Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

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

If you're unfamiliar with the events it's depicting, Lords of Chaos will probably have you gripped, if confused, but ultimately it's little more than a diverting advert for the Wikipedia page labelled 'Early Norwegian black metal scene'. Review

Farrands plainly has a lot of sympathy for Tate, and his film is an odd case of a filmmaker attempting to rescue a real-life victim and rewrite the past. Noble, perhaps, but the general shoddy execution of his film does this concept no favours. Review

Like many of today's genre filmmakers, Peele could benefit from a co-writer to help iron out his storytelling. He's in danger of becoming the next M. Night Shyamalan, a horror auteur whose ingenious concepts fail to fit organically into his movies. Review

It all gets a bit silly by the end, and its portrayal of the world of drug addicts suggests nobody involved has ever encountered a real life addict, but Ben is Back does boast two outstanding central performances, which may prove enough to keep viewers engaged. Review

Despite the potential in Greta's scenario to explore such themes as urban isolation, the loneliness of our elder citizens and the divide between millenials and previous generations, Greta is as shallow a thriller as any of its made for TV or straight to VOD cousins. Review

There's an effectively atmospheric 45 minute episode of a TV horror anthology that might be extracted from The Wind, but in its current state the flashback padding results in little more than a light bluster. Tammi does enough to hint at more rewarding horror work to come, but The Wind fails to register high on the BOO-fort scale. Review

I have a feeling I may return to Under the Silver Lake in a decade or so and smack myself for not recognising its true genius, but today, in 2019, it's merely a commendable failure, probably the best bad movie you'll see all year. Review

Alpha: The Right to Kill is aesthetically very much a graduate of the Michael Mann school of crime drama, but thematically it's political in a way Mann's films rarely are. Review

Queer cinema has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Yet we still get movies like Tell It to the Bees, movies more interested in superficially critiquing homophobia than in celebrating sexual freedom. Review

Where Alex Ross Perry's Her Smell, which similarly charts the career of a troubled female singer, sends you out on a high with its climactic stage show, Vox Lux leaves you contemplating the movie that might have been. Review

With its emphasis on character over plot and overblown, uninvolving action, Spider-Man: Homecoming was a welcome departure for Marvel, but Captain Marvel is a step backwards, a return to a generic plot that revolves around the retrieval of a glowing blue Macguffin. Review

Ash Is Purest White is utterly captivating for at least two thirds of its running time, thanks in no small part to the magnetic presence of Zhao. But as with Zhangke's previous film, it peters out with a whimper in a final stretch that fails to replicate the insight and energy that have gone before. Review

There's little in the way of character or story to grasp onto and it's far too long, but Need For Speed is a refreshingly innocent throwback to a lost era of analog action. See it at your local drive-in. Review

Clarkson is one of our most under-appreciated stars, so it's nice to see her get a lead role. But even an actress as watchable as Clarkson can't save this lifeless science experiment gone wrong, and it doesn't help that her character overlooks obvious details in her investigation. Review

For all its problematic aspects, Waters' film always expresses an affection for its characters, representations which are joyously non-judgemental. Review

A movie about the tragedy of being unable to fully embrace the people you share a society and nation with sounds like a melancholy slog, but 3 Faces is far from it. It's essentially a comedy of the Capra/Sturges school, and with its roster of oddball characters it has something of David Byrne's True Stories about it. Review

Servillo is a force of nature, his performance so sleazy he leaves a sweat trail everywhere he moves. Review