The Haunting, even with its $80M production budget, was a moderate hit at the box office ($180M) and despite a spooky production design, the story was weak and the visual effects was well overdone.
The Addiction is anything but perfect but still a unique take on the vampire subgenre with a terrific performance by Lili Taylor as well as Christopher Walken in his small part.
Leatherface is yet another, at best, disappointing entry into the vaunted Texas Chain Saw franchise, one where probably for the first two and, for me, the remake, were any good, the others not so much and I’d include this one but more for how forgettable it was than outright bad.
No Escape is an all around entertaining film perfect for a Saturday movie night. No, it doesn’t make you think or have any profound performances but the acting isn’t bad with Owen Wilson serving as a fine everyman type of character and Pierce Brosnan in his small part is a lot of fun. This is probably worthy of a rental.
It’s understandable why fans of the novels hate The Scorch Trials adaptation but as someone who isn’t attached to the books in any way, I found it acceptable and entertaining enough. Sure, the film does have its problems especially with the pacing and bloated story taking it over the two hour mark, yet at the same time I don’t regret seeing it.
Ransom is a well made crime-thriller propelled by some great performances from Mel Gibson and Rene Russo and the story never gets old or is overly complicated and instead plays it straight as a thrilling cat-and-mouse game.