Colin Minihan’s Coyotes

Usually, coyotes are reluctant to attack people, but it can happen. In this case, maybe they heard some Acme Corp. executives live in the tony Hollywood Hills neighborhood. Whatever their reasons might be, they are clearly quite ticked off. A geeky dad has no idea why the feral pack is prowling around his home, but he quickly starts to regret their doggy-door in Colin Minihan’s Coyotes, which opens this Friday in theaters.

Scott is a bit of a man-child, but the recent success in comics allowed him to move his family into the exclusive neighborhood. His wife Liv, is a cool mom, but obviously the grounded one in the family. Their daughter has reached the stage where she is conspicuously embarrassed by her parents and generally surly to be around. According to their disconcertingly intense exterminator, they are also living with rats in their walls. Unfortunately, that won’t be the worst of it.

Since this is LA, they could lose power at any moment, for no apparent cause, so it is hardly surprising when a freakish storm cuts the electric lines. Unfortunately, that tree Scott was supposed to prune crushes Liv’s car, nixing their mobility and making him look bad. Consequently, when the coyotes attack, their only ally will be their sleazy, unstable neighbor Trip and hi “visitor,” Julie. Frankly, Liv and Scott never really think of a good euphemism to obscure the reason Trip pays her to spend the night with him, which leads to many an awkward moment.

V/H/S/Halloween, on Shudder

Most anthology films are like trick-or-treats bags on Halloween night. There’s always a lot of stale candy corn mixed in with the candy bars. In this case, the ratio of candy corn to candy bars is annoyingly high. However, each installment faithfully respects the found footage format and the theme. A new V/H/S anthology film has become a Halloween tradition on Shudder, so they truly embrace the holiday with a series of Halloween festivities that go spectacularly awry in V/H/S/Halloween, which premieres tomorrow on Shudder.

Ironically, the least Halloweeny parts of V/H/S/Halloween are the framing bits, known collectively as Bryan M. Ferguson’s “Diet Phantasma.” Supposedly, Diet Phantasma is a Halloween soda, but it is a little too horrific, causing outlandishly gory side-effects for the test subjects. Frankly, these wrap-arounds are rather confusing, because it is never clear what is the nature of the soda that makes it so deadly, and illogical, because killing off one test subject after another creates huge legal liabilities in the real world.

Likewise, the trick-or-treating gone horribly wrong premise of Anna Zlokovic’s “Coochie Coochie Coo” is all too familiar buy now. The two mean girl prospective victims are also a chore to spend time with. This segment is only really distinguished by some gross-out imagery.

Fortunately, it is followed by one of the strongest constituent films, “Ut Supra Sic Infra,” directed by Paco Plaza, co-creator of the [REC] franchise. After a Halloween party ends in a mysterious massacre, the police bring the sole survivor to the scene of the crime for a re-creation of the deadly events. For reasons that make horror movie sense, the found footage cuts out after someone reads the cryptic titular inscription on the wall three times. Unwisely, they make it a scrupulously faithful re-creation. The results are wild and macabre. If anything, this segment could have been drawn out longer, but least it never overstays its welcome.

Arguably, that is exactly what Casper Kelly’s “Fun Size” does. It also features teens who are a little too old and a little too rude for trick-or-treating, but they encounter a more original danger. It starts with a bowl full of weird, retro-sounding candy nobody recognizes. The sign says only one per person, but one idiot takes two. Suddenly, the bowl magically sucks them into a sinister candy factory, where they are menaced by a massively creepy pumpkin-headed ghoul. At first, it is subversively funny, but then it starts to drag.

Chicago P.D.: Consequences

Crime is up in Chicago and its all because of politics. That’s not Trump talking. It is an admission from a senior Internal Affairs officer, who refuses to reactivate Sgt. Hank Voight’s Intelligence Unit, even though they have been completely cleared of any wrongdoing. Instead, he keeps Voight assigned to beat work, grossly underutilizing his talents. Yet, Voight finds a way to work a big case anyway as he bides his time in “Consequences,” the thirteenth season premiere of Chicago P.D., which airs tonight on NBC.

Voight always had a knack for stepping on toes, but it almost got the best of him last season. Technically, his unit is now out of legal jeopardy, but two of his officers remain on leave and the rest are working beats, just like him. Voight is grumpier than ever, if not more so. Yet, he has a genuine knack for relating to the honest, working-class residents on his beat, like Aunt Aggie. Not surprisingly, he reverts to his usual beast-cop mode when she is hit by multiple stray gun shots.

Of course, Voight intends to track down the shooter, despite Internal Affairs’ shackles. That means forging an alliance with undercover ATF Agent Eva Imani. She instantly dislikes Voight because she is a reckless, corner-cutting lone wolf with authority issues, but he kind of likes her—for exactly the same reasons. In fact, Voight might have a spot for her, if he can get his unit up and running again.

Law & Order: SVU just released an episode unambiguously portraying ICE agents as villains, so Dick Wolf and his team are clearly not MAGA-inclined. That is why the “Consequences” episode lands with such irony. The whole premise of sidelining the Chicago P.D.’s most effective anti-crime unit purely for reasons could have been written by Pam Bondi. Yet, it is a sure sign of good storytelling when the plot points and characters turn in complicated ways. If showrunner Gwen Sigan and the writers’ room produce episodes that cut in ways they didn’t necessarily intend, that is probably a good thing. It clearly suggests more attention was devoted to story development than political takeaways, as they should.

Good Boy, Starring Indy as Himself

Indy is calmer under pressure than Scooby-Doo, but he is still just a dog. He has no frame-of-reference to understand what is happening to his owner, Todd. Frankly, us humans won’t always be so sure we know either. Regardless, Indy, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Terrier will do what he can to save Todd—and he really is quite resourceful in Ben Leonberg’s Good Boy, which opens Friday in theaters.

The audience quickly deduces Todd has a history of mental health issues, likely complicated by problems of addiction. His sister Vera definitely feels the need to keep tabs on him. She also clearly appreciates Indy’s healthy influence. Nevertheless, she is surprised and somewhat justifiably concerned when Todd suddenly moves into their grandfather’s long vacant farmhouse.

In fact, the suggestive old school VHS home movies that Todd watches clearly lead us to suspect some kind of sinister force contributed to Grandpa’s demise. Much to Indy’s alarm, the same mysterious force soon starts tormenting Todd as well. Or perhaps poor Indy cannot fathom Todd’s behavior, so he perceives it as something truly monstrous outside his own control.

Frankly, Good Boy would have been even more successful if it had more forcefully embraced the supernatural elements and foreclosed any metaphorical speculation. Nevertheless, a star is truly born in Indy, who is indeed a very good dog. Honestly, Indy probably gives one of the best starring performances you will see at the movies throughout the entire Awards season-dominated fourth quarter of 2025.

Evidently, it took Leonberg over three years to film Good Boy, because Indy (his own dog) had limited patience with the silly filmmaking process. However, it was worth conforming to his schedule, because hee is a wildly endearing and eerily expressive on-screen presence. Surely, Leonberg and his producer-wife Kari Fischer developed their own working methods with Indy, but they always got the perfect look from their star. Plus, Max has some highly memorable scenes as Grandpa’s old dog, Bandit.

Affinity, Starring Marko Zaror

It takes a strong mickey to knock out Marko Zaror, but there is a nasty drug going around Thailand’s dive bars. Of course, those are the only places the brooding former SEAL he plays would ever consider patronizing. He has a lot to forget, including the death if his brother, but he finds someone worth living and fighting for. Unfortunately, the same gang behind the super-potent compliancy-inducing drug has been hunting for Athena in Brandon Slagle’s Affinity, which releases today on VOD.

Bruno blamed himself when his brother died during a mission. The depressed drinking also went badly, when a gang of roofie-wielding criminals assumed he would be easy prey, but he came to in time to defend himself. His friends, Fitch, a former teammate, and Joe, a crusty expat, keep encouraging him to pull himself together. Bruno finally does exactly that when Athena washes up on his river dock.

She is clearly running from something, but the ex-SEAL agrees not to ask, as he nurses her back to health. Obviously, she has suppressed her tormented memories of a shadowy gang—and it hardly takes much cinematic intuition to figure out they are the same outfit behind Bruno’s boozy misadventure. In fact, the henchmen, led by the formidable Krieger soon re-abduct her, igniting a war with Bruno and Fitch, his reluctant backup.

Krieger’s boss not so shockingly turns out to be famous geneticist Dr. Kovalovski, who is up to some ridiculously crazy mad scientist business. Honest, it is hard to keep a straight face during the third act revelations (which many of the marketing descriptions perversely give away). For the most part, Affinity is a gritty exercise in Marko Zaror butt-kicking, but it has a truly wacky secret waiting to reveal itself—and wacky really is the most apt adjective.

Some fans might appreciate the twist, because it is certainly different. Regardless, Zaror does what he does best, early and often. He also gets rock solid support from Brahim Chab as his chief sparring partner, Krieger, and Brooke Ence as his comrade, Fitch. In fact, Affinity is notable for showcasing Ence’s first appearance outside DC-related properties (Wonder Woman, Justice League, and CW’s Black Lightning). She and Zaror make a good team—and she is largely spared the screenplay’s goofy excesses.

The Lost Bus, on Apple TV+

You would think after the 2018 “Camp Fire” killed 85 Californians, local politicians would have fixated on the dangers of forest fires—but they didn’t. Nor can they pretend they had no time to prepare contingencies for the 2024 California wildfires when real estate developer and civic leader Rick Caruso managed to arrange private firefighters and water tanks to safeguard the Palisades Village development. Paradise, California was at the epicenter of the painful lesson that went unlearned. It could have been far worse without Kevin McKay. Instead of a politician or a first-responder, he was a school bus driver who had to drive through Hell-on-Earth, inspiring Paul Greengrass’s true-life drama, The Lost Bus, which starts streaming on Apple TV+ this Friday.

You can blame global warming, or like Trump, the environmental policies that halted underbrush clearing. Either way, it won’t much matter to McKay once the fire starts blazing. He is a bit of a sad sack, who is particularly down since his father’s death a few months past and euthanizing his loyal dog during the opening minutes. Frankly, the latter probably hit him harder. Regardless, his petulant teenaged son Shaun is not about to stop arguing and sulking.

Nevertheless, McKay’s first instinct is to evacuate his son and somewhat infirm mother (played by McConaughey’s real life son and mother) when he first sees the black smoke choking the horizon. Yet, he agrees to pick up the 22 elementary school kids, who have no ride. Of course, he cannot take them alone, so by-the-book teacher Mary Ludwig reluctantly agrees to ride shotgun. Based on America Ferrera’s portrayal, she must be a real pain in the classroom.

Inevitably, each detour leads to another, forcing McKay’s bus into several precarious positions. Naturally, the spotty radio and cell service completely crash, leaving them cut-off from the rest of the world. They could really use a driver like Liam Neeson in the Ice Road movies, but the scruffy McKay turns out to be more resourceful than he looks.

In fact, Matthew McConaughey is aptly cast as the beleaguered McKay. McConaughey can both convincingly embody his working-class soul, while finding the tragic poetry in his existential struggles. Likewise, Yul Vasquez is credibly grizzled and commanding as Chief Martinez, whose role in the film is strictly business. Conversely, Ferrera’s character’s sole purpose seems to be making McKay’s job harder. Still, they do have a late but effective meeting-of-minds scene that helps build last-minute chemistry.

The sequences of runaway combustion look okay, but not great. Arguably, the little-seen documentary Paradise (ironically titled, given it follows insufficiently supplied Russian fire-fighters waging their own losing battle) more successfully captures the sensation of a raging woodland fire. However, Greengrass and cinematographer Pal Ulvik Rokseth vividly convey the ominousness of billowing black smoke.

It is nice to see a film that celebrates blue-collar heroism, which is genuinely how Greengrass and co-screenwriter Bruce Inglesby seem to relate to McKay’s story. They also largely avoid politics and ideology, except for some mushy and vague environmental throwaway references.

From the Holocaust to Hollywood: The Robert Clary Story, on OVID.tv

At first, it was silly and now it is a little creepy, because of Bob Crane’s untimely death by “misadventure.” Regardless, for many, his role on Hogan’s Heroes is how they will always remember co-star Robert Clary. His friends always thought the role of Free French POW Cpl. Louis LeBeau would hit too close to home, but the actor-vocalist could always separate the fictional POW camp from his own tragic internment in a National Socialist concentration camp. The late entertainer discusses his life, career, and famous family in Ron Small’s documentary, From the Holocaust to Hollywood: The Robert Clary Story, which premieres tomorrow on OVID.tv.

Clary was the youngest of three brothers, out of a total of thirteen children, so he learned to entertain early as a way to stand out. His Jewish family immigrated from Poland to France before he was born, so their French citizenship protected them from the first liquidation of their neighborhood, but not the second. Despite the conditions, Clary continued to entertain in Buchenwald, earning the extra rations that helped him survive.

Initially, Clary moved back to Paris, but an unlikely hit record brought Hollywood calling. Clary has nothing bad to say about his highest profile work on Hogan’s Heroes, even though the premise now feels highly questionable. He acted through the early 1990s, but continued releasing albums into the early 2000s, segueing from a cabaret bag into a more jazz influenced style. Several of the sessions were arranged and produced by his nephew (and friend), musician Brian Gari.

In fact, their family has quite a musical legacy, considering Clary’s father-in-law and Gari’s grandfather was Eddie Cantor, whom both convincingly argue is due for a critical re-appraisal. (After all, they remind viewers Cantor conceived the March of Dimes, rather than FDR, who usually gets the credit.)

Murder Before Evensong, on Acorn TV

It makes sense that priests make good detectives. After all, people are constantly confessing to them. However, Canon Daniel Clement is Anglican. He is still a good listener, but he could have used the profound understanding of evil that G.K. Chesterton granted Father Brown. Instead, he inherited the social conscience of his creator, Reverend Richard Coles, who was formerly a pop star with the Comunards and the Bronski Beat. Clement prefers classical, but he will not have much time to listen to records when he stumbles across a dead body at the start of the six-part Murder Before Evensong, which premieres tomorrow on Acorn TV.

Poor Canon Clement was already mired in a rough patch. His mother just moved into the Champton Rectory with him, because his recently deceased father left her penniless. Ominously, Canon Clement has also received poisoned pen letters from an angry crank objecting to his volunteer ministry at an AIDS hospice. Consequently, DS Neil Vanloo wonders if the clergyman was the intended victim, instead Anthony Bowness the shaggy dog cousin of the local lord, Bernard De Floures.

Initially, Vanloo recruits Clement to help him navigate the villagers’ eccentricities—and to hopefully encourage them to reveal more than they otherwise would, but he grows tired of the clergyman’s annoying compassion. He also doubts Clement’s intuitive conviction that the murder must have had something to do with the De Floures estate’s murky WWII history, as a training center for Free French pilots and a collection hub for counter-intelligence investigating potential saboteurs and double-agents.

As adapted by Nicholas Hicks-Beach, Evensong is a throwback to the Adam Dalgliesh dramatizations of the 1980s and 1990s, which devoted six episodes to a single novel. The deep dive approach is appreciated, but Coles lacks P.D. James’ depth of characterization and the complexity of her mysteries. The regular finger-wagging at the socially conservative Anglican hierarchy also grows tiresome. It is also probably self-defeating, because the demographic for murder-solving clergy must lean slightly right-of-center, whether it be Father Brown, Brother Cadfael, or Don Matteo.

Nevertheless, Matthew Lewis inspires great sympathy for the achingly reserved and dignified Canon Clement. The tart tongue and withering attitude Amanda Redman brings to her portrayal of Audrey Clement definitely helps counterbalance him and liven up the series in the process.

Generally speaking, the casting worked out pretty well, particularly Adam James as the elder De Floures, who has a lot more to him than the average to-the-manor-born fuddy-duddy. Marion Bailey and Marion Hadingue are also quite touching as Kath and Dora, twin senior sisters dealing with a fatal cancer diagnosis.

Star Trek—The Animated Series: Yesteryear

This voyage of the Enterprise starts out like Peggy Sue Got Married and turns into Old Yeller. It is one of the most poignant star-dates Captain Kirk ever logged, even though it is set on Vulcan. There is good reason why this installment of the animated series often ranks highly on lists of all-time franchise-best Star Trek episodes. Spock must travel back in time to save his young self, but even Vulcans find it is hard to go home again in the Star Trek animated episode “Yesteryear,” which airs tonight on ME-TV Tunes.

If you ever thought the “Time Guardian” portal in the original “City on the Edge of Forever” episode would offer a great opportunity to study history, it turns out Federation eggheads had the same idea. “Lucky” Kirk and Spock got to experience history first-hand, exploring the portal, while the scientists recorded their findings. However, when they returned, nobody remembers Spock. Instead, the Enterprise seems to have a new First Officer, Commander Thelin, an Andoran, who makes Spock look warm and fuzzy.

According to the new historical record, Ambassador Sarek’s son died as a child. As it happens, Spock remembers that day, when a distant cousin, who looked suspiciously like his does now, rescued him in the Vulcan wilderness. Apparently, his dual adult presence negated the original rescue or something-something, blah blah blah.

Regardless of the time travel double talk, Spock must go back, to assume the role of cousin Selek. Yet, even for a Vulcan, seeing his bullied youthful self and I-Chaya, his big furry pet Sehlat brings back something almost like emotions.

Even though the animated series has a questionable canonical status, D.C. Fontana’s script greatly shaped subsequent Vulcan worldbuilding. It is also ranks with “Edge of Forever” (the one in which Kirk fell in love with Joan Collins) as one of the most tear-jerking Star Trek episodes ever. Fontana’s storytelling is truly inspired, but it also establishes the animated series’ tradition of building on elements from the late 1960s series, in intriguing new ways.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, in The Epoch Times

LAW & ORDER TORONTO: CRIMINAL INTENT features entirely original stories, but it follows the style sheet of its American predecessors, producing some brisk episodic procedurals. Odds are, if you enjoy any of the previous LAW & ORDERs, you'll feel similarly towards this one too. EPOCH TIMES review up here.

Yeon Sang-ho’s The Ugly

If you thought your old nickname was bad, keep in mind Lim Dong-hwan’s late mother had it much worse. Her factory co-workers called her “Dung Ogre.” No, nothing was lost in the translation. Sadly, she disappeared while he was still an infant, so he never knew his mother. He had never even seen her, since she apparently left behind no pictures. Obviously, he cannot really blame his blind father Lim Yeong-gyu for not taking any. However, Kim understandably wonders if she truly deserved the cruel taunts and epithets she endured when her murdered body is finally discovered in Yeon Sang-ho’s The Ugly, which opens today in New York.

For as long as Lim can remember, his blind father took care of him, so now the son returns the favor. When he was little, his father was desperately poor, but they persevered. Now, the older Lim enjoys as small degree of fame, as the blind engraver, who produces such laser-sharp stamps. Nevertheless, he dd not even recognize Jung Young-hee’s name when the police call.

As it happens, a TV camera happens to be there when the younger Lim receives the news. Smelling a bigger story than her initial feel-good profile, the producer, Han Su-jin, arranges for him to meet several of his mother’s former co-workers incognito, to learn about her life and potentially identify suspects in her murder. The pattern of bullying is truly disturbing, as are the reports of sexual assault committed by her sleazy boss.

This is a painfully dark film that could leave a mark on your soul. In terms of themes and tone, it is much closer to Yeon’s moody animated films, like King of Pigs than his Train to Busan zombie films. In many ways, it is as spirit-crushing as Tetsuya Nakashima’s Memories of Matsuko. Frankly, both films should be banned from streaming platforms on Mother’s Days, because they could very easily drive vulnerable viewers to suicide.

Indeed, Yeon puts the audience through the wringer and he probably should have had on-set counseling for his cast. That might have been particularly true for Park Jeong-min, who goes to some very dark places as the increasingly outraged Lim son and his flawed father, Yeong-gyu, in his younger, flashback years.

Bau, Artist at War

Oskar Schindler compiled the list. Joseph Bau forged their papers. Bau started forging before the liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto and continued crafting counterfeit documents after immigrating to Israel, to help the Mossad save further lives. Viewers should know part of his story from Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. He was the young man who married his wife in a secret ceremony, while they were both prisoners of the Plaszow concentration camp. Yet, there was more to the story of the man who would be known as the “Israeli Walt Disney.” Bau becomes the lead figure of his own film in Sean McNamara’s Bau, Artist at War, which releases today in theaters.

Bau always used humor to deal with the horrors of National Socialism, but this film is far from another phony Life is Beautiful. The artist is only too conscious of the limits of his art to console and distract—but at least it is something. In fact, it is a small form of resistance, which is why his attitude and humor so alarm his father, Abraham.

Rather ominously, junior SS officer Franz Gruen remembers Bau from the ghetto. It was decidedly bad to be memorable in this context. However, the commandant, Hauptsturmfuhrer Amon Goth protects Bau—at least from summary execution—because he values the artist’s skills as a map-maker and a gothic letter (signage was a big deal for Goth). Indeed, this is the same Goth menacingly portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in Spielberg’s film.

Having been largely assigned inside work, Bau comes to know Itzhak Stern (previously Sir Ben Kingley), Goth’s office manager and Schindler’s future bookkeeper. With Stern’s help, Bau continues forging papers for the resistance. He learns about the list, because he will create contingency documents for every name on it. However, he insists his wife, Rebecca Tennenbaum take his place on the list. Conversely, she argued argues against the substitution, because he was more valuable to the resistance.

As viewers can guess from the film’s flashback structure, Tennenbaum out-maneuvered her husband, but at what cost? Regardless, Bau had plenty of reasons to testify against Gruen, but he remains profoundly skeptical of post-war Austrian justice—also with good reason.

Screenwriters Smerecnik, Ron Bass (Rain Man and Gardens of Stone), and Sonia Kifferstein seemingly incorporate elements of many holocaust dramas, including the climactic war crimes trial, but in doing so, they faithfully chronicle Bau’s extraordinary biography. Indeed, there is definitely a celebration of life, as well as the exposure of past horrors.

This might also represent one of Emile Hirsch best performances, fully encompassing Bau’s brash defiance and later fatalism. Hirsch also credibly plays Bau in his middle-aged years, despite only passable aging makeup. Similarly, Israeli thesp Inbar Lavi illuminates the darkness like you might not expect from her U.S. TV work (notably Lucifer) as Rebecca. It is a stirring and poignant portrayal that is sadly all but guaranteed to be ignored during awards season.

Yan Tual is appropriately terrifying as Gruen. Yet, without necessarily “humanizing” the monster, he also shows the killer’s pathetic smallness inside, which metastasized into such viciousness. Likewise, it is also interesting to see Josh Backer as Amon Goth—and inevitably compare him to Fiennes. His more restrained take is chilling in its own way, because the violent eruptions seemingly come without warning. Arguably, Edward Foy bears a better resemblance to the historical Schindler than Liam Neeson, but he still conveys a similarly conflicted conscience.

The Red King, on AMC+

Would you want to visit an island that deliberately gives off pagan cult vibes, as a tourist? Better yet, how would you like to serve as its new cop? After all, socially and geographically isolated island communities are known for their hospitality towards outsiders, right? Detective Sergeant Grace Narayan did not exactly volunteer. She was transferred to fictional St. Jory off the Welsh coast, as punishment for testifying against police brutality. Ironically, the ostracism and harassment she endured was good training for her in creator Toby Whithouse’s six-part The Red King, which premieres today on AMC+.

DS Narayan arrives just as the island’s official tourism season ends, so she sees the town’s send-off, in all their masked pagan splendor. The station is barely equipped at 1960s levels and her constable, Owen Parry, still acts like her predecessor, mildly racist misogynist Gruffud Prosser is still the boss. Indeed, the island’s general reception is pretty chilly, but she figures she might as well do some police work, since she is still a cop, so she starts looking into the cold case disappearance of teenaged Cai Prideaux, whose naked, fatally starved corpse she finds by the end of episode one.

Mainland DCI Jill Halfpenny is quick to declare the death accidental, while belittling Narayan at every opportunity. Yet, as soon as she disembarks from the island, Narayan uncovers direct evidence of human culpability, which seems to bear distinctly cult-like characteristics.

As it happens, St. Jory has its own home-grown sect, known as “The True Way,” founded by the descendant of Lady Nancarrow, St. Jory’s principal land-owner. Of course, everyone assures Narayan the only remaining remnants of the cult are the dress-up parades they stage for tourists. Regardless, Narayan will be on her own solving the murderous conspiracy when torrential weather cuts off the island from the mainland. It is such a familiar phenomenon for St. Jory, they also have oddball rituals for riding out storms.

It is obvious, from the art direction, recurring thematic motifs, and even some late season revelations, Whithouse was directly inspired by and intentionally channeling Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man. Yet, it is still more of a Brit mystery than overt horror. Nevertheless, it will likely be a richer viewing experience for those familiar with Hardy’s classic and other British folk horror favorites.

Regardless, the isolated setting and mounting paranoia make The Red King an undeniably tense and highly grabby ride. Like Edward Woodward in Wicker Man, Anjli Mohindra’s awkward, bull-in-a-China-shop portrayal of Narayan will make viewers wince—but that also means we emotionally invest in her, quickly and deeply.

Hotel Costiera, on Prime Video

Daniel De Luca has a new job, but he kept the haircut the Marines gave him. In a way, his is sort of like the room service version of Reacher, working as the staff fixer for a luxury hotel on the Amalfi coast. Unfortunately, De Luca has been struggling to fix the problem of the owner’s missing daughter in co-creators Francesco Arlanch, Elena Bucaccio, & Matthew Parkhill’s six-episode Hotel Costiera, which premieres today on Prime Video.

The dog-napped pooch in the prologue will be De Luca’s easiest task. Finding Augosto Caetani’s younger daughter Alice will require six full episodes. The silver-maned hotelier still has confidence in De Luca, but his older daughter and general manager Adele has already grown tired of their employee (and his tendency to sleep with grateful guests). Regardless, the half-Italian former U.S. Marine has the streets smarts they need, because that is where he was partially raised.

In the meantime, De Luca still provides his regular room service. There will be a wealthy guest to find lost at sea, red tape to cut so a Jewish guest can repatriate his late mother’s body, and a mysterious orphan to protect from traffickers. It is mostly entertaining, low impact do-gooding.

However, episode 3, “April,” which should have been the strongest episode, turns out to be a gross misfire, when De Lcua’s titular comrade, April Mackenzie, still in the Corps, guilts the fixer into helping her commit unvarnished treason. Frankly, her conduct and De Luca’s nonchalant response will outrage most veterans and military families—and understandably so. Seriously, selling classified military codes for money meets any definition of treason, but apparently Arlanch, Bucaccio, and Parkhill believe Marines like De Luca and Mackenzie would merely consider it regrettable but acceptable behavior.

As De Luca, Jesse Williams has the right physicality and he handles the light Magnum P.I.-ish moments well. However, he lacks the kind of fierceness the character needs during scenes of high tension. He simply lacks the gravitas and the steeliness to compare to Chris Pratt in The Terminal List or Alan Ritchson in Reacher.

Tomasso Ragno is also wonderfully suave as old man Caetani and Jordan Alexandra is undeniably charismatic as De Luca’s non-jokey, non-cringy associate, Genny, who slowly but surely develops some appealing heat with the fixer. On the other hand, Antonio Gerardi and Sam Haygarth are all shtick, all the time, as De Luca’s other two freelance cronies, Bigne and Tancredi. Honestly, their kvetching frequently throws the show off balance.

Prisoner of War, Starring Scott Adkins

In The Great Escape, Captain Virgil Hilts raced motorcycles before the War. Likewise, British Wing Commander James Wright studied martial arts according to the backstory of this film (starting with his youthful years in Hong Kong, if you were wondering). Both sports have timely wartime applications. However, there is no question putting his fist into the faces of the Japanese POW camp guards holds a special satisfaction for Wright. As a result, he doesn’t expect to live much longer, but he intends to go down swinging in Louis Mandylor’s Prisoner of War, which is now playing in theaters (and available on VOD).

We can tell from the prologue Wg Cdr. Wright will somehow survive—and he will not forget (or forgive) the treatment he received from camp commandant Ito. 1942 was a heck of a time to get shot down over Subic Bay, but obviously that was never Wright’s intention. Having enough of an idea of what awaits, Wright kills three Japanese soldiers trying to evade capture. Once apprehended, a junior Japanese officer orders his immediate beheading, but Wright also kills the execution party.

At this point, Ito develops an unhealthy interest in his prisoner. He hopes to humiliate Wright in his makeshift gladiatorial ring, but despite being outnumbered and facing unfair, unequal conditions, Wright keeps besting every Japanese soldier Ito throws at hm. However, he recognizes the situation is unsustainable. The prisoners have also heard rumors of the notorious death march, so they start hatching escape plans.

Essentially, Prisoner of War is like a martial arts remake of Unbroken. The trailer makes it look like Wright fights one cage-match after another, which slightly overstates the bloodsport aspects (even though they are certainly prevalent). Indeed, the themes of escape and survival with dignity are equally important.

Nevertheless, Adkins deserves tremendous credit for the fierceness of his performance. He is nothing less than spectacular in the fight sequences and there is a visceral physical intensity to his scenes enduring torture. He is sort of like the John Wick of the Greatest Generation, in the best way possible.

This is also the best work yet behind the camera for Mandylor (Adkins’ co-star in the wildly entertaining Debt Collector films). The camp and surrounding environment look convincingly oppressive, while the battle scenes are rendered with a fair degree of realism. Mandylor also nicely handles the stomach-churning cruelty inflicted on Allied POWs, often with a strategically panning camera, which spares viewers much of the gore while preserving the chilling emotional impact.

Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires

The new Batman from Mexico is nothing like the 1968 Lucha Libre-inspired The Batwoman. There is no camp this time around, nor is it an exploitation rip-off. Instead, DC/Warner Brothers fully collaborated with the Mexican animation studio Anima, to legally and officially tell a new, non-canonical alternate universe Batman origin story in Juan Meza-Leon’s Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires, which releases tomorrow on DVD.

Arguably, the Spanish vocal track could be considered the primary edition, since that was the version released in Latin American theaters, but the English language dub was produced simultaneously, sort of like the 1931 Dracula productions. However, it is weirdly ironic, when you consider Spanish was the language of the conquering bad guys, rather than the much-abused indigenous population.

Regardless, young Yohuali Coatl realized the Conquistadors were dangerous when Hernan Cortes killed his father in front of his eyes. Surviving the ensuing massacre, Coatl took refuge with Acatzin, the loyal family retainer, who helps train the son to become a warrior like his late father.

Coatl yearns for vengeance, but he must tread carefully, because Moctezuma gives Cortes a full diplomatic reception on the faulty advice of his high priest, Yoka. Wisely, Acatzin recommends a disguise for Coatl’s vigilante work, inspired by the family’s protective bat deity, Tzinacan. Tragically, Yoka soon drives the Aztec Empire to the brink of destruction, because he has been deceived by the visions of a hostile demigod. The revelation will drive him mad, creating a persona of sadistic lunacy that will be very familiar to fans. Obviously, Coatl needs allies, so he forges a truce with Mujer Jaguar, a thief in feline garb, who steals from the Moctezuma’s Empire to support her indigenous tribe.

Ernie Altbacker’s screenplay is quite clever when it shows how Cortes, Yoka, and Mujer Jaguar evolve into Two-Face, Joker, and Catwoman analogs. Weirdly, the development of the Aztec-era Batman lacks similarly inspired parallels. Yes, Coatl is orphaned and raised by the help, but he lacks Bruce Wayne’s brooding and his suave facade. Honestly, his costume is not very Bat-like either. (However, there is a mid-credits stinger that teases the next villain, which baits the hook quite tantalizingly.)

The Draft!, on Screambox

These college kids are sort of like Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” except they do not want their stories finished. That is because they are living in a horror movie screenplay. The more their screenwriter revises, the longer they live. Fortunately, the knowledge of their [un]reality gives them some power to survive in Yusron Fuadi’s beyond meta horror film, The Draft!, which premieres Tuesday on Screambox.

Five friends came to the spooky old villa owned by popular girl Ani’s parents, for reasons none of them really thought about. In fact, when later asked, nobody can remember much about the trip either. However, everyone immediately recognizes stereotypical elements of Indonesian horror movies, like the Dutch colonial cemetery and the decrepit old well out back.

Amir, the proudly nerdy aspiring filmmaker starts to figure out the meta-ness of their situation, very much in the tradition of Jamie Kennedy in Scream. Unfortunately, his suspicions will be confirmed, when Ami’s meathead boyfriend Budi resurrects from the dead, but with a new face, to satisfy a producer’s casting suggestions.

In a rather mixed blessing, their screenwriter is a talentless hack, who simply regurgitates one cliché after another. Amir and his friends much take care, because their speculations can be used against them. However, their suggestions for survival supplies, like a spectacularly well-stocked armory, will likely come true, because the screenwriter will think he thought of it himself.

The Draft is a wild ride that almost (but not quite) stops being horror as it encroaches into the tonal territory of some of the funnier Twilight Zone episodes. However, there are always fresh horrors lurking for the [mostly] four characters. Fuadi and co-screenwriters Richard James Halstead and B.W. Purba Negara incorporate several Indonesian cultural in-jokes, but genre fans who have kept up with Joko Anwar (whom is name-checked in The Draft) and the explosion of Indonesian horror should catch most of them.

Star Trek—The Animated Series: Beyond the Farthest Star

According to Gene Roddenberry, it wasn’t official franchise canon, yet many devotees have tried to sneak it in through back doors, like licensed novels. Regardless, fans were thrilled to have new Star Trek, especially during the desert years of the 1970s. In fact, real deal Trekkers welcomed the Trekness of the animated episodes, thanks to the original cast-members and executive producer-story editor D.C. Fontana, who wrote several previous and future Star Trek episodes. The animated format also allowed them to present big, cosmic science fiction elements that would have been poorly served by the quality of 1973 TV special effects. That was especially true of the pilot, “Beyond the Farthest Star,” which airs tonight as a new addition to the ME-TV Tunes line-up.

“Beyond the Farthest Star” is indeed the first animated episode, but some Southern California stations jumped ahead to the second episode, to avoid “equal time” complaints during George Takei’s campaign for LA City Council. Ironically, this episode does not prominently feature Sulu. Arguably, exploring the familiar characters’ personas in general takes a backseat this time around to portraying the kind of teamwork that made the original such a classic.

During a far-distant stretch of their exploration mission, the Enterprise falls into the gravitational pull of a weird alien spacecraft that looks more like a system of branching vegetation than a conventional rocket or flying saucer. According to the warning message left behind by the centuries-dead insectoid crew, they fell victim to an invasive parasitic entity that operates very much like an AI virus.

Admittedly, Filmation’s animation looks dated by contemporary standards, but many of the visuals, especially the vine-like spaceship are still really cool. In fact, the retro vibe is nostalgically charming, Yet, hearing the voices of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy doing their thing as Kirk and Spock is pure joy. The additions of James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols as Scotty and Uhuru, who also have considerable bridge roles to play in this episode, should seal the deal for skeptical fans.

Sadly, Walter Koenig’s Chekhov was cut from the animated series for financial reasons, but he wrote two later episodes. His replacement, the three-armed Arex, also voiced by Doohan, became a cult-favorite within the Trekker community. (His unidentified alien race, differed in various novelizations, either Edosian or Triexian.) This isn’t a spotlight-showcase for him either, but it represents his introduction to the fanbase.

Another End: Melancholy New World

In the near future, nobody will need seances. Instead, you can say goodbye to your loved ones (or “absent ones” as the mildly cyberpunk-ish company likes to say), by temporarily downloading their memories into a donor-carrier. There is only a limited window to insert such memories and the sessions never last too long, but grieving family members can get some closure, as long as they don’t beat around the bush too long. Awkwardly, Sal tries to drag out the process well past the typical expiration point in Pierro Massina’s Another End, which releases today in theaters and on-demand.

Initially, Sal was not sure he could face Zoe again, even if she had new facial features and a different body. However, his sister Ebe makes it happen anyway, because she works for the Another End corporation. To avoid permanently damaging to her consciousness from shock, Sal works with the company to create false memories of her surviving the crash. Of course, she looks much different in the host body, but her consciousness will project the self-image she expects, whenever she looks in the mirror. Regardless, eventually explaining her death and saying goodbye will be tricky, so Sal keeps putting it off.

It becomes clear Sal and Zoe had a lot of issues that he wants to work through before reaching th farewell stage. Consequently, he puts greater pressure on Ebe, who has already stretched his time with Zoe to suspicious lengths. It helps that Ava, the host body, happens to be unusually compatible. In fact, Sal develops an obsessive interest in her too. He even starts to follow Ava in real life. Typically, hosts have no awareness of the time they allow the Absent Ones to control their bodies, but sometimes they retain fragments of weird dream-like memories, which seems to be the case for Ava.

The Macguffin is slightly different, but Another End revisits similar themes and emotional territory that were explored in films like Rememory, Marjorie Prime, and Restore Point. Everyone always wants more time, but it is never as easy as it is cracked up to be. Still, there is a thoughtfulness to Another End that makes it feel more akin to Marjorie Prime.

Regardless, Massina’s deliberate pacing is unnecessarily challenging. Frankly, this film probably should have been tighter by at least twenty minutes. Yet, it is easy to see why Massina and editor Paola Freddi had such a hard time cutting the small ensemble’s quietly potent work. Berenice Bejo is a particular standout as Sal’s Spanish-speaking sister (while the rest of the Italian production’s dialogue is in English).

The Senior, from Angel Studios

Mike Flynt played football for Permian High School, one of the two schools prominently featured in Friday Night Lights. He then went on to one of the most unconventional collegiate careers ever. He was team captain his junior year, but he was expelled just as the next year started. Of course, that left a full year of college eligibility that he returns to fulfill in Rod Lurie’s The Senior, which opens today in theaters, from Angel Studios.

Flynt’s one great regret was missing out on his senior year of football. Years later, he still has anger management issues, despite the positive influence of his tough but loving wife Eileen. Although Flynt was more restrained than his emotionally abusive father J.V., he still repeated some of the same mistakes with his grown son, Micah.

Reluctantly, Flynt returns for a team reunion, finding he is still welcome at Sul Ross State University. Although he wouldn’t put it in such terms, Flynt clearly believes he has long suffered from bad karma caused by the loss of his senior year, so he decides to re-balance the mojo scales by re-enrolling and completing his college eligibility. Of course, that will be easier said than done for the 59-year-old, but Coach Sam Weston agrees to let him try out.

Naturally, Flynt makes each successive cut (sometimes just barely), but Weston remains reluctant to actually put him into a game. Heck, even Weston likens Flynt to Sean Astin in Rudy. Nevertheless, Flynt slowly and steadily wins over most of his teammates, who appreciate his advice regarding matters on and off the field. Nevertheless, there are some who still resent him for being a distraction or a novelty act.

In fact, it is rather easy and apt to describe The Senior as a cross between Rudy and Friday Night Lights, but Robert Eisele’s screenplay is more restrained and less manipulative than most sports movies. Flynt must finally deal with more important things than the last game of the season.

Christian faith also has a positive role to play, which will most likely not offend Angel’s core demographics. However, Lurie and Eisele introduce such themes in smart, unobtrusive ways. The most overt references involve Flynt’s stern father’s secret turn towards Christianity, in hopes of finding some degree of redemption or atonement. Frankly, this modest subplot lands with as much force as the gridiron business.

Predators: Justice By Media

The police are legally bound by rules of conduct and evidence collection. The media is not. This can be an issue, especially when they join forces. This happened famously (and perhaps sometimes notoriously) on NBC’s Dateline sub-program, To Catch a Predator. They caught enough predators to fill a small army, several each week, and spawned another army of copycats, but filmmaker David Osit’s examination of the show’s legacy comes to decidedly mixed conclusions in the documentary Predators, which opens tomorrow in theaters.

Often parodied, To Catch a Predator captured the intersection of true crime and reality TV, employing baby-faced adult actors as “decoys” to bust would-be sexual predators trying to move beyond the grooming stage. It was creepy, but compelling. It also made host and interviewer/cross examiner Chris Hansen a national star. However, its conviction rate was much lower than fans assumed.

In almost all cases, it is hard to feel sympathy for the targets of Hansen’s stings. However, a handful of marginal cases clearly trouble Osit, for reasons which he cogently explains. The most obvious case was the suicide that maybe partially led to the end of the show’s run on NBC. It also raises issues of entrapment, because the target was clearly reluctant to come meet the decoy, so Hansen brought the show’s camera to the suspect’s house, where he fatally shot himself. Osit incorporates a good deal of raw footage shot outside the predator’s house, much of which casts more shade than sunlight on Hansen. (In retrospect, perhaps Hansen and company should have encouraged that reluctance, rather than charging in for a confrontation.)

However, the film’s most troubling incident came after NBC cancelled the Dateline subsidiary series. Having moved to TruBlu (which is practically Hansen’s own dedicated streaming service), his successor series launched a sting targeting an 18-year-old supposedly meeting a 15-year-old, which raises a whole host of issues, including the “three-year exemption” many states observe, to avoid criminalizing freshmen-senior high school relationships.

Osit somehow secured footage of TruBlu co-founder Shawn Rech questioning the wisdom of that “takedown,” but Hansen insists on proceeding. The resulting webisode ruined the 18-year-old’s life, as his tearful mother explains at length. Consequently, Osit’s film is far from the triumphant career Hansen maybe anticipated.

While Hansen speaks for himself, during the climatic extended interview segment, his extensive media arguably works against him, because he seems too unquestioningly assured rather than reflective or philosophical regarding the aforementioned controversies. At times, he seems addicted to his own righteousness.

Thunderbirds @ 60: Trapped in the Sky & Terror in New York City

Many viewers didn’t realize it, but Team America: World Police was a loving spoof of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s “Supermarionation.” Probably the apex of the marionette stop-motion animation came in their cult classic series Thunderbirds. It should have been more profitable at the time, but the producers botched the American TV sales. Nevertheless, it spawned feature-film follow-ups, an anime re-imagining, and alive-action remake (that clearly missed the point). To celebrate the 60^th anniversary, two classic episodes, “Trapped in the Sky” and “Terror in New York City” screen in UK theaters, freshly restored in 4K, as part of a double-bill this Saturday.

International Rescue, the secret global emergency response agency led by former American astronaut Jeff Tracy will announce itself to the world in the pilot episode, “Trapped in the Sky,” directed by Alan Pattillo. Fortunately for the world, the various rockets, aircraft, and submersibles piloted by Tracy’s five grown sons can handle emergencies beyond the resources of conventional first responders.

The attempted bombing of the Fireflash is perfect example. Recurring supervillain The Hood placed an explosive device in the landing gear of the supersonic transcontinental luxury airliner that will explode on landing.  Consequently, the plane (which predates the Concorde by four years) must keep flying, sort of like Speed, which would release almost twenty-nine years later.

Even though all the action consists of marionettes and scale models, the aviation scenes are nicely rendered. Of course, you can see the characters’ strings—that is all part of the series’ charm. It also sets up a logical division of labor, with the American Tracy clan handling the rockets and the right stuff, while their British ally, Lady Penelope handles the Bond-ish spycraft (including driving a Q-worthy Rolls).

Sadly, by the year 2065, Mamdani’s economic program has so thoroughly decimated Murray Hill, the American government decides to physically move the Empire State Building to a less stagnant neighborhood in “Terror in New York City,” directed by David Elliott and David Lane. Dude, those puppets were prescient. Unfortunately, erosion underneath Manhattan leads to disaster.

Night of the Reaper, on Shudder

Babysitting is one of the most dangerous professions in cinema, but it somewhat counter-intuitively has a high survival rate, thanks to “final girls” like Laurie Strode. Tragically, that was not true for Deena’s sister Emily. A masked killer murders Emily in the prologue, carving the heart out of her family in the process. Nevertheless, she agrees to sub for her babysitting friend in Brandon Christensen’s Night of the Reaper, which premieres Friday on Shudder.

If you are wondering, yes, there will be Blue Oyster Cult, but you have to wait for the closing credits to hear it—but its worth the wait. Night of the Reaper starts out like a loving homage to 1980s slashers, albeit a surprisingly tight and tense one. Deena is back in town visiting from college, but she agrees to fill in sitting for Sheriff Rod Arnold’s kids, because her friend Haddie contracted a nasty stomach bug. Deena knows it must be serious, because her friend’s interest in the older Sheriff is a completely unguarded non-secret.

It has already been quite a day for Sheriff Rod. Someone has been leaving old school VHS tapes for him throughout town. Ominously, they prove several presumed accidental deaths were actually the work of a serial killer. That killer soon starts toying with Deena and the Arnold children, but the circumstances will be different this time around.

Honestly, Night of the Reaper is the horror film I’ve been waiting years for. The big twist is a doozy that upsets everything in a good way. The result is a heck of a cat-and-mouse game that Jessica Clement (playing Deena) and the other pertinent party do an excellent job of selling. The third act is clever, but grounded, avoiding hipster glibness in favor of incredibly sinister life-and-death gamesmanship. Similarly, Ryan Robbins is terrific seething for payback as Sherrif Arnold.

A Mother’s Embrace, on Screambox

Firefighting must be incredibly hard work in Rio. Presumably, favelas are highly combustible. Plus, it just gets hot there in general (trust me on that one). However, Ana and her team of firefighters would have been better of fighting a favela fire on the hottest day of the year, then responding to a call to this decrepit nursing home during a historic deluge. The creaking old building is not structurally sound, but something worse lurks underneath in Cristian Ponce’s A Mother’s Embrace, which premieres today on Screambox.

The final days of Ana’s mother were a little weird—and sinister. There was an impulsive trip to carnival funhouse. She then woke up as flames engulfed their apartment. She survived, but her mother did not—or so she always assumed. Lately, she has been seeing visions of her mother at inopportune times, including during a fire call. This will be her fist night back in thee field. She should have waited one more day.

It is not exactly clear whom, but someone called in a complaint claiming an unregulated old folks’ home was on the verge of collapse. Frankly, the callr was not exaggerating by much, but none of the residents seems to care. In fact, they are downright hostile. They seem to be a cult in thrall to the slithery, vaguely Lovecraftian beneath the house, or something like that.

Frankly, it is not entirely clear what Ponce and co-screenwriters Gabriella Capella and Andre Pereira (who co-wrote The Trace We Leave Behind) think is going on during the course of the film. Is Ana’s mother part of the cult, or not? Just what kind of thing is the tentacle creature? Viewers will be hard pressed to explain, even after watching.  Yet, it is all undeniably creepy. As luck would have it, A Mother’s Embrace was filmed during a real-life gale, so a lot of the wind and precipitation were legit and “free,” courtesy of mother nature.

Eugene Yelchin’s I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This

Eugene (formerly Yevgeny) Yelchin won a Newbery Honor for his children’s novel, Breaking Stalin’s Nose and helped storyboard everybody’s favorite commercial: Coca-Cola’s Christmas polar bears. Frankly, it makes sense he would have an affinity for the big white bears from his time in Siberia. He first went there voluntarily to work for a theater company (and avoid service in Afghanistan), but stayed against his will in a state “mental hospital.” Getting from there to America was quite a story, which he tells and illustrates in I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This: A Graphic Memoir, which goes on-sale today.

While still a theatrical design student, Yelchin loved his city of Leningrad, but he was drawn to the underground art scene. He was also vaguely conscious his Jewish heritage could be considered a liability, but he and his stern mother and cranky grandmother were absolutely not Refuseniks. Indeed, their attitude towards such dissidents were quite Soviet, until Yelchin meets Libby, a visiting American student through his friend Mark. Much to his surprise and confusion, she is on a mission to help the Refusenik community.

It is awkward between them, because of the language barrier and their conflicting loyalties and values, but the chemistry just keeps pulling them closer. Yelchin also starts to question the Soviet system when he notices all the KGB surveillance focused on them. However, he truly loses faith when the KGB (or perhaps just the regular militia) kill Mark after he too declares his Refusenik intention to immigrate.

At this point, Yelchin can sufficiently read between the lines of Party propaganda to know he wants no part of the war in Afghanistan, so he accepts a job with a Siberian theater company, whose director has KGB connections. Yet, life on the outskirts of a plutonium enrichment facility entails its own dangers. The state also completely censored mail between him and Libby, so Yelchin grows increasingly isolated.

Yes, the tragically late actor Anton was Yelchin’s nephew, but the events of this graphic novel memoir predate him. Instead, they capture the turmoil and austerity of the late Brezhnev and early Andropov years (of course, he hardly had time to enjoy any “late years” as General Secretary). Consequently, Yelchin provides a revealing Soviet-era perspective on the Afghanistan War and its “Cargo 200” stigma, the Refusenik experience, anti-Semitic prejudice in general, and the horrors of Soviet sanatoriums.

Yet, his graphic memoir is also a highly appealing love story, especially since it is entirely free of cheap sentimentality. Despite the initial language differences, Yelchin and Libby are always brutality honest with each other. Indeed, that seems to be part of their unique chemistry.