Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

For all its visual flair and imaginativeness, The Jester suffers from a weak script that struggles at times to communicate its ideas, relying on characters speaking the film's themes out loud. Review

Ultimately this tedious drama is for masochists only. Review

Mixing laughs with bloody set-pieces and some genuine pathos, It's a Wonderful Knife is ideal viewing for that period between Halloween and Christmas, which for horror fans is quickly becoming the most wonderful time of the year. Review

Hüller's enigmatic performance keeps us guessing as to the nature of Sandra's guilt. Review

Buckley and Ahmed are so magnetic that we forget about the film's flaws every time they're on screen, whether they're basking in each other's presence or withering in their absence. Review

Her films portray men as predatory, regardless of whether they possess the power of a Harvey Weinstein or are lowly blue collar grunts. But she also dares to explore female complicity and refreshingly, she doesn't care if we like her female protagonists or not. After all, victims come in all personality types. Review

With a bit more thought Bottoms might have stood alongside the likes of Clueless and Mean Girls rather than simply satisfying itself with aiming digs at such movies. Review

Despite its limited means it's one of the most realistic depictions of the horrific conditions of trench warfare. Review

This being a New Zealand production, the creatures are of course designed by WETA. It's refreshing to see old school rubbery monsters in this era of Sharknado knockoffs and their awful CG, but the creature design is disappointingly generic. Review

The plight of the buffalo is very much secondary to that of its human (or inhuman) characters, none of whom are interesting enough for us to care about. Review

Like Charlotte Regan's Aftersun, in which a possibly suicidal father tries to keep it together while on holiday with his daughter, Molly Manning Walker's debut How to Have Sex similarly explores the horrors of enduring forced fun. Review

Like Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, The Land Within asks us to identify the wolves in the picture. But in Europe's conflicts, where the enemy in your rifle scope might look like your brother, and indeed sometimes actually is a family member, such distinctions aren't always so easy to make. Review

With his melancholy hang-dog features and a face that almost seems like it would melt if he cried, Whitaker was born to play this character. Review

Warhol is an odd mix of strong and weak performances, and of subplots that are either left ambiguous or have their message rammed down the viewer's throat. Its slick visuals and Johnson's magnetic performance are its key selling points, but elsewhere it's a rough around the edges piece of filmmaking of the most annoyingly didactic kind. Review

Pett Kata Shaw isn't remarkable enough to stand among the classics of the horror anthology sub-genre, but it's a rare case of a portmanteau film where every segment works to some degree. Review

Hutcherson is an amiable presence and his chemistry with Rubio is very cute. Masterson is having fun chewing scenery as a live action Disney villain, and the subplot around her attempts to prise Abby away from Mike is the film's strongest aspect. But is anyone watching a Five Nights at Freddy's movie to see a custody drama? Review

Palimpsest certainly has an interesting premise but it never quite figures out what it's trying to say. Review

But watching The Carmichael Manor at home alone on a stormy night with the wind whistling down my chimney and the front door creaking, well, congrats Cognetti...you got me. Review

What makes Parachute stand out from similar narratives is that rather than posing the question of whether two people who clearly love one another will get together, it asks whether they should get together. Review

This film is all about its human characters, and how wonderfully human they are. Review

We're left to wish we could see the unmade film that exists between the two images. Review

Paradise is Burning is a nostalgic treat for anyone who fondly recalls the childhood joy of breaking adult rules. Review

Both approaches are interesting in their own right, though the Danish version will likely prove the more relatable for female viewers of Anne's vintage. Review

Even for an atheist like myself Pandemonium is a deeply upsetting watch. While it's one of the most thematically dark films I've seen in some time, Pandemonium also boasts humour of the blackest kind. Review