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For more than two years, Joe Lipsett has dissected Amityville Horror films to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”

To say that I was going into Amityville VR with trepidation after the failure of its predecessor, Amityville AI, is something of an understatement. After all, the first film struggled to even understand its own title, so what fresh hell would a foray into VR entail?

Well, colour me surprised because while VR isn’t suddenly topping my “under seen and under appreciated” list of horror titles, it is a far more interesting and watchable film than AI.

Both films hail from director Matt Jaissle and follow software developer Stuart Birdsall (William Childress), but the sequel dramatically cuts down on the latter’s presence. In the world of the films, some time has passed since the events of AI; in the interim...

For more than two years, Joe Lipsett has dissected Amityville Horror films to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”

Considering the pressing relevance of discussions around the use of AI in everything from writing emails to (often incorrect) Google searches to, yes, making films, an Amityville film on the subject actually makes sense. After all, these films are all about cashing-in on a high concept name, a buzzy/topical element, or both. Artificial Intelligence definitely fits the bill.

Of course, there’s theory… and then there’s execution.

The latter is where Amityville AI gets into trouble because the film is a mess from a technical perspective. This is another bare bones indie feature where a few folks do all of the heavy lifting, but director Matt Jaissle (who pulls triple duty as editor and cinematographer) can’t manage to deliver a compelling finished product.

This post contains spoilers for "True Detective: Night Country."

When the trailer for "True Detective: Night Country" arrived in 2023, it was exciting for many reasons. Not only was the crime anthology series returning after an extended break, the trailer for "Night Country" contained several spiral symbols, suggesting fans of the first season were in for a treat.

Back in 2014, season 1 of Nic Pizzolatto's series introduced us to detectives Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Rustin Cohle (Matthew McConaughey), whose investigation into the disappearance and murder of several girls in and around Lafayette, Louisiana, led them to uncover a child abuse ring with members in the upper echelons of society. Throughout that season, the spiral symbol appeared, both at crime scenes and in Rust's post-addiction visions, and seemed to represent this so-called "Yellow King" cult.

This coterie of powerful individuals worshipped the mysterious king in question, with Pizzolatto borrowing from Robert...

Stars: Brody Barcellona, Christina R Gregg, Ryan Knudson, Caitlin Carmichael, Warren Fast, Trenton Hudson, Danielle Harris, William Childress | Written and Directed by Warren Fast

Roadkill opens with a boy (Brody Barcellona; When Sharks Attack) getting some food from a refrigerator and sharing it with a cute dog. That doesn’t sit well with his mother who chases the boy back to the dog house where he lives telling him “That’s gonna cost you”. In the morning we see just what it cost as he wakes to his mother giggling over the dog with several butcher knives sticking out of it.

The film moves forward to the summer of 1983 and the boy has grown and is now a drifter referred to in the credits as The Hitchhiker. He crosses paths with The Driver, a young woman with a big muscle car who offers him a ride in return for directions...