Companion (2025)

“I’m free. And all it took was a bullet to the head.”

Sophie Thatcher portrays Iris, a robotic companion that takes things into her own hands in 2025’s Companion. The film co-stars Jack Quaid as Josh, her owner and lover, Lukas Gage as Patrick, Harvey Guillen as Eli, Megan Suri as Kat, and Rupert Friend as Sergey. The film was written and directed by Drew Hancock in his feature film directorial debut. It’s a science fiction thriller with strong callbacks to films like The Stepford Wives, Terminator 2, and, at least in my opinion, Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith.

Spoilers Ahead!!!!!!

The film opens with Iris and Josh meeting in a supermarket. Josh flubs his attempt to approach Iris whenever he sends oranges flying across the grocery store floor, but his goofy charm shines through and the two fall in love. We are then taken to the duo in Josh’s self-driving car, where they are heading out to meet some friends for a nice getaway. When they arrive, Iris is worried that Josh’s friends won’t like her. After he reassures her that everything will be fine, we are introduced to a friendly couple, Patrick and Eli, and Kat, Josh’s abrasive friend, and her lover, Sergey.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Sophie Thatcher in a scene from “Companion.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

The first night goes off with only minor issues for Iris. Kat seems to dislike her, but tolerates her enough to keep the mood mild. We also learn that Kat is Sergey’s mistress and “property,” which will be a constant theme throughout the film. We find out that Patrick and Eli have a strong bond between themselves as well. Things start to go south when, on the next morning, Sergey attempts to sexually assault Iris and she kills him. The problem is that as a robotic companion, Iris is forbidden and programmed not to kill. It’s at this moment we find out that Josh and Kat have orchestrated the murder of Sergey in order to claim the twelve million dollars that is stashed in the cabin. They agree to split the money with Eli whenever they are forced to tell him what is really going on with Sergey’s murder. It is then revealed that Patrick is a robotic companion as well, which leads to Eli demanding that the money be split four ways. Iris eventually escapes from Josh and his friends, disarms Josh’s ability to control her, and tries to find a way back to civilization and freedom. The friends split up to try and find Iris. This results in a number of bloody deaths, questions about bodily autonomy, and, if you dig deeper, tackles subjects like sex trafficking and the ethics of robotics.

Thankfully, the film doesn’t dive too deeply into any of the subjects in touches upon, leaving that up to the audience instead. It could have jumped head first into bodily autonomy or any other themes, but I believe that this would have killed the pacing of the film and taken it to a dark place where this style of film doesn’t do well. What it does do, however, is give us some excellent action, a real hero to cheer on in the film, and the aforementioned callbacks that I mentioned. From the way that Iris is dressed throughout the film to that iconic wave in the mid-credits scene, I saw influences from quite a few movies including those already mentioned and M3GAN, which Drew Hancock swears he didn’t watch in order to steal from it. There were also quite a few funny moments in the film as well, some perhaps not intentional but I laughed just the same.

The cast did a great job with their roles. Quaid was instantly unlikeable as Josh, and he played the character very well. Megan Suri was excellent as Kat, a character that was in a similar position as Iris, but had human emotions as well. She was one of the more tragic characters in this movie. Guillen was fun and enjoyable as Eli, even when he goes on the hunt for Iris. His relationship with Lukas Gage’s Patrick made his character a bit more sympathetic in my eyes. Both Patrick and Thatcher’s Iris were sad characters, and despite Patrick being weaponized against Iris, I felt terrible for him. Thatcher nailed Iris. I haven’t cheered on a character like her in a long time. I was pulling for her right away and I believe that most other folks were as well.

Companion is a really good film. It has clearly defined heroes and villains that wade through some heavy subjects, keeping the story light enough that it doesn’t get dull. I highly recommend this film and appreciate you for reading my post. Thank you.

The Substance (2024)

“The balance must be respected.”

We all age. We get wrinkles. Our bodies begin hurting in ways we never dreamed of when we were young. Eventually we become senior citizens and, like it or not, society looks down its nose at a lot of us. In the glitzy world of film and television, getting old comes with potentially deep losses. Actors are almost always expected to be young and attractive and when that first crack of the skin appears on an actor’s face, especially on an actress’ face, the role offers and callbacks start to dwindle. Such is the situation that fifty year old Elisabeth (Demi Moore) finds herself in in 2024’s The Substance. The film is written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, who is known for Revenge (2017) and Reality+ (2014).

Spoilers ahead!!!!

In the film, former award-winning film actress Elisabeth finds herself unceremoniously dumped by the studio that produces her workout show due to the fact that she’s too old in the eyes of Harvey (Dennis Quaid) and he wants a younger, prettier “girl” to replace her. After getting in a car accident on the way home, Elisabeth is offered the substance by a nurse. When she arrives at home, she stands in the mirror, completely nude, and looks at her aging body. She ultimately contacts the producer of the substance and injects it into her body, resulting in the “birth” of Sue (Margaret Qualley), a younger version of Elisabeth who is catapulted into the spotlight by Harvey.

The substance comes with a strict set of rules. Elisabeth and Sue must switch between one another every seven days. One remains in a comatose-like state while the other gets seven days of freedom. Sue embraces her newfound popularity while Elisabeth grows more and more jealous of her popularity. Sue begins to push the limits of the rules, taking more and more time from Elisabeth and accelerating the aging process. Problems begin to ramp up for Elisabeth, as her aging gets out of control and Sue’s popularity continues to skyrocket. The big issue here, though, is that Elisabeth and Sue are the same person in two very different bodies. As Sue falls in love with her new life, Elisabeth begins to make Sue’s life miserable. The duo ultimately have a massive face-off, resulting in a new version of them, Monstro Elisasue, to be born. The creature lurches onto the stage on New Year’s Eve, a night that was supposed to shoot Sue into greater stardom, and blasts the crowd with blood, crying for acceptance. In the end, Elisabeth is reduced to a gooey face that is squashed on her own star on the walk of fame.

While the film definitely has its highlights, for the most part, The Substance lacks…..substance. The story is nothing new and something that has been around since films have been around. Actors get older and begin losing roles to younger actors. Older actors will go to great lengths to maintain their youthful appearance. The film highlights this, especially the toll it takes on actresses, and the way that many corporate sleazeballs objectify women. On the other hand, it shows how actors will turn on others in order to get what they want. There are no real heroes in this film. Everyone is tragic and/or unlikeable. Fargeat’s direction and shots are all taken from other films and directors. You don’t need a very sharp eye to see influences from films like The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, and more. It also draws influence from works such as The Picture Of Dorian Gray and Carrie. The film also has very limited dialogue and sluggish pacing as well, making it a tough watch.

One thing that the film does get right is the practical effects. Almost all of the film’s effects are realized using makeup, prosthetics, puppets, and appliances. The Elisasue creature looks great and appears to draw influence from The Thing, Basket Case, and other gruesome creatures. I also want to applaud the performance of Demi Moore. Although she was portraying a character that just turned fifty, Moore was actually sixty-one at the time of filming. She still looks great, and much like her character in the film, she’s had enhancements over the years to retain her youth. That said, she appears completely nude multiple times in the film and she does show her age. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say anything derogatory about her, it’s just that in one particular scene, perhaps the best scene in the film, her character is looking in the mirror at all of her imperfections. The camera pans around her entire body, revealing every wrinkle and crease. It’s sad and beautiful at the same time. Elisabeth is sad that she is aging, but it is beautiful that Moore is willing to bare her own aging to the world.

Ultimately, The Substance is just one more in a long line of body horror films that has flashes of brilliance, amazing effects, but ultimately falls under the weight of its own story. The ending completely derails any momentum built earlier in the film and brings a ho-hum experience to a brutal halt.

I don’t necessarily recommend this film, but if you grew up watching Moore on the big screen like I did, it might be worth your time. Thanks for reading my review.

Cult Classic: The Crater Lake Monster (1977)

“My first responsibility is to save human lives, not sea serpents!”

It might be a terrible film, but 1977’s The Crater Lake Monster has something about it that makes it difficult to dislike. The film was written by William R. Stromberg (who also directed) and Richard Cardella (who starred in the film as Sheriff Steve Hanson). It was distributed by Crown International Pictures, who apparently took over the film, forcing their ideas about what the film should be and butchering the movie into its final product without Stromberg or Cardella’s approval.

L to R: Richard Garrison as Dan Turner, Bob Hyman as Dr. Calkins, and Richard Cardella as Sheriff Hanson. In the foreground is Kacey Cobb as Susan Patterson.

In the film, a pair of researchers, Dan Turner (Richard Garrison) and Susan Patterson (Kacey Cobb), discover ancient cave drawings depicting a prehistoric creature battling men, which proves that dinosaurs and humans coexisted at one point in time. Turner brings Dr. Calkins to the site and they, along with Susan, are almost killed when a meteorite crashes into nearby Crater Lake. Months later, Sheriff Steve Hanson (Cardella) starts dealing with a number of missing person cases and then the strange death of a local senator. He teams up with Dr. Calkins to determine who or what is causing these disappearances. What they find surprises them. After consulting with Dan and Susan (who are mysteriously absent for ninety percent of the movie), the group determines that the creature is a plesiosaur. The sheriff gives Dan and Susan twenty-four hours to capture the creature before calling for help from the government. Before they can put their plan into action, however, the plesiosaur attacks the town, forcing the sheriff and two local boat renters, Arnie and Mitch (Glenn Roberts and Mark Siegel), to fight the beast. Who lives? Who dies? Watch The Crater Lake Monster to find out if our heroes survive!

Three of the best reasons to watch this film, L to R: Richard Cardella, Glen Roberts, and Mark Siegel.

The film is so bad that most people write it off as a forgettable mess. For a small following of fans, however, the movie falls under the so-bad-its-good umbrella. For me, the bad outweighs the good, but the good is so awesome that I’m willing to suffer through the bad parts in order to see the good things. For starters, Richard Cardella, Glen Roberts, and Mark Siegel do pretty good jobs in their roles. Cardella hams it up as Sheriff Hanson and sports the sweetest moustache and sideburns you’ll ever see on an alpha male. Roberts, credited as Glenn Roberts, and Siegel provide almost all of the intended laughs in the film and a few non-intentional ones as well. The stop-motion creature effects, headed up by David Allen and including Phil Tippett, are excellent, but lighting and editing make the creature look terrible. Allen and Tippett both went on to bigger and better things. Allen worked on the Puppet Master films, Willow, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, The Howling, and tons of other big films. Tippett worked on some of the biggest films of all time including the original Star Wars trilogy, Jurassic Park, Dragonheart, the Twilight films, and many, many more.

Alpha Male!

The bad things in the film are plentiful, but I’ll just highlight a few of them. For starters, Dan and Susan get things going at the beginning of the film and then aren’t seen again until the final minutes before the credits roll. On top of that, they take over the situation despite being MIA the entire time that people die and/or go missing. A lot of the movie takes place at night, but almost all of the scenes were shot during the daytime and NOT edited as day-for-night to give the illusion of happening after the sun goes down. The editing is atrocious and there’s an entire subplot with a liquor store robbery that takes up a good portion of the film, only to have the robber get eaten by the beast.

Susan (Kacey Cobb) and her boy toy, Dan (Richard Garrison), aren’t in the film much, but their decision to try and capture the monster may or may not cause the death of one of the better characters in the film.

If you want to see some cool stop-motion effects from two of the greatest effects artists of all time, check out The Crater Lake Monster. If you want a nonsensical plot, bad acting, and worse editing, watch this movie. If you prefer your cinema experience to be a tad more high brow, skip this film altogether!

Thanks for checking out my review. This film really isn’t that good, but it’s pretty cool to check out at least one time.

Throwback Thursday: River’s Edge (1986)

“Did the sight of this dead girl move you in any particular way?”

River’s Edge is a brutal film to watch. It’s blunt, emotional and emotionless at the same time, and will make you feel uneasy. That’s what makes this film so brilliant and weird. The 1986 film focuses on the aftermath of the murder of a teenaged girl by her boyfriend, and the complete lack of emotional response from their friends. It was written by Neal Jimenez (The Waterdance, For The Boys) and inspired by the real life murder of Marcy Renee Conrad. It was directed by Tim Hunter (Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, Dexter).

The film opens with young Tim (Joshua John Miller) witnessing his older brother’s friend, Samson (Daniel Roebuck), screaming out loud while standing at the river’s edge near the nude, dead body of his girlfriend, Jamie (Danyi Deats). The film moves on to the pair interacting at a local quick stop where Tim steals beer for Samson, who is also called John. They stop off at Feck’s (Dennis Hopper) house to score some weed before going to school. At school, Samson/John walks up to his friends and casually admits that he murdered Jamie. The members of the group react in different ways, primarily believing that it’s a joke, but Matt (Keanu Reeves), is the only member of the group that seems to be bothered by the whole admission.

The friends eventually go to see Jamie’s body and, after seeing her laying there, react with indifference and nervousness, with only Layne’s (Crispin Glover) brother showing any real type of emotion. As the day wears on, Layne begins to devise a plan to protect John, collecting money from the group and ultimately dumping Jamie’s body into the river. One of the group, I won’t say who, finally caves in to their conscious and calls the police, which leads to them picking up Layne for questioning. John goes into hiding at Feck’s house, and Tim, who has grown loyal to Layne and John, goes on a revenge run against Matt. What happens next? Take a trip back to 1986 and watch River’s Edge to find out for yourself!

This movie is dark and depressing. It is not a fun film to watch, although there are a few minor humorous moments, most of which are provided by Layne as he slowly becomes more and more unhinged. The indifference by the kids and, to a lesser degree, some of the adults in the film, is rather disturbing. It shows you a very bleak side of humanity, one which I was lucky enough to not experience for myself while growing up in rural Louisiana.

The film is loaded with brilliant actors, almost all of which would go on to bigger careers. Dennis Hopper was the obvious big name in this film. He was well-established as an amazing actor at the time of this film’s release. Crispin Glover was fresh off of his turn as George McFly in Back To The Future, and would continue to have a brilliant career in both lead and supporting roles. Keanu Reeves would go on to become a massive star, appearing in Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Matrix, John Wick, and tons of other hit films. Ione Skye (Clarissa) debuted in this film and has managed to have a very long and successful career, appearing in a number of popular films including Say Anything…, A Night In The Life Of Jimmy Reardon, and Wayne’s World. Daniel Roebuck (Samson/John) has also had a massively successful career as both a leading man and a supporting actor in film and television. He’s had roles in films and TV series like The Fugitive, The Munsters, Matlock, Final Destination, and Nash Bridges. Taylor Negron, who has made a career out of bit parts and supporting roles has a, surprise, surprise, bit part as a clerk at a convenience store. Joshua John Miller was a successful child actor, appearing in movies like Near Dark and Teen Witch, and had guest roles on a number of television shows as well. He has gone on to become an amazing writer and producer with works that include Queen Of The South and The Final Girls. Josh Richman (Tony) had a solid acting career, but turned to directing, working on videos for Guns N’ Roses, and currently has a promotional group. Roxana Zal (Maggie) had a long acting career but eventually became a fashion designer. Danyi Deats (Jamie) has thrived as a producer of music videos and television commercials, with projects that included the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Ed Sheeran, the Backstreet Boys, and Lana Del Rey.

I highly recommend checking out this film. It’s wonderful, but not necessarily a fun watch. The cast and direction are brilliant, and the story is chilling. Be sure to watch this movie if you haven’t seen it yet. You won’t regret seeing it.

Thanks for checking out my review!

Classic Cinema: A Night In The Show (1915)

“Get in line and wait your turn!”

Charlie Chaplin works double duty in front of and behind the camera in the 1915 silent classic A Night In The Show. Chaplin wrote and directed the film, basing it upon Mumming Birds, a stage play that Chaplin worked on while with the Karno Company in London. In the film, Chaplin portrays Mr. Pest and Mr. Rowdy. The film is also the debut of Edna Purviance, who would go on to appear in over thirty films with him and remain a loyal friend.

In the film, Mr. Pest has a number of comedic encounters. He makes getting a seat in the theater a laugh-out-loud moment, and goes on to attempt to woo a female patron (Purviance), battles it out with the stage manager, has run-ins with other attendees, and interacts with the performers on the stage. Up in the balcony, Chaplin makes pratfalls and gags as the slightly drunk Mr. Rowdy. His biggest moment in the film is when a fire eater appears on the stage and Mr. Rowdy “saves” everyone by extinguishing the flames and soaking everyone around and beneath him.

The film features a number of notable silent film actors. Paddy McGuire, Dee Lampton, Charlotte Mineau, and Charles Inslee are just a few of the cast members that appear in the film. The film runs just over twenty-four minutes, so it’s an easy silent film to watch if you’re new to the genre. It’s a very funny film and I highly recommend it.

Thanks for checking out my post! A Night In The Show is available through a number of streaming services, many of which are free.

The End Of Louisiana Comic Con

The End Of An Era

Earlier this week I was blindsided by some sad news. A post from the official Louisiana Comic Con page popped up in which an announcement was made that there would not be an event in 2027. The post also mentioned that the convention director would be retiring from doing venue and large scale events. While I can completely understand this, it made me sad. Louisiana Comic Con was one of the best events in the state of Louisiana. Heck, it was one of the best events in the Gulf South. I made a ton of new friends there and got to meet some excellent artists, celebrities, cosplayers, and vendors.

I initially attended Louisiana Comic Con as an attendee, but as time passed, I began presenting panels at the convention as Ken’s Alternate Universe. As time went on, I joined up with the Filmsquatch Podcast and started presenting panels for it as well. Of all of the conventions that I’ve presented panels at over the years, my largest and most interactive crowds have been at Louisiana Comic Con. It’s one of the few conventions that isn’t heavy on a specific pop culture genre. Most of the regional conventions close to me focus upon anime. I can understand that, as anime is extremely popular right now and it brings in attendees and money, but anime isn’t in my wheelhouse. Louisiana Comic Con certainly had anime, but it also had science fiction, horror, professional wrestling, video gaming, board and card gaming, and good ol’ fashioned comic books.

I really hate to see Louisiana Comic Con come to an end. The location, the Cajun Dome Convention Center, was easy to get to and had plenty of space for folks to move around the convention floor, even when traffic was heavy. The vendors were always cool as well. The guests were phenomenal and varied. The thing I’ll miss the most, however, is getting to hang out with friends that I’ve made over the years. LACC was one of the only places that I got to catch up with some of these folks face to face, and now I have to find a new way of meeting up with them.

Thanks for the memories, LACC. You will be sorely missed. Hopefully another pop culture convention will find its way to the Cajun Dome Convention Center. Yes, there are other events in Lafayette, LA that are happening and I’m glad that they are, but LACC was something special.

Below are a few images from over the years at LACC. Thanks for checking out my post.

Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026)

“Don’t worry, grandma, it’s fun to be dead!”

Calling this film Lee Cronin’s The Mummy was a smart move on the part of James Wan, Jason Blum, and Kevin Keville, who produced the film, because this ain’t no mummy I’ve ever heard of before! Written and directed by Cronin, the film is a reimagining of the classic The Mummy horror tale. Whether you cut your teeth on either Universal version of the story or the Hammer version, none of them resemble Lee Cronin’s take on the tale, which is essentially a demonic possession film.

In the film, a young couple, Charlie and Larissa, and their two children, Katie and Seb, are living in Egypt while working. Katie is abducted and goes missing. Charlie is the prime suspect in her disappearance, and a new detective, Dalia Zaki, is out to prove his guilt or innocence. Eight years later, the couple, Seb, and their youngest daughter, Maud, are living with Larissa’s mother, Carmen, in Albuquerque, NM, when they receive a call that their daughter has been found alive but in a terrible state. She has been kept in a sarcophagus and wrapped up in a manner similar to a mummy. After Katie is brought home, she begins to display erratic behavior and strange things begin occurring around the house. Charlie believes that she needs intensive medical treatment but Larissa won’t hear of it and demands that Katie stay with them despite her bizarre actions. Charlie continues to work on his own with Detective Zaki and with a local professor in order to find out who kidnapped Katie and what they did to her. Things continue to get more bizarre until a tragedy pushes Larissa over the edge. This forces her to join up with Charlie and Detective Zaki in an attempt to save Katie. You’ll have to watch the film to find out what happens next.

The film is nothing more than a good ol’ fashion demonic possession tale wrapped up in a mummified curse. There’s no pharaoh, no high priests, and no forbidden love or plagues. Heck, there aren’t even any tana leaves or the Scroll of Thoth. Nope, it’s just your run-of-the-mill demonic possession story featuring the fictional “destroyer of families,” Nasmaranian. Nasmaranian latches onto a human body, apparently destroys families, and then moves on to the next host. In order to keep the demon at bay, a host, preferably a young one, must be used to entrap the demon. The host is then wrapped in parchment with sacred scriptures written on them, sealed into a sarcophagus, and kept there until a new host is needed. This cycle will apparently continue for eternity, but when an accident allows Katie to be discovered, Charlie and Detective Zaki take matters into their own hands.

Cronin drags the story along at a dull pace, with only the performances of Jack Reynor as Charlie, May Calamawy as Detective Zaki, and Veronica Falcon as Carmen keeping me interested in the film. I have to admit that it was refreshing to see a father figure be the hero without making him an idiot or buffoon. Charlie was the only person to keep a level head throughout the film, only becoming violent when he is accused of doing something to his daughter. Laia Costa didn’t do a bad job as Larissa. The character was just poorly written. The rest of the cast, Shylo Molina (Seb), Billie Roy (Maud), and Natalie Grace (Katie), all gave solid performances. The film is just boring even with its cool visuals and excellent special effects.

Speaking of the effects, they are cool, but I felt like Cronin just tossed them in just to gross out the audience. There’s nothing new or original about them and, to be quite honest, they weren’t that gross.

The only saving grace of this film outside of intelligent characters like Charlie and Zaki, was the very satisfying conclusion of the film. It made it worth sitting through the rest of the film and I do recommend checking this one out for the representation of a good father and a smart detective.

There might be bandages and a bit of Egypt in this film, but it’s not a mummy movie. Thanks for checking out my post.

Obsession (2025)

“You wished for this.”

Written and directed by Curry Barker, 2025’s Obsession was a darling of the Toronto International Film Festival and the indie film circuit prior to its big-time release by Focus Features and Blumhouse, which led to the film becoming a massive hit at the box office and an instant classic for Gen Z, who related to the characters and their relationships in the film. While I happen to be a member of Generation X, I can see where Gen Z is coming from, but I reacted to this film in a different way. I’ll get to that later, but for now, let’s take a look at the film itself.

Some Spoilers Ahead!!!

Bear (Michael Johnston) is a shy, somewhat introverted guy who is friends with Sarah (Megan Lawless), Ian (Cooper Tomlinson), and Nikki (Inde Navarrette). All three of them work together at Cassell’s Music, which is owned by Sarah’s father, Carter (portrayed by the great Andy Richter in a small role). Bear likes Nikki, but is too shy to reveal his feelings to her and finds himself perpetually friend-zoned. When he drives her home one night, he makes a feeble attempt at opening up to her and fails miserably. In a moment of hopeless desperation, he cracks open a One Wish Willow, a novelty toy that grants one wish, only one wish, to the person that breaks the willow stick. He wishes that Nikki will love him more than anything in the world……and it works…..with horrible consequences. Nikki becomes infatuated, supernaturally, with Bear, wanting to spend every moment of her life with him, protecting him, loving him, and going to any lengths to make sure that he loves her as much as she loves him. The story spirals into one psychotic moment after another until things come to a head. What happens in the end? Watch Obsession and find out for yourself!

Barker has said that a Halloween episode of The Simpsons, featuring a tale inspired by W.W. Jacobs’ short story The Monkey’s Paw, was a primary inspiration for Obsession. Prior to learning this and while watching the film, my Gen X heart saw hints and glimpses of films like Misery, Fatal Attraction, Swimfan, Wishmaster, and even Play Misty For Me. Stories about wishes going wrong are as old as storytelling itself, and tales of psychotic lovers or obsessive fans have probably been around just as long. The element that Barker adds to this story that is unique (but not necessarily new, see films like The Craft), is the supernatural affect upon Nikki as she becomes more violent, more psychotic, and more protective of Bear and how his friends and acquaintances see him as the victim when, in fact, it’s Nikki that is trapped by Bear and his wish. You can take the story into a thousand different social and relational directions, which seems to be what Gen Z did, but the bottom line is that Bear is a bad guy, cowardly and selfish, and the horror is that he doesn’t seem to care that Nikki is falling apart internally and only begins to want things to go back to normal when he can no longer keep Nikki under wraps. It’s a well done film that takes old ideas and wraps them in a generational blanket that will be received by audiences differently depending on their age.

The cast do very well in all of their roles. Johnston is easy to dislike as supposedly innocent Bear, and Tomlinson does a fine job as his buddy, Ian. Sarah is easy to like, thanks to the performance of Lawless, and I believe that the entire audience was pulling for her throughout the film. Inde Navarrette has gotten the most attention for her performance as Nikki/supernaturally-unhinged Nikki, and she deserves the accolades that she has received. Barker, in my opinion, is the real star here, though, as his direction, writing, use of camera angles and lighting, all made the film much better than it should have been. In short, be sure to check out this movie. It’s not groundbreaking in any way, but it is a sharply delivered thriller that will get different reactions from everyone.

Thanks for checking out my review. I hope to do more reviews in the very near future. I’m still trying to get back into a rhythm after being pulled in a million different directions over the last few years.

The Devil’s Mouth (2026)

“I’m not afraid of the water, just what might be in it.”

Kathryn Newton has been on a role in recent years. With starring roles in successful films like Lisa Frankenstein (2024), Abigail (2024), Freaky (2020), and Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come (2026), and supporting roles in hits like Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023), it looks like she has solidified her spot as a bonafide star. It’s that star-power that drew me to her latest film, the direct-to-streaming Amazon thriller The Devil’s Mouth (2026). Written by Aja Gabel and Myung Joh Wesner and directed by Jeff Wadlow (Imaginary, Fantasy Island), the film made its debut on Amazon Prime on July 29th.

This looks like the beginning of a Noxzema commercial.

The film’s plot centers on a group of five friends, Sara (Newton), Max (Lana Condor), Greg (Gavin Casalegno), Adrienne (Tommi Rose), and James (Nico Hiraga), taking one last trip together before paving their way through life as adults. Sara and Max have been friends for years, with Sara crediting Max for helping her navigate some negative times in her life. Max and James are a couple, but there’s friction between them due to Max being a control freak. Adrienne brings along Greg, her latest boy-toy, who is as immature as you’d expect a guy like him to be in a film like this. While hanging out on a yacht in Thailand, Sara gets mistakenly left behind for a brief moment and swims into a school of jellyfish that sting her. After she is rescued, tensions rise between her and Max, but the pair mend their differences and the group decides to have one last adventure before going home by exploring a flooded cave system highlighted by a grisly formation known as the Devil’s Mouth.

Along with their guide, Wat (Tayme Thapthimthong), the group enter the dark caverns only to discover that they are not alone. Due to a recent storm surge, saltwater has entered the cave system and brought with it a menacing bull shark. When they discover that a diver that has been exploring the caves with them has been attacked, the group has to find a way out of the caves safely. The shark goes on the hunt and one-by-one, it takes out members of the group. Who survives? Only those brave enough to watch The Devil’s Mouth will find out what happens!

The cast is good enough. Newton gives one of the best performances in the film, but I have to give Lana Condor my vote for best actress for the simple fact that I absolutely hated her character! I believe that this might be due to the fact that my wife had a controlling friend in college that acted much like Max does in this movie. Adrienne, James, and Wat are likeable characters. Poor Greg is annoying and immature…..and has shark bait written all over him.

The film is very dark and it’s hard to see what’s actually going on a lot of the time. The darkness also hides some of the limitations of the CGI shark, although it’s a pretty good-looking creature for a direct-to-streaming flick. The story plods along and, in all honesty, could have been shaved down by about twenty or so minutes. Overall, it’s not a terrible movie, but it adds nothing to the shark horror genre. If you like shark attack films, give it a look. If you feel that shark movies peaked with Jaws, skip this saltwater sleeper.

Thanks for checking out my review!

Masters Of The Universe (2026)

“They call me a devil, but I mean to be a god.”

I love this movie.

I could stop right there, but there’s so much more to talk about when it comes to 2026’s Masters Of The Universe. As a child of the 80s, I had more than my fair share of Masters of the Universe toys and I loved playing with them. I religiously watched (and eventually collected on DVD) the He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe cartoon. I saw the Dolph Lundgren-starring live action film from 1987 and watched the animated film He-Man And She-Ra: The Secret Of The Sword (1985) in the theater. I ignored the 1990 revival of He-Man called The New Adventures Of He-Man because it paled in comparison to the original. I owned comics, LPs, shirts, caps, a Velcro wallet, and tons of other MOTU merchandise. Heck, I even watched and reviewed the Kevin Smith MOTU Netflix shows. Basically, I’m saying all of this to let you know that my review will be a bit…..biased.

But I don’t care.

This movie was fun. I grinned from ear to ear as some of my favorite heroes from my childhood came to life on the big screen. Whether it was the ridiculously perfect costumes that looked so close to the original characters from the cartoon and the action figure line or the amazing score composed by Daniel Pemberton with power licks provided by Queen’s Brian May or the multiple Easter eggs, callbacks, winks, and nods to the entire franchise, I LOVED this movie. Yes, nostalgia played heavily upon my heart as I watched this film, but there’s more to it than nostalgia. It actually had a great story.

The film opens with Adam narrating the downfall of Eternia at the hands of the evil Skeletor and his minions. He then explains how he ends up in Oklahoma City, loses the Sword of Power, and how he must locate the sword in order to return to Eternia and release from the clutches of ol’ Boneface…..to a young woman that he is on a date with at the time. We then see Adam’s humdrum life working in a feeble and dull human resources department that checks off every single box of affirmation. Then he discovers the sword, is saved by Teela, and brought back to Eternia. His return is met with confusion and uncertainty, but he eventually finds the power within to lead his friends in a revolt against Skeletor.

The cast is excellent. Nicholas Galitzine did an amazing job as Adam/He-Man as did Idris Elba as Duncan/Man-At-Arms. Even better were the performances of Jared Leto as Skeletor, who chewed his way through every scene that he was in, and Alison Brie as Evil-Lyn, who also chewed her way through all of her scenes, stealing most of them from everyone else in the cast. The rest of the cast, full of all of my favorite heroes and villains, played their characters to perfection. In particular, Sam C. Wilson dominated most of his scenes as Trap Jaw and Johannes Haukur Johannesson and Jon Xue Zhang portrayed Fisto and Ram-Man provided plenty of action and laughs.

Of special note is the performance of Camila Mendes as Teela. She portrayed a strong woman who kept a cool head in all of her scenes, hinted at a relationship with Adam, and was arguably the most believable character in a film loaded with fantastic characters. There were other heroes and villains in the film, but I’ll leave them out of this review to give you a chance to discover them for yourself.

As I previously mentioned, the characters in the film looked like wonderfully imagined live-action versions of their animated and action figure equivalents. Mekaneck looked a tad awkward, but the rest of the gang looked great. In particular, I loved the design and motion of Ram Man. I also loved the savage look given to Spikor. Other characters, especially those from the original toy line’s first release, looked almost identical to their toy counterparts.

From amazing character design, breathtaking visuals, and campy humor to the moral of the story that’s neatly tied up at the end just like it was in the animated series, Masters Of The Universe is a real treat. While it struggled at the box office, it has performed well on Amazon Prime and seems to have found its audience there. While no official green light has been given for a sequel (which was teased in the end credits), I have a sneaking suspicion that we will get a second MOTU film, and I’m totally ready for it!

Thanks for reading my post. I have the power!