Romeo is Bleeding (1993)

Gary Oldman plays a police sergeant named Jack Grimaldi who has a sideline in corruption and infidelity. His vices inevitably land him in trouble, but the Noirish setting is only half of the story - it's the performances of the cast that make Romeo as good as it is. It goes without saying that Oldman can be fantastic, but just as good was Lena Olin, an actress who held her own as an over-the-top femme fatale with an edge more deadly and unpredictable than most. Annabella Sciorra got less screen time but was also on top form.
It loses some of its momentum in the last third, but there's more than enough threads and ambiguity left to keep fans of this kind of drama happy.

4 locker envelopes out of 5

The Changeling (1980)

An old-fashioned haunted house story, the like of which is almost extinct these days. George C. Scott plays a man in the wake of tragedy. While trying to put his painful past behind him he moves into an aged Victorian house that has an equally tragic past of its own.
Scott is a seasoned actor able to project a believably strong but damaged demeanour. He stars alongside his wife, Trish Van Devere.
The camera moves knowingly through the old house, giving it life and making it a character in the story. When the spookiness is turned to maximum it sent chills running the length of my spine more than once.

4 rhythmic somethings out of 5

Species II (1998)

A poorly received sequel to the poorly executed original that completely ignores the ending of the first film, which is something we all wished we could do. It brings back two of the lamest characters (Lenox and Baker) and attempts to offset their blankness by spicing things up with Natasha Henstridge in various states of undress.
There’s more depth to the story this time but the bulk of it is essentially a rewrite of the original. It’s pretty terrible, but it has some really great creature effects; the kind that the first film should’ve had.

2 natal nightmares out of 5