4 films to see on the week of Oct. 23-Oct. 30, 2015:
Knock Knock
DISLIKED by most of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes — which gave it a paltry 31% rating — Knock Knock follows a devoted family man (Keanu Reeves) who is tempted by two young women show up at his doorstep while his family is out. Directed by Eli Roth, it also stars Lorenza Izzo and Ana de Armas. Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Nashawaty writes: “Knock Knock is a pretty flimsy erotic thriller, but thanks to Reeves’ oaken obliviousness it’s also got a few moments of deliciously trashy fun.” Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore says this is “A film that flirts and flirts with explanations for its action without ever delivering.”
MTRCB Rating: R-16
Goosebumps
BASED on the R. L. Stine book series and very popular with the critics — Rotten Tomatoes gives it a score of 72% — the film follows a teenager who is upset when he and his mom move to a new town. He unwittingly unleashes a group of monsters that were trapped inside manuscripts written by his next door neighbor — the author R. L. Stine. Directed by Rob Letterman, it stars Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, and Odeya Rush. “It’s the best treat we’ve gotten this Halloween, and definitely not just a bigger-budgeted version of the Goosebumps seen on TV,” writes Tom Russo of the Boston Globe. “Goofily self-aware and wholesomely boisterous, it’s a children’s picture whose sense of spooky fun readily diverts from its quibble-worthy messaging,” says Inkoo Kang of TheWrap.
MTRCB Rating: PG
The Last Witch Hunter
A WARRIOR cursed with immortality stands as humanity’s last protector against a resurrected witch queen. Directed by Breck Eisner, it stars Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, and Elijah Wood. “Fast and furious on the surface, shallow and conventional beneath, Diesel’s bid to carve himself another billion-dollar franchise is off to a good start with this mainstream crowd-pleaser,” writes Stephen Dalton of the Hollywood Reporter. Guy Lodge of Variety is less positive: “Too drab to succeed even as defiantly unvirtuous trash… stifles Diesel’s rough-hewn charisma via a sludgy, impermeable oil spill of CGI effects — in the service of largely unspectacular hocus pocus.”
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Operator
WHEN the daughter of a 911 operator and her estranged husband is kidnapped, she is forced to dispatch fire and police crews to random locations based on the abductor’s phoned-in demands. Directed by Amariah Olson and Obin Olson, it stars Mischa Barton, Luke Goss, and Ving Rhames.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
Paranormal Activity 5: The Ghost Dimension
USING a special camera that can see spirits, a family must protect their daughter from an evil entity with a sinister plan. Directed by Gregory Plotkin, it stars Chris J. Murray, Brit Shaw, and Ivy George.
MTRCB Rating: R-13
