CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD

Captain America takes flight

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025). Director: Julius Onah.

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), formerly known as the Falcon, has become the new Captain America but kept his wings. He has a difficult relationship with the U.S. President, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford), who apparently made a deal with the devil, a sick character named Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who is manipulating everyone behind the scenes. (Sterns is a variation of the Leader from Hulk comic books.) While Wilson and his partner Joaquin (Danny Ramirez) investigate when old friend Isiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) seems to try to assassinate Ross, they uncover Stern's secret laboratory and eventually join forces with security adviser Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) to take him down. But before that can happen Sam has to try to stay alive as Ross, transformed into the powerful and humongous Red Hulk, tries to do what the Hulk does best -- smash! 

The Red Hulk about to rampage through Washington D.C.

Captain America: Brave New World may have gotten lukewarm reviews, but I found it quite entertaining and suspenseful, and the Cap-Hulk battle is a decided highlight. Instead of the Serpent Society featured in Captain America comic books, there is a sinister (essentially unseen) group called SERPENT, of which the deadly Sidewinder (a zesty Giancarlo Esposito) is a member, along with Copperhead (who has less to do). Then there's a place called Celestial Island where there is a huge amount of adamantium, which Ross wants the U.S. to get his hands on, briefly bringing him into conflict with the Japanese. Mackie makes an excellent alternate Captain America, the large supporting cast is game, and Harrison Ford simply gives one of the all-time best performances of his long career. 

Verdict: There's still quite a bit of life in those Marvel Movies. ***. 

DAY THE WORLD ENDED

Mike Connors and Adele Jergens

DAY THE WORLD ENDED (1955). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. In SuperScope. Colorized version. 

The world has been mostly destroyed in an atomic war. In a sheltered valley, scientist Jim Madison (Paul Birch) and his daughter, Louise (Lori Nelson of Hot Rod Girl), horde food supplies and mourn the apparent death of Louise's fiance. Over Madison's objections, several people converge on the house: gun-toting crook Tony (Mike Connors); his hard-boiled if slightly soft-in-the-middle moll, Ruby (Adele Jergens); the old prospector Pete (Raymond Hatton of Girls in Prison) and his beloved donkey; handsome geologist Rick (Richard Denning of Assignment Redhead); and Radek (Paul Dubov), a man so contaminated by radiation that he's transforming into a mutant who prefers raw meat. Meanwhile, hovering around the house is a fully-transformed mutation who might have some connection to Louise even as Tony makes a play for Louise, Ruby seethes, and Rick does what he can to protect the frightened young lady from rape.

Day the World Ended is an absorbing melodrama which has some surprisingly adept performances -- even Nelson is better than usual -- and a creepy atmosphere. The monster (Paul Blaisdell) somewhat resembles one of the Zanti Misfits that later turned up on The Outer Limits. The characters could be categorized as types, but Lou Russoff's screenplay adds some dimension to them. It's interesting that the hood Tony never touches alcohol, and ill-fated Ruby is so devoted to her man even though she knows he's a total crumb-bun. Several years before Night of the Living Dead, this movie has man-eating ghouls, although in this case it's the living eating the dead instead of the other way around. As usual there's an interesting score by Ronald Stein. 

Verdict: Low-budget yet intriguing end of the world (more or less) story with Corman's customary cheap flair. ***. 

DROP

Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar

DROP (2025). Director: Christopher Landon. 

Violet (Meghann Fahy) has not been on a date since the death of her abusive husband, but she seems to have met a likable guy in photographer Henry (Brandon Sklenar). They have chosen a truly fabulous, swanky high-rise restaurant for their first date, but there's a decided complication when she gets threatening messages on her smart phone. Then the security system shows a masked intruder with a gun in the home where her little boy, Toby, is being babysat by his aunt. Violet is told if she tells the police or anyone what's going on, Toby will die, and then is given instructions for poisoning her date ... 

Meghann Fahy

Drop certainly sets up an intriguing situation and is very suspenseful as a desperate Meghann, unable to tell Henry what is really going on, wonders who else sitting in the same restaurant is behind this horrible scheme. There isn't a dull moment in the picture, which turns violent and melodramatic towards the very end. Fahy, Sklenar and the rest of the cast give solid performances, and the film is well directed by Christopher Landon, the son of Michael Landon. (Landon also directed Happy Death Day.) There is one moment that is a bit of a cheat, but otherwise the plot, while far-fetched, doesn't seem too illogical. 

Verdict: Quite good but somehow not a classic. ***. 

COMPANION

Sophie Thatcher as Iris

COMPANION (2025). Written and directed by Drew Hancock.

Josh (Jack Quaid) brings his girlfriend Iris (Sophie Thatcher of The Boogeyman) to the impressive home of Sergey (Rupert Friend) for a weekend in the country. Other guests include Sergey's girlfriend Kat (Megan Suri) and the gay couple Eli (Harvey Guillan) and Patrick (Lukas Gage). It isn't long, however, before one of those aforementioned winds up dead, and a highly bizarre secret is revealed. Then it's a question of who will be left alive before it's all over and the chase is on.

Jack Quaid

I have deliberately not revealed too much of the plot of Companion because I knew little about it when I watched it and I think that made it all the more surprising and entertaining, as it has several twists. Initially I felt that this bizarre story would work better in a shorter length, but the film managed to keep me absorbed in any case, and is well-acted by all. I will say that Companion is a far-fetched but compelling black comedy that does borrow from a few other films for its basic premise, but manages to strike an original tone as well. Jack Quaid is the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan.

Verdict: Into the Twilight Zone. ***. 

BATMAN AND ROBIN

The dynamic duo!

BATMAN AND ROBIN (15 chapter Columbia serial/1949). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet. Colorized. 

Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot) calls in Batman and Robin to help him with a sinister foe called the Wizard who uses a remote control device and can even turn himself invisible at times. Also investigating is reporter Vicki Vale (Jane Adams), who hangs out at the estate of always-tired Bruce Wayne (Robert Lowery) and his ward Dick (Johnny Duncan), and whose brother Jimmy (George Offerman Jr.) is a member of the Wizard's gang. Suspects as to the true identity of the Wizard include dyspeptic Professor Hammil (William Fawcett); radio announcer Barry Brown (Rick Vallin); private eye Dunne (Michael Whalen); and Hammil's valet, Carter (Leonard Penn). 

WHO is The Wizard? 

Batman and Robin is one of the best of Columbia's chapterplays, building up real suspense in the final chapters, and featuring exciting fight scenes, chases, and cliffhangers. Lowery and Duncan make a good pair of stalwart heroes, Adams is plucky and pretty, and even Lyle Talbot scores as the commissioner, with Offerman also effective as the ill-fated Jimmy. The Wizard is voiced quite well by Gerald Mohr (of Angry Red Planet). 

Verdict: Despite its obvious absurdities, this chapterplay really plays. ***1/4. 

KRAVEN THE HUNTER

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven

KRAVEN THE HUNTER (2024). Director: J. C. Chandor.

Sergei Kravanoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is one of two sons of the Russian mobster Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Nikolai has decided that Sergei will be the one he will groom to take over his business, but Sergei is having none of it. Instead of working with and for his hated father, he becomes a feared, intense vigilante known as Kraven, even breaking into prisons to murder gangsters. The question is: will he also kill his own father? 

Fully transformed, the Rhino confronts Kraven

In stories published by Marvel Comics, Kraven was a persistent Spider-Man foe who considered himself the world's greatest hunter (in the movie Kraven sees himself as the world's greatest man-hunter), and who wanted to bag Spidey as a challenge. In later years Kraven was made a bit more dimensional, but the cinematic Kraven is essentially a different character, more along the lines of Marvel's Punisher. Kraven the Hunter treads lightly on the Marvel Universe, but while ignoring our web-head, does bring in such other Spider-Man foes as the Foreigner, the Rhino, and at the end, the Chameleon. 

A teenaged Kraven (Levi Miller) with Russell Crowe

Kraven is an extremely well-crafted action flick, with many well-directed battle sequences, superb cinematography by Ben Davis, good FX work, and excellent performances from a large cast. Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven in just the right note, adding insinuating sex appeal to the role as he goes about his violent and acrobatic business. Crowe is terrific as his father, with fine support from Fred Hechinger as his brother; Christopher Abbott as the slimy Foreigner, who can (sort of ) disappear; and Alessandro Nivola as Sytsevich/the Rhino, who underplays his part in a most sinister fashion. Levi Miller and Billy Barratt are also good as the Kravinoff siblings as teens. Ariana DeBose has little to do as Calypso, who saves Kraven's life after he's mauled by a tiger by giving him a special potion (which apparently accounts for his "marvelous" abilities), but I'm not certain if she's even a Marvel character. At the very end of the movie Kraven dons an outfit, a gift from his father, that is similar to the costume he donned in the comics. 

Verdict: Not too original but fun and exciting -- it never hurts to have a hot guy in the lead. ***. 

HEART EYES

HEART EYES (2025). Director: Josh Rubin.

A serial slayer known as HEK (Heart Eyes Killer) has already struck on Valentine's Day, targeting couples and others who get in his way, when he makes his presence known in grisly fashion in Seattle. Advertising woman Ally (Olivia Holt of Totally Killer) and newcomer Jay (Mason Gooding), carry on a budding, awkward romance while dodging attacks from the killer. Finally cornered, they find out the dread secret of the Heart Eyes maniac.

The Heart Eyes Killer

Heart Eyes begins with a sequence in a winery where a female victim is literally crushed in a wine press, her head being graphically smushed for the edification of disaffected gore geeks. Then we get a whole series of rom-com type scenes which are completely out of sync with the opening sequence. There's a scene when our young couple inadvertently lead the maniac to a drive-in theater, where he proceeds to hack and slash at dozens of people -- this is a highly uncomfortable reminder of such real-life scenes of slaughter (albeit this killer doesn't use a gun). 

Gooding and Holt

Okay, Heart Eyes doesn't get points for good taste, nor for its rather self-absorbed lead characters (Ally takes forever to start thinking about the many innocent victims and never really expresses much dismay over the people she literally sees killed right in front of her.) However, the climax, which has at least one surprise, is well-done and satisfying. Mason Gooding, an appealing actor, is the son of Cuba Gooding, Jr. 

Verdict: An odd mix of humor and gore that unlike the early Scream movies, doesn't quite work. **1/4. 

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS

Eddie Parker in full make up

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958). Director: Jack Arnold. Colorized version.

Professor Donald Blake (Arthur Franz of The Flame Barrier) of Dunsford University is excited to receive the expensive acquisition of a coelacanth, a fish that dates back to the prehistoric era. Unfortunately, its blood has very negative effects on animals, including humans, with a dog temporarily going berserk, a dragonfly growing to giant size, and the professor himself turning into a grotesque, homicidal monster. His fiancee Madeline (Joanna Moore) is having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that her boyfriend is not exactly himself ... 

Walters, Franz, and Donahue

Since they have somewhat similar plots -- minus the coelacanth -- one might think that The Neanderthal Man is a shoddy imitation of the far superior Monster on the Campus, but the latter film actually came out five years later. Franz, who could be a reliable actor, is often quite perfunctory in this, merely walking through sequences in which he should have been much more emotional. Moore is fine, and we also have appearances by Troy Donahue as a science student and Nancy Walters as his gal pal Sylvia. Others in the cast include Ross Elliott as a cop, Richard H. Cutting as a forest ranger, Whit Bissell as a doctor, Phil Harvey as a sergeant, Hank Patterson as a night watchman, and Helen Westcott as the ill-fated nurse, Molly. When Franz transforms (via time lapse photography as well as a mask) into a monster, Eddie Parker takes over the role. Monster on the Campus is absorbing, well-directed by genre specialist Jack Arnold, and quite entertaining. Arnold, of course, directed Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and many others. 

Verdict: Imperfect but satisfying fifties sci-fi horror with the usual jangling stock Universal score. ***. 

THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE

Henry Daniell

THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE (1959). Director: Edward L. Cahn. Colorized version. 

Jonathan Drake's (Eduard Franz) whole family has been under a curse for generations, a curse that has to do with Jivaro headhunters and revenge down in South America. Drake's ancestor killed a whole host of Indians in retaliation for their beheading an important crew member. Now every male member of the Drake family will die on his 60th birthday and be buried without their heads. After this happens to Jonathan's brother, Kenneth, (Paul Cavanagh), both his daughter, Alison (Valerie French) and Police Lt. Jeff Rowan (Grant Richards of Guns Girls and Gangsters) are afraid Jonathan might be next. 

Valerie French and Grant Richards

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is a gruesome hoot, a wild melange of shrunken heads (how they are processed is shown in detail), decapitations by machete, ancient Indians with their lips sewn together wearing moccasins made of human flesh, severed heads boiled in pots, and a centuries-old sinister figure with a white man's head stitched on top of an Indian's body! Skulls and heads show up at unexpected moments. The acting is all satisfactory, with Henry Daniell taking top honors in an underplayed performance as the sinister Dr. Zurich. Grant Richards has a brusque, butch style that works well for his role. 

Verdict: More shrunken heads than you can throw a stick at! ***. 

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED

Allan Lane as Sgt. Dave King

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (12 chapter Republic serial/1940). Directors: John English; William Witney. Colorized version.

Tom Merritt (Stanley Andrews) has invented a serum, Compound X, that will help cure infantile paralysis, but he is unaware that his partner, Crandall (Bryant Washburn), is an enemy agent (of an unspecified nation) who wants to use the compound to make mines. Crandell, who watches as associate Garson (Harry Cording) murders Merritt, reports to a man named Kettler (Robert Strange). Tom Merritt's son, Tom Jr. (Robert Kellard) works with Sgt. Dave King (Allan Lane), whose father is Inspector King (Herbert Rawlinson) of the Canadian Royal Mounted. 

Kellard, Cording and Lane

Dave King and young Tom are unaware of Crandall's duplicity, but are perpetually endangered by the actions of Garson. Dave manages to survive a plane crash, and his father saves his life when he's tied to a buzzsaw and nearly dismembered, but unfortunately the elder King succumbs to a bullet. King of the Royal Mounted is based on a story (and subsequent comic strip) by Zane Grey. It is a fast-paced and entertaining serial, the first of two with Lane playing King, and the first of several serials about the Mounties. The climax takes place on an enemy submarine where Dave and Tom are to be blown out of the torpedo tubes, but one of them makes a heroic sacrifice to save the other. The entire cast give energetic and capable performances. 

Verdict: The Mounties get their man! ***.