Dann Michalski

Hilary Swank and Idris Elba lead the cast in the apocalyptic horror thriller The Reaping. When a small-town starts experiencing biblical plagues they seek the help of college professor Katherine Morrissey, who specializes in investigating and disproving religious phenomena. The script is a little uneven and does a rather poor job at revealing Katherine’s mysterious backstory. However, Stephen Hopkins’ directing adds a lot of tension and suspense, as does the score. And AnnaSophia Robb is especially good as a creepy little girl. The Reaping is formulaic and a bit clichéd, but it delivers some chilling scares.

Based on the popular board game, Clue is an intriguing murder mystery. A group of six strangers are invited to a mansion to confront their blackmailer, and when he’s found murdered everyone’s a suspect. Featuring an all-star cast that includes Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Martin Mull, and Lesley Ann Warren, the performances are pretty good. But the zany antics are a bit much, and the plot’s kind of hard to follow. Clue is a problematic film, but in the end it delivers a fair share of laughs.

Emma Roberts is Nancy Drew in this campy, lighthearted comedy. When her father takes her to California on a work trip, super-sleuth Nancy Drew uses the opportunity to investigate the case of a Hollywood starlet that died mysteriously. Roberts is brilliantly cast and gives a wonderful performance that's irresistibly charming. And, the way the film integrates an old-fashion mystery into a modern setting is especially well-done. Nancy Drew is a delightful and enchanting film that's good wholesome fun.

Nancy Drew embarks on her lamest adventure yet in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. After hearing that an old woman’s house is haunted young super-sleuth Nancy Drew offers to investigate, and makes a new friend in the process. Sophia Lillis (of It fame) takes on the titular role of Nancy Drew, but is a little too happy-go-lucky; particularly given that the character’s recently lost her mother. And, there’s never any real sense that she’s ever in danger or could fail to solve the mystery. Also, the mystery itself is rather doubt and Scooby-Doo-ish; with ghosts and nefarious businessmen. Hockey and uninspired, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase is yet another failed attempt to re-launch the franchise.

From Lifetimes comes the intense and suspenseful erotic thriller Indiscretion. The story follows a politician’s wife who has an affair with a young artist who soon becomes obsessed with her. Featuring Mira Sorvino and Cary Elwes, the cast isn’t too bad and delivers some solid performances. And while the plot is pretty formulaic, it takes some interesting turns and is told in flashback (which gives it a foreboding air of mystery). Also, the film adds some ambiguity by making the wife an unreliable narrator. Despite its lack of originality, Indiscretion is a fairly well-made film that‘s entertaining and full of intrigue.

Katharine Isabelle stars in the disturbing horror film American Mary. When a med student named Mary Mason runs into financial trouble she starts an underground extreme body modification service, offering a number of unconventional surgeries. Isabelle gives a very strong performance, but the rest of the cast is fairly bland. And, the plot seems to meander without much direction. However, the makeup and practical effects are amazing; though it can get a little gruesome. American Mary has an interesting concept, but it doesn’t really go anywhere.

While a little derivative and cheesy, Nurse 3D sort of works in a B-movie kind of way. The story follows a hospital nurse named Abby Russell who kills philandering men on the side, but when she becomes obsessed with one of the nurses in training she starts to get reckless. The performances are deliciously awful and really help to amp up the camp factor. Additionally, a lot of the CGI blood effects look quite fake (especially the ones meant for 3D). However, there’s a nice bit of mystery and intrigue to the character of Abby Russell, and whether or not she’ll get caught. Ghoulishly entertaining, Nurse 3D is a pretty formulaic horror film that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Lazy and uninspired, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is a pretty rote horror film. Amber Heard stars as Mandy Lane, a seemingly innocent high school girl who’s invited to join a group of her classmates for a weekend at a country house; but soon after they get there a mysterious killer starts picking them off one-by-one. It’s all rather standard slasher stuff; however it’s a light on gore and violence. And the performances aren’t really that great, though Heard does fairly well with what she’s given. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane isn’t so much a bad movie as it’s generic and predictable.

Isla Fisher stars in the atmospheric supernatural horror film Visions. The story follows a pregnant wife who starts a winery with her husband, and soon begins to experience strange visions. The plot follows a pretty standard haunted house formula, but ends up taking an expected turn at the end. Additionally, the filmmakers do a good job at ratcheting up the tension and setting up the mystery. Yet the characters are a little underdeveloped and the scares are fairly tame. While Visions does some interesting things, overall it’s a rather mediocre thriller.

Batshit crazy doesn’t even begin to describe John Dies at the End. The plot is incoherent, but has something to do with paranormal investigators and creatures from another dimension. Part of the problem is the script (which is extremely poor), however the acting is also pathetic. And while some of the comedy works, there’s just too much insanity going on. John Dies at the End is DOA.

Full of mystery and intrigue, Escape Room is exciting thriller. When six strangers accept an invitation to participate in an escape room challenge they end up getting more than they bargained for; as the rooms soon turn deadly, changing the challenge into a fight for survival. The production designs for the rooms are incredible, creating really intricate and detailed traps. And the performances are pretty good too. However, the film kind of falls apart in the last act; which starts setting up a sequel and gives an unnecessary peak at the shadow organization behind the escape room. Still, the action scenes are intense and frightening, and the mystery of who the characters are and what has brought them together is compelling. While it has some flaws, Escape Room is a captivating horror film.

“They’re back.” Lacking the craft of the original, Poltergeist II: The Other Side is a hokey and generic horror sequel. The story picks up with the Freelings settling into a new house and a demonic entity known as Kane coming after them. Unfortunately there’s a lot of retconning to make this plot work, and Kane is a rather stereotypical villain. Craig T. Nelson gives a really hammy performance, and the special effects are incredibly cheesy. Convoluted and clichéd, Poltergeist II: The Other Side fails to recapture the thrills and excitement of the first film.

M. Night Shyamalan’s brilliant masterpiece The Sixth Sense is a clever, mind-bending thriller. Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment lead the cast and give incredible performances. The story follows a child psychiatrist who’s looking for redemption and sees an opportunity when he starts treating a young boy that has a mysterious secret. The whole film is built around a twist, and the delivery is incredibly effective and shocking. Shyamalan does an excellent job leaving subtle hints throughout the film to earn the reveal at the end, but keeps the focus on the main characters. A remarkably impressive film, The Sixth Sense delivers a thrilling and intense drama that’s smart and well-crafted.

Absolutely spine chilling, The Others is a supernatural thriller starring Nicole Kidman. Set in the late ‘40s, a single mother caring for her two children who have an extreme sensitivity to sunlight that keeps them secluded indoors starts to experience a number of strange occurrences after taking on three new house servants. Director Alejandro Amenabar does a tremendous job at setting a creepy and atmospheric tone. The cinematography and score in particular are especially good, and give the film an ethereal quality. Additionally, the story is remarkably well structured and does an impressive job at creating intrigue. Incredibly frightening and full of mystery, The Others is an extraordinary horror film.

Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore lead the cast in the remake of the cult classic Carrie. Adapted from the Stephen King novel, after being ridiculed and pranked social outcast Carrie White takes revenge on her high school class. The writing is especially good; particularly at developing the story and at building suspense. And, Moretz does an excellent job at making Carrie a compelling and sympathetic character. Additionally, director Kimberly Peirce does an impressive job at staying character focused. Modernized for a new audience, Carrie is a chilling horror film.

Carrie, a classic tale of horror from Stephen King, is adapted for the big screen by Brian De Palma. However, the film hasn’t aged well and doesn’t really hold up. The story is rather familiar and will be revisited in King’s work again and again; a social outcast develops psychokinetic powers and ends up wreaking revenge upon those that have mistreated her. The acting is mediocre and doesn’t give any depth to the characters. And, with the exception of a couple of scenes that have become iconic in horror cinema, De Palma’s directing is unremarkable. A poorly paced and morose film, Carrie hasn’t withstood the test of time.

Spectacularly awful, Troll 2 is a train-wreck that must be seen to be believed. The writing is atrocious, with painfully unnatural dialog and a ludicrous plot about goblins (NOT TROLLS!) turning people into plants in order to eat them. And the “acting” is truly something to behold, as it’s indescribably bad. Additionally, the costumes and make-up effects look incredibly cheesy and ridiculous. Yet there’s something about how monumentally terrible Troll 2 is that makes it immensely entertaining and fun in that “so bad, it’s good” kind of way.

A comically bad B-horror movie, Troll is incredibly bizarre. The story is unbelievably stupid, and follows a mischievous troll who disguises himself as a little girl who goes around an apartment complex transforming the tenants into trolls. Jenny Beck is surprisingly good for a child actress, but the rest of the cast is awful. And the costume designs and troll puppets are extremely cartoonish; which undercuts the horror. Troll is a cheesy, low-budget film that’s poorly made and it doesn’t deliver any scares.

The last desperate gasp of a dead series, Children of the Corn: Genesis has little to offer. The story follows a married couple that breaks down on the back roads of the California countryside and fall into the hands of a preacher who claims that his son is the vessel of a great evil. The film is extremely light on blood and gore, as there are only four principle characters. And the script really stretches to find a story, and only tangentially relates it to Gatlin and He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Children of the Corn: Genesis is an unsatisfying and lazy return to one of the longest running franchises in horror cinema.

Bereft of ideas, Children of the Corn: Revelation is a slow, boring piece of tripe with no scares. After her grandmother goes missing, Jamie stakes out her apartment and looks for clues, eventually learning that her grandmother was once part of a child cult that has been resurrected and is attempting to reclaim their home. There’s some atmosphere and suspense to Jamie’s search, but it’s ultimately pointless and the characters aren’t that interesting. But the worst part of the film is the children, who are pretty lame and aren’t the least bit frightening. A dreary and lifeless entry into the franchise, Children of the Corn: Revelation is barely a shadow of the original.

A bland and stereotypical horror film, Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return is an ill-conceived revisiting of one of the series’ definitive characters. The story follows a young girl named Hannah who returns to Gatlin in order to find her birth mother, but unknown to her she’s a child of prophecy whose coming resurrects the cult leader Isaac from a coma. The cast is pretty decent, but the script is poorly written and doesn’t give the actors much to work with. The storytelling is also rather bad, with inexplicable visions, random time jumps, and ambiguous subplots. Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return is a shoddy piece of filmmaking that has part of an idea but doesn’t know what to do with it.

Returning to form, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror attempts to get back to the series’ origins. A group of teenagers who are on their way to spread the ashes of a friend end up stranded in a rural town that has a commune of children who worship He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Starring Alexis Arquette, Eva Mendes, Fred Williamson, and David Carradine, the film has an impressive cast. And, there are some frightening kill scenes with a good amount of gore. Still, the writing isn’t particularly good and fails to make the characters or the story that compelling. Yet overall, Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror is a fairly solid B-grade horror film and one of the better entries in the series.

Rotten to the core, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest is festering garbage. Fundamentally flawed, the film tries to completely rework the series mythology while also keeping to the core themes. But it just ends up being a mess of half-baked ideas that don’t work together; especially the switch to an urban Chicago setting. And the acting is atrocious, yet not nearly as awful as the special effects (which are cartoonishly bad). Attempting to rebrand the series as slasher horror, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest betrays He Who Walks Behind the Rows.

Air Strike is a blatant piece of Chinese propaganda disguised as a WWII film. The plot (if there is one) is a total mess; something to do with an airplane squadron, a truck that has to get a decoder somewhere and keeps picking up refugees, and a town that gets bombed over and over again. Bruce Willis and Adrien Brody lead the cast list but are only in a handful of scenes, awkwardly forced in. There aren’t any good performances and the English dubbing is god-awful (like comically bad). And the CGI and green screen work really sticks out. Unbearably soap opera-ish, Air Strike is good for some laughs but is an extremely poor war drama.

M. Night Shyamalan continues his comeback by bringing Unbreakable and Split together in the supernatural thriller Glass. While battling Kevin Wendell Crumb, a notorious killer known as the Beast, vigilante David Dunn is captured by the police and taken to a mental asylum where a psychiatrist attempts a new treatment to convince David and Kevin that they are not super-human; meanwhile another inmate, Elijah Price (aka Mr. Glass), devises a nefarious plan to break out. Starring James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Sarah Paulson, the film has a strong cast that delivers some good performances; especially McAvoy, who adds a few new personalities to his character’s multiple personality repertoire. But unfortunately the plot is rather weak and promises more than it delivers. As a sequel (to either Unbreakable or Split), Glass is a letdown, but on its own it’s an interesting and entertaining film.

Previously adapted as a Twilight Zone episode, Stephen King’s short story Grandmother is adapted once again, this time as the low-budget supernatural horror film Mercy. The story follows a young boy who cares for his infirmed grandmother and slowly begins to suspect that she’s a witch after he learns some disturbing things about her past. The pacing is terrible; the film’s not even 80 min. but feels three times that. And the acting is pretty poor, especially the lead kid. The writing isn’t that good either, leaving a lot of questions unanswered (particularly the ending, which is very ambiguous). Mercy is a meandering atmospheric horror film that really doesn’t offer too many scares.

A chilling supernatural thriller, Stephen King’s Pet Semetary is adapted for the silver screen once again. When the Creed family moves into their new country home they discover a pet cemetery on the property, and unbeknownst to them there’s an evil spirit in the woods that has designs on them. Jason Clarke leads the cast and gives a fairly solid performance. And the writers do an interesting job at making this adaption different than the 1989 version and at adding new elements. Also, the cinematography and set designs set a dark and foreboding mood. Yet the scares are rather tame, and the suspense is often undercut. Pet Semetary is creepy and is good for a few scares, but it’s not as powerful or frightening as the original (or the book).

“Our world is filled with codes.” An enigma rapped in a riddle full of bullsh**, Under the Silver Lake is a pointless film about nothing. When a new tenant from his apartment complex mysteriously goes missing Sam investigates her disappearance and happens upon a bizarre secret society by unraveling a series of hidden clues. Featuring Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, and Topher Grace, the film has a pretty solid cast. But the writing is piss-pour; the mysteries and riddles don’t make any sense, the resolution couldn’t be more unsatisfying, and most of the characters don’t even have names. But the film looks gorgeous and has a surrealist, film noir feel. Incredibly disappointing, Under the Silver Lake is insultingly stupid with a plot that goes nowhere.

Spider-Man hits the road in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Peter Parker’s European school trip is interrupted when a superhero named Mysterio, who’s from an alternate Earth, shows up and asked for his help to defeat an Elemental. Unfortunately, as the first post-Endgame Marvel film, Far From Home has the extra burden of resetting the Marvel Universe; which comes off as kind of awkward in this story about a high school trip. And while it does some good things with Parker dealing with the loss of his mentor (Tony Stark), there’s too much Iron Man in this Spider-Man movie. A mess from start to finish (though still entertaining), Spider-Man: Far From Home is disappointing both as a MCU film and a Spider-Man film.