Fried Barry
4 star(s), 99 minutes, Shudder
All hail “Fried Barry," a glorious mindfuck that reimagines the traditional Hollywood body-swapping comedy as a subversive screed on hedonistic excess as seen through the eyes of an intergalactic alien whose consciousness somehow melds with the body of a drug-addicted lowlife ne’er-do-well named Barry (Gary Green).
Writer-director Ryan Kruger has created an instant cult classic that hails from an unlikely place, South Africa, but which transcends your expectations by showcasing a series of increasingly gory and body-shredding exploits.
Green, with his bulging eyes and jutting jaw, is revelatory in a role that should in a perfect world be showered with accolades. He completely commits to such a degree that he comes off as other-worldly from the instant that his body and mind are invaded, and it’s an absolute blast to behold.
The resulting elevator ride to hell that forms the basis for Barry's see-it-all, do-it-all descent into decadent South African nightlife and depravity is so surreal and unpredictable that you're barely fazed when he goes bareback to orgasm with a local prostitute, who immediately, instantly gets pregnant and gives birth to his alien-human hybrid.
Trust us when we say you ain’t ever seen anything quite like this.
At Night Comes Wolves
3.5 star(s), 76 minutes, streaming, Blu-Ray and DVD
Much like the recent “Lucky” and “Burn It All,” two stellar genre films told from a decidedly feminist perspective, Tj Marine’s feature debut, “At Night Comes Wolves,” serves as a stark, unapologetic reminder that true horror can be found in a home where the “man” feels superior in his demand for fealty from the “woman,” regardless of his cruel nature.
It’s also a prime example of why the best horror mash-ups are the ones that make you sit up and shout, “What the actual fuck?!?”
“At Night Comes Wolves” is one of those little gems that asks its audience to fill in blanks with their imagination, but the basic thrust follows Leah (Gabi Alves), a dutiful wife trying desperately to please her brutish, backwards-thinking husband, who eventually hooks up with a tiny cult-like band of believers who are convinced they have uncovered a way to end misogyny through a ceremony that will basically make them immortal.
It’s a wild, unpredictable ride that culminates with one of the best in recent memory twists that literally catches you so wholly unprepared that you can’t help but clap enthusiastically from your couch.
Bloodthirsty
3 star(s), 84 minutes, streaming
Fright director Amelia Moses had quite the output during the global pandemic that sacked much of 2020, delivering a festival favorite (“Bleed With Me”) along with “Bloodthirsty,” a poignant coming-of-age tale of a singer, Grey (Lauren Beatty), besieged with nocturnal visions of her tearing into flesh and gorging on blood.
If you notice similarities between “Bloodthirsty” and “Ginger Snaps,” you’re not alone, but whereas “Ginger Snaps” stands as one of the best werewolf movies ever made, “Bloodthirsty” is more concerned with Grey’s artistic transformation than her literal one.
It’s a solid entry into lycanthrope lore, but more than anything, “Bloodthirsty” reaffirms that Moses has a very bright future with likely her best work still to come.
Death Ranch
3 star(s), 78 minutes, streaming, Blu-Ray and DVD
You can thank “Get Out” and “Antebellum” for sparking a renaissance in Black-centric genre movies focused on our racially-charged past that sadly remains a constant in our current social climate.
“Death Ranch,” however, doesn’t aspire to be a movie that will make you think after the credits roll. Its sole focus is to deliver an hour-plus sizzle reel showcasing three Black protagonists fighting back with brutal, gory results against a horde of white-hooded Klansmen in the 1970s.
If you’re sensitive to racial epithets and imagery steeped in the blood and hate of our country’s darkest period (until now, at least), then you might want to avoid “Death Ranch.” But if you dig hardcore practical effects that spotlight extreme damage to the human body, coupled with a spot-on retro-Blaxploitation vibe, then you should be pleasantly surprised.
Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse
2.5 star(s), 109 minutes, Amazon Prime
After nearly two-dozen appearances in Tom Clancy novels, and supporting appearances in two films based on Clancy books about Jack Ryan, Amazon Prime is taking a big swing in debuting the first full-length feature based on the character of John Kelly, a highly-skilled and lethal Navy SEAL, who eventually changes his name to John Clark.
With a well-regarded director (Stefano Sollima) a script co-written by Taylor Sheridan, the modern-day equivalent of Cormac McCarthy, and Michael B. Jordan as Kelly, you would think that “Without Remorse” would crackle with urgency and spit out bits of bone fragment like an unstoppable Goliath.
And it does, at times, but too much of this origin story into the traumatic circumstances that forced Kelly to abandon his given name and become an avenging vigilante doesn’t connect or resonate the way you might expect.
“Without Remorse” is a decent actioner that could have been a lot better, but the end result falls far short of the benchmarks from previous standout projects that Sheridan and Jordan, especially, have left fans expecting.
Initiation
2.5 star(s), 96 minutes, streaming
Let’s give “Initiation,” the feature-length debut of director/co-writer John Berado, a little credit for trying to goose the slasher genre with a healthy dollop of 21st-century social media commentary, but his ambition exceeds his ability to stick the landing when it comes to making a point about the connection between our collective desire to be liked, our not-so-irrational fear of being slut-shamed and forever marked online by cyber bullying, and the potential for ill-advised tweets to spark real-life violence.
“Initiation” is watchable, and mostly enjoyable, with a decent twist reveal in the final frames that seems designed to leave the door cracked for a possible sequel (of course!), but it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.
Oxygen
2 star(s), 100 minutes, Netflix
French genre director Alexandre Aja has delivered four exceptional movies in his career, including two of the best remakes in modern-day cinematic history, but he’s also missed the mark on occasion, too.
His latest, the science-fiction thriller “Oxygen,” falls firmly on the wrong side of his resume next to “Mirrors” and “Horns,” and lacks any of the brutal imagery or visceral gore that defined his personal best in classics “High Tension,” “The Hills Have Eyes,” Piranha 3D” or 2019’s “Crawl.”
“Oxygen,” which stars Mélanie Laurent as Elizabeth Hansen, quickly wears out its claustrophobic trappings despite its above-average set design and high-brow concept. Basically, Hansen wakes up in a cryo chamber with no recollection of where she is or what’s happening around her with a polite built-in AI system that counts down the minutes until her oxygen levels completely deplete.
In the past, Aja has rebounded following his occasional missteps with something truly visionary. Here’s hoping that history will repeat itself once again.
The Little Things
1.5 star(s), 128 minutes, streaming, Blu-Ray, DVD
What do you get when you parachute three Oscar-winning actors into a gritty yet overwrought serial killer thriller?
You get “The Little Things,” which apparently exists to imagine what might have happened next in “Se7en” if Somerset had allowed Mills to kill John Doe.
It has been a long, long, long time since I felt like I was watching a long, long, long movie, but there really are not enough words to convey just how painfully, inexplicably slow “The Little Things” is or how redundant it feels, despite the presence of A-list talent like Denzel Washington, Rami Malek and Jared Leto.
The Resort
1 star(s), 75 minutes, streaming
It’s probably the most frustrating scenario for both a film fan and movie critic to see a great location and set-up for a horror movie be so wholly and completely wasted.
“The Resort,” a new paranormal would-be frightfest, envisions a world where a luxurious, oceanfront destination getaway in Hawaii has been completely abandoned due to fears that a vengeful ghost was terrorizing vacationers and making dozens of people disappear.
And, of course, the ones who decide to sneak into the resort are a foursome of friends celebrating the birthday of a social media influencer obsessed with the legend of the Half-Faced Girl, who gained urban legend fame upon the now-vacant resort’s shuttering.
Even worse, “The Resort” is told in flashback from a hospital bed through the tired trope of a police detective interrogating the lone survivor.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
0 star(s), 85 minutes, streaming
We’ve seen some ridiculous mashups in our day, but “Wrong Time, Wrong Place” might just carve itself a spot near the top of the bargain bin heap.
Basically, this is “From Dusk Till Dumb,” with a story involving an elite team of mercenaries trying to steal millions from a Mexican cartel who find themselves holed up inside a mansion that’s become home to an ancient vampiric evil.
Nothing really works, and every opportunity to add some tension or chills falls flat due to a cast of cardboard characters who aren’t allowed to show even a hint of genuine emotion or terror.
Avoid at all costs.
Also available
Boys from County Hell Shudder nabbed exclusive rights to one of 2020’s festival favorites, an Irish twist on classic vampire cinema with genuine bite. Trust us when we say, turn on your subtitles.
Judas and the Black Messiah Any question as to why Daniel Kaluuya won an Oscar will be answered immediately upon viewing Shaka King’s remarkable true-life tale.
Bad Witch If you ever wondered what “The Craft” might have been like with a reckless teen warlock, you can stream “Bad Witch” right now and find out.
Switchblade Sisters A single feature of classic 1970s exploitation action.
Cast a Dark Shadow/Wanted for Murder A double feature of classic noir thrillers.
Ambushed, Faceless Man, Run for Your Life These three “Retro Afrika” cult classics are now available on DVD.
Deep Blood f you’ve never seen this ridiculous 1990 rip-off of “Jaws,” it’s time you make amends by picking up the Blu-Ray and reveling in the sheer audacity.
Donnie Darko 4K Ultra HD and Big Fish 4K Ultra HD Two classics return in glorious ultra high-definition.
John W. Allman has spent more than 25 years as a professional journalist and writer, but he’s loved movies his entire life. Good movies, awful movies, movies that are so gloriously bad you can’t help but champion them. Since 2009, he has cultivated a review column and now a website dedicated to the genre films that often get overlooked and interviews with cult cinema favorites like George A. Romero, Bruce Campbell and Dee Wallace. Contact him at Blood Violence and Babes.com, on Facebook @BloodViolenceBabes or on Twitter @BVB_reviews.
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