Recently Viewed: Smile 2, The Pack, Oddity, Mr. Crocket, Heretic and Panic in Year Zero

SMILE 2 (2024) is a confident slam dunk of a sequel written and directed by Parker Finn who skillfully expands upon the trippy paranoid universe he created in 2022’s SMILE and its precursor short film LAURA HASN’T SLEPT (2020). It’s a well crafted continuation that underlines and solidifies the power of the earlier entry while broadening its scope and still gifting the viewer with an entirely fresh and unexpected experience. Following the brutal demise of the previous films’ lone survivor SMILE 2’s mysterious crazy-making death curse attaches itself to a young celebrity pop star named Skye Riley (spunky triple threat Naomi Scott). Riley is a bit of a Lady Gaga wannabe who in pure moralistic cautionary tale fashion procures the demonic hot-potato grimace hex by attempting to purchase drugs (directly in opposition to her her current sobriety reliant comeback). Who can blame her though? Her dance routines are elaborate and she severely injured her spine in a drunken car accident that took the life of her famous actor boyfriend Paul Hudson (slyly cast Ray Nicholson, Jack Nicholson’s son who certainly has epic creepy smile etched into his DNA). Many compare the SMILE set-up to the invisible menace in IT FOLLOWS and it’s easy to see why but it also favors the FINAL DESTINATION franchise in its format, various BODY SNATCHER flicks in its overall anthropophobia and don’t mind me, I also get strong THE BOOGEY MAN (’80) vibes as well. That said, SMILE 2 kicks the insanity can further down the road than ever before with innovative maniac-mob dance hallucinations, teeth grinding gore, and a THE SUBSTANCE-esque late in the game monster reveal (not to mention it also features the ever reliable Rosemarie DeWitt playing Skye’s overbearingly concerned mom-ager). It’s a rare blessing to come across a sequel that perfectly compliments its previous installment without stepping on any toes and this worthy wonder is such a generous second helping it even provides its own toe-tapping banger-heavy dance-pop soundtrack.

Based on a novel by David Fischer, 1977’s treat-worthy THE PACK is a surprisingly suspenseful animal attack horror thriller helmed by Robert Clouse who is better known for the martial arts classic ENTER THE DRAGON (’75) and the unforgettable quirk bomb that is GYMKATA (’85). WALKING TALL (’73)’s lumbering Joe Don Baker is Jerry, a regular guy in the process of moving his boring family to isolated Seal Island (Actually, Bodega Bay California, the recognizable filming location for both THE BIRDS (’63) and THE FOG (’80)) not knowing that a bunch of despicable slobs have abandoned their pet dogs there and that said canines are so starved for Alpo they have assembled into a doggy mob who live in an abandoned barn and are not above hunting for human flesh when hangry. Even though this predicament could be easily fixed by I don’t know… FEEDING THE DOGS, Jerry and a rag tag crew of mostly unlikable local residents exasperate matters further at every turn and continuously stumble into the chomped up fates they so rightfully deserve. As you may have guessed I am team dog all the way and thoroughly enjoyed watching this furry horde chomp the humans clods into kibble. I also loved the mostly dark, rainy weather, the cozy barricaded homestead on display and was also very impressed with how the various dogs were presented with distinct personalities ranging from menacing to heroic to heartbreaking. Some of the animal in peril scenes got a bit iffy for yours truly but I’m going to take the Humane Society at their word that the film was heavily monitored and even assume that all the adorable good boys and girls involved had a great time filming it.

Damian McCarthy’s ODDITY is about a blind psychic shopkeeper (Gwilym Lee, excelling in a duel role) who specializes in cursed objects (a’la FRIDAY THE 13th: THE SERIES) who gifts a notably horrifying looking mannequin (think PIN (’89) meets THE FEAR (‘95) to her brother in law and his obvious mistress who are clearly responsible for her twin sisters death in some capacity. ODDITY has atmosphere to burn, a supremely potent supernatural vibe, haunting, alarming visuals, superior performances and a remarkable, innovative score. Sadly, the pedestrian story is basically the same plot as just about every episode of TALES FROM THE CRYPT and is less than convincing when dealing with basic human nature (what lunatic would even allow such a mannequin intheir home?). Overall it’s genuinely spooky but prepare to stifle your common sense for best results.

MR. CROCKET was a kid’s show in the nineties that was sort of like Mr. ROGERS meets BARNEY meets Bill Cosby’s PICTURE PAGES meets PEE WEE”S PLAYHOUSE but with a palatable for modern audiences heavy dollop of FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S and your standard faux-show creepy pasta mixed in. You know I’m all about the marriage of cute and creepy and Brandon Espy’s Hulu original (based on his short film of the same name) consistently delivers on an aesthetic level offering deliciously gory old school practical effects along with its cartoon-y death-furries, colorful off-kilter settings and amusing animated inserts. Mr. Crocket himself (as excellently portrayed by Elvis Nolasco) is a fun and Freddy-esque trickster demon who can bend reality at will and is laudably committed to avenging his own traumas and punishing those who basically line up and beg to die. On paper, I should be sitting snuggly right inside of Crocket’s nerdy nostalgia dipped pocket but I have to say something just doesn’t gel here. The overall movie suffers from the human characters being less dimensional than the puppets and never sufficiently anchoring things with a believable reality to contaminate and warp. It’s still offers an amusing enough time but somehow even with all the right ingredients baked in, there’s magic missing and its less than the sum of its intriguing parts.

In HERETIC, two young Mormon women (Sophie Thatcher & Chloe East) go door to door on a stormy day attempting to recruit new followers. Any guardian angels they might have are sleeping on the job when they hit the doorstep of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) who entices them indoors with half baked lies involving blueberry pie and a wife who is non-existent. What follows is a philosophical battle of wits that involves religion, board games and pop music plagiarism and culminates in the revelation that the faithful ladies are trapped with a madman with a spiritual axe to grind. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ limited setting psychological thriller's strongest selling point is the above par acting of its three leads. Grant has grown more credible in his curmudgeon-fueled later years and both Thatcher and East are worthy and charismatic sparring partners. There are more than a few unexpected twists and turns to this thoughtful Rubik’s cube of a film but viewer’s enjoyment will surely hinge on their tolerance for the talky subject matter that can be at times fascinating and at other times tedious. This is more of a rainy Sunday afternoon creeper than a rousing nail biter and I’m not sure I even buy its premise (both missionaries seem way too bright to even get into this mess in the first place) but in my book, the performances alone keep things consistently interesting.

The late great Ray Milland (Oscar winner for THE LOST WEEKEND (’45) and hilariously brilliant in personal favorite THE ATTIC (’80)) directs and stars in 1962's PANIC IN YEAR ZERO, a super ahead of its time apocalyptic road movie. Milland is Harry Baldwin a suburban everyman who takes his family (which includes wife Ann (THE ASPHALT JUNGLE’s Jean Hagen), daughter Karen (SPIDER BABY’s Mary Mitchel) and a young Frankie Avalon (GREASE) as son Rick on a fishing trip in their small camper. The trip gets off to a stinky start when they witness worrisome bright flashes and then a much more worrisome mushroom cloud over Los Angeles thanks to somebody dropping an atomic bomb. Traffic is too clogged to go back and save granny (sorry!) so the clan figures it’s best to continue to their cabin in the wilderness destination where they might observe the end of civilization from a distance. As you can imagine, the Baldwins journey is is filled with many a hardship including still more lamentable traffic, untimely price gouging on gas, roving rapist hooligans and the ever present threat of radiation sickness. Not a great fishing trip at all but at least they brought a suddenly very useful rifle! This movie is dark, gritty and has little faith in humanity and suits my pessimistic nature just fine. My only regret is that I wasn’t lucky enough to catch it on late night TV as a kid because it definitely would have been a go-to favorite for me over the years.