I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE [2016]

Writer/director Oz Perkins' supernatural chiller I Am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House had me wanting to hide under the covers while watching it.
It's a simple story of a young live-in nurse that discovers her newest client's isolated country house has a history with things that go bump in the night.
Instead of using jump-scares and excessive gore, Pretty Things relies on prolonged unsettling atmosphere to creep under your skin which makes it hard to shake off.  Most modern horror fans will probably find themselves yawning and texting instead of enjoying it's near poetic creepiness.  Similar to Lynch or Polanski, Perkins conjures up the sense of even though there's nothing there, you can't help but feel something is constantly watching from the dark corners of the room or the other side of the door.  It's the perfect film to watch alone in the dark and get completely lost in it's ominous allure.

4 dried lilies out of 5

LOCKE [2013]

Steven Knight has a knack for gritty character study thrillers, so I was eager to see how he'd handle a single setting/single actor film with Locke.
We're given a glimpse into Ivan Locke's entire life from within the seat of his car, as his whole world falls apart through a series of distressing phone calls.  I wasn't sure Tom Hardy could carry an entire film on his own, nevermind not having the luxury of changing backdrops, but he surprisingly pulls it off with intimate grace.  Knight's camera work is lit by the stark street night lights and bypassing cars which paints a feeling of depression and despair onto the increasingly daunting atmosphere.
It's the type of film that's most effective in a solitary environment to make best of the film's lonely atmosphere and from there you'll find yourself wanting to scream as Locke does.

3 invisible fathers out of 5

THE LONE RANGER [2013]

Director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp of Pirates Of The Caribbean re-team for the first film adaptation of The Lone Ranger in well over 30 years.
Like all Verbinski adventure films, it's overly bloated and a running length that could use a good 20-25 minutes lopped off.   However it's Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp's humorous chemistry and the silly but outrageously fun action sequences that kept my interest till the very end.  I went in expecting a modern day action film in the style of Buster Keaton's The General and that's exactly what I got.  Expectations met and that's just fine with me.

3 uber-scary bunnies out of 5