Brent Lorentson

Just because an actor shares the same last name of their more popular sibling, the talent doesn’t necessarily carry over as well.  In the case of The Reckoning, the Australian thriller has two siblings with much more marketable star power. Jonathan LaPaglia comes into The Reckoning and ripping a few pages from his brother’s acting book in playing a detective whose partner is the victim of a heinous act of “random” violence. Also joining the film with famous siblings is Luke Hemsworth, whose brothers Liam and Chris Americans may be more familiar with.  Does the hereditary star power help this little Aussie film, or does it flounder down under?
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For a while now it has been accepted that cartoons are no longer for kids, and it can be argued that most of the popular animated shows now are more geared towards adults rather than kids these days.  I’ve grown up with The Simpsons, and I’ve enjoyed the run that Family Guy has had, but really these have been the only animated shows I’d consider myself loyal to.  Upon seeing some ads promoting Rick and Morty as well as hearing my friends talk about the show, I couldn’t help but think perhaps this could possibly be a new animated series I could get excited about.
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For fans of many of the ghost-hunting shows, Preston Castle is a location many will already be familiar with.  Once a former reform school for boys that opened in 1894 and finally shut down in the 1960’s, it was a location rumored to hold many atrocities against its young occupants.  Whether you are a believer in the supernatural or not, Preston Castle is a location that upon appearance is beautiful as well as foreboding, and is the perfect location for a haunted house film.  Of course the film boasts that it is inspired by true events, but I don’t think anyone should exactly hold the filmmakers up to a fact-checking examination, but instead just simply sit back and enjoy the ride.
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Unless you have been living under a rock, I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the Ebola scare that is headlining the airwaves.  The release of Chemical Peel couldn’t be timelier to effectively feed off the fears of the American public that is glued to their television screens, waiting for the announcement of the newly infected.  This is the kind of free marketing even the big-budget films wish they could get.  Unfortunately what is missing from the film are characters for us to care about and root for, and that is never a good sign.
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The creator of Dawson’s Creek and The Vampire Diaries, Kevin Williams, delivers a thriller that is a bold new entry in the crime drama for television.  Season one of The Following was 15 episodes of nail-biting bliss that kept the viewer guessing and riveted long after its gut-wrenching cliffhanger.  For a while I was beginning to wonder if Williamson had lost his touch with the Scream series, but what you’ll discover in the Fox series is that Williamson may just be the king of creating and penning one of the darkest serial killers on the small screen.
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With the month of October in full swing, it comes as no surprise to see Halloween-themed episodes popping up.  With the new DVD of Ben 10: Galactic Monsters, sure, it’s a cash grab for the holiday season, but thankfully on this release we get a set of fun episodes that are a bit of a departure from the average episodes.  It’s not that I dislike Ben 10, but it’s a show I enjoy in small doses; after all, too much of anything can always be a bad thing.  But thankfully, with the average five-episode release we get on the DVD from Cartoon Network, it has just the right amount of episodes to please everyone.
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The werewolf continues to be the one monster that just can’t seem to get the film that it deserves.  There has been The Howling and of course An American Werewolf in London, but in the past decade has there been a better werewolf film than Dog Soldiers?  It’s a monster than promises so much violence and can incite so much fear, but instead we are given terrible zombie and vampire films.  With one look at the cover I knew what I was getting into with Werewolf Rising, a low-budget attempt at the monster genre. Though it may not boast a large budget, I can’t help but appreciate this micro-budget attempt that avoids falling back on CGI effects.
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It’s that time of year again, where spooky decorations are set up and pumpkins are carved.  Most importantly, though, is that October is the month where horror fans can celebrate their favorite month of the year with as many blood-soaked horror titles as they can handle.  Unfortunately, though, it seems companies enjoy taking advantage of this time of year and will attach the Halloween name to just about anything in hopes of getting people to buy their product.  I mention this because though the title may be Grave Halloween, it has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday but everything to do with the Suicide Forest in Japan.
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On first glance, the idea for a comedy about two best friends who are failing security system installers isn’t exactly the film I’d find myself excited to watch.  It was a title I went into with no expectations, and by the time it was over I found myself realizing I had had myself a good time with this title.  Armed Response is what happens when a clever and unique script comes along with the right cast to fill in the parts.  This isn’t a film trying to become a classic in the heist genre, but instead it just wants to be an entertaining viewing experience, and it excels at doing just that.
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The horror western is the genre mash-up that just hasn’t seemed to translate to the big screen.  Jonah Hex was a big-budget attempt that simply fell flat.  There was the little indie-film gem The Burrowers (2008) that managed to be a fun little film but just never grabbed the audience on a larger scale.  But it seems the public is still craving television and film filled with zombies, and since we’ve seen just about every other iteration of the zombie genre, it was inevitable we would see them taking on the Wild West.  Revelation Trail doesn’t just dip its toe into zombie western horror; it dives right into this massacre of the undead.
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Writer and director Steven R. Monroe has made a decent career in genre filmmaking and since his remake of I Spit on Your Grave gained some moderate success.  Monroe is one of those directors that I feel has a great film in him but the right project just hasn’t crossed his path.  Though many of his creative efforts have been on more meager budgets, Monroe still manages to pull together tight little films.  Unfortunately with Monika he may have bit off a little more than he should have with his new supernatural revenge film.
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