SCREAM 7

Ghostface on the loose!

SCREAM 7 (2026). Co-written and directed by Kevin Williamson. 

Sidney (Neve Campbell) has relocated to the new town of Pine Grove with her sheriff husband Mark (Joel McHale) and teenage daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). Then Sidney begins to get video calls from Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), one of the killers in the original Scream. But hasn't Stu been dead for years? When the killings start again with a new Ghostface on the loose, Sidney and old pal Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox) team up to investigate if Stu is somehow still alive or if someone else is hiding behind AI-generated deep fakes. 

Victims: Tatum (right) and her pals

Scream 7 is a fast-paced, often thrilling, and quite suspenseful slasher flick with generally good performances. The best sequences are the prologue with a young couple running into trouble in a house that commemorates the murders back in Hillsboro, and a sequence in which a poor victim in a bar is sort of turned into a beer spigot. Usually the Scream movies are comparatively restrained and tasteful, but a gross and sadistic sequence in a theater features a graphic disembowelment that might be more at home in one of those Terrifier movies. The motive for the gruesome murders, as many others have noted, is so lame as to be laughable, but fortunately it doesn't ruin the movie. Although the Scream flicks were originally black comedies with as many jokes as screams, this installment -- aside from the dumb finale -- is basically played more or less straight. As usual the film glosses over the utter misery faced by the loved ones of the victims left in the wake of the maniac. Campbell and Cox also appeared in 2022's Scream. Mason Gooding, one of Gail Weathers' team, was also in the slasher flick Heart Eyes. 

Verdict: Still fun despite its flaws. ***. 

BONE LAKE

Maddie Hassan and Marco Pigossi

BONE LAKE (2024). Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan.  

Sage (Maddie Hassen) and Diego (Marco Pigossi) are a young couple who are excited about a weekend retreat in a fabulous house in the country. Unfortunately, they discover the house has been double booked, and Cin (Andra Nechita) and her boyfriend Will (Alex Roe) show up on the doorstep. It is agreed that both couples will share the house, and slowly become friendly. But then things begin to turn a little sinister, with one couple trying to turn the other two against each other. Before long things turn desperate and deadly ... 

Andra Nechita and Alex Roe  

Bone Lake is not the most original of movies -- its earliest antecedent might be The Most Dangerous Game -- but it is quite well-acted and is suspenseful for most of its length. It eventually turns into a gory survival story, but is effective enough on that level. One sequence is almost ruined by a pretty bad (and painfully obvious) song, "Sex and Violence," playing over the action. There is a pretty mediocre cat fight. Overall the film is watchable, but a bit slow and predictable. 

Verdict: A lot of overfamiliar elements to this. **1/2. 

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. 

DEMENTIA 13

DEMENTIA 13 (1963). Director: Francis [Ford] Coppola.

When Louise Haloran's (Luana Anders) husband John has a fatal heart attack, she decides to cover up his death and pretend he's gone on a trip so she can still inherit from his mother. (Apparently it doesn't occur to her that a widow might still come into a share of the estate.) But this is only one of the secrets at the spooky and stately Castle Haloran in Ireland, where a barely seen figure with an axe roams about hacking and beheading his victims, and each year the family reenacts the funeral of the young daughter, Kathleen, who drowned seven years before. (None of the characters seem to realize the terrible impact the child's death would have had on Kathleen's mother, who is a bit "off.") 

ax attack on Louise

This early film from the director of The Godfather trilogy is modeled on Psycho in that we at first follow a blond character who is then brutally dispatched a la Janet Leigh nearly forty minutes into the film. Anders is very vital as Louise, as are Bart Patton as her brother-in-law, Billy; Ethne Dunn as Lady Haloran; and Patrick Magee as the family's creepy and tactless physician. William Campbell is Billy's brother, Richard, and Mary Mitchel is his oddly-named girlfriend, Kane. The film is atmospheric, has an effective score by Ronald Stein, and boasts a very well-handled and suspenseful sequence in which Simon, a poacher (Karl Schanzer), is stalked and decapitated. Bart Patton did mostly television work; Luana Anders, who also appeared in The Pit and the Pendulum with Vincent Price, was a busy actress up until her death in 1996.

Verdict: Odd, confusing at times, but strangely compelling and vivid! ***.

THE HYPNOTIC EYE

THE HYPNOTIC EYE (1960). Director: George Blair.

In this sick but entertaining movie, a series of women are horribly disfiguring themselves and then claiming they were completely unaware they were doing so. Could these terrible accidents have something to do with hypnotism? Naturally a detective on the case (Joe Patridge) takes his spunky girlfriend Marcia (Marcia Henderson) to see the act of the sensational Desmond (Jacques Bergerac), who hypnotizes, among others, Marcia's friend, Dodie (Merry Anders), who winds up washing her face in acid later that evening. Brave Marcia decides to find out exactly what happened between Dodie and Desmond, and does a lot more to solve the mystery than her boyfriend. Desmond's assistant is zestily played by Allison Hayes of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, although her portrayal here makes her giantess seem positively benign. Ghoulish and a bit ugly at times, but an undeniably effective shocker. See if you can spot Henry Aldrich himself, Jimmy Lydon [Corky of Gasoline Alley], in the role of an emergency room doctor; I completely missed him. George Blair also directed The Adventures of Superboy pilot and many B movies. 

Verdict: Compelling shocker. ***. 

PHENOMENA / CREEPERS

PHENOMENA (aka Creepers/1985). Director: Dario Argento. 

At the Richard Wagner International School for Girls in Switzerland, Jennifer (Jennifer Connelly), a new student with a sleepwalking problem, develops a strange affinity for insects. This comes in handy in tracking down an unknown maniac who is murdering several of the students. Donald Pleasence plays the entomologist, McGregor, and Daria Nicolodi is Frau Bruckner, who is keeping a deadly secret. Heroine Connelly is too inexperienced to convincingly carry the film, but considering the things she's called upon to do one has to say that she earns her pay and then some. Pleasence, Nicolodi, and a lovable chimp are much better. This is a somewhat zany but likable picture with a few memorably gruesome sequences. 

Verdict: A fascinating Gothic nightmare. ***. 

EDGE OF THE AXE

The maniac at large

EDGE OF THE AXE (1988/aka Al filo del hacha/1988). Director: Joseph Braunstein (Jose Ramon Larraz).  

A woman killed in a car wash by an ax-wielding maniac is the first of several female victims in the small town of Paddock, which has only two cops. There are plenty of suspects: computer geek Gerald (Barton Faulks); his best friend, the exterminator Richard Simmons (Page Mosely), who married his older wife Laura (Patty Shepard of The Killer is One of 13) for her money; Police Chief McIntosh (Fred Holliday), who tries to discourage everyone from thinking a serial killer is on the loose; creepy Father Clinton (Elmer Modlin); and others. 

Christina Marie Lane and Barton Faulks

Now you might think that the residents of this town, not to mention the (unseen) mayor, would insist that the Police Chief call in the FBI when there is murder after murder with no one being arrested. Then it develops that all of the victims are connected, but only the computer nerd figures it out and only near the very end. The only thing more ridiculous is the identity of the killer -- this come out of nowhere -- who really doesn't seem physically capable of the killings, which are gruesome if not too graphic. The script is disjointed, as if if were written on the fly, or if scenes were left on the cutting room floor. Barton Faulks gives a more than decent performance as Gerald, but both he and best buddy Richard are pretty obnoxious characters. Apparently the director has some sort of following but it's hard to see why, as this film -- while it may have some suspense -- has no style or special flair to it at all. You wouldn't know that this was a Spanish production as the American cast all speak English and no one is dubbed. The movie was filmed at Big Bear in California.

Verdict: An ax murder movie you can miss. **1/4. 

STRAIT-JACKET

Joan Crawford

STRAIT-JACKET (1964). Produced and directed by William Castle. Screenplay by Robert Bloch.

Lucy Harbin (Joan Crawford) comes home unexpectedly, discovers her handsome husband Frank (Lee Majors) in bed with a local trollop, and takes the ax to both of them. Twenty years later Lucy is released from an asylum, and comes to her brother, Bill's (Leif Erickson) farm, where he lives with his wife, Emily (Rochelle Hudson), and Lucy's daughter, Carol (Diane Baker). Carol seems anxious to help her mother, dolling her up with a new dress and a visit to a wig maker, but when Lucy's Dr. Anderson (Mitchell Cox) comes a callin', he thinks Lucy might have to return to the hospital with him. Before he can do so however, Anderson is dispatched with an ax by a shadowy figure. More beheadings follow ... 

Crawford comes on to John Anthony Hayes

You can certainly pick apart Strait-Jacket in any number of ways, but it's actually one of William Castle's better and more entertaining movies. Crawford is terrific, on top of every emotion that Lucy has to display, be she humble and confused or overwrought and angry, and in general the rest of the cast follows suit: Diane Baker [The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre] as the daughter; John Michael Hayes as her suitor (his first film); Erickson and Hudson as the concerned, somewhat frightened brother and sister-in-law; Howard St. John and especially Edith Atwater (of Die Sister, Die!) as Hayes' upper-crust, disapproving parents. And let's not forget George Kennedy as Leo Krause, the blackmailing handyman who comes to a nasty end in the movie's best and most suspenseful sequence. 

Joan Crawford and Diane Baker

Robert Bloch wasn't crafting any kind of serious drama when he wrote Strait-Jacket -- it has the gimmicky, somewhat far-fetched twists that you associate with the writer -- but it's amazing how well he (and the actors) delineate the fears and concerns of those in Lucy's orbit, all of them trying to be as solid and compassionate as possible while also trying to avoid the elephant in the room: the grisly facts of Lucy's actions years ago. That dreary farm setting and the black and white cinematography (Arthur E. Arling) work well with this infinitely depressing storyline. As if acknowledging that, the film has a very funny final gag. 

Verdict: A gruesome black comedy with fascinating aspects and a fine Crawford performance. ***. 

A WHITE DRESS FOR MARIALE

Ida Galli and Ivan Rassimov

A WHITE DRESS FOR MARIALE (aka Un bianco vestito per Mariale/1972). Director: Romano Scavolini.

Paolo (Luigi Pistilli), who lives in a cluttered castle on an isolated estate, is married to the emotionally-disturbed Mariale (Ida Galli). Unbeknownst to her husband, she has invited several of their friends to their home. These include Massimo (Ivan Rassimov of The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardj), Mercedes (Pilar Velazquez), Sebastiano (Ezio Marano), Jo (Giancarlo Bonuglia), Semy (Shawn Robinson), and her rather racist boyfriend Gustavo (Edilio Kim). As the evening proceeds the guests indulge in fun and games, dressing up in costumes they find in the basement. After an hour -- yes an hour -- of what mostly amounts to sheer tedium, at last there is a murder (and the almost obligatory lesbian love scene), after which virtually the entire cast is violently dispatched. Is the killer Mariale or Paolo? Who do you think? (The sinister butler, Osvaldo, played by Gengher Gatti, is one of the first to go.)

Luigi Pistilli

I would not be surprised if the ugly estate featured in this movie came first, with a script being hastily built around the location. Poor Luigi Pistilli [Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key], who was a serious theater actor in addition to being in several of these giallo films, has little choice but to wander around the castle in a state of bored ennui, just waiting for the damn thing to be over -- like the audience. One sequence shows an apparent wind storm that somehow manages to occur in the basement, but even this doesn't stay very interesting for long. There is absolutely no elan to the many murder sequences, and the whole thing has a disjointed, cheapjack ambiance to it. 

Verdict: Simply terrible giallo. *. 

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY

Luigi Pistilli and Anita Strindberg

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY (aka Il tuo vizio e una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave/1972). Director: Sergio Martino. 

Dissipated author Oliverio Rouvigny (Luigi Pistilli of The Case of the Scorpion's Tail), who has writer's block and is supposedly impotent, spends his time in his crumbling mansion being cruel to his wife, Irina (Anita Strindberg) and maid, Brenda (Angela La Vorgna). Oliverio instantly becomes a suspect when one of his mistresses, Fausta (Daniela Giordano of The Night of the Scorpion), is found slashed to death. More murders follow as the killer is seemingly unmasked. If this family weren't dysfunctional and toxic enough, along comes the Rouvigny's niece, Floriana (Edwige Fenech), a free spirit who sleeps with both aunt and uncle, and picks up an attractive boyfriend along the way. As a nasty cat named Satan runs around attacking Irina's doves and Irina herself, Floriana suggests a way she can rid herself of Oliverio ... 

Fenech and Strindberg

Your Vice is a wild giallo -- often ridiculous and illogical but always amusing -- that combines a mad slasher or two with marital discord, sadomasochism (of an emotional kind), and even a dollop of Edgar Allan Poe what with that black cat and its activities. Pistilli offers a virile portrait of an obnoxious monster, while Strindberg gives one of her best performances as his put-upon, dissatisfied wife. Fenech, despite her obvious assets, looks almost plain and boyish in this, especially compared to the gorgeous Strindberg. (Fenech only bares her breasts with male lovers, but is more modest when she gets it on with Strindberg. The lesbian aspects are clearly meant for titillation and not any insight into homosexual relationships. Director Martino probably couldn't resist putting two sex symbols of giallo films into bed together.)  Ivan Rassimov of The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardj -- also directed by Martino and starring Fenech -- has a small but pivotal role. 

Verdict: One strange household -- and lots of twists. ***. 

THE POLICE ARE BLUNDERING IN THE DARK

Francisco Cortez eyes the spy camera

THE POLICE ARE BLUNDERING IN THE DARK/La polizia brancola nel buio/1975). Director: Helia Columbo. 

When his girlfriend, Enrichetta (Margaret Rose Keil), asks him to come pick her up when her car breaks down, journalist Giorgio (Joseph Arkim) is in bed with another woman. When he goes to find Enrichetta at an inn where she spent the night, he discovers she has disappeared. Is she the latest in a line of women who have vanished? Giorgio's investigation -- if that's even what it can be called -- takes him to the villa of crippled photographer Edmondo Parrisi (Francisco Cortez), who has a bust in his dining room that takes photos of his guests. Parrisi has invented a camera that supposedly takes pictures of human thoughts (an interesting idea that really goes nowhere). When the attacks on women continue, suspicion falls upon both Parrisi and his doctor, Stefanelli (Richard Fielding). Other characters include the weird porter Alberto, the horny maid Lucia, who tries to get it on with Giorgio, and a mentally deficient man who is the son of the inn owner.  

The title of The Police are Blundering in the Dark comes from a headline in a newspaper, as the authorities have little to do with the plot of this movie. The matter-of-fact murder scenes are not that gruesome or exciting, and have only minimal suspense. A bizarre aspect of the movie is that Parrisi is impotent so his wife, Eleonora (Halina Zalewska) forces (?) their niece, Sarah (Elena Veronese), to give her sexual pleasure, something that is never shown but only referred to by Sarah -- and then Eleonora, to her husband -- who seems desperate to get away from the villa with Giorgio. Aside from being yelled and lunged at by Parissi, Eleonora gets no particular comeuppance, and the whole business just seems dragged in to make the woman a possible suspect (it can hardly be considered a serious examination of homosexuality). In any case, Police are Blundering may hold your attention, but as giallo films go it doesn't amount to much. 

Verdict: Lots of breasts flashing and not that much else. **.   

A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE

Paul Naschy and Mariano Vidal Molina

A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE (aka Una libelula para cada muerto/1975). Director: Leon Klimovsky. 

In Milan Inspector Paolo Scaparelli (Paul Naschy, who also co-wrote the screenplay) has been assigned to catch a serial killer who goes after people he believes to be immoral and always leaves a plastic dragonfly on top of each corpse. As the bodies pile up -- and there are quite a few -- Paolo's girlfriend, Silvana (Erkia Blanc of So Sweet ... So Perverse), thinks she's come up with an important clue, which he, unfortunately, dismisses. 

Erika Blanc with Naschy

Dragonfly is a Spanish imitation of an Italian giallo film and it's better than a lot of them. While Leon Klimovsky's direction doesn't have much style to it, the film does work up a lot of suspense, and has many flavorful aspects to it. Naschy, who many consider the King of Spanish horror films, is a unique and unusual-looking leading man. Angel Aranda of Planet of the Vampires is one of the suspects and Mariano Vidal Molina is Naschy's boss, the police commissioner. One odd thing is that the police never seem to try to find out where the plastic dragonflies were manufactured or sold. Otherwise, this is quite interesting.

 Verdict: Absorbing murder mystery from Spain. ***.  

THE SLASHER ... IS THE SEX MANIAC

THE SLASHER ... IS THE SEX MANIAC (aka Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile/1972). Director: Roberto Bianchi Montero. 

"I may be homosexual but I am not homicidal!" -- "Cleopatra." 

An unknown killer is running around murdering women who are having affairs. The maniac leaves photos of the women and their lovers, although the latter's faces are scratched off. (Which begs the question: how can the police be so certain that the man in the photo is the lover and not the husband? At least we know that the killer gets the photos while stalking his victims.) In any case Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) is assigned to track down the killer and pursues a number of leads before getting distressing information about the extracurricular activities of his own wife (Sylva Koscina of Hercules Unchained). Along the way he consults with Professor Casali (Chris Avram of The Killer Reserved Nine Seats), stumbles over a number of corpses, and interviews the lawyer Santangeli (Silvano Tranquilli), who's having an affair with a neighbor even as his own wife goes off for a dalliance. (You need a scorecard to count the affairs as well as the corpses.) Farley Granger, Koscina, and the other cast members acquit themselves professionally and the film is undeniably suspenseful, with a satisfying climax. Luciano Rossi plays the weird Gastone and Nieves Navarro is another victim. 

NOTE: New hardcore footage with porn star Harry Reems was inserted -- no pun intended -- into this film under the title Penetration. It was taken out of release in the U.S. after Farley Granger threatened a lawsuit. 

Verdict: Definitely one of the better giallo films. ***

THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS

Anita Ekberg

THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS (Casa d'appuntaento/1972). Director: Ferdinando Merighi. 

In Paris Madame Colette (Anita Ekberg) runs an exclusive brothel. One night Francine (Barbara Bouchet of Agent for H.A.R.M.) is murdered and her jealous suitor, Antoine (Peter Martell), is the main suspect. Escaping from custody after being convicted and vowing revenge on everyone, Antoine is beheaded in an accident. For unaccountable reasons Professor Waldermar (Howard Vernon) wants the severed head for "experiments" and is granted its disposition by his friend, the Judge on the case, George Teschi (William Alexander). In the meantime a sinister figure is running about violently killing people involved in the case while Inspector Fontaine (Robert Sacchi) pursues all leads, investigating not just Madame Colette but Pepi (Rolf Eden), owner of a nightclub and his associates, including sometime girlfriend Marianne (Rosalba Neri). While all this is going on the professor's assistant, Roger (Franco Borelli), tries to pursue a relationship with the man's daughter, Eleonora (Evelyne Kraft). Another suspect/potential victim is Dick Randall (Renato Romano), a reporter who is doing a story on French prostitutes. 

Robert Sacchi and Rosalba Neri

Robert Sacchi not only resembles Humphrey Bogart, but whoever dubbed his voice makes sure he sounds a lot like Bogie as well, including the trademark lisp. French Sex Murders is reasonably absorbing and intriguing, although the many murder sequences are not handled with any particular elan. Director Merighi simply repeats the same shot of a throat being slashed, head lopped off and so on five times, as if he has no clue of how to stage an effective kill scene. Filmed on Paris locations, including the Eiffel Tower, this is a true International production: Italy-France-West Germany. Sacchi was born in Italy, raised in the Bronx, and starred as The Man with Bogart's Face. This film was his first credit. 

Verdict: So-so giallo with some interesting aspects. **1/2. 

SCREAM VI

SCREAM VI (2023). Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. 

A lovely young woman is butchered in an alleyway outside a trendy restaurant in Manhattan, but the killer takes off his ghostface mask for the audience to see. Is this a radical change in the Scream franchise formula, will we know who the killer is from the beginning of the film? No, because this psycho is dispatched with by someone else, and then it's anybody's guess as to who's slicing and dicing up anyone who gets in the way of killing heroine Samantha Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her little sister, Tara (Jenna Ortega), who were also major characters in the last Scream installment. They and their friends who survived the massacre of the last film have moved to New York City, where of course no one ever gets murdered. But someone is still out to get them. 

Who is Ghostface this time?

Scream VI is slick, effective slasher film material which keeps you in suspense, keeps you guessing, and has you wondering not only who the killer is but which of the characters -- including the "legacy" ones such as reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) -- will survive the latest rampage of the masked Ghostface killer. If you're looking for anything else aside from some spurts of blood and excitement, you won't find it, but the flick is quite entertaining.

Some cast members of Scream VI

There are a couple of stand-out sequences, such as one involving a few cast members trying to escape the slasher by climbing on a precarious ladder that spans across and high above an alleyway. Then there's a creepy scene on the subway, and a climax that takes place in an abandoned movie theater that's been turned into a shrine to the Stab movies-within-a-movie. The acting from a large cast is all professional, although no one will be taking home any Oscars. The trouble with leading lady Barrera is that she just isn't that distinctive. This is better than the last Scream, which had the same two directors.  

Verdict: There's life in the Scream franchise after all, although this may be the last hurrah. *** 

BODYCOUNT

BODYCOUNT (aka Camping del terrore aka Body Count/1986). Director: Ruggero Deodato. 

A group of young people in Colorado pick up Ben (Nicola Farron), a soldier returning home, and he invites them to stay at his parents' camp. Unfortunately his father, Robert (David Hess), isn't thrilled with this idea as the camp has been closed since a couple of murders over a decade ago. Convinced the killer was an "old Indian Shaman," Robert has placed deadly boobytraps throughout the woods. Worse, the Shaman -- or at least a masked killer -- is back, working his way through the cast with mostly knifes and an occasional ax. And Robert's wife Julia (Mimsy Farmer of Four Flies on Gray Velvet) is having an affair with an old boyfriend named Charlie, who happens to be the sheriff  (Charles Napier). Will anyone survive the slaughter and just who is the maniac in charge? 

Clearly influenced by Friday the 13th and other slasher flicks, Bodycount is actually an Italian film, but if you're hoping for a stylish giallo exercise and an intricate plot a la Dario Argento, look elsewhere. The film never picks up speed or tension but just plods along almost haphazardly. The acting is variable but generally efficient, and Hess, Farmer and Napier are clearly the professionals in the bunch. The movie is so underlit at times that it's hard to make out who's being killed in the nighttime sequences. The music includes a snappy rock theme but otherwise the score does little for the picture. 

Verdict: A slasher flick you can miss. **. 

SCHIZOID

SCHIZOID (1980). Written and directed by David Paulsen. 

Julie (Marianna Hill) writes a Lonely Hearts column for a newspaper, and begins receiving strange, threatening letters employing cut-out letters from magazines. At the same time, other members of her therapy group are being sliced and diced by a scissors-wielding maniac. The suspects are numerous: Julie's husband (Craig Wasson of Body Double) is not happy with the fact that she is divorcing him; Julie's shrink (Klaus Kinski) is an unethical creep who is having sex with at least two of his patients, including Julie; the shrink's daughter, Alison (Donna Wilkes), is a neurotic who hates anyone who takes away her father's attention; and lonely Gilbert (Christopher Lloyd) is not only in the therapy group but also is the maintenance man at the newspaper. Shizoid does manage to work up some suspense as to the identity of the killer, and moves at a good pace. The kill scenes are moderately gruesome and not that inspired. Kinski gives a good performance and is given two sex scenes, which may or may not have been excruciating for the leading ladies. Donna Wilkes is effective as Alison, who enjoys dressing up as if she were in a piece of film noir. Joe Regalbuto, who later wound up on Murphy Brown, plays a cop. Christopher Lloyd is perfectly okay as Gilbert, but you wouldn't have imagined that he'd be in for major success with Taxi and the Back to the Future movies. 

Verdict: Okay slasher flick. **1/2. 

SCREAM (2022)

SCREAM (2022). Directors: Matt Bettinelli- Olpin and Tyler Gillett. 

Well, a killer wearing a ghostface mask is again on the loose in Woodsboro, 25 years after the events in Scream, and again killing teens and others. Eventually the original participants -- Sidney (Neve Campbell), Dewey (David Arquette) and Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox), all of whom look great -- get involved in trying to find out who's responsible. The trouble with 2022's Scream -- which is basically Scream 5 whether it's called that or not -- is its sheer over-familiarity, In the first "kill" -- as gore geeks refer to the murder scenes -- the victim looks more like a child than a teen, and the word "overkill" occurs for some of the slasher sequences. The move is well-acted by the large cast -- very talented Jenna Ortega is a stand-out -- but not that well-helmed by two -- count 'em -- two directors. Basically this is just a retread of Scream 4, which was better and cleverer. 

Verdict: By no means terrible, but I think we've all had enough screaming. **3/4. 

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (2021 TV SERIES)

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (2021 Amazon Prime Original TV series). Created for television by Sara Goodman. 

After a high school graduation party attended by twins Lennon and Alison (Madison Iseman), one of these two is run over on the highway and the others in the car -- even though this was clearly an accident and the driver wasn't drunk -- decide to cover it up, putting the body in a cave where it will be washed out to sea. A year later Alison -- pretending to be Lennon -- sees the words I Know What You Did Last Summer scrawled across her mirror and freaks out, contacting her friends. Over eight mostly tedious episodes these friends are gruesomely murdered until the big reveal at the end. 

Well ... what can you say about this series? It would be all too easy to dismiss it as simply godawful but it does have some interesting elements to it, such as brain-eating spiders and a cult that hangs out in a cave, and some genuine suspense towards the end. Some of the murder scenes are at least somewhat inventive. It has very, very little relation to the novel by Lois Duncan and even to the film version of that book. But the biggest problem with the series is that the characters are virtually all obnoxious and unlikable and it's hard to sit through long scenes (hit that fast-forward button!) showing these dipshits partying and acting like a-holes. They come off more like slasher movie teens than real teenagers in any case. It makes absolutely no sense that these characters wouldn't go to the police after the first incredibly sick double-murder no matter what trouble they may or may not find themselves in due to the alleged "cover-up." . 

Madison Iseman sees something awful: the rushes or the script?

The series, which takes place in Hawaii, has a number of multi-cultural and LGBT characters, but their sexuality seems dragged in to satisfy the twists of the plot and to show some presumably hot girl-on-girl action -- somehow it just doesn't seem real. In general the scripting for the series is absolutely abysmal, with cringe-worthy dialogue, and the acting for much of the cast isn't much better. Madison Iseman is pretty awful as the twins, and some of the other "teens" are directed to act in a "cutesy" fashion that is incredibly off-putting. And as for that ending!

SPOILER ALERT

I must say that the identity of the psychotic killer came as a complete surprise to me, although on reflection it makes little sense and she has no real motive to commit such fiendish acts upon her supposed friends. What's worse, after the heroine is stabbed by the killer, she tells the police that the villain is a perfectly innocent male friend while she goes off hand in hand with the murderer! Is this progressive or shockingly regressive? (The first victims are a gay male couple.) One has to wonder who's worse: a killer lesbian or a bisexual (if that's what she is) woman who lets this very sick lady get away with murder, including the beheading of the only one in the cast who gives a damn about her. 

If you want to watch a decent slasher TV series I will recommend all seasons of Scream and the first season of Slasher. 

Verdict: Spare yourself nearly eight hours of watching this grisly tripe. **. 

TRICK

Omar Epps and Ellen Adair

TRICK (2019). Directed and co-written by Patrick Lussier. 

At a high school Halloween party one of the guests, Patrick Weaver (Thom Niemann), suddenly goes berserk, hacking and slashing at everyone and killing several people. Cheryl (Kristina Reyes) manages to subdue him and he is brought to the hospital, where he escapes after falling out of a window. Detective Mike Denver (Omar Epps) is convinced that Patrick -- known as "Trick" -- managed to survive a hail of bullets and a three-story fall, but Sheriff Lisa Jayne (Ellen Adair) isn't so certain. The police determine that "Patrick Weaver" never existed but have no clue as to who he really is. Each year on Halloween more murders occur, with Denver assuming "Trick" is behind them and Jayne thinking it has to be a copycat. After the grisly death of two FBI agents at the hands of Trick, Epps loses his job. but on the next Halloween night he is importuned to get involved again with the maniac he has now been pursuing for several years. Will he survive long enough to get the answers he seeks?

Trick at first seems to be an attempt to duplicate the success of Halloween and Michael Myers, with suggestions of the supernatural, but instead comes up with a reasonably clever -- if rather far-fetched -- explanation for the gruesome goings-on. The trouble with Trick isn't necessarily the screenplay but the mediocre direction, with the film at times seeming disjointed, a slow pace, and moments that are genuinely boring when you should actually be at the edge of your seat. The acting is okay, but my favorite performance is by little Melody Hurd as a cute black girl who quite sensibly wants to get out of a scary Halloween maze that her big sister keeps dragging her into. The only name actors in the film are Jamie Kennedy as a doctor and Tom Atkins as the owner of the local diner. The film goes on too long with a silly coda that adds nothing to the picture but tries to set up an unlikely sequel. The movie could have been an excellent thriller but its sensibilities turn it into just another mediocre slasher film. 

Verdict: Another hoary Halloween horror with some tricks if not treats. **1/4.