!["All Superheroes Must Die," The Cold Light of Day" and "Paranormal Activity 4"](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/14/9c/1359321881_1587_1-29.jpg?itok=5iM88YUl ""All Superheroes Must Die," The Cold Light of Day" and "Paranormal Activity 4"")
Among the movies that became available Tuesday, Jan. 29 on Blu-ray and DVD at retail stores and rental outlets throughout the Valley are a superhero-themed thriller, an actioner starring new Superman Henry Cavill and the fourth installment of the “Paranormal Activity” horror film franchise.
Jason Trost, Lucas Till, Sophie Merkley and Lee Valmassy play four superheroes who find themselves abducted by their arch nemesis (James Remar) and forced to compete in a series of challenges in order to save an abandoned town full of kidnapped innocent civilians. (NR - 78 minutes)
“All Superheroes Must Die” operates on a compelling concept but, unfortunately, its own execution is its ultimate Kryptonite. That is to say that writer/director Jason Trost’s new superhero-themed thriller has a lot of potential yet, without the proper budget, the final product feels far more farcical than a stone-faced flick with cold-sober consequences should. Trost’s groundbreaking vision is completely clouded by compromises that come with a lack of money - which was probably the culprit that made these superheroes look like little more than average Joes in thrift store threads and their evil enemies look like hot-headed hobos. (Grade: D)
'The Awakening'
Rebecca Hall plays an author in 1921 London who is approached by a teacher (Dominic West) to investigate the recent death of a student at his all-boys boarding school and finds her reliance on science to be insufficient to explain the strange phenomenon going on around her. (R – 107 minutes)
“The Awakening” has more atmosphere and emotional depth than most horror flicks. Unfortunately, it also has more downtime, resulting in a ghost story with less “boo's” than “zzz's.” Thanks to its reliance on melodrama as opposed to supernatural scares, writer/director Nick Murphy's first feature-length film – an import from the UK – will likely appeal to both moviegoers who do not ordinarily see horror flicks as well as fans of the genre. However, about halfway through, the story shifts, losing both its believability and its audience's interest. (Grade: D)
Tom Butcher and Rachael Blake play a couple who is terrorized by a gang that is hunting their son (Tom Kane). (NR - 78 minutes)
The first shot of “Cherry Tree Lane” - in which the camera slowly pans in on the front doorstep of a home that looks normal but, for some strange reason, sends an unsettling shiver down your spine - sets the viewer up for a terrifyingly intense tale of torture. Unfortunately, the subsequent 70 or so minutes of the movie tears said viewer back down with dull dialogue and humdrum degradation without any depth whatsoever. Writer/director Paul Andrew Williams ought to go back and watch “Funny Games” or even “The Strangers” to get a better grip on the genre. (Grade: F)
‘Citadel’
Aneurin Barnard plays an agoraphobic father who teams up with a renegade priest (James Cosmo) to save his daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children who committed an act of violence against his family years earlier. (R - 84 minutes)
Is “Citadel” a supernatural horror flick or one that merely finds its fright from real life? Or is really just a socio-political message movie masquerading as a horror flick? I do not even know for certain and I have watched this muddled mess that makes nary a lick of sense. But regardless of which definitive genre writer/director Ciaran Foy’s Irish import belongs in, it misleads moviegoers and makes them feel nothing but complete and utter disappointment over having to watch something that starts off so excruciatingly slow before eventually evolving into something devoid of any surprises whatsoever. (Grade: F)
Henry Cavill plays a man whose whole world turns upside down when his family is kidnapped by intelligence agents hell-bent on recovering a mysterious briefcase while on a week-long sailing vacation in Spain. (PG-13 – 93 minutes)
“The Cold Light of Day” features some slick action sequences but, by failing to give viewers so much as a breadcrumb as to why the characters want each other dead, it does not add up to much of anything at all. The best bits of director Mabrouk El Mechri's new actioner are the ones during which star Henry Cavill – who we will see next year donning Superman's tights in “Man of Steel” - is going head-to-head with the flick's is-she-or-isn't she-a-villain Sigourney Weaver. However, there is a lot of downtime in between and, even when all is said and done, we still never know anyone's motive. (Grade: D)
Adam Sandler plays Dracula, the owner of a lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up. However, his world could come crashing down when one ordinary guy (Andy Samberg) stumbles on the hotel and takes a shine to his daughter (Selena Gomez). (PG – 91 minutes)
If it were not for Adam Sandler's horrifically grating voice, “Hotel Transylvania” may have actually been a tolerable motion picture. Granted, “tolerable” is a far cry from “good,” but it is still a step up. Having said that, the new animated adventure also tells a story that is somewhat bland in which conflicts are resolved way too easily. It is entertainingly energetic and visually remarkable but it feels as though, in an effort to make the movie as family-friendly as possible, usually edgy screenwriters Peter Baynham and Robert Smigel sucked not only the blood but also the life right out of it. (Grade: D)
Five years after the disappearance of a woman (Katie Featherston) and her nephew, a suburban family witnesses strange events in their neighborhood when a woman and a mysterious child move in. (R – 95 minutes)
It is actually appropriate that the main characters in “Paranormal Activity 4” are teenagers because viewers in that age group are probably the only ones who find this horror film franchise even the least bit fascinating - much less frightening - anymore. This installment increases the element of mystery that surrounds the saga of Katie and her young nephew Hunter but said mystery eventually takes a backseat to more of the same old spooky stuff. And by the time anything happens beyond the boring bumps in the night, most viewers will likely have already lost interest in this generic ghost story. (Grade: D)
Colin Farrell plays a struggling screenwriter who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) kidnap a gangster's (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. (R – 109 minutes)
Anchored by a brilliantly bonkers performance from star Sam Rockwell, “Seven Psychopaths” is one of the cleverest crime comedies you will ever see. In fact, the second feature written and directed by Martin McDonagh – whose “In Bruges” was among my favorite films of 2008 – may be too clever for its own good, exercising self-awareness to a fault. And although the movie literally leaps off the crazy cliff after a wonderfully witty and fast-paced first half, the experience is so uniquely bizarre that you cannot help but enjoy yourself – even if it, at times, feels like just one giant inside joke. (Grade: B)
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