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I really hope that Tyson is getting a hefty sum for this series. It is the only justification I can come up with for him being part of a series that does not cast his intelligence in the best light. A cross between Scooby and Family Guy in my opinion, Tyson leads a cast that includes his adopted Asian daughter, a ghost (and that’s not the weirdest member), and a talking pigeon as he travels around the world solving mysteries. Yes, you read correctly, mysteries. When it comes to needing a mystery solved, Tyson is not the first name to come to mind, but I suppose that was the point.

There is something to be said about cult celebrities: if you are a fan, you will watch any movie in which they have a role. In the case of 4Got10, you get Danny Trejo and Dolph Lundgren.  In addition to these cult giants, you have the prolific Johnny Messner (Tears of the Sun, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid) delivering a strong performance in the lead role. If you are a fan of action thrillers, this film is already off to a great start.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows a sexually confused young girl, Lydia, who is going to an all-girls school in Britain. Lidia has a strong relationship with a girl named Abbie, to the point where the girls are rarely seen apart. Abbie discovers that she is pregnant and starts fainting at random points throughout her day. After the two girls act out in class they both wind up in detention, but the girls must be excused because Lydia is not feeling well. Lydia dies on their way out of detention. The school starts mourning the loss of Lydia, but everyone begins worrying when Abbie starts having fainting spells like Lydia did before she died.

The Gallows starts off with a camcorder video shot of a high school play from 1993 in which a horrible accident occurs. It is immediately followed by video footage from 2013 that is labeled police evidence. That tips us off, if we didn't know, that this is found-footage material. The found footage genre has grown substantially since the phenomenally success of The Blair Witch Project in 1999. One of the reasons that The Blair Witch Project was so successful is that the concept was fresh at the time. It isn't any longer.

At first, Eaters looks like a pretty fun horror film. The cover depicts a well-dressed figure in a scarecrow-like mask and a bowler hat. Above him in typical horror font, the title is displayed, followed by a tagline that reads: “Prepare to meet a new breed of killer”. First impressions are everything, and this is promising a lot. After watching the film, I’ve come to realize that the title, Eaters, is very misleading. In fact, I’m almost positive that not a single person ate anything in the entire film. The film follows a group of five young adults taking a road trip through the desert. Complications arise at a rest stop, where one of the young women goes missing after running into a gang of drug-smuggling bikers.

All right, my first addition for this year’s 31 Nights of Terror. Always a very exciting time, as ‘tis the season to jump out of your shoes. Unfortunately, that is not the case with The Invoking 2. I know it is bad form to jump into a franchise (assuming that two films can make a franchise) without seeing the film that came before it, sort of like beginning a novel in the middle instead of at the beginning. Have no fear, though, as I suspect that watching its predecessor is not a prerequisite for the watching of this disc. Clearly an anthology series, the runtime is made up of several different tales of death that give off sort of a campfire-ghost-tale vibe. So the premise of this collection is very fitting; it is not, however, scary.

“Before we start, I want you to know something...I'm not a rat.”

I could get into *a lot* of trouble if anybody found out I was talking to you. After all, there is absolutely, positively nothing worse than a rat, a point that is made crystal clear in Black Mass. But I'm putting my neck on the line here because I figured you'd want to know this fact-based crime drama marks the welcome return of Johnny Depp, who has spent the better part of the past decade in the Magic Kingdom loony wilderness.

What a great time it was to be a teen in the late 1970’s. No, I’m not referring to disco music. It was a great time to go to the movies. It was the culmination of the perfect date, and Hollywood was riding the beginning of a trend that remains alive and healthy today. I’m talking, of course, about the slasher film. You could argue that Hitchcock started the ball rolling in 1961 with Psycho, but it would be decades before that film would find its true audience and plethora of imitators. Although The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween came before Friday The 13^th, can it be argued that any horror film franchise is as widely known?

by Dustin P. Anderson

This is a documentary on the growing concern for the rising number of African-American children being born into unwed households. The film’s title 72% is a statistic of how many African-American single mothers are currently living in America. The documentary asks scholars and television personalities for their take on the growing crisis among the community. I feel I must make this quick addendum: as a white male I can only take this movie for how I saw it and how it made me feel. I am aware that I am not necessarily the target audience intended for this documentary, but it was a good watch besides.

I remember seeing a trailer for this movie a few months back and feeling underwhelmed. It was one of those experiences where you see a trailer and feel like through that contact alone that you can determine the entire course of the movie. Fortunately, I have no trouble admitting when I am wrong, and that was the case for Clouds of Sils Maria. I didn’t have any clue what I was in for, and though slow pace of the film and the ever-changing landscape did get a bit tedious at times, the film possessed a story that I can only describe as life imitating art. Ironic, given that the film covers the story of a renowned actress being asked to return to a play that made her famous but this time in an older role, another once upon a time playing the younger one.