Thriller
Rod Lott
Mill Creek Entertainment’s budget pack of noir, Dark Crimes, strongly goes against the notion that films in the public domain are there because they aren't any good. That’s nonsense.

Horror
Rod Lott
Two new direct-to-DVD horror thrillers begin with much promise, but fizzle before they’re able to provide any sizzle.

Sci-Fi
Rod Lott
If Contagion were exported to Scotland — and injected with a dose of speculative fiction in customs — the result might make Perfect Sense. The film fails only to fit snugly into one genre, being a thriller, a romance and sci-fi, but sci-fi only in the sense that Children of Men and Never Let Me Go were. This is equally brainy, and maybe just a smidge less bleak.

Comedy
Rod Lott
Among many other credibility-stretchers, This Means War asks the viewer to believe:

Thriller
Rod Lott
From 1932, the mystery The Phantom of Crestwood may be one of Hollywood’s first gimmick flicks. That doesn’t make it any good, however.

Thriller
Rod Lott
Assassins are given a twist in Accident, a unique and superior Hong Kong thriller directed by Soi Cheang and produced by one of the best in the biz, Johnnie To (Mad Detective, Vengeance).

Thriller
Rod Lott
A guy walks into a police station to report a murder: himself! With that setup, one could make a tight, terrific crime film — and D.O.A. is that movie ... in 1950. The 1988 remake doesn't fare as well, but at least it's been preserved on Blu-ray by Mill Creek Entertainment.

Sci-Fi
Rod Lott
Alien has no shortage of rip-offs, but Sector 7 has the distinction of hitting video while Prometheus is in theaters. While Prometheus isn't great, it's better than Sector 7. Heck, even the much-maligned Alien vs. Predator is better than Sector 7.

Horror
Rod Lott
New to DVD, 2010’s Don't Go in the Woods is not to be confused with 1981’s Don't Go in the Woods. That one was a cheap slasher movie; this one is a cheap slasher movie in which characters wonder what John Fogerty and the Donner party have in common, and then sing songs.

Thriller
Rod Lott
With little exception (National Treasure, Kick-Ass, about one minute of Grindhouse), there’s no denying that Nicolas Cage has spent the better part of the past decade in a career slump. Witness such critically lambasted underperformers as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Season of the Witch, Bangkok Dangerous and, most recently, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.