Change Your Image
michaelRokeefe
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Moonfall (2022)
The world in a woeful situation
On the brink of annihilation, the world is in a woeful situation as unexplainably the Moon's orbit has been altered out of its trajectory around the Earth. The predicted collision course, without doubt, puts the world on the cusp of annihilation.
A NASA exec and former astronaut "Jo" Fowler (Halle Berry) is convinced she has the key to save us all. Trouble is that only two people believe her...an astronaut from her past Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and a conspiracy theorist John Bradly (KC Houseman) agree with her. A hurried mission into space will reveal a secret we didn't know about the moon.
This obvious B movie does have visuals of a true space screen gem. Nonetheless things get a bit hokey and it is hard to redeem anything, but Berry. Also in the cast are Stephen Bogaert, Kelly Yu and Donald Sutherland.
The Axiom (2018)
Psychoanalytic imagery
You need not need a high IQ to watch this one; just keep an open mind and let it flow. A sister and brother McKenzie (Hattie Smith) and Martin (Zac Titus) are joined by reluctant friends traveling deep into a National Forest in search for their missing sister after finding crucial clues in her diary.
Soon upon arrival, they discover that the park is divided into axioms, hidden portals to alternate worlds that are guarded and commanded by predatory multi-dimensional creatures.
Each of the group of friends are dealing with their own personal demons like self-loathing, mental health issues and just living apart. When they do find the missing girl, is she family, friend or foe?
This is a clever, atmospheric and exploitive supernatural drama. The cast also features Nicole Dambro, Taylor Flowers, William Kircher and a small role for director/writer Nicolas Woods.
The Shallows (2016)
A young woman vs nature
Still recovering from the loss of her mother, a young medical school dropout Nancy (Blake Lively) travels to a beach in Mexico that used to be a favorite of her mother's. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy is satisfied with soaking up some sun before hitting the waves.
A super large slate-grey shark the size of a large milk truck starts to terrorize the young surfer. The twisting and leaping menace forces her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Injured and stranded 200 yards from shore, Nancy knows she is in for the fight of her life. Trapped in a lagoon, Nancy realizes the murky waters are filled with other smaller creatures that couldn't care if she survived the jagged tooth shark or not. The lovely Lively turns in an outstanding performance.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Legendary archaeologist on the go again.
Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr,, better known as Indiana Jones, returns for the fifth installment of the series of swashbuckling adventures. For years we have thought this favorite character being immortal; but Jones and the franchise itself may be trolling on fumes.
This newest venture seems to have lost some charm and bordering on becoming immortal after all. The "powers that be" have given our hero a digital face-lift. Once again Indy is battling Nazis, convenient disposal villains. Preliminaries get underway with explosions, speeding cars, daring sprints to freedom even jumping on top of a moving train.
You almost get the idea of a greatest hits album, The film edges on with Dr. Jones taking on a female companion, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). The Dial of Destiny is a prize dating back several thousand years. Indy grabs his fedora, leather jacket and whip as he and Helena set out globetrotting to retrieve it.
Sometimes a little bittersweet, comical, uncomfortable and a bit out-dated...remember this is Indiana Jones. Rounding out the cast are Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Thomas Kretschmann and Toby Jones.
Boar (2017)
Horror film from down under
Letting you know what we're talkin' about. A boar is a very large toothed swine that runs with other feral pigs.
You will hear the roar before you see the gore. The setting is a beautiful countryside in Australia. A couple out for a drive in the Outback witness a stampede of feral pigs before their car is rammed by a large hippo-sized boar.
Meanwhile two friends go out at night looking for a missing farm dog and stumbles upon a giant boar and won't be able to talk about it. The next night a couple of lovers are devoured on a camping trip.
A family reunion is interrupted by a blood-thirsty wild boar. This Aussie adventure is fully loaded with brutal force and bloody images. Gore galore. The cast features Nathan Jones, Melissa Tkautz, Christie-Lee Britten, Simone Buchanan and Bill Moseley.
Snow Beast (2011)
Not for a melodramtic heart
Sure week after week, year after year people go missing in the grand wilderness of Canada. Many films have creatures that have the advantage of moving through the snow; but nonetheless body counts easily can add up.
Scientist Jim Harwood (John Schnider) and his research team try to evade a mysterious predator that is blamed for a series of deaths after they travel through the wilderness to study a species of lynx, that have not like them disappeared from their territory. A local ranger Barry (Jason London) is also looking for answers to why tourist are also going missing. Is the common answer human prey. How many survivors will have tales to tell?
Rounding out the cast are Danielle C. Ryan, Kari Hawker and Paul Hunt.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
What is wrong Mommy?
If you are a dead serious horror fan, you should reach overload with this one. Who could pass up grievous bodily harm, eye trauma, explosive vomit, stab wounds, shotgun blasts, body parts removed and possibly thousands of gallons of spilt blood. Knives, scissors and a cheese grater become weapons.
Two estranged sisters Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), a psychologically challenged single mom and rock guitar specialist Beth (Lily Sullivan), have a reunion rudely interrupted. An earthquake opens a hole in parking garage floor. Ellie's son (Morgan Davies) retrieves a mysterious book and recordings from a bank deposit box. Has a demon found Ellie?
Now it is time to grab the edge of your seat. Gnarly gore, nightmarish carnage and stomach turning disturbing images will rumble in your head.
WNUF Halloween Special (2013)
Fictitious TV special
This is really a hoot to watch, if you have a gathering of friends around with a variety of snacks. The premise is to replicate a found VHS tape made to look like a recording of a commercial television station, WNUF, Halloween Special from 1987.
The news anchors discuss regional news stories and featuring many local commercials, even a dentist offering cash for candy and tips for safe "trick or treating". The special is to have anchor Frank Stewart (Paul Fahrenkoph) conducting a live on-air investigation of a supposed haunted house, the scene of the 1967 Spirit Board Murders of a man and wife by their disturbed son.
A real slice of nostalgia on a very low budget. This comedy/horror also features Nicolette le Faye, Richard Cutting, Leanna Chamish, and Helenmary Ball.
Maneater (2007)
He's a maneater on the loose.
Due to a road accident, a Bengal tiger escapes his cage. The Appalachian Trail is stalked by the rogue killer and a small town sheriff Grady Barnes (Gary Busey), a little over-weight, slow and a bit gruff, is seriously determined to capture the tiger. He will be joined with a professional hunter Colonel James Graham (Ian D. Clark) and a brave young boy Roy (Ty Wood) that talks to imaginary friends and loves tigers.
This is a SyFy original with some real good scenery and a gripping showdown of courage. Busey doesn't show much real interest; but is my favorite character. Some disturbing scenes of dismembered bodies to keep you awake.
Rounding out the cast are Diana Reis, Sarah Constible, Aaron Hughes and Adriana O'Neil.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Quirky, but has what it takes.
This comedy directed by Tim Burton has what it takes to view time and time again. A bit quirky with some funny quips easily over-looked.
A very likable New England couple Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis) die and return home as ghosts. A weird, put-offish couple Delia (Catherine O'Hara) and Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and more respectable daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) move into the home wanting to turn it into a pseudo-freak house. Lydia, a bit odd, somehow is able to see and communicate with the ghosts. Her parents aren't true believers, but would rather have the ghosts removed. So a malicious spirit named Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) is hired to drive them out. Thus the fun begins. Keaton, O'Hara and Davis are standouts!
Crocodile 2: Death Swamp (2002)
Danger in a Mexican swamp
Four thuggish criminals pull a vicious bank robbery and with what stolen money they can carry board an airliner heading south. The crooks act suspiciously on the plane while a hazardous storm compels the pilots to turn back. Immediately the robbers hijack the plane and keep it on course to Mexico. The storm and a wild gunshot causes the plane to nosedive into a swamp. The aircraft splits in half and among the survivors are two flight attendants and the bank robbers. Ruthless and brutal behavior is rampant in the heavy storm---then the few survivors left are pursued by an enormous hungry crocodile.
Starring are Heidi Lenhart, Jon Skiaroff, Anna Cranage, Darryl Theirse and Martin Kove.
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
Twistwed, shocking and violent!
This is a potent psychosexual thriller also known as Night Warning. Aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrell) has an healthy attachment to her teenage nephew Billy (Jimmy McNichol), who loses his parents in a horrible accident as a baby. Aunt Cheryl has been his guardian since he was four; now in high school his major concerns are graduating and getting a basketball scholarship to college. In spite of Billy's girlfriend Julie (Julia Duffy), his Aunt is in no mood to let him leave her. That is until he witnesses her kill a man in her kitchen. Twisted detective Carlson (Bo Svenson), is hot on Billy being the killer. Things just don't add up until Cheryl's obsessive mothering and obvious incestuous and murdering actions become crystal clear.
The demented psycho actions of Tyrell definitely steal the show.
Gods of the Deep (2023)
Mythical creatures are discovered
Low budget, but entertaining. Jim Peters (Derek Nelson) is a professor of astrobiology working in London for The Pickman Corp, who help fund his research, but that doesn't mean he fully trusts them. They ask him to join a daring expedition to explore a strange structure discovered in a deep abyss off Antarctica.
Five other engineers, biologists and scientists including Christine Harris (Makenna Guyler), the mission's lead biologist, will be exploring the ocean's depths in a specially created submersible that can safely descend deeper than anyone before.
They find a portal that appears to be remains of an ancient civilization built for inhabitants other than human. After entering the mysterious opening on the ocean floor, they arrive upon an underwater world of an ancient race of otherworldly mythical creatures. The unwelcome visitors would like tissue samples to take back home...easier said than done.
Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)
No sleeping on the night job!
Mike (Josh Hutcherson) is a troubled young guy recently fired and desperate for work. He currently has custody of his little sister Abby (Piper Rubio) and is offered and takes the position of night security guard at the out of business and abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.
Mike's Aunt Jane (Mary Stuart Masterson) wants to take custody of Abby, so keeping this job is important. He soon finds out that things are not just right in the old building. Besides the electric being faulty, he thinks he hears strange movement. A local police patrol officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) stops on her beat and offers aid dealing with unexplainable encounters with animatronic characters coming to life.
Not actually scary, but does have its moments. Also in the cast are Matthew Lillard, Kat Conner Sterling, Grant Feely and Jophielle Love. The animatronic characters are created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Dark Island (2010)
Search and destroy
In actuality Dark Island is a prominent feature of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and is located in the lower Thousand Islands region of New York near the town of Hammond.
Now the science fiction, after losing all contact with its research team on a secluded island, a military corporation hires a group of scientists along with soldiers to find out whats really happening. What is real interesting is when they arrive, the newly assembled team discovers that weapons testing on the island has released a deadly entity that manifests in an animated black cloud. This smoky menace is not planning to stop until it destroys everything it wraps around.
The CGI cloud looked really good with believable movement. The movie does drag a little with no overall jump scares. The cast keeps Dark Island from being a bore-fest featuring Tess Panzer, Eric Raymond Lim, Victoria Floro, Rob O'Brien and Mary Christina Brown.
Reptile (2023)
Detective drama
Invest and it won't let you go. An unflinching New England detective, Tom Nichols (Benicio Del Toro) , does not give up easy and plays close to the vest. Just maybe a tad left of center, Nichols, has put in enough time to the job that he refuses to be anybody's fool.
An exaggerated laid-back real estate mogul Will Grady (Justin Timberlake) is dating one of his agents, Summer Elswick (Matilda Lutz) , who is found murdered. They flip foreclosures on expensive properties under the scrutiny of Grady's mother, Camille (Francis Fisher). Trouble brews there.
More problems arise dealing with murders and drug money involved with Grady's real estate deals that Nichols needs some help proving. He turns to his beautiful wife Judy (Alicia Silverstone) to help analyze the pursuit of his only real suspect.
Rounding out the cast are Eric Bogosian, Ato Essandoh and Domenick Lombardozzi.
The Devil All the Time (2020)
Humanity leaves a stain.
This movie is a riveting realization of Donald Ray Pollock's best-selling novel. Pollock's smoky rasp makes for an omniscient narrator. Expecting something light...not here. The Devil All The Time is unflinching, cruel and pretty damn depressing; but I'm digging it. I guess misery loves company.
The plot spans from WWII to Viet Nam War concerning deaths in backwood towns of southern Ohio and West Virginia. Psychological drama with crime thrills. Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgard) suffering PTSD returns home to marry a waitress (Haley Bennett) and has a son Arvin (Tom Holland). Arvin's adopted sibling (Eliza Scanlen) has an affair with a new preacher (Robert Pattinson). Add to the mix a serial killer couple, Carl (Jason Clarke) and Sandy (Riley Keogh).
The extreme violence occurs off-screen. Some viewers may be shocked or feel like a guilty participant.
The Block Island Sound (2020)
A paranormal mystery
Block Island Sound is a strait in the Open Atlantic, just about 10 miles wide, that separates Block Island from the Mainland Rhode Island coast. Something is wrong in the waters, causing strange behavior of fisherman. Loud violent outbursts cause dead fish to fall from the sky along with dead birds landing on dead fish washing up on the shore. Even a marine biologist tries to get to the bottom of the mystery with no real answers. A strange trailer-dwelling stranger is suspected of causing troubles on the beach as island citizens grow stressful and the mysterious sound in the air may be causing early dementia. Intriguing movie from directors Kevin and Matthew McManus.
Ogre (2008)
Not hard to live forever
This is a joint American-Canadian TV project for the SyFy Channel. In this village it's easy to live forever as long as someone pays the price in blood. Over 250 years ago, the fictional town of Ellensford, Pennsylvania is nearly forgotten as it was devastated by a plague. The village is stuck in a time loop in the early 19th century.
A town leader, Henry Bartlett (John Schneider), makes a pact creating a spell with a huge hungry ogre to save the town. Ellenford becomes immortal except for the yearly sacrifice of a citizen to the man-eating ogre.
Becoming an urban legend, a group of college friends decide to search for the isolated town and end up disturbing the ogre in the woods.
The ogre is not too scary; he's a CGI look-alike of say...Shrek. Obese belly almost dragging the ground and a loud horrible groan. Acting and editing is pretty cringe worthy.
The Hive (2008)
Enhanced human intelligence
This chilling film takes place in rural Wales. A team of scientists are doing genetic research creating a serum that expounds intelligence. One side effect is it turns subjects into blood-starved killers. The team is led by (Tom Wopat), a brilliant scientist that realizes a facility computer system failure.
Ordinary ants, become displaying unheard of behavior and in desperation a controversial Thorax Team is called upon to stop the threat. Ants are crawling fast enough to catch running humans. The creatures can even join together to form solid shapes like large worms. Some believe that ant colonies are now getting powers from alien intervention.
CGI ants are below average, but better than the plot and acting.
Violett (2023)
Creepy and clever
Citizens of the small community of Miles, Australia are in questionable disbelief as strange child disappearances mount up. A very sick, slightly unhinged and deeply depressed mother Sonya (Georgia Eyers), fears some unspeakable evil will soon nab her 11 year old daughter Violett (Valentina Blagojevic).
Sonya, who seems to be in a near-perpetual state of sadness, does find joy only when spending time with Violett. She fears anyone who comes to her door; she fears neighbors and the darkness in shadows, who can possibly be waiting to take her daughter. Her brooding grief and gloominess has her fixated on the young girl.
The film at times does have stylistic color saturation. My favorite scene is the flying of a kite in a yellow meadow. Moody and perplexed the movie pays off big time in the 20 minute or so finale.
Into the Grizzly Maze (2015)
Woodland terror
Animalistic and menacing disorder in the wilds of Alaska. Two estranged brothers, Rowan (James Marsden) and Beckett (Thomas Jane), with a spotty past, try reluctantly to reunite. Rowan found himself locked up for killing a man; while Beckett now in law enforcement are forced to deal with family drama. The brothers try to pay proper respect for their deceased father, who was killed in "The Grizzly Maze".
Dead bodies start mounting up and the foremost suspect is a massive, angry bear that doesn't like illegal hunters invading its territory. Grotesque murders have locals asking a pro-like tracker (Billy Bob Thornton) to end the violence for good. The brothers wanting their own revenge have differences between them and the tracker.
Constant barrage of woodland terror brings tension and anxiety. This fast-paced and furious flick also stars Piper Perabo, Michaela McManus and Scott Glenn.
Immaculate (2024)
Immaculate conception
Michael Mohan directs this thriller that throws a young devout nun, Cecilia (Sydney Sweeney), headfirst with little alarm into the nightmarish underbelly of a secluded convent in scenic Italy.
The young American is trying to make a fresh start totally unaware that anything may be awry as she gives her life to her faith and believes God saved her from nearly drowning as a child.
Cecilia gets used to her new life's routine and gets summoned to talk to the male leadership of the convent. She is told that examinations say that she is pregnant despite being a virgin. It is a miracle bringing dreams, hope and prayers from the community. But sinful dark forces lurk through the convent causing dread and terror and the unthinkable.
Shark in Venice (2008)
Not to be taken seriously
This is a B-movie that went straight to DVD. A plot involving hidden treasure, the mafia and a shark. Right away you shake your head when you realize that a Great White is going to have to swim waters 1000 miles away to get to the watery streets of Venice.
The mafia plans on protecting a buried treasure by putting baby sharks into the canals, that are actually polluted. David Franks (Stephen Baldwin) is our designated hero that is almost ripped in half by a Great White, but manages an early release from the hospital to take on the mafia and some darkly filmed stock footage sharks and even worse CGI sharks.
Also appearing are Vanessa Johansson, Hilda van der Meulen and Bashar Rahal.
Crocodile Swarm (2023)
Forbidden cave...so what!
Fun can come in different forms. A group of friends on just a typical day come up with a somewhat unusual idea of looking around in a forbidden cave. An old deserted mining cave...not completely deserted. Now we have people strolling through a well manicured cave, but a bit stinky with noises in the distance. The group has a preset time agreed upon to leave. This won't really be a factor after they are attacked by a swarm of crocodiles.
Some of the acting is about average for a low budget creature feature. The script hard to be believable. Mannequin bodies and a few rubber crocs and now welcome to ridiculous.
The cast features Lila Lasso, Ella Starbuck, Coco Taylor and Howard J. Davey.