What Lies Beneath Bone Lake Isn’t Another Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. Special

In Bone Lake, a stressed couple’s retreat turns nightmarish when their Airbnb is double-booked by strangers with hidden motives, unleashing paranoia, violence, and a Raimi-esque finale.

Bone Lake (2024) Movie PosterBleeker Street
Now Available on VOD/digital

Although Bone Lake is thematically different from Swap, another movie I saw many months ago, the former is more of a thriller and the latter a vampire flick. I won’t say which is better. Both works have their merits. While both lean a little too far into erotic elements, neither is without scandal. Just how far one wants to sit through this work depends on your tolerance for the subject matter. Director Mercedes Bryce Morgan and writer Joshua Friedlander had an idea and explored it with a modest budget to make this isolated cabin-in-the-woods scenario feel genuinely dangerous.

Here, Sage (Maddie Hasson) and Diego (Marco Pigossi) are a couple who could use an escape. Although their relationship seems solid, things get thrown overboard after they arrive at a luxurious, secluded lakeside mansion by Bone Lake for a romantic weekend. Diego also has a novel he should finish, and at some point, he plans to propose. Since Sage has put her career on hold to support him, I suspect something deeper is simmering between them.

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When A Tooth Fairy Tale Concerns Renegade Teens From Folklore

When A Tooth Fairy Tales stands out in the small list of movies in this subgenre, some folks may well ask why? The thought put behind world-building provides the answer….

A Tooth Fairy Tale Movie PosterShout! Studio & Automatic Entertainment
Available on VOD
Spoiler Alert

Van (Booboo Stewart) isn’t your typical teenage boy, and in A Tooth Fairy Tale, he’s more than just the odd kid out. I like to describe him as a punk-rock version of Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. The parallels are certainly there, especially when considering DreamWorks’ adaptation: Van has issues with his father, who expects him to one day take over the family business. And, unsurprisingly, he has to prove himself by being the next in line to retrieve a loose molar from a human child.

When Van discovers that goblins are also on a similar mission, his curiosity about the wider world begins to grow. Each species in this realm—trolls, spiders, goblins—has a specific role to play, and just who counts as friend or foe is largely a matter of perspective. In this story, it’s the arachnoids that pose the real threat. I appreciated how they were portrayed as silent, creeping dangers rather than loud, chaotic villains.

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When Kung Fu Rookie is Kazakhstan’s Latest Export to the Cinematic Market….

Being A Kung Fu Rookie in Kazakhstan isn’t Hard. When Lawlessness is Everywhere, It’s More Dangerous!

Kung Fu Rookie Movie PosterComing to VOD and Digital
Release Date: March 14

Kung Fu Rookie (or Super Courier) embraces the old school Jackie Chan style of storytelling. When the protagonist is from humble roots, he’ll have to become a zero to hero somehow. This film, set in the present, depicts Timuchin’s (Timur Baktybayev, the director) rapid transformation from country bumpkin to city slicker. And in this tale, this character is even being compared to this famous martial artist actor. That’s because he has some impressive acrobatic skills!

And while these action sequences don’t quite match the intensity, I am thrilled to learn this movie is finally coming to streaming services. I’m enjoying this film because this Kazakhstan production gives curiosity seekers a look at this world. It’s no different from any other big city; gangs rule part of it. Timu wastes no time showing he’s ready to fight when thugs constantly bother him and his uncle! Instead of being a vigilante, he wants to become a law enforcement officer!

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In Search of Aliens Uncovered Jesuits Secrets Rather Than Desert Riches

Maybe some things shouldn’t be unearthed! In Aliens Uncovered Jesuits Secrets, while some ideas may seem far fetched, could what documentarian Clive Christopher is looking for the truth?

Aliens Uncovered Jesuits Secrets PosterBreaking Glass Pictures
Available on VOD

Some people may say the topics Clive Christopher has in his UFO conspiracy documentary series are far-fetched. However, I’m finding some of his releases better than others. In his latest, Aliens Uncovered: Jesuits Secrets, they are not out to spread the word of Christ. There’s also the search for gold (to help the aliens who need to “phone home” in order to save their planet).

However, there’s more to the mystery. The locals believe Mount Graham is a source of mystery. While the indigenous tribes living here are harvesting from the land for food and sustenance, there are others seeking something else! It’s rumoured the aliens want the minerals said to be buried here. Also, when the Vatican built an observatory here and it’s home to two other telescopes, perhaps these organisations know something else is hovering above.

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In The Damned, Surviving Winter is Never Kind

Sometimes, being in the right mood helps make The Damned all the more haunting, and with regular cold nights being the norm for this reviewer, it’s certainly very chilling!

The Damned Movie PosterAvailable on Amazon Prime

The best way to experience Thordur Palsson’s The Damned is to turn off the heat! Whether at the theatre, where it continues to play, or at home, this wonderfully eerie film delivers solid chills when the viewing environment is perfect! That way, viewers can feel the cold as it settles. At the time, I had the temperature unintentionally dialed low.

In this remote 19th century village, Eva (Odessa Young) is now in charge and works hard to keep the fishermen from deserting. She was a wife to a fisherman who unfortunately perished in a shipwreck during their last fishing journey. While I’m not entirely sure how many people live in this hamlet, I suspect that the initial bunch of twenty something dwindled down to eight by the time this movie starts, and pretty soon, even those people are dying because there’s no food left.

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A Knight’s War Never Ends When A Soul Needs To Be Saved!

What makes A Knight’s War feel real is what each soldier must overcome on a spiritual level. But when there’s real evil afoot, is rescuing a fair maiden enough?

A Knight's War Movie PosterNow Playing At Select Theatres and VOD

Chivalry is not dead in Matthew Ninaber’s movie, A Knight’s War. When not everyone lives by that code, I wonder how Bhodie (Jeremy Ninaber) is going to survive. He’s off to save not a princess, but a woman said to reshape the world.

When Avalon’s (Kristen Kaster) morals are not up to the code, just what she represents has everyone quaking in their boots. Even the soldier has his own problems. Although she’s no lovely lady-in-waiting, she has a fire I like. He’s trying his best to show her “how to be nice,” and thankfully what’s presented isn’t like in Shrek. Instead, it concerns how she can be tamed than trained. She’s certainly a spitfire, and Kaster is great at showing it.

When the new gods fear what she can represent because she has red hair, that’s because they are concerned about an age-old  prophecy which will spell doom for them. And so, they have “whispered to the hearts of men is to burn any child matching the terms of the words uttered.”

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