Things Will Be Different (2024; written and directed by Michael Felker)

I obviously love any sort of fiction about time travel. But I don’t like it when two characters enter a closet that transports them to a different timeline and they act as if this is a normal thing. Things Will Be Different not only asks you to not question the existence of the portal, but also overcomplicates everything in such a manner you’d think writer/director Michael Felker had just finished watching Dark (2017-2020). Good concept, so-so execution.

Rating: **

Backrooms (2026; written by Will Soodik; based on the web series by Kane Parsons; directed by Kane Parsons)

Another interesting concept, with a slightly better execution than above. A furniture store owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discovers an alternate space seemingly made from fragments of his own psyche… or something? Some of it is silly, some eerie, and a whole lot feels incomplete, just like the backrooms themselves. But as a starting point, it shows promise. I also like it feels somewhat original, so I’m on board for Backrooms 2.

Rating: **½

Evil Dead Burn (2026; written by Sébastien Vaniček and Florent Bernard; directed by Sébastien Vaniček)

I really wanted to like this, since co-writer/director Sébastien Vaniček’s previous movie, Vermines (2023), was such a welcome surprise. Yet Evil Dead Burn is pretty weak tea (not that the previous one was much better). As the Deadites return to wreak all sorts of gory havoc, I kept hoping for some flash of originality. But damn if I wasn’t completely bored by the VFX-heavy end. Next one is supposedly a prequel to the original, set in the 70s. Maybe they get it right.

Rating: **

Napoleon Dynamite (2004; written by Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess; directed by Jared Hess)

Imagine the weirdest side characters from the John Hughes 80s dramedies. Now put them in one single movie about an eccentric teenager (Jon Heder) navigating high school and stir. Napoleon Dynamite is definitely an acquired taste, a collection of ridiculous situations and deadpan dialogue that don’t quite flow together. But it has a meticulous look that keeps things interesting (the opening credits are a beaut), and a sweet core underneath all the forced awkwardness.

Rating: **½

Disclosure Day (2026; written by David Koepp; based on a story by Steven Spielberg; directed by Steven Spielberg)

Disclosure Day is filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s return to alien territory, a subject he’s clearly passionate about and which gave us classics such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). But saddled by what’s probably one of the dumbest scripts ever (by David Koepp), awful VFX, and bizarre acting, he can’t make this conspiracy thriller about E.T.’s in our midst feel any more exciting than a lukewarm episode of The X-Files. What a disaapointment.

Rating: **

Halloween II (1981; written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill; directed by Rick Rosenthal)

An unnecessary sequel ironically meant to cash in on the booming slasher mania that the first Halloween (1978) made popular. The whole thing feels like a cash grab, as Michael Myers follows Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis, revealed to be his sister) to a hospital and continues his killing spree in crafty new ways (he even knows how to drain someone’s blood with an IV line). Jeez, at least the original had some sort of inner logic to it.

Rating: **

Forbidden World (1982; written by Tim Curnen; from a story by R.J. Robertson and Jim Wynorski; directed by Allan Holzman)

I wish this cheapie monster horror flick was more campy fun, as a space ranger (Jesse Vint) fights a threatening creature in what is clearly a ripoff of Alien (1978). But it takes itself too seriously to really connect as a guilty pleasure, despite a monster that looks like a xenomorph with the body of a spider, an abundance of gratuitous nudity, and lines such as “Let’s go bag ourselves a Dingwhopper!” 

Rating: **

Last Straw (2023; written by Taylor Sardoni; directed by Alan Scott Neal)

Another low-budget flick that should’ve been more interesting than it actually ended up being, Last Straw is about a young waitress (Jessica Belkin) who must fight for her life when a group of thugs terrorize her at a rural diner. Unlikable characters, no tension, and an attempt at a midway twist that ends up being more ludicrous than unexpected. Sigh.

Rating: **

Carlos I. Cuevas