FILM FRENZY

Glenn Saxson in Kriminal (Photo: Cult Epics)

By Matt Brunson

(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray, 4K, and DVD. Ratings are on a four-star scale.)

CITIZEN VIGILANTE (2026). Enthusiastically promoted by Elon Musk and embraced by fascists and bigots worldwide, Citizen Vigilante is the sort of movie that one imagines was made simply to “own the libs.” But this hypocritical picture can’t even own the convictions for which it supposedly stands, and it’s no surprise that it was made by a filmmaker who for over 20 years has been tagged as one of the worst directors of all time. Uwe Boll, the self-proclaimed “genius” behind such titles as House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, and In the Name of the King, has written and directed what’s basically the cinematic equivalent of a mentally deficient MAGA groupie banging out xenophobic screeds on Truth Social and The-Platform-Formerly-Known-As-Twitter. Armie Hammer stars as Michael Saunders, an American living illegally in an unidentified European country (filming was done in Croatia). Smug and sanctimonious, he takes it upon himself to kill every immigrant he feels wasn’t properly punished for their crimes — he also deems it necessary to slaughter entire families, police officers just doing their jobs, activist judges, and, in a scene that best exposes the hypocrisy of the entire enterprise, an innocent person (or persons) whose car bursts into flames after he forces it off the road. Michael professes to care deeply for female victims, yet he spends his downtime dallying with prostitutes — you know, female victims of another sort. Like all Boll b.s., this film looks tawdry from first frame to last — it opens with the blackest of black immigrants stabbing the whitest of white blondes in the neck for no reason, and the blood couldn’t possibly look more fake. It’s cheap and unconvincing, much like everything else in this celluloid cesspool.

Blu-ray extras include audio and visual commentary by Boll and a discussion with co-star Costas Mandylor regarding Boll.

Movie: ★

DUPLICITY (2009). Writer-director Tony Gilroy, flush from his Michael Clayton success, retains that 2008 film’s examination of corporate malfeasance yet replaces the sense of dread with a sense of style. After all, when a movie showcases a Caribbean hotel where rooms cost $10,000 per night, it’s clear the protagonists won’t be cut from the same cloth as us po’ folks who have to worry about trifling matters like healthcare and gas prices. The leads are played by Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, the sort of high-wattage movie stars so glamorous that it’s easy to believe even their bath tissues are Armani-designed. She’s former CIA agent Claire Stenwick; he’s ex-MI6 operative Ray Koval. Having both left their jobs to take lucrative assignments with rival corporations (the company CEOs are played in amusing fashion by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti), Claire and Ray end up pooling their talents in order to swindle both companies and steal the formula for a new cosmetic product that will revolutionize the industry. But all the time, they each wonder if they can really trust the other person. If there’s a fault with Duplicity, it’s that Gilroy relies far too heavily on flashbacks to the point that the first half-hour is often impenetrable — telling the story in linear fashion would have still produced enough narrative twists to keep audiences happily engaged. Fortunately, as the movie continues, plot basics become more digestible, and it all pans out with a climactic “gotcha” that should invoke happy memories of The Sting.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray edition include audio commentary by Tony Gilroy and editor/co-producer John Gilroy, and an interview with Dan Daily (who appears as the Giamatti character’s aide).

Movie: ★★★

GAIL DAUGHTRY AND THE CELEBRITY SEX PASS (2026) / ONE NIGHT ONLY (2026). Here are two movies that simply sound too gimmicky for their own good. Watching them back-to-back on consecutive nights, I anticipated plenty of involuntary winces on my part; instead, I was pleasantly surprised by both.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass tries hard — really, really hard — to be something different, to the point that it’s clear the filmmakers had visions of cult-film status dancing in their heads. Such an approach can be overbearing when the jokes don’t connect, and this movie suffers from such moments. But when the humor lands, it lands hard, resulting in no small measure of hilarious gags. The day that engaged Kansas couple Gail Daughtry (Zoe Deutch) and Tom Soursap McNoodleman (Michael Cassidy) casually chat about their own “celebrity sex pass” is the day that Tom actually meets his pick: Jennifer Aniston, who proceeds to sleep with the groom-to-be. An angry Gail feels betrayed and decides the only way to proceed with their nuptial plans is to even the score by sleeping with hers: Jon Hamm. Thus, Gail and her best friend Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley) head to Hollywood, where they pick up various strangers (including Hamm’s Mad Men co-star John Slattery) who agree to help her fulfill her wish. It takes some time before it becomes clear that the movie is a takeoff on The Wizard of Oz, but the connection is so threadbare that it’s puzzling why it was included at all. Still, it doesn’t hinder the sizable laughs that are generated by the quirky characterizations, some whip-smart quips, and a handful of smartly chosen cameos (my fave: Henry Winkler).

One Night Only plays like a romcom version of The Purge, and if the implications of that concept sound rather perverse, it’s largely minimized to make room for a fairly standard but nevertheless winning love story. In the near future, this country’s ruling conservatives have made all sexual acts outside of marriage illegal — that’s the law for 364 days each year, with only a few hours on the 365th day allowed for all single people to hook up and fornicate. Pizzeria owner Owen (Callum Turner) starts the night by asking his girlfriend (Maya Hawke, the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman) to marry him, but she ends up letting him know that she plans to sleep with another man (this sets up one of the movie’s best visual gags). Meanwhile, aspiring singer Allie (Monica Barbaro, Oscar-nominated for playing Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown) just wants to hook up with someone who isn’t a total creep. Allie and Owen keep bumping into each other throughout the night, and while their banter is testy, it’s obvious that they’re fated for each other. Barbaro and Turner are so appealing, and their adventures so entertaining, that it’s easy to ignore the big picture — namely, that the fascists have won. One Night Only sports a great hook for a dour drama or even a searing satire, and it’s understandable if anyone feels irked that it was used for a frothy romcom. But on that level, it works.

The only Blu-ray extra on Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is the theatrical trailer. Blu-ray extras on One Night Only consist of a quartet of making-of featurettes.

Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass: ★★★

One Night Only: ★★★

GIRLS LIKE GIRLS (2026). In a welcome break from movies that are based on video games, here’s one that’s based on a song. Singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko elected to first turn her 2015 hit single of the same name into a novel in 2023 and now has followed up with a motion picture. A sweet story of young sapphic love, the film is set in 2006 Oregon and centers on new teen in town Coley (Maya da Costa). Still reeling from her mom’s suicide and forced to live with a dad (Zach Braff) she barely knows, Coley finds a friend in the popular Sonya (Myra Molloy). Much to the dismay of Sonya’s cloddish boyfriend Trenton (Levon Hawke, the son of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman), Sonya and Coley start spending a lot of time together. The girls eventually kiss, which pleases Coley but confuses Sonya, who worries about anyone finding out and destroying her social standing. Girls Like Girls is a sturdy entry in the LGBTQ+ genre, not really breaking new ground but spinning a heartfelt story that captures the excitement and uncertainty of young love. Molloy and especially da Costa are excellent, and Braff delivers a nice turn as a father who wants to communicate with a resentful daughter but doesn’t know how to break down the barriers. [Vague Spoiler] The film ends on a lovely note, but be sure to stay through the end credits to get the full effect.

There are no Blu-ray extras.

Movie: ★★★

JOY RIDE (2023). As a feature film with both Asian representation and trans representation, Joy Ride is somewhat priceless; as a feature film in the raunchy comedy vein, Joy Ride is somewhat worthless. Yet what saves this picture from total dismissal isn’t its humor but, rather surprisingly, its forceful dramatic components. Adele Lim, who penned the scripts for Crazy Rich Asians and Raya and the Last Dragon, makes her directorial debut (to go along with co-scripting duties) with this yarn in which Audrey Sullivan (Ashley Park), a Chinese lawyer who had been adopted by white parents as a baby, has to travel to her homeland for a business transaction. Accompanying her is her mouthy best friend Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Lolo’s oddball cousin “Deadeye” (Sabrina Wu), and they eventually meet up in China with Kat (Everything Everywhere All at Once Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu), Audrey’s former college roommate and now a well-known actress. It’s the same formula employed for The Hangover, Bridesmaids (still the best of the bunch), and Girls Trip, but after an amusing start, the film mostly falls flat when it comes to laughs. Yet coursing through the picture is a storyline involving Audrey’s attempts to find her birth mother — this dramatic device takes over during the final stretch (complete with a surprising twist), and it leads to a tender examination of identity, expectation, and self-awareness.

Blu-ray extras include a making-of featurette; a piece on Lim; a deleted scene; and a sing-along for the Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion tune “WAP” (performed during the film by the four leads).

Movie: ★★½

KRIMINAL (1966). Among the most famous of Italy’s 60s-era fumetti neri (“dark comics”) was Kriminal, created in 1964 and following on the heels of the genre’s opening act, 1962’s Diabolik. Packed with sex and violence and featuring a protagonist who tended to murder his lady conquests in order to conceal his true identity, the comic book was considerably toned down when writer-director Umberto Lenzi (later of the controversial Cannibal Ferox) elected to bring it to the big screen. What remains is a frisky romp featuring an anti-hero who’s more in the James Bond tradition, a suave and handsome Brit who’s irresistible to women and has no qualms about killing villains (presumably, he likewise prefers his martinis shaken, not stirred). Kriminal is the name given to Anthony Logan (Glenn Saxson), a master thief pursued all over England and the Continent by Scotland Yard Inspector Patrick Milton (Andrea Bosic). Kriminal’s latest scheme involves the acquisition of a parcel of diamonds, a plan that takes him to Spain and Istanbul and finds him involved with twin sisters (Helga Liné). Given his ruthlessness and disdain for pretty much everyone, it’s hard to fully get behind Kriminal, but Lenzi keeps the film sparkling as brightly as those diamonds, staging some effective action scenes and weaving a story that, with its various double-crosses, never grows tired. It’s just too bad Kriminal isn’t allowed to don his superhero-like costume very often, as its infrequent appearances provide the film with an extra pop.

The 4K + Blu-ray edition offers both Italian and English audio. Extras include film historian audio commentary; a feature-length documentary on Lenzi; and an interview with Saxson.

Movie: ★★★

SCARY MOVIE (2000) / SCARY MOVIE (2026). Just as the fifth film in the Scream series was called simply Scream instead of the more logical Scream 5, now we get the sixth movie in the Scary Movie franchise opting to go with Scary Movie rather than Scary Movie 6. It’s daft, but what can you do?

The 2000 Scary Movie is vile, offensive, and mean-spirited junk, so in the spirit of the film, it deserves two thumbs up the you-know-what. When this debuted 26 years ago, even (especially?) those of us who had no interest in the teen-oriented slasher flicks found plenty to enjoy in this vicious sendup. Combining the plots of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer and eviscerating them with all the warped zeal of a MAD magazine spoof, director Keenen Ivory Wayans and a handful of scripters (including Keenen’s brothers Shawn and Marlon) employ gross-out gags, non-PC humor, and potshots at other hit properties in this yarn about a group of high school students being stalked by the masked killer Ghostface. Scary Movie takes aim at the likes of The Blair Witch Project, The Usual Suspects, and even Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance (remember that?), although the funniest sustained sequence involves the course of action that should be taken when an audience member talks incessantly during a movie. A quarter-century later, many of the gags don’t hold up — honestly, many didn’t even work back then — but those viewers who can get on the movie’s lowbrow wavelength should find it a scream.

No such merriment can be found in the 2026 Scary Movie, a mostly terrible chapter that tackles the familiar formula with greatly diminished returns. This one mimics the recent direction of the Scream series by having Ghostface terrorize a younger generation as well as the so-called “Core Four” (original series stars Anna Faris, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, and Regina Hall). Many of the jokes would have seemed dated even back in 2000, and the movie and television parodies — Get Out, The Substance, Smile, and many more — are hit and miss but mostly miss (although I did chuckle at the Sinners / The Jeffersons bit). The original was largely molded by inspiration; this one merely reeks of desperation.

Extras in the 4K + Blu-ray + Digital Code Steelbook edition of Scary Movie 2000 include a behind-the-scenes piece and a half-dozen additional scenes. Extras in the 4K + Digital Code edition of Scary Movie 2026 include a featurette on the franchise; a look at the new cast members; and a piece on the various Wayans family members involved with the film.

Scary Movie (2000): ★★★

Scary Movie (2026): ★½

FILM CLIPS

PASSENGER (2026). Jump scares in horror films are the go-to for untalented filmmakers unable to muster genuine tension, so it’s disappointing to see a director as accomplished as André Øvredal (Trollhunter, the underrated The Last Voyage of the Demeter) going that route with this trifling terror tale. After coming across a car accident caused by a demonic spirit nicknamed The Passenger (Joseph Lopez), young couple Maddie (Lou Llobell) and Tyler (Jacob Scipio) find themselves sharing their van with this unexpected hitchhiker, a mysterious figure that over the decades has killed many travelers on desolate backroads. Many horror movies are defined by their monster, and it’s here where Passenger particularly comes up short. As presented, the featured ghoul resembles less a terrifying entity of evil and more a grumpy old man who’s misplaced his reading glasses.

There are no Blu-ray extras.

Movie: ★★

SURF NAZIS MUST DIE (1987). Troma is known for its gloriously cheesy entertainment — everyone from popes to presidents loves The Toxic Avenger — so maybe it’s telling that Surf Nazis Must Die was a distribution pickup rather than created in-house. The main problem with this awful film, in which a gun-toting granny (Gail Neely) seeks revenge on the neo-Nazis who murdered her son (Robert Harden), is that it isn’t nearly outrageous enough, innovative enough, or offensive enough — instead, it’s just cheap-looking, shoddily filmed, and soul-crushingly dull. The lone positive is that it runs under 90 minutes, but even that isn’t much of a blessing since there’s more padding here than in 200 mattresses.

Blu-ray extras include an introduction by Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman; interviews with Kaufman, director Peter George, and producer Robin Tinell; and deleted scenes.

Movie: ★

FROM SCREEN TO STREAM TO SCREAM (Films for Halloween)

HALLOWEEN II (1981). Picking up immediately where John Carpenter’s 1978 original left off — with twitchy Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) saving teenager Laurie Strode (Curtis) from the masked killer Michael Myers — this one moves much of the action to the local hospital, inconveniently located on the outskirts of town. While Laurie is treated by the medical staff there, Dr. Loomis remains in town, continuing his search for the elusive Michael. But the soulless agent of evil has already managed to make his way to the hospital, where he bloodily dispatches everyone in sight as he tries to once again get to Laurie. The script by Carpenter and Debra Hill (who also co-wrote the original) is fairly routine and Curtis has too little to do this time around, but the hospital proves to be a sound choice for a locale, and director Rick Rosenthal and director of photography Dean Cundey do what they can to create a pervasive mood of dread (the more gory sequences were added at a later date by Carpenter, against Rosenthal’s wishes).

Movie: ★★

THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE (1962). One of those so-bad-it’s-good-to-experience-at-least-once-in-a-lifetime efforts, this grade-Z cheapie is pretty wretched yet deserves extra credit for being so brazenly bizarre. Dr. Bill Cortner (Jason Evers) is the film’s resident mad scientist, with a simpering assistant (Leslie Daniel) at his side and a man-made monster (7-foot, 3-inch tall Eddie Carmel) locked in the closet. After Bill’s fiancée Jan (Virginia Leith) gets decapitated in a car accident, he manages to save the head by placing it in a dish and attaching various tubes to it. Ignoring Jan’s pleas to let her die, Bill instead plans to make her whole again by attaching her head to a voluptuous body. So with murder — and mammaries — on the mind, off he goes to ogle various strippers and models, leaving Jan behind in the lab to develop a telepathic relationship with the grotesquerie in the closet. Expect lots of unrepentant sleaziness.

Movie: ★½

THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973). It may not breathe the rarefied air of the haunted-house classics that preceded it — works like The Uninvited, The Innocents and The Haunting — but The Legend of Hell House, adapted from Richard Matheson’s novel Hell House by the celebrated author himself, is nevertheless a competent effort in which a choppy storyline is smoothed over by appropriate atmospherics and an entertaining performance by Roddy McDowall. The Belasco House, aka “Hell House,” has already claimed the lives of several paranormal investigators when a new group arrives. Dr. Barrett (Clive Revill), accompanied by his wife Ann (Gayle Hunnicutt), believes that science will fix everything, but Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin), a medium, and Ben Fischer (McDowall), a fellow psychic and the only survivor of a previous visit, know that there’s evil afoot. Journeyman cinematographer Alan Hume (Return of the Jedi, For Your Eyes Only) provides some imaginative shots, with director John Hough (Twins of Evil) orchestrating the low-simmer chills.

Movie: ★★★

MINDWARP (1992). Two horror faves, The Evil Dead‘s Bruce Campbell and Phantasm‘s Angus Scrimm, star in this not-bad “B” flick that was produced by Fangoria magazine’s short-lived film-division arm. Sporting some startling similarities to the later Matrix series, this is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which most humans are plugged into a safe virtual-reality landscape where they can have all their fantasies come true. But Judy (Marta Alicia) tires of this existence and longs for freedom; her demands result in her being banished to the Outworld (think Mad Max terrain), where only one normal guy (Campbell) is around to protect her from all the cannibalistic mutants. Aside from the twist ending (or should that be twist endings?), this one doesn’t win many points for originality, but the makeup and gore effects are — to quote another Campbell character — groovy.

Movie: ★★½

SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM (1973). The success of 1972’s Blacula (reviewed here) led to an outpouring of other horror blaxploitation flicks, including Blackenstein, Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde, Abby (aka The Blaxorcist), and, perhaps inevitably, a sequel in Scream Blacula Scream. In this one, Mamuwalde/Blacula (William Marshall) is brought back with the purpose of helping a spoiled brat (Richard Lawson) get revenge on his voodoo-practicing relative, Lisa Fortier (Pam Grier); instead, the bloodsucking prince takes charge and even goes so far as to cajole Lisa into helping him shake off his curse. Scream Blacula Scream is a tad more polished than its predecessor but also a tad less fun, with too much time spent on arid and irksome characters. Dig that title sequence, though, and Marshall is still effective as Blacula, especially in a scene in which he accuses two pimps of enslaving their “sister” and then doles out proper punishment.

Movie: ★★½

SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES (1962). An unfortunate entry in the vampire canon, this snoozer (also known under the title Curse of the Blood Ghouls) goes for Gothic grandeur but instead exudes about as much atmosphere as a Count Chocula commercial. An Italian production defeated by atrocious dubbing, this casts Dieter Eppler as one of the least erotic and least menacing vampires on celluloid. Buried under pancake makeup that renders him fey rather than feral, this vampire is prone to cowardly crouching behind bushes to avoid torch-wielding peasants. The Van Helsing equivalent, meanwhile, is cast with an actor (Luigi Batzella) who would seem more at home wooing lonely widows at vacation resorts than driving stakes through the hearts of bosom-heaving bloodsuckers.

Movie: ★½

13 GHOSTS (1960) / HOMICIDAL (1961) / MR. SARDONICUS (1961). Here be three from that master showman with a love of gimmicks, William Castle.

13 Ghosts is slender but fun, as mild-mannered museum guide Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods), wife Hilda (Rosemary DeCamp), teenage daughter Medea (Jo Morrow), and young Buck (Charles Herbert) inherit a strange mansion bequeathed to them by Cyrus’ late uncle, Plato Zorba (are these great character names or what?). It turns out that not only is the house haunted, it also contains a large fortune stashed away by the deceased, demented relative. Margaret Hamilton, The Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West, appears as the estate’s mysterious housekeeper; this is also the rare older film to prominently feature a Ouija board. In its original run, the picture was promoted as being in “Illusion-O,” which required special glasses to see the ghosts on screen.

Castle clearly was influenced by (and often mimicked) Alfred Hitchcock, and Homicidal is such a blatant rip-off of 1960’s Psycho that a lawsuit probably wouldn’t have been without merit. Yet while traveling along similar lines, Castle and scripter Robb White manage to include enough originality that the shock ending still has the power to catch many viewers off guard. Unlike Psycho, this film’s central blonde (played by Joan Marshall) is villain rather than victim, yet there’s still a squeaky-clean heroine, her dullard boyfriend, a crotchety old woman in a wheelchair, and a soft-spoken young man. To reveal more would be criminal. For this one, Castle offered a “Fright Break,” where patrons too scared to finish the movie could wait in the “Coward’s Corner.”

The period tale Mr. Sardonicus relates how an Eastern European peasant (Guy Rolfe) is forced to dig up his late father’s grave in order to retrieve a winning lottery ticket. The gruesome endeavor leads to fortune but also brings on a curse that leaves the man’s face frozen in a permanent, grotesque grin. Now a baron, Sardonicus summons his wife’s (Audrey Dalton) former lover, a renowned London doctor (Ronald Lewis), to cure him of his affliction … or else. This handsome but occasionally meandering drama admittedly makes creative use of several nasty leeches. Audiences for this flick were given a Punishment Poll to decide the fate of the main character (most evidence shows that only one ending, the downbeat one, was actually filmed).

13 Ghosts: ★★★

Homicidal: ★★★

Mr. Sardonicus: ★★½