put on in the background. Give this one a skip.

Bingo Hell is now available on Amazon Prime Video!

3/10 D-

A teenage girl with self-esteem issues finds confidence in the most unlikely way, by spending her summer battling vampires that prey on New Orleans’ disenfranchised with the help of her best friend, the boy she’s always pined for, and a peculiar rich girl.

Black as Night is the other “Welcome To The Blumhouse” movie that released this past weekend and it’s worse than Bingo Hell. While Bingo Hell wasn’t good at the very least it tried something different even if it wasn’t successful. Black as Night just feels like a clone of Vampires Vs The Bronx which came out last year. Plus it throws in a bunch of plot elements we have seen in far better Vampire films and calls it a day. The acting is at least overall not too bad but the major problem is the writing, it’s very weak and has absolutely nothing going for it. There’s no attempt of trying to do something interesting or new, it’s basically copying off of what made other vampire films so successful and calls it a day. It’s a shame too because this could had been something decent if they tried to change the plot up and focus on trying to do something new. Overall there really isn’t much to say about Black as Night it’s a bad vampire movie that offers nothing new and just sort of exists.

Black As Night is now available on Amazon Prime Video!

2/10 F

The Protege is a a very safe action movie with a great lead and cast but nothing else.

Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody, Anna is the world’s most skilled contract killer. However, when Moody is brutally killed, she vows revenge for the man who taught her everything she knows. As Anna becomes entangled with an enigmatic killer, their confrontation turns deadly, and the loose ends of a life spent killing weave themselves ever tighter.

What can I really say here? The Protege is a very play it safe action movie that’s ultimately very forgettable. Maggie Q is a fantastic lead the problem is the movie doesn’t take full advantage of her being the lead, her performance is definitely not bad in fact I would say she is the best part about this movie. Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Keaton aren’t too bad either, but like Maggie Q the movie doesn’t take advantage of their talent. Which is a recurring problem with The Protege it has a decent setup and has some nice ideas but does absolutely nothing with them, which is truly a shame because this could have been something decent. But instead resorted to playing way too safe, there’s also some decent action scenes as well but that’s really where it ends for me. It’s definitely not a bad movie as there was some sort of effort put into it, just not strong enough to make this standout.

The Protege is now available on all VOD Platforms!

5/10 C

LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales is great for kids but could have been much more.

Dean, Poe and BB-8 must face their fears, stop an ancient evil from rising, and escape to make it back to their friends.

Lego Star Wars Terrifying Tales is about about the same as the Lego Holiday Special from last year. Only that I prefer the Holiday Special a bit more, the main problem with Terrifying Tales is it’s not very funny at all. I like that Poe Dameron was a main focus in this special whenever he was on screen it was always pretty solid. The three stories are all just average, none of them really standout in any special ways. I will say that this is a pretty good special for kids, it’s completely harmless and does get the job done. However for everyone else you sadly will not get that here, sure the animation is very nice to look at and there are some jokes that work. But a majority of them are a huge miss or just aren’t funny at all.

Lego Star Wars Terrifying Tales is now available on Disney+

5/10 C