TERROR TRAIN 2

Robyn Alomar and Tim Rozon

TERROR TRAIN 2 (2022). Director: Philippe Gagnon. A Tubi Original. 

In this sequel to Terror Train, medical student Alana (Robyn Alomar) is still feeling the effects of her battle with a serial killer in the first film. Alana's roommate Claudia (Nia Roam) importunes her to follow her shrink's advice and face up to her fears by taking another trip on the "Terror Train" on New Year's Eve, a pretty ridiculous notion considering. Of course another killer begins slicing his or her way through the passengers, which include the President of the Fraternity (Dakota Jamal Wellman); the Magician (Tim Rozon); the obnoxious, hateful Pet (Romy Weltman); Pet's pal, Mary (Tori Barban); returning conductor Sadie (Nadine Bhabha); and her new assistant JP (Matthew Villeneuve). Could the mad killer from the first installment, whose body disappeared, still be on the loose? If a lunatic on the loose weren't bad enough, Pet and her friends' callous attitude towards what happened in the first film just makes things worse for Alana. 

Dakota Jamal Wellman

Much of the multi-cultural cast who survived the first film return for this sequel. In general the acting is quite good, with these young people dealing with their roles and the often absurd situations with aplomb. Tim Rozon, returning as the Magician, makes a nice impression. Claudia, who is keeping secrets, apparently has a huge crush on Alana, and this business is handled rather awkwardly, out of keeping with more modern looks at gay characters. But the biggest problem is that Terror Train 2, filmed back to back with the first film, seems a bit thrown together, and while it holds the attention, it doesn't emerge as an especially memorable horror movie. 

Verdict: They should have stuck with just one. **1/4. 

TERROR TRAIN (2022)

Matias Lucas and Robyn Alomar

TERROR TRAIN (2022). Director: Philippe Gagnon.

In this Tubi Original remake of the 1980 slasher film, some medical students maneuver a nerdy guy into bed with a corpse and he winds up in a mental institution. While this doesn't seem especially believable, the film then jumps forward three years to a Halloween party on a train. At first people believe the corpses the party-goers stumble over are fake, but finally Alanna (Robyn  Alomar) realizes that her friends are being slaughtered one by one. Does this have something to do with that practical joke from years before, or is something else behind the body count? Alana eventually finds herself in a desperate struggle against the true killer. 

Robyn Alomar and Tim Rozon as the Magician

I freely admit I enjoyed Terror Train, finding it well-acted, suspenseful, and fast-paced, with several exciting scenes. While there are some gruesome sequences, the movie is never vomitous, which is probably why some gore geeks didn't care for it, but the film works perfectly well without the grisly upchuck stuff. The young cast is enthusiastic, and I was particularly impressed with Matias Lucas as the somewhat nasty or misunderstood "Doc," who is charismatic and effective in his portrayal, although everyone is pretty decent. Robyn Alomar acquits herself nicely as the "final girl," so to speak, although she isn't the only survivor. I also liked Mary Walsh as the head conductor, Carne, and Nadine Bhabha as her younger assistant, Sadie. Followed by a sequel shot back to back. 

Verdict: Fun contemporary slasher flick. ***. 

WITH A MIND TO KILL

 WITH A MIND TO KILL. A James Bond Novel. Anthony Horowitz. 2022; Harper. 

This novel takes place directly after Ian Fleming's excellent final 007 adventure, The Man with the Golden Gun. In that story an amnesiac Bond had been captured by Russians, brainwashed, and sent to kill M, a plot which fortunately fails. Bond was then deprogrammed, and sent into action against assassin Scaramanga -- he proves that he still has the right stuff when he succeeds in his mission. So now M decides on a daring plan -- he will be supposedly assassinated by Bond, who will return to Russia as a fugitive, still brainwashed -- (or so it is hoped that the Russians will believe) -- to find out what's up with a new organization, Stalnaya Ruka (Steel Hand)  that is planning some deadly offensive action. 

Right away Bond falls under suspicion from Colonel Boris, the master of mind control. He also has to convince Boris' beautiful colleague, Katya Leonova -- another person who supervised his brainwashing -- that he is still under their influence. Bond has very mixed emotions about Katya, hating her for her part in what was done to him, but also feeling an undeniable attraction toward her, and coming to feel that she had no choice but to do what she did to him. She is a fascinating character.

Although Bond privately refers to the bullet wound given to him during his adventure with Scaramanga, it is somewhat improbable that M wouldn't have had this taken care of, as it indicates that Bond was somewhere where he shouldn't have been during those months he was supposedly in England. it is even more improbable that none of the Russians notice this wound and wonder or ask about it. 

As the novel progresses the suspense increases as Bond has to pass certain tests, including the elimination of a certain agent in the (architecturally-stunning) Komsomolskaya subway station. As Bond and Katya grow closer he wonders if he can truly trust her. Then Bond is given an assignment to assassinate a certain party in East Berlin at the state opera. Even if he's successful in his mission, will he be able to get out of East Berlin? 

Verdict: Despite some moments that might give the reader pause, this is an exciting and memorable Bond adventure. ***. 

LOVE HURTS (2022)

LOVE HURTS (aka Most Horrible Things/2022). Director: Hiroshi Katagiri. 

In this initially intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying alleged "thriller" a drag queen (Sean Sprawling) and his butler (Simon Phillips) invite a serial killer (Vincent van Hinte) to a gathering of people, both gay and straight, and wait to see what bloodiness will develop. Meanwhile in a series of flash -forwards, two detectives -- Denver (Natalie Burn) and Holden (Sean Patrick Flanery) -- interview the survivors and try to get to the bottom of everything. Good luck! There are humongous plot holes even when the true architect behind the scenes is revealed -- it's not really worth the wait. Sprawling's performance consists of attitudinizing that passes for acting; the others are a bit better, including Grant Pfost as Eric, who is humiliated by the drag host; Andres Erickson as Jason, who is taken to task for saying he is not that attracted to black men; and black Jeff (Rich Paul), who tells him that he is not at all his type anyway. Okay, there's some interesting dialogue and characters in this, but the screenplay is not at all well-developed, and you may find yourself groaning at the ending, which does not come as that big a surprise. Martina Vargas and Sarah J. Butler are the attractive ladies lost in this disappointing mess. This might have worked better as a genuine slasher flick. 

Verdict: Another bummer on Amazon Prime. **. 

EATER BUNNY MASSACRE: THE BLOODY TRAIL

EASTER BUNNY MASSACRE: THE BLOODY TRAIL (aka Easter Bunny Massacre 2/Easter Killing 2/2022). Director: Jeremy Chi-Hang Au. 

Star (Coco Taylor) and her boyfriend Mark (Harry Boxley, who also wrote the screenplay) go to a five-year reunion party of some old high school friends. The hostess and her boyfriend have already been murdered (in a fairly dull pre-credit sequence), so the bitchy Carla (Charlie Esquer) has taken over. Other guests include Danny (Elliott Eason), Dina (Natasha Rose Mills), Alex (Amber Doig-Thorne) and so on. They all freak out when a tape recording is played and out comes the voice of the dead Lexi (Jenny Miller), who may have committed suicide five years before or may have been murdered after her drink was spiked. Then someone in a ragged bunny suit comes after the group, murdering them one by one. 

The Bloody Trail is a sequel to -- or remake of -- Easter Bunny Massacre as both films basically have the exact same plot. Like the first film, it is an amalgam of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, and has little originality. A somewhat interesting aspect is that there is a gay male couple in the film but you don't know who they are until the flick is nearly over. The cast perform admirably considering that their characters are only lightly sketched in. Charlie Esquer is certainly vivid as the very mean girl Carla, although one could argue that she overplays badly at times, but Elliott Eason hits the mark as the heavily-tattooed Danny. The movie isn't well-paced, but once you get past the tedium of the opening minutes, it will either cast a strange spell on you -- a kind of bad movie voodoo -- or put you to sleep. The flick isn't particularly good but it does have some suspense and surprises. 

Verdict: The bunny outfit in this one isn't very scary. **1/4. 

KNOCK AT THE CABIN

KNOCK AT THE CABIN (2022). Writer/director: M. Night Shyamalan. 

Andrew (Ben Aldridge) and Eric (Jonathan Groff), a gay couple with a seven-year-old adopted daughter, Wen (Kristen Cui), are vacationing at a cabin in the woods when four strangers show up at their door and force their way in. These strangers include big, burly Leonard (Dave Bautista), black nurse Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), waitress Adriane (Abby Quinn), and felon Redmond (Rupert Grint). They tell the two fathers that the world with its seven billion inhabitants is about to end and that the only way to prevent this is for one of those two men to make the supreme sacrifice and kill the other. As they wait to make the decision, the other four violently end the life of one of their number one by one. News reports indicate that horrible things, including tidal waves, plagues, and airliners crashing by the dozens, are happening around the globe, but Andrew thinks the foursome knew about these occurrences in advance. And then Andrew remembers why Redmond looks familiar -- he was the very man who gay-bashed him in a bar and put him in the hospital over a decade before. Now even more suspicious of the whole story, Andrew tells Eric that they have been targeted by some homophobic nut cases, but Eric isn't so sure. 

Groff, Cui and Aldridge

Knock at the Cabin, based on the novel "The Cabin at the End of the World," is a typically twisty N. Night Shyamalan movie although this doesn't have the twist you might be hoping for. For most of its length the movie is totally absorbing, well-directed and very well-acted, and it keeps you in suspense as details are unveiled like peeling away at an onion. Are these four strangers utterly crazy, victimized by absurd conspiracy theories and massive misinformation, or is something fantastic and inexplicable actually occurring? Although the novel ends differently (based on a synopsis I've read), the movie is perhaps too literal, and in the long run doesn't make much sense. The film becomes lost in quasi-religious, metaphysical, pseudo-intellectual gobbledygook that poses more questions than it answers. I confess I'm never satisfied with these type of storylines and denouements, although others will undoubtedly feel differently. 

                             Bautista, Quinn, Amuka-Bird

Knock at the Cabin also stretches credulity in certain sequences (along with the very premise, of course). When the first of the foursome is murdered by the other three -- apparently this also must happen to prevent the apocalypse -- the two fathers have virtually no reaction. Why do these people who supposedly want to save the world allow a small child to be in the same room when this gruesome death occurs? And so on. At least the film gets points for diversity in its casting. Not only are the two main characters gay men, they are played by openly gay actors. Bravo to Shyamalan for that! -- although I admit I'm not crazy about certain aspects of the ending. The performances from the entire cast are on target, with a special nod to Bautista for a performance both sensitive and charismatic. 

Verdict: Quite arresting while you're watching it but it has no lasting resonance. **1/2. 

THE MENU

Ralph Fiennes

THE MENU (2022). Director: Mark Mylod. 

Obsessive foodie Tyler (Nicholas Hoult of Dark Phoenix) and his last-minute date Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy) are one of several diners at the highly exclusive restaurant on Hawthorne Island. The other diners include a faded movie star (John Leguizamo) and his entourage, an older married couple (Judith Light and Reed Birney), a food critic and her sycophantic date and others. As the evening progresses things start getting weirder, as the head chef, Slowick (Ralph Fiennes), berates and even insults his customers. As the diners begin grumbling about their treatment, things take a decidedly dark turn when one of the assistant chefs, Jeremy (Adam Aalderks), abruptly commits suicide and no one aside from the shocked diners seems to care. The people who have simply come to have a fantastic meal soon realize that none of them may be getting off of the island alive. 

Hoult and Taylor-Joy

Taking its cue from those bitchy reality show celebrity chefs, The Menu presents Fiennes as a bitter man who toils in a restaurant he does not actually own, and resents the stupid rich people he has to feed. With all the craziness in the world today, who knows if this kind of bizarre scenario could occur or not. The Menu reminds me very much of Knock at the Cabin in that it also has an absurd if irresistible premise, becomes increasingly strange and violent, and is more of an allegorical black comedy than anything you can take seriously. 

Aalderks and Riennes

Also like Cabin, Menu is very arresting and suspenseful, is extremely well-acted by the entire cast, beautifully-shot, and pretty much falls apart at the end. Again, it all depends on your tolerance for illogic and short story ideas stretched out to feature length. The Menu would probably have worked better as an hour-long episode of a dark anthology series. The characters in the film are not really developed beyond types, and Margot, who has a few secrets of her own, is an odd choice for heroine. A special commendation goes to Hong Chau, who plays Elsa, the ice-cold woman who oversees the restaurant and is complicit in everything, along with the staff. 

Verdict: Take-Out next time! **3/4. 

SICK

SICK (2022). Director: John Hyams. Peacock streaming Original.

Parker (Gideon Adlon) and her best friend, Miri (Bethlehem Million), retreat to the former's beautiful and huge family cabin to ride out the pandemic. There are two unexpected visitors, however. DJ (Dylan Sprayberry) is a friend of the ladies who was apparently lured to the cabin. Then there's a masked and murderous assailant who has already sliced and diced a young man named Tyler (Joel Courtney) and is now looking to do the same to the others. Parker goes into survival mode when her friends are viciously attacked. Hoping a woman on the highway will let her into her car so she can escape, she is told she has to wear a mask. Are you kidding me? she screams.

Sick is a lively and suspenseful slasher film that isn't too gross, moves quickly, is generally well-acted, and also gives the killer a very realistic motive for once. (One could argue that it sort of trivializes all the deaths caused by Covid, although I'm surprised there haven't been more crimes/lawsuits inspired by them and other people's irresponsibility.) There is at least one great twist as well. Co-written by Kevin Williamson of Scream fame. 

Verdict: Worth at least one look for slasher fans. ***. 

JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION

the cast face dino-danger

JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION (2022). Director: Colin Trevorrow. 

Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Alan Grant (Sam Neill) of Jurassic Park are reunited by the threat of very large and fearsome-looking locusts who seem to have been engineered by Biosyn, the company that helped bring dinosaurs to the 21st century. Lots of dinosaurs have escaped captivity and bred in the wild, and trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and his girlfriend, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) of Jurassic World, look after some of them while being parents to young Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon). Maisie is apparently the daughter of a deceased scientist who somehow reproduced asexually and grew her own clone in her womb (don't ask).

Escaping a voracious raptor

When Maisie is kidnapped by the evil Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott) of Biosyn, Owen and Claire go after her even as Ellie and Alan infiltrate the company's huge HQ to get evidence of what they've done with the yucky locusts. Eventually the two couples meet up, hooking up with the delightful pilot Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), helpful Biosyn executive Ramsay Cole (Mamoudou Athie), and, of course, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) of the original film. Naturally there are chases, dinosaurs galore, pterodactyls smashing planes, and many exciting and thrilling moments along with the superior special effects. 

I found Jurassic World Dominion, which got many bad reviews, to be a big improvement over Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which was awful. Admittedly I had lowered expectations, but I wasn't bored for a second during this rather long movie, and especially enjoyed several topflight sequences: the raptor chase through the streets of Malta; an attack on Owen and Kayla on a frozen lake by a weird and hungry bird-like lizard; a huge pterodactyl tearing apart a plane; and so on. Many viewers have complained about the pseudo-scientific aspects of the film, the moments of illogic and plot contrivance, and so on, but for Pete's sake, this isn't meant to be taken any more seriously than a Saturday afternoon cliffhanger serial, and on that level, the movie works. Ugliness is kept to a minimum, although I would rather have seen a vicious assassin-type lady get swallowed whole by a T-Rex than a perfectly innocent bystander in the square in Malta. BD Wong of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit appears as a remorseful scientist who worked with Maisie's mother; he's fine. There's also a nice score by Michael Giacchino. Although there were hints in Jurassic Park III that the Alan Grant character had a boyfriend, he hooks up with Ellie in this film and the boyfriend is nowhere to be seen. So much for LGBT diversity (although it's possible Kayla is a lesbian)! 

Verdict: Fun, fast-paced picture that still engenders some awe! ***. 

RESURRECTION (2022)

Rebecca Hall

RESURRECTION (2022). Written and directed by Andrew Semans.

Margaret (Rebecca Hall) has a daughter, Abbie (Grace Kaufman), who's just about to turn eighteen. Margaret reencounters a man, David (Tim Roth), with whom she had an abusive relationship many years before, and is afraid he might be out to harm her or her daughter. Apparently David murdered their baby boy, Ben, and Margaret let him get away with it. However, things take a surreal turn when she tells a colleague, Gwen (Angela Wong Carbone), that David ate the baby and Ben is still alive inside him. Huh? 

Carrying a baby? Tim Roth

Obviously Resurrection can not be taken literally, and the slender characterizations further distance the viewer from what's happening on screen. Resurrection might have worked better as a half-hour short, but stretched out to nearly two hours it doesn't work at all, although it begins well with an initially intriguing premise. However, the whole movie is really just an acting exercise for Hall and Roth, both of whom are excellent (although in a long monologue talking about David, Hall seems to be merely acting in the technical sense rather than feeling the role). You can take this film as an abstract study of the effects of abuse and control, or of a woman who is slowly losing her mind, or preferably, not take it at all. I choose the latter. Rebecca Hall was the executive producer. While I can see what attracted her to the project -- it's a starring role with juicy acting prospects -- she should still choose her projects with more care in the future. 

Verdict: At least I didn't have to pay to see this. Too weird for its own good. ** for the acting and cinematography. 

DON'T WORRY DARLING

Florence Pugh and Harry Styles

DON'T WORRY DARLING (2022). Director: Oliva Wilde. 

Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) live in a 1950's desert community where Harry works for the Victory Project, which deals with "the development of progressive materials" -- whatever that means. Although the other housewives in the cul-de-sac don't seem to care, it bothers Alice that her husband's work is so secretive and that she's told never, never, to go out into the desert. One neighbor, a black lady named Margaret (Kiki Layne) did so and hasn't been the same since. Although Harry's boss, the slick Frank (Chris Pine), has big plans for Harry, Alice threatens to topple them all with her paranoid attitude, especially after there appears to be a cover-up as to whatever it was that happened to Margaret. 

Chris Pine

The intriguing aspects of Don't Worry Darling are severely compromised by the off-putting style of the movie, which seems to be trying to transcend the thriller genre but only serves to weaken the suspense. It simply gets too artsy-fartsy for its own good at times. Too long at nearly two hours, the movie at least boasts some very well-staged action sequences at the climax. The acting also helps put this over, with exemplary work from Florence Pugh and a sinister and charismatic performance from Chris Pine. The other cast members, including Harry Styles and director Olivia Wilde in a supporting role as Bunny, are also effective, among others.  

Pugh with Pine in background

But the fact remains that I can't recommend this movie because it ultimately comes off like a much lesser effort from M. Night Shyamalan, with a "big reveal" that will probably make you groan out loud (although a few people who haven't seen as many movies might be impressed). The various anachronisms sprinkled throughout the movie could give you a clue -- the idea just isn't that original. It may also remind you in some ways of The Stepford Wives. Don't Worry Darling might have its heart in the right place in the political sense, but it just doesn't add up to a memorable movie. The explanation for what's going on only gives the audience more questions instead of real answers. 

Verdict: A few good scenes don't make a great movie. **1/4. 

GOODNIGHT MOMMY (2022)

GOODNIGHT MOMMY (2022). Directed by Matt Sobel. (An Amazon Prime streaming original.)

Two young twin boys named Elias (Cameron Crovetti) and Lukas (Nicholas Crovetti) are dropped at their mother's large house by their father. The mother (Naomi Watts of King Kong) has her face entirely swathed in bandages or some kind of mask. As the visit progresses, the boys become convinced that this woman is not their mother, even running away and being returned by a kindly police officer, a black lady named Sandy (Crystal Lucas-Perry) and her more laid-back partner. Then things take a dark turn when the boys decide to find out from this supposed stranger exactly where their mother is ... 

Goodnight Mommy is a remake of a 2014 Austrian movie which is supposedly much darker. However this version is well-made, suspenseful, and features some excellent performances by Watts and those two wonderfully gifted Crovetti brothers. 

That being said I was rather shocked by the ending of the film, which completely rips off the "big reveal" of Thomas Tryon's novel "The Other" and the film version thereof. (I don't know if the Austrian film has the same twist at the end.) This is too bad because the film intelligently explores how attitudes change in children towards their parents and vice versa as they all grow older and it has some strong and moving sequences. 

Verdict: The Other redux. Thomas Tryon would not be pleased. **1/2.

SMILE (2022)

 SMILE (2022). Written and directed by Parker Finn. 

After seeing a patient, Laura (Caitlin Stasey), commit suicide right in front of her, psychologist Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), starts becoming paranoid. Laura was convinced that she was being stalked by an "entity" that could look like her or anyone else, and caused bad things to happen every time it appeared. Rose starts to act quite odd, causing anger and consternation in her self-absorbed sister, Holly (Gillian Zinser) and fiance Trevor (Jessie T. Usher). With the help of a detective and ex-boyfriend, Joel (Kyle Gallner), Rose discovers that there have been a whole series of suicides whose witnesses seem to take on the curse of the person who killed themselves. Apparently the only way Rose can get rid of the curse is by killing someone else -- in front of a witness ... The title refers to how the entity makes people/apparitions smile in a fearfully grotesque fashion. 

If Smile clocked in at about 80 minutes, it might have been a taut and effective horror film, but at nearly two hours, the deliberate pacing works against it. The premise is creepy but kind of familiar, and while the climax is quite well-done and spooky, it is also not that original. The entity looks quite horrifying, however. The acting and FX in this are good but the flick is just so so. Smile might have been more interesting if it had at least explored the possibility that a human agent was behind the bizarre goings-on. Sosie Bacon is the daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Segwick -- she scratched and clawed her way to success! 

Verdict: Sometimes less is literally more! This might have been a knock-out if it didn't remind one of a dozen other previous movies. **1/2.   

ORPHAN: FIRST KILL

Isabelle Fuhrman

ORPHAN: FIRST KILL (2022). Director: William Brent Bell. 

In this prequel to Orphan, a psychotic young lady (Isabelle Fuhrman) escapes from a mental institution overseas, and manages to take the place of a missing American child named Esther to the initial joy of the family. "Esther" now has a new mother (Julia Chiles), father (Rossif Sutherland), with whom she falls in love, and older brother Gunnar (Matthew Finlan). Unfortunately for Esther a child psychologist (Samantha Walkes) and a Detective Donnan originally assigned to the case (Hiro Kanagawa), have their suspicions. But they may not have them for long.

Rossif Sutherland

Since the big reveal of the first film (which actually takes place after this film) is no longer a secret, First Kill has come up with its own twists and surprises. These may be a bit far-fetched, but they work within the confines of this type of horror picture. Isabelle Furhman is excellent as the clever and crazy Esther, but she is not a child actress any longer, being 23 or so when she filmed this prequel. (In the first film she was about 12.) Julia Stiles offers a terrific performance in a difficult role, and she is matched by Sutherland (son of Donald) and Finlan. The action and murder sequences are well-staged and the film moves at a brisk pace.

Verdict: A sequel/prequel that is as entertaining as the original. ***. 

DR. STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange

DR. STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022). Director: Sam Raimi. 

Marvel sorcerer Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch (of Spider-Man: No Way Home) dreams about and then encounters a young lady, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who comes from another dimension and has the ability to travel from one universe to another. She is being pursued by former Avenger Wanda Maximoff, aka, the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who wants the girl's power and will kill anyone who gets in her way to obtain it. Her own little boys turned out to be magical in nature -- they didn't really exist -- and she wants to take over the life and body of an alternate Wanda (from another dimension) who has two honest-to-goodness children. Dr. Strange and America travel to a variety of alternate Earths to try and stay one jump ahead of Wanda, encountering Other-Versions of Strange himself and other Marvel heroes (such as Professor Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart of Lifeforce). To win this battle Dr. Strange may need the secrets of the Darkhold and the Book of Vishanti, but will he be corrupted like other versions of himself have been?

Mad Mother Love: Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Witch

Let's state at the outset that this is a movie for Marvel comics fans and hardly anyone else. As usual multiple characters are thrown at you and the uninitiated will not only not know who most of them are but be quite confused by the storyline (especially as it bounces around from dimension to dimension)! That being said, Dr. Strange 2, as it is also known, is an improvement over the first Strange film, and is quite entertaining, although its moments of alleged humor may make one groan. The storyline is based on events that occurred, I believe, at the very end of the long run of The Avengers comic book volume one, when Wanda went  berserk after her unreal children vanished (but don't quote me, as it's been quite a while since I read these stories). 

the giant one-eyed "octopus" monster

Whatever its flaws, Dr. Strange 2 benefits from the people both in front of and behind the camera. Super-hero movies are often helmed by fledgling directors who can't handle all the disparate elements but Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead; Spider-Man 2) is an experienced director and despite the movie's fast pace you can follow the action -- these sequences are all well done. The FX work is also outstanding, such as when Wanda sends a gigantic, one-eyed tentacled monstrosity after America in Manhattan; or a stunning journey through dimensions in which the characters temporarily turn into water or even paint; and a sequence when two versions of Dr. Strange hurl mystical musical notes -- and the actual music -- at one another (not an original concept but it works beautifully anyway). At one point our Dr. Strange takes over the body of a deceased, rotting version of himself! 

Dead Dr. Strange from an alternate universe

Cumberbatch makes an effective Dr. Strange, but Elizabeth Olsen steals the movie with a terrific and impassioned performance as Wanda. Danny Elfman has contributed another exciting and dramatic score while cinematographer John Mathieson -- with the help of a variety of production designers and art directors, not to mention FX people -- insures that the film is always visually striking. In fact, Dr Strange 2 is stunningly opulent from start to finish. 

Verdict: Strictly for Marvel maniacs, but they should enjoy this. ***. 

MORBIUS

Jared Leto as Michael Morbius

MORBIUS (2022). Director: Daniel Espinosa.  

Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) was born with a rare blood disease for which he is trying to find a cure. This cure involves vampire bats, and it turns out to be worse than the disease. Morbius turns into a vampire who has to subsist on artificial blood, which he created. But he knows that this fake blood won't sustain him for long. Another problem is that his friend, Milo (Matt Smith), who suffers from the same disease, takes the cure and doesn't care at all that he has to kill human beings to sustain him. Before long the two are in an epic battle in and above New York City. 

Morbius contemplates his future

Morbius was originally a character in Spider-Man comic books (Spidey is not mentioned until a post-credit sequence in which Michael Keaton as the Vulture also appears). Morbius also had his own short-lived series but he worked best as an opponent for Webhead. In the comics Morbius did prey upon innocent people and was always hating himself for it, but he never did the compassionate thing and end his life. This aspect of the character is not explored in this film in which he is basically a good guy (it's uncertain if he was responsible for the deaths of some mercenaries or not). 

Leto as Morbius

The action scenes in the movie, heavily dependent on CGI like most of these pictures, are at times too cluttered to be effective -- the business with alternating slow-motion with freeze frames is also annoying --  but the movie benefits greatly from a fine performance by Leto, with Matt Smith also effective as the rather psychotic Milo. I guess the best thing I could say about the modestly entertaining picture is that if there is a sequel I would watch it, but I couldn't necessarily recommend this to others. 

Verdict: A strong lead performance helps bolster this Marvel movie from Columbia studios. **1/2. 

BACK SOON

Vacation and finishing up some projects took up too much time this month, but B MOVIE NIGHTMARE will be back in a couple of weeks. 

BARE BONES No. 9 Winter 2021 No. 10 Spring 2022

 

BARE BONES 9. Winter 2021.

BARE BONES 10. Spring 2022. 

Here are the latest two issues of that wonderful publication Bare Bones. Co-edited by Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri, Bare Bones "unearths vintage, forgotten and overlooked horror, mystery, sci-fi, western" and just plain weird material.  

Issue 9 covers A. E. van Vogt's classic story Black Destroyer; the film Hickey and Boggs; my piece on Eurospy films of the sixties; Peter Enfantino's look at Sure -Fire Detective Stories; John Scoleri's review of Boxoffice for 1974; and lots more.

Issue 10 has Matthew R. Bradley's piece on Henry Farrell; a look at Nightmare Alley; Marvel Comics' Monsters Unleashed magazine; my piece on sixties TV show comic book tie-ins; John Scoleri's interview with Chris Matheson; Peter Enfantino's Sleaze Alley column; and David J. Schow's piece on King Kong, and more!

What are you waiting for? These are available on amazon in trade paperback format -- click on the links above. Packed with interesting features, these are both scholarly and fun! 

PRIVATE CRIMES

PRIVATE CRIMES. An Arthur Crimes Mystery. William Schoell and Christian Grimm. 2022. 

My new "cozie" mystery novel, PRIVATE CRIMES.

From Amazon:

Arthur Crimes is a small-town publisher who discovers the dead body of an elderly millionaire near an isolated swimming hole. Having once worked with his uncle, a private investigator, Arthur decides to try and find the murderer with the help of his good friend, Eve, a true crime author who is, frankly, hoping to get another book deal. But as they weed through a surprising number of suspects, is someone else observing everything they do, waiting for the right moment to strike ...?

WILLIAM SCHOELL is the prolific author of many novels, biographies, books on the performing arts and pop culture. As CHRISTIAN GRIMM and ENRCIO ARRIVEDERCI he has written two light-hearted cozy mysteries: THE ABSOLUTELY APPALLING OPERA MURDERS and PRIVATE CRIMES.

End of shameless plug!

NEW PROJECTS

Polishing up some exciting new projects. B MOVIE NIGHTMARE will return in July, if not sooner!