MOVIE REVIEW: ONSLAUGHT

 

An Army sniper unleashes her lethal skills to protect her young daughter from a rogue squad of genetically engineered soldiers.

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Eric Wareheim, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Alex Pereira, Drew Starkey, Rebecca Hall

Release Date: September 4, 2026

 

Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody violence, some gore, sexual material/nudity, and language.

Runtime: 1h 32m

Review:

Adam Wingard’s Onslaught is an efficient homage to 70’s/80’s B-movies with is barebone, bloody story offering up a set up to unleash a series of set of survival set pieces for Adria Arjona’s PTD riddled vet to survive as she protects her daughter.  Wingard is clearly in his wheelhouse as he delivers a slick looking pulp film that echoes 80’s John Carpenter at various points during its runtime along with a healthy dose of old school grindhouse film.  The action set pieces are all well-constructed and shot with a keen eye to make sure they leave a lasting impression especially when the murderous death squad appears.  The film is populated by over-the-top characterization with the villains being appropriately sleezy and kinky, which leaves you wishing the script had given them a bit more to do.  Michael Biehn, Rebecca Hall and Dan Stevens are both more than game to play in this sandbox, but the film never takes advantage of their substantial talents with their roles being little more than extended cameos.   Drew Starkey has a bit more time to work with his special operative character, Cyrus, who is deployed to contain the death squad.  Adria Arjona carries the lion’s share of the load here as she tries to squeeze out every bit of pathos out of her character.  Arjona is solid throughout, delivering a focused turn that’s engaging enough to make you care about her and her daughter’s survival.  The back half of the film turns from the bloody action of the first half into something that’s much closer to slasher horror.  The death squad turns into tactical gear adorned versions of Michael Myers, Jason and Leatherface as they stalk through the trailer park delivering more than a handful of effective jump scares along the way.  The series of fights that occur are brutally bloody bits of orchestrated mayhem with only the final face feeling a tad underwhelming.  Onslaught is the kind of movie that falls apart if you think about it too much and it has the presence of mind to move everything along at a steady pace and not overstay its welcome. 

B

MOVIE REVIEW: HELLRAISER

 

A young woman must confront the sadistic, supernatural forces behind an enigmatic puzzle box responsible for her brother's disappearance.

Director: David Bruckner

Cast: Odessa A'zion, Jamie Clayton, Brandon Flynn, Goran Višnjić, Drew Starkey, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds, Selina Lo, Hiam Abbass

Release Date: September 28, 2022

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual content and brief graphic nudity.

Runtime: 2h 1m

Review:

David Bruckner's, who directed the underseen 2020 horror gem The Night House, attempt at resurrecting the Hellraiser franchise is competent it’s not quite the home run long suffering fans were hoping for.  Bruckner captures a lot of the mood and looks of the first two film's albeit in a glossier veneer.  He's clearly a fan of the series and he delivers plenty of horrific skin tearing gore and visions that nails this very specific aesthetic.  The new Cenobites designs are familiar enough to keep fans happy along with some interesting new variations for some variety.  Unfortunately, they decided to drop the S&M black patent leather in favor of white which doesn't do the costuming any favors, leaving some close ups looking more like molded latex than the flayed flesh they are supposed to be which kills some of the effect.  Jamie Clayton does a solid job taking over Doug Bradley’s iconic Pinhead by giving a distinct but familiar performance.  She nails the creepiness but doesn't quite nail the subtle but ever present menace behind Bradley's delivery.  The script doesn't give her much help by making the primary human characters, lead by Odessa A'zion, utterly uninteresting and downright stupid in large portions of the film.  Goran Višnjić's Roland Voight is far more interesting for a variety of reasons, but the film decides to only use the character in the opening and final acts which seems like a waste.  As is, this reboot of the Hellraiser franchise checks enough boxes to make it passable but doesn't do anything special enough to make it memorable.

C