Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

His staging of the movie's brief action set-pieces is geographically confusing while the rest of the drama is shot in the bland manner of a TV movie. Despite the authentic locations, the film never really establishes a sense of place. Review

Yesterday is an affront to the many filmmakers who over the years have had their requests to use the music of The Beatles turned down. Review

Having a thriller play out on a computer screen is another way for a filmmaker to fashion a gripping story on a limited budget, and maybe that's the route Pirozek should have gone with this particular tale. Review

Dignity be damned; such unbridled trash is a joy to watch. Review

Like its central character, Thunder Road is a hot mess - a mix of sloppy storytelling and over-emotional drama, but also moments of genuine human insight - but isn't this what directorial debuts are for? I suspect Cummings' next work will be more structured, but let's hope it's also as soulful as this blubbering bow. Review

For Toho Studios, watching what Hollywood does with their creation here must be akin to watching a nanny-cam livestream of your dog being abused by the neighbour who agreed to look after it while you're away. Review

It's an intriguing setup, but despite the contributions of no less than four screenwriters, the film struggles to find anything novel or interesting for Amy and Molly to come up against. Review

What makes Sunset such a rewarding experience is the incredible immersiveness of its world building. Review

Had Finkiel's film dropped its own stoic mask earlier and embraced such emotion from the off, Memoir of War may well have been a more rewarding experience than the intermittently impactful film we're presented with here. Review

Too Late to Die Young is low on plot but heavy on establishing an immersive sense of time and place. Review

John Wick 3 trades the style, wit and sophistication of its predecessors for garish lighting, sub Takashi Miike edgelord violence and a postmodern takedown of the Walter Hill inspired world it so meticulously constructed. Review

Beautifully shot by cinematographer David Gallego and with a rousingly evocative score by Leonardo Heiblum, Birds of Passage adds a touch of South American magic realism to a gritty crime drama, making it the freshest take on the gangster narrative to arrive in decades. Review

Late Night seems to exist in both an alternate future where women host late night talk shows and in a past, more conservative era of comedy. It's a mess. Review

Science fiction for adults is rarely seen on this technical level, and with its confounding themes and focus on bodily fluids, Denis' film is Adult Sci-Fi in every sense of the term. Review

For all its rigid formulaic filmmaking, the movie plays laughably loose with the rules of its mythos. La Llorona is essentially a spirit who can materialise out of thin air, yet in the silliest climax yet seen in this very silly franchise, characters thwart the ghoul by closing doors and windows on her. Review

But when we have such access to the real-life footage, is there any point to all of this? Does Extremely Wicked... serve to further condemn an awful human being or simply add to his legend? Review

It has enough scuzzy thrills to keep gorehounds content, and in Zahler's writing it offers more nuanced characters than you might expect from the 13th entry in a low budget horror franchise. Review

Hellboy is bollocks, but it's bollocks in a refreshingly British way, probably the closest we'll ever get to a Fleetway Publications Cinematic Universe. Review

The sincere tone of The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot seems too often to be battling its pulp title. Krzykowski's film is surprisingly bereft of the humour that viewers enticed by its moniker may be expecting, but we've seen past examples of how genre silliness and emotional sincerity can make great bedfellows. Review

Zahler shoots action like nobody else working outside Asia, but foremost his movies are character studies. Review

In Hancock's journeyman hands, The Highwaymen lacks the energy and insight the story requires. It relies too heavily on the broken down charisma of its leads, but it must be said, Costner and Harrelson are as good here as they've ever been. Review

The bulk of The Hurricane Heist's audience will likely discover it while browsing at home on their set-top box, and it's arguably a movie best enjoyed from a couch, with easy access to a six-pack. Review

While rejigging some of the classic tropes of the teen comedy, Love, Simon isn't quite as tight and well structured as the superior examples of the genre. Review

It's a shame, as up to that point, this Pet Sematary deviates sufficiently and effectively enough to stand on its own, but ultimately it's another pointless resurrection of a horror favourite. Sometimes dead really is better. Review