Night House
Beth’s husband rows out into the middle of the lake, puts a gun in his mouth and ventilates his skull leaving her to pick up the pieces. The question tormenting Beth (Rebecca Hall) is why Owen (Evan Jonigkeit) decided to end it all in the first place as he seemed to be so happy? As she begins to unearth clues to that mystery Beth begins to to see and hear very strange things at night in the lakeside home Owen built for them both. Are they manifestations of her grief-stricken mind or is there something more sinister going on? You may be drawn to The Night House by the supernatural horror elements but it is the clever mystery surrounding Owen’s untimely departure that will keep you glued to the screen until the very last scene.
Watch on: On Demand, Disk.
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
The original Night of the Living Dead by the George R. Romero is a classic and defying the odds, the underappreciated 1990 remake directed by special effects guru Tom Savini may not eclipse Romero’s masterpiece but it comes very close. That’s mostly because Romero himself wrote the screenplay, adding some very sly twists and turns to the original story he and John A. Russo wrote back in 1968. You can bet that Romero, a friend of Savini’s who cast him in Dawn of the Dead and hired him to do the special effects, probably gave Savini a lot of advice as he directed his first and only movie thus far in his illustrious career. Patricia Tallman’s Barbara is a better Barbara by far and Tony Todd’s Ben shines as strongly as Duane Jones’ did. Don’t sleep on this one just because there have been so many dreadful Dead remakes. This one really does breathe new life into the film that was the blueprint for the undead genre that is still going strong today as it ever was.
Watch on: On Demand, Disk.
Aquarium of the Dead
Everyone wants to turn out the next Sharknado and Aquarium of the Dead is just another in a long line of posers. A virus sweeps through a California aquarium transforming the aquatic wildlife into the undead. Aquarium’s reliance on computer effects makes it look like our heroes are battling Xbox or Playstation enemies edited into the film, which they are. This film was made on the cheap so many of the encounters, kills occur off camera. That’s probably because most of Aquarium’s budget went to its only name star Vivica A. Fox who spends her time shining a flashlight around and making quizzical faces. Aquarium fails at good effects. Aquarium fails at being cheesy and funny. Aquarium fails at producing some cool creatures, except for maybe the zombie octopus who probably cost as much as Vivica A. Fox. Aquarium cannot even tread water.
Watch On: On Demand, Disk, Hulu.
Injustice
Based on the 2013 video game and comic book series Injustice: Gods Among Us, Injustice explores what happens when perennial boy scout Superman snaps and becomes Earth’s one-man police force. The story takes place in an alternate universe so anything goes and does. The Joker commits three unfathomable acts in a purposeful and diabolical bid to corrupt Superman, to push him over the edge and the Clown Prince of Crime succeeds. Superman becomes a merciless judge, jury and executioner. Preparing for every eventuality as he always does, Batman stands against Superman. Fighting alongside Bats are Green Arrow, Nightwing, etc. Supes has his followers too in Wonder Woman, Mr. Terrific, etc. So, this is very much like Marvel’s Civil War storyline. The two sides clash with deadly and unexpected results. Injustice is one of the best DC animated movies simply because there are no restrictions, no barriers in the storytelling especially since DC has been making their animated offerings for mature audiences. This one is definitely not for the kiddies.
Watch On: On Demand, Disk.
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