Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

If you can swallow the unconvincing slices of thriller bread, the meat of McCarthy's latest parable of the kindness of strangers makes for a satisfying sandwich. Review

It's commendable that Bravo has taken what is essentially a rambling thread of verbal exposition and transformed it into such a cinematic piece of storytelling. Review

While Teddy doesn't quite land, there's no doubt a lot of talent on display here. As directors, the Boukhermas have done a remarkable job of mining performances from a largely inexperienced cast. Review

With a moody score by Fulci regular Fabio Frizzi and some beautiful framing by Fulci's go-to cameraman Sergio Slavati, The Psychic makes for a dreamlike sensory experience. But unlike many Italian genre movies of the period, The Psychic is a rarity in boasting a plot that actually makes sense and is easy to keep track of. Review

There's something wonderfully transgressive about how Charbonier and Powell have their leads clad in a symbol of American innocence - the Little League baseball kit. With an ambiguous absence of modern technology, The Boy Behind the Door has a timeless quality. Review

Some characters don't quite live up to their billing, but the key crew members are as fun a bunch of sociopaths as you could hope to spend a Saturday night at the movies with. Review

The best movies leave us wondering what's next for their protagonists. Lorelei leaves us feeling that Wayland, Dolores and her kids are facing a long, hard road. But if they face it as a family, they just might make it. Review

It's frustrating that Jolt's action scenes can't match the energy of Beckinsale's witty repartee, because this is the sort of gloriously silly action movie we just don’t get enough of today. Review

Halfway through Old, I couldn't wait for the movie to be over, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for Shyamalan's next movie. Review

There's enough material in the Maca to fuel an entire Oz-style TV show, so it's frustrating that so much of Night of the Kings' running time is spent stretching out a thin and barely interesting story. Review

Bustillo and Maury may be treading on dodgy ground here, but that's for Arab critics to decide. I'm just glad they managed to pull off a pacy, commendably schlocky horror movie that hints at societal and cultural issues without ever getting bogged down in them in the manner of many recent American genre efforts. Review

Prince's eyes go a long way to filling in some of the blanks here, but ultimately there are a few too many blanks left gaping by the film's end. Review

Whoever said revenge is a dish best served cold didn't have Riders of Justice in mind. Jensen takes the revenge thriller template and delivers one of the most warm-hearted movies you'll see all year. Review

This budding franchise doesn't even give us the fun of any elaborate deaths. The unlucky contestants just fall through holes, which allows the possibility for them to pop up later in the story, and also of course enables the film to court a teenage audience. Review

Was this trilogy ever really aimed at fans of horror movies, or did it set out to capture the attention of the fanbase for teen soap operas? Review

But The Toll is more than simply a reworking of the setup of The Strangers (a movie knowingly referenced in dialogue here). Review

Boiled down to its basics, The Forever Purge is a chase thriller, with our heroes trying to get to the sanctuary of Mexico (see what they did there) before the border closes. The action along the way is middling, and a lot of it feels like it's inspired by the Italian Mad Max and Escape from New York clones that propped up video store shelves in the early '80s. Review

Two chapters in and Fear Street is one of the big disappointments of 2021. You can't piss down horror fans' backs and tell us it's raining. We've seen this sort of thing down before, and done well, and crucially done by filmmakers who seem genuinely interested in the genre rather than just in mining cheap nostalgia. Review

Anyone expecting a gripping thriller might want to be put out of their own misery while watching the dreary West 11, but those who can appreciate it as a document of a forgotten period of London history while find value in Winner's film. Review

The horror-comedy sub-genre has given us some of the dumbest, most cynical movies imaginable, but Landon appears to have nailed what makes these two flavours go together – an appreciation and respect for both forms. Review

Let Us In is objectively trash with all the aesthetic appeal of a Hallmark Original, but with its homey smalltown atmosphere and likeable young protagonists it just might function as a way to introduce younger viewers to the joys of the horror genre. Review

If 1994 set out to evoke '90s slashers…well, I guess it does a good job. Those movies were generally awful to mediocre, and unlike the golden age slashers of the '70s and early '80s, spent more time spelling out the plot than building suspenseful sequences. Review

Visually, Murder by Decree presents one of the more atmospheric takes on Victorian London, fog floating above cobbled streets as the sound of foghorns and clomping horse hooves echo in the background. Review

Like a modern update of one of the BBC's classic MR James Ghost Story at Christmas adaptations, An Unquiet Grave makes economic use of a relatively brief runtime and a lack of special effects. Review