The Nun (2018)

A priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.

Run-of-the-mill horror flick has good production value, a capable cast and a few atmospheric scenes, but the plot is incoherent and simply a succession of the usual horror tropes.

 

In the Tall Grass (2019)

After hearing a young boy's cry for help, a sister and brother venture into a vast field of tall grass in Kansas but soon discover there may be no way out...and that something evil lurks within.

OK supernatural horror doesn't do much to enhance its (implausible) premise, but does deliver some mild shocks along the way.

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

In the dying days of the old west, an elderly sheriff and his posse set out to rescue their town's doctor from cannibalistic cave dwellers.

Unusual Western is extremely well directed and photographed and has an excellent cast, but hardly prepares one for the gory end sequence.

Insidious (2010)

A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.

Run-of-the-mill occult thriller may have some good production and a better cast, but is still as predictable and occasionally as most of the other ones. 

Maltin**1/2: "Old-fashioned haunted-house thriller aimed at adults boasts effective scares and a dark, mysterious mood, but it plays as a belated knockoff of POLETRGEIST. Decent B melodrama..."

Lakeview Terrace (2008)

A LAPD officer will stop at nothing to force out the interracial couple who just moved in next door.

Basically a bad neighbor thriller, there's a subtext of racial tension that irritates; Samuel Jackson L. Jackson as the villain easily steals the show.

Maltin**1/2: "Provocative and well-acted, but film's constantly shifting sympathies make it difficult to know what the point is supposed to be."

The A-Team (2010)

A group of Iraq War veterans looks to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed.

The movie manages to recreate the TV series not-so-serious tone and does entertain in that fashion, but is weighed down by over-the-top (and expensive) pyrotechnics.

Maltin**1/2: "A B movie tricked out with big-budget production values...Neeson establishes the seriocomic tone with self-mocking sass and steely-eyed authority. Overdone, to be sure, but surprisingly entertaining."

The Conjuring (2013)

 

 

Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. 

 

Nicely assembled old-fashioned haunted house movie; the problem is that it has all been done before with much more thrills. 

Maltin**1/2: "Well made and well acted, this is an intelligent horror movie (based on supposedly real events) but there's nothing new here. Incidentally, no conjuring takes place."