My Soul to Take

On the night that the Riverton Ripper was killed, seven children were born. Sixteen years later, on their collective birthday, the Riverton 7 are stalked by an unseen killer. Has the Riverton Ripper come back from the dead? Or has one of the Riverton 7 become possessed by the killer’s soul? My Soul to Take should have been an easy layup for Wes Craven. It’s a supernatural slasher that borrows from several of his previous films. There are elements from A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and Shocker in it. And yet, the film is a bit of a mixed bag. The main problem is the script. Seven characters are too many for the movie to follow. Only four of the Riverton 7 get a decent amount of screen time. The remaining kids, along with the rest of the side characters, float in and out of the movie. Mostly showing up just in time to be killed off. At various points, the script also tries to tackle a couple of serious issues but never takes the time to fully develop them. And the ending feels both unearned and like it could have been replaced by any number of alternate outcomes.

Rating: 61%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Time-Flight

The Doctor and his companions are tasked with finding a Concorde that has gone missing. When they trace the flight path of the Concorde, with another Concorde, they’re whisked back in time approximately 140 million years. They soon find the missing plane and its passengers, but all is not what it seems. A mysterious conjurer named Kalid rules over the area with powerful psychic abilities. But even Kalid is not what he appears to be and, before long, the Doctor and the Master are pitted against each other in a showdown that could leave one of them stuck in the past forever. Time-Flight doesn’t have a great reputation, and I can sort of understand why. It’s not great. It’s not terrible but it’s not very well thought out either. Several times during the story, someone will ask the Doctor to explain what’s going on and all he’ll say is, “I’ll explain later.” There is, however, a pretty good sequence in the second episode where Tegan and Nyssa are confronted by some illusions meant to deter them from finding the citadel’s inner sanctum. One of which is a vision of Adric, seemingly back from the dead.

Rating: I've always found domination such an unattractive prospect%

Red Heat

East meets West when a Russian Police Captain travels to Chicago to extradite a Soviet drug smuggler. After his prisoner escapes, the stoic Captain Danko is paired with Chicago’s least finest, Detective Ridzik. Much like Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs., Red Heat is a buddy cop story featuring two leads who can barely stand one another. Unfortunately for Red Heat, neither Schwarzenegger nor Belushi have the comedic chops of Eddie Murphy. Still, the movie moves at a brisk pace, and the action set pieces all work well. The supporting cast includes performances from Peter Boyle, Laurence Fishburne and Gina Gershon.

Rating: 64%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Sure Thing

Walter Gibson and Alison Bradbury couldn’t be more different. She’s a studious pragmatist and he’s more of a slacker goofball. But the two become reluctant travel companions over Christmas break when they try to get from their snowy New England college campus to sunny California. The Sure Thing is a romantic comedy in the grand tradition of classic films like It Happened One Night, just with more pork rinds this time around. The leads are charmingly played by Daphne Zuniga and a particularly fresh-faced John Cusack. Anthony Edwards and Tim Robbins also appear in the film in memorable supporting roles.

Rating: 73%

(Image from Wikipedia)