Kevin Durand Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,’ starring Samara Weaving, Kathryn Newton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Shawn Hatosy, David Cronenberg and Elijah Wood

March 17, 2026

by Carla Hay

Kathryn Newton and Samara Weaving in “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” (Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Culture Representation: Taking place in Connecticut and in Rhode Island, the horror comedy film “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” (a sequel to the 2019 movie “Ready or Not”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After a recently widowed bride wins a twisted survival game forced upon her by her dead groom’s family of wealthy Satan worshippers, the horror continues as the bride and her estranged younger sister find themselves trapped in a similar survival game, where they are hunted by other members of the satanic cult.

Culture Audience: “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Ready or Not” movie, the movie’s headliners, filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and dark horror comedies that have a lot of blood and gore.

Cast members of “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” Pictured facing the camera, from left to right: Juan Pablo Romero, Nestor Carbonell, Varun Saranga, Maša Lizdek, Shawn Hatosy, Nadeem Umar-Khitab, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Daniel Beirne, Antony Hall, and Olivia Cheng. Pictured with their backs to the camera, from left to right: Samara Weaving and Kathryn Newton. (Photo by Pief Weyman/Searchlight Pictures)

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” serves up more bloody horror and dark comedy, with an unlucky bride joined by her sister as targets of a cult of wealthy satanists. This sequel is a little overstuffed with new characters, but it still has room for a few surprises. The novelty concept of this movie franchise is starting to wear thin. If this franchise continues with more movies, it needs new main characters.

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” is a direct sequel to 2019’s “Ready or Not.” Both movies were directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and written by Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murray. “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” takes place in Connecticut and in Rhode Island. The movie was actually filmed in the Canadian province of Ontario, mostly in the Toronto area. “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” had its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival.

The opening scene of “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” takes place minutes after the end of the events of “Ready or Not.” Viewers who didn’t see the first “Ready or Not” movie won’t feel confused because protagonist Grace MacCaullay (played by Samara Weaving) gives a “Ready or Not” recap monologue fairly early on in “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” This is not a stand-alone sequel, so anyone who sees “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” has to be prepared to hear spoiler information of what happened in the first “Ready or Not” movie.

In “Ready or Not,” Grace married into the wealthy Le Domas family, only to discover on her wedding day that the family is part of a satanist cult that chose her to be part of a deadly game of Hide and Seek at the sprawling Le Domas mansion. Grace wins the game if she survives until dawn the day after the game begins. During the game, those who lose can die by spontaneously exploding. Spoiler alert: Grace won the game and is the only survivor at the mansion.

Because all the marketing materials for “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” already show that Grace survived the events of “Ready or Not,” watching the first “Ready or Not” movie is helpful but not necessary. In “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” Grace is first seen wounded and exhausted on the steps of the Le Domas mansion, which is burning from the fire that happened toward the end of “Ready or Not.”

Grace is still wearing her blood-soaked wedding dress. An ambulance arrives, and an unseen emergency medical technician asks Grace: “Jesus Christ, what happened to you?” Grace replies with sarcasm: “In-laws.” Grace is taken to a hospital in the fictional city of Woolbury, Connecticut, and loses consciousness on the way there.

When Grace wakes up, she is handcuffed to her hospital bed. A police detective named Roger Bassett (played by Grant Nickalls) informs Grace that she is being detained for suspicion of arson and murder. Grace says she’s not guilty but is too exhausted to tell her hard-to-believe story.

Almost as soon as Grace finds out that she could be facing serious criminal charges, her younger sister Faith MacCaullay (played by Kathryn Newton) arrives in the hospital room. Grace and Faith have not seen or spoken to each other for seven years, but Faith says she is still listed as Grace’s emergency contact person. Grace asks Detective Bassett for some privacy with Faith.

Grace tells Faith what happened to her, which is a monologue recap of the events of “Ready or Not.” Faith isn’t very sympathetic because she still has a lot of resentment toward Grace because she felt that Grace “abandoned” Faith after their parents died. When Faith was 15 and Grace was 18, Grace moved to New York City to go to college while Faith was raised in the foster care system.

In some squabbling between the sisters, it’s eventually revealed that Grace dropped out of college, became a waitress, fell in love with wealthy Alex Le Domas (played by Mark O’Brien), and became his bride in what turned out to be the wedding day from hell. When Faith was 18 years old, she also moved to New York City. However, Faith was so bitter about Grace leaving her behind as an orphan, Faith has not been in contact with Grace until this uncomfortable reunion at the hospital.

In this secret cult, the most important families have the title of being members of the cult’s Council, which controls the world’s power and wealth. Only one Counsil family can hold the highest level of power: the High Seat, which is occupied by the wealthy Danforth family in the beginning of the movie. The oldest living member of whichever family occupies the High Seat is given a special ring. The High Seat controls the cult’s Council.

The Danforth family’s widowed patriarch is Chester Danforth (played by David Cronenberg), who has the type of power where he can order a ceasefire in a war, just by making a phone call. An ailing and elderly Chester is first seen making this power move in his first scene in the movie. Chester’s two children are ambitious and competitive twins Ursula Danforth (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Titus Danforth (played by Shawn Hatosy), who want to be the “alpha” sibling after Chester inevitably dies.

Grace has caused disarray in the cult’s power structure because she is an extremely rare survivor of the cult’s Hide and Seek game. According to the by-laws of the cult, if there is such a survivor, all the Council members and their immediate family members must convene to hunt down and kill the person who survived the game. Whoever succeeds in killing the target will be rewarded with the High Seat position. The previous time this type of gathering occurred for the cult was in October 1963.

Ursula and Titus feel entitled to keep the High Seat in the Danforth family. The twins don’t want to wait until their father Chester dies, so Ursula and Titus murder Chester by smothering him to death in his bed. This murder was Ursula’s idea. Ursula is a manipulative planner, in contrast to Titus, who is an impulsive hothead.

The cult’s ultimate leader is a mysterious entity called Le Bail, which is supposed to be an alias for Satan. Le Bail and the cult have an unnamed lawyer (played by Elijah Wood), who is in charge of assembling all the Council families for this murder event. It’s decided that the hunting game will take place at the Danforth family’s country club estate in Rhode Island.

The two main rules for the hunting game are (1) The Council family members must use weapons that existed when their ancestors joined the cult. (2) The Council members are not allowed to kill each other, even if it’s an accidental killing. If a Council member kills another Council member, the person who did the killing and their family members will spontaneously explode.

The lawyer, who does a lot of smirking, is on site to observe the proceedings and answer questions. The lawyer also communicates messages on behalf of Le Bail. The event’s security chief is Pernilla (played by Kara Wooten) is a “strong and silent” type.

These are the Council members who are summoned to this murder game:

The Danforth family, consisting of Ursula, Titus and their neurotic cousin Kip (played by Dan Beirne).
The Wilkinson family from Atlantic City, New Jersey, consisting of Bill Wilkinson (played by Kevin Durand), a cocaine-snorting bachelor thug.
The El Caído family from Madrid, consisting of sadistic patriarch Ignacio El Caído (played by Nestor Carbonell), his volatile young adult daughter Francesca El Caido (played by Maia Jae) and his protégé adolescent son Felipe El Caído (played by Juan Pablo Romero).
The Wan family from Shanghai, consisting of scheming Wan Chen Xing (played by Olivia Cheng) and her immature young adult son Wan Cheng Fu (played by Antony Hall).
The Rajan family from London, consisting of cocky patriarch Viraj Rajan (played by Nadeem Umar-Khitab), his insecure younger brother Varun Saranga (played by Madhu Rajan) and Varun’s vapid trophy wife Martina Rajan (played by Maša Lizdek).

Through a series of events, sisters Grace and Faith are kidnapped from the hospital and end up on the Danforth’s country club estate, where they are told about the murder game and are introduced to the hunters in the game. Just like in the first “Ready or Not” movie, the hunted has to survive until dawn, in order to win the game. This time, the stakes are higher because both Grace and Faith have to survive, in order to win the game.

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” has a clever idea of brining an international group of family assassins into the story. However, there are just too many of them to really give all of them memorable personalities in this 108-minute movie. The assassins who stand out the most—Ursula, Titus, Ignacio, Francesca, Viraj and Varun—are caricatures.

The rest of the assassins are vague and don’t make much of an impression. Some of the assassins aren’t given much to do except sit around the mansion and wait for the leaders of their respective families to finish what they’re doing. The Danforth family is the movie’s only assassin family who has a little bit of family history information revealed in the story.

Despite having an overabundance of assassins, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” excels in showing the sisterly dynamics of Grace and Faith. It’s a not an original concept—”Can two bickering people find a way to work together in life-or-death situations?”—but it works well enough in this movie, thanks to the go-for-broke performances of Weaving and Newton. Viewers should expect to hear a lot more shrieking and yelling than what’s in the average horror flick. This movie is not easy on the ears.

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” has more of an absurdist slapstick tone than “Ready or Not,” which had more traditional horror elements. The horror in “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” comes from all the bloody carnage and the supernatural aspects of many of the deaths. The absurdity comes from the fact that some of these assassins are comically inept. For example, someone fires a rocket launcher, only to discover it’s pointed the wrong way.

Just like the first “Ready or Not” movie, “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” has admirable production design. But how many times is this franchise going to have a story about Hide and Seek murders at a remote luxury estate? A change in the location type would do this franchise some good.

“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” drags when it just becomes a formulaic chase movie. It isn’t until the last 20 minutes that there’s a plot development that many viewers won’t expect. This plot development somewhat saves “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” from being a mediocre and forgettable sequel. However, by the end of the film, it’s obvious that if this franchise has more sequels, then certain characters need to move on and should be replaced by new characters, in order to keep the franchise fresh.

Searchlight Pictures will release “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” in U.S. cinemas on March 20, 2026.

Review: ‘The Naked Gun,’ starring Liam Neeson

July 30, 2025

by Carla Hay

“The Naked Gun”

Directed by Akiva Schaffer

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Los Angeles area, the action comedy film “The Naked Gun” (the fourth film in “The Naked Gun” franchise) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some African Americans, Latin people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Police detective Frank Drebin Jr. investigates the suspicious death of a technology programmer while he also getting romantically involved with the programmer’s sister, who suspects the cause of death was murder.

Culture Audience: “The Naked Gun” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of “The Naked Gun” movies, the movie’s headliners and comedies that have jokes filled with puns and slapstick.

Danny Huston and Liam Neeson in “The Naked Gun” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

Not all of the jokes are great, but “The Naked Gun” is a worthy continuation of the comedy franchise in this story of police detective Frank Drebin Jr. investigating a mysterious death. The puns and sight gags range from goofy to raunchy. Before the last 15 minutes descend into wacky chaos, “The Naked Gun” is a steady stream of hammy hilarity that could get even the most die-hard cynic to crack a smile or chuckle.

Directed by Akiva Schaffer, “The Naked Gun” was co-written by Shaffer, Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. The trio teamed up in the same capacities for the Emmy-winning 2022 Disney+ movie “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers.” “The Naked Gun” is the fourth movie in “The Naked Gun” movie series, which is a spinoff the 1982 comedy TV series “Police Squad!,” starring Leslie Nielsen. (Nielsen died in 2010, at the age of 84.)

The first three movies in the series starred Nielsen reprising his “Police Squad!” detective character Frank Drebin. This trilogy consists of 1988’s “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!,” 1991’s “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear” and 1994’s “The Naked Gun 3 1/3: The Final Insult.” It’s not necessary to see any of these movies before seeing 2025’s “The Naked Gun,” but seeing these movies can be recommended for anyone who is curious to compare them to “The Naked Gun.”

In “The Naked Gun,” Frank Drebin is deceased, and the main character is Frank Drebin Jr. (played by Liam Neeson), a widower who has followed in his father’s footsteps as a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. Frank is a respected and diligent cop in the department, with a reputation for catching many criminals. There’s a department celebration for him at LAPD headquarters, with a sign that says, “Congratulations, Frank. 1,000 Bad Guys Caught.”

In the beginning of “The Naked Gun,” Frank and his LAPD colleagues respond to a bank robbery, where Frank has disguised himself as a girl in a school uniform to gain access to the building. It’s the beginning of many visual effects that give the movie a surrealistic tone. The robbers are apprehended after a messy fight. However, Frank gets pulled off the bank robbery case because some of the arrested robbers have filed a police brutality lawsuit against the LAPD.

Frank’s stern boss Chief Davis (played by CCH Pounder) assigns Frank to the deal with vehicle collisions. But trouble seems to find Frank anyway. At a single-car crash in Malibu, the body of 57-year-old bachelor Simon Davenport is found. Frank barely investigates before declaring the death to be a suicide.

Someone who doesn’t agree with this decision is Frank’s closest surviving relative: his divorcée sister Beth Davenport (played by Pamela Anderson), a blonde bombshell with a breathy voice. Beth, who is a crime novelist, visits Frank and his office and tells him that Simon’s murder was a homicide. Frank is immediately smitten with Beth.

Beth tells Frank that Simon was a programmer for technology billionaire Richard Cane (played by Danny Huston), the smooth-talking and slippery CEO of a company named Edentech. Richard made his fortune in online retail and other ventures. Beth invites Frank to a reading of her latest novel “The Killer Wore Lipstick.” Beth is supposed to be a spoof of retro femme fatale characters, kind of like a combination of Lana Turner and Jessica Rabbit.

Frank meets Richard for the first time at an Edentech party. Richard, who is the movie’s obvious villain, gives Frank a gift: an electric car that can be operated by voice-controlled commands. As already shown in the movie’s trailer, one of the first things that happens when Frank drives this car is that he accidentally leaves it attached to an electrical charging station near the front of the police station. As he drives off, it creates a domino effect where other charging stations fall down and crash into the wall, leaving a gaping hole where prisoners in the jail escape.

Frank agrees to investigate the death of Simon. And eventually, he lets Beth go undercover in the investigation, after they get romantically involved with each other. Beth’s undercover name, which Frank spontaneously invents, is Cherry Roosevelt Fat Bozo Chowing Down. You have to see the movie to find out why he came up with that alias.

Beth tells Frank that Simon told her that he was working on invention for Richard called the P.L.O.T. Device. (P.L.O.T. stands for Primordial Law of Toughness.) The investigation includes a few visits to Richard’s upscale Bengal Club, where Frank introduces Beth to Richard, by using her undercover name. At the Bengal Club, Beth pretends to be a singer and shows some unusual scat jazz singing skills.

Frank uncovers more information that leads him to believe that Simon’s death was a homicide. Frank also believes that illegal things have been happening at the Bengal Club. Douglas O’Reilly (played by Vincent Lascoumes), a journalist who writes for the Los Angeles Chronicle newspaper, might have some answers to this mystery. With Beth’s help, Frank goes into a Bengal Club back room to see if he can find surveillance video from the club.

During this entire investgation, Richard’s chief thug Sig Gustafson, (played by Kevin Durand) is sent to keep track of what Frank is doing. One of the funniest scenes in the movie is when Sig uses X-ray binoculars to spy on Richard and Beth on a date at Richard’s home. What’s happening inside the home looks very different through the binoculars. Some of this scene is already shown in the movie’s trailer, but the misinterpreted visuals get extremely cringeworthy when Frank’s dog appears in the room.

Many of the jokes in “The Naked Gun” depend on audiences knowing certain things about pop culture. In an early part of the movie, Frank utters, “I remember when the only things that were electric were chairs, eels and Catherine Zeta-Jones in ‘Chicago.'” In another scene, when Richard and Beth are at the Bengal Club, he gives her a glass of champagne that he brags is from Bill Cosby’s private estate. Beth chokes a little after hearing that comment.

Some celebrities have notable cameos in “The Naked Gun.” Busta Rhymes has a short scene as an unnamed bank robber in an interrogation room. Dave Bautista and “Weird” Al Yankovic make quick appearances as themselves. (There’s a very brief end-credits scene with one of these actors. It’s not worth watching unless you’re absolutely curious.)

One area where “The Naked Gun” falls short is that doesn’t have enough scenes of Frank working with his cop colleagues. Ed Hocken Jr. (played by Paul Walter Hauser) is a very underdeveloped character. He’s the son of the late Ed Hocken, the LAPD captain who was played by George Kennedy in the first three “Naked Gun” movies. (Kennedy died in 2016, at age 91.) Ed Jr. is a little too generic in this movie doesn’t really have enough screen time to be an important sidekick.

Not Nordberg Jr. (played by Moses Jones) is the LAPD cop son of Officer Nordberg, Frank Drebin Sr.’s best friend, who was played by O.J. Simpson in the first three “Naked Gun” movies. (Simpson, whose scandals most people know about, died of prostate cancer in 2024, when he was 76.) Nordberg Jr.’s funniest scene is already shown in the movie’s trailer, when his colleagues are crying in front of their cop father’s police portraits in a hallway at LAPD headquarters, while Nordberg Jr. looks at his father’s portrait and shakes his head no while looking embarrassed. Other LAPD characters who are vague side characters are Detective Barnes (played by Liza Koshy), Detective Taylor (played by Michael Beasley) and Detective Park (played by Eddie Yu).

As it stands, “The Naked Gun” succeeds because it stays true to the original spirit of the first three “Naked Gun” movies and because Neeson and Anderson are a dynamic comedic duo. Neeson’s 21st century actor roles have been mostly as “tough guys” in gritty action movies. Anderson has been living for years under the shadow of being mostly known as a sex symbol and a former “Baywatch” actress. In “The Naked Gun,” Neeson and Anderson use those stereotypes to their advantage by poking fun at their typecast images, thereby proving that they have the talent to be taken seriously as comedic forces in their own right.

Paramount Pictures will release “The Naked Gun” in U.S. cinemas on August 1, 2025.

Review: ‘Clown in a Cornfield,’ starring Katie Douglas, Aaron Abrams, Carson MacCormac, Kevin Durand and Will Sasso

May 31, 2025

by Carla Hay

“Clown in a Cornfield”

Directed by Eli Craig

Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional city of Kettle Springs, Missouri, the horror film “Clown in a Cornfield” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A 17-year-old girl moves with her widower father to Kettle Springs, and they find out that Kettle Springs has been plagued by serial killngs of someone dressed as a mascot clown named Frendo.

Culture Audience: “Clown in a Cornfield” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the book of the same name and horror movies about killer clowns.

Verity Marks, Cassandra Potenza and Katie Douglas in “Clown in a Cornfield” (Photo courtesy of RLJE Films and Shudder)

Some fans of the book “Clown in a Cornfield” might be disappointed by the movie’s tonal changes to this horror story about serial killings done by a mascot clown. The self-aware comedic revisions mostly work well, thanks to the movie’s appealing cast. The movie leans more into having sarcastic jokes in the story, compared to the book, and this satire is effective because the cast members have very good comedic timing.

Directed by Eli Craig, “Clown in a Cornfield” (which had its world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival) is based on Adam Cesare’s 2020 horror novel of the same name. Carter Blanchard and Craig co-wrote the “Clown in a Cornfield” adapted screenplay. The story takes place in the fictional city of Kettle Springs, Missouri. The “Clown in a Cornfield” movie was actually filmed in Winnipeg, Canada.

The “Clown in a Cornfield” movie begins in 1991, during a party that teenagers are having in a cornfield. A teenager named Jessica (played by Kaitlyn Bacon) takes off her top and runs into a secluded part of the field. Another teen named Tyler (played by Dylan McEwan) follows Jessica because he thinks she might want to fool around.

Tyler notices that there are some large footprints in the muddy field. These footprints look too big for Jessica. Tyler sees Jessica in front of him. She’s vomiting because she’s been fatally wounded. And you can predict what happens next: Someone dressed as a creepy-looking clown suddenly appears and impales Tyler with a machete.

“Clown in a Cornfield” then fast-forwards to 2025 to show a teenage girl and her father arriving from Philadelphia on their first day as new residents of Kettle Springs. Quinn Maybrook (played by Katie Douglas) is a moody and introverted teenager who doesn’t really want to live in Kettle Springs because she thinks she will be bored in this small city. Quinn’s father Glenn Maybrook (played by Aaron Abrams) is a medical doctor who has accepted a job to be Kettle Springs’ chief physician.

It’s autumn, and Quinn will be a starting her last year of high school in Kettle Springs. Quinn and Glenn are grieving over the death of Quinn’s mother/Glenn’s wife a few months ago. It’s later revealed that Quinn’s mother died of a drug overdose. Glenn wanted a fresh start in a place that’s very different from Philadelphia, which is why he decided to move to Kettle Springs.

Quinn is dismayed to find out that Glenn bought the two-story farmhouse where they live in Kettle Springs without going in person to look at the house. He made the purchase based on photos he saw online. When they arrive at the house, Quinn gets even more upset when she finds out there’s no WiFi service in the house. The house also has a nasty odor, which turns out to be a dead raccoon that’s stuck in the chimney.

A big cornfield near the house can be seen from various windows in the house. Quinn notices that in this cornfield is a large building with a sign that says Baypen Corn Syrup Factory. The company clown mascot also appears on the same sign. Quinn later finds out that this clown is named Frendo, and the factory has been abandoned.

Quinn is a loner type who’s not very concerned about how popular she’ll be in her new school. Her first day at the school also happens to be her 17th birthday. A teenager named Rustin “Rust” Vance (played by Vincent Muller), who’s also a student at the school, lives nearby and has noticed that Quinn and her father have moved into this house.

Rust visits the house, introduces himself to Quinn and Glenn, and offers to walk with Quinn to the school. Glenn approves because Rust seems like a friendly guy. On the way to the school, Rust tells Quinn that hunting and fishing are the main leisure activities for the teenagers in Kettle Springs.

“Not everyone is a redneck,” Rust says. “I don’t really care what people think. Be careful who you hang out with. There are some real weirdos at this school.” Quinn thanks Rust for his advice but doesn’t really know what he means by “weirdos.”

Quinn is late for her first class, which is teaching astronomy. The no-nonsense teacher for the class is Mr. Vern (played by Bradley Sawatzky), who becomes furious when he finds out that unknown students have played pranks on him. First, they put a photo of Mr. Vern’s head on a photo of someone else’s muscular body so that this altered photo appears on the video projector in the class. No one in the class will confess to this prank, so Mr. Vern punishes everyone by giving them a surprise quiz.

Mr. Vern then sees that his dating profile has been copied on a surprise quiz that he hands out to the students. He has a screaming meltdown, which gets recorded by Janet Murray (played by Cassandra Potenza), who likes to think of herself as the school’s “queen bee.” Quinn quickly finds out that the pranksters are the school’s clique of “cool kids,” who introduce themselves to Quinn during this class. Janet is in the clique.

The clique is led by self-assured Cole Hill (played by Carson MacCormac), who comes from the wealthiest and most influential family in Kettle Springs. Also in the clique are Janet’s neurotic best friend Ronnie Queen (played by Verity Marks), Matt Trent (played by Alexandre Martin Deakin), who is Ronnie’s athletic boyfriend; and Tucker Lee (played by Ayo Solanke), who has a fun-loving personality.

This clique has a YouTube channel, where they like to post videos of pranks they’ve pulled on unsuspecting people. Quinn later finds out that Cole and Rust used to be very close, but they had a falling out and no longer speak to each other. The clique has a reputation for being brats who commit petty crimes.

Cole’s ancestors founded Kettle Springs. Cole’s image-conscious father Arthur Hill (played by Kevin Durand) is the current mayor of Kettle Springs. Cole’s great-grandfather founded Baypen Corn Syrup, which used to be the largest company employer in Kettle Springs, until a fire destroyed the inside of the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory about a year ago. The factory has remained abandoned. Kettle Springs has been suffering economically ever since.

Even though Kettle Springs has been going through hard times financially, the city is still continuing its tradition of having its Founders Day parade, where the biggest attraction is a float of Frendo. There’s been widespread gossip that Cole and his friends accidentally started the fire during while partying in the factory after-hours. For this reason and because of the clique’s prank videos, Sheriff York Dunne (played by Will Sasso), who’s in charge of law enforcement in Kettle Springs, has this clique on his radar as potential troublemakers.

The first time that Quinn is invited to hang out with Cole and his friends, they play a prank on her by having Tucker dress up as Frendo and scaring Quinn. They film this prank and post the video on social media. However, Cole notices that there seems to be a shadowy figure of someone else dressed as Frendo in the background of this video. None of this is spoiler information, because the trailer for “Clown in a Cornfield” reveals a lot of what happens in the movie.

Quinn develops a growing attraction to Cole, who seems to be attracted to her too. But this possible romance gets tested during a teen party at the warehouse, where various things happen. All hell breaks loose when people start getting killed in what turns out to be a Frendo massacre.

“Clown in a Cornfield” has many action-packed chase scenes and other terror scenes that should please horror fans but have a lot of typical horror stereotypes of people walking right into a trap when they should be going elsewhere to get help. The gore in “Clown in a Cornfield” is intense but it’s not excessive. This is the type of movie that knows how goofy it is but at the same time it keeps people guessing on who’s behind this killing spree and why certain people are being targeted. (The answer is eventually revealed.)

The movie doesn’t take itself seriously and has some comedy that spoofs how people in horror movies often do idiotic things. For example, there’s a scene where Janet and Quinn are trapped in a place where the only phone they can find is a rotary phone, which they don’t know how to use because they only know how to use phones that operate by pushing buttons. There’s another scene in the movie that’s a not-so-subtle dig at the stereotype of black people get killed off quickly in horror movies, when a terrified Ronnie (who’s black) mentions this stereotype when she says that she’s going to be the next one killed.

“Clown in a Cornfield” is effective because all of the cast members are believable in their roles, although no one is going get nominated for any awards for this movie. The story has some gravitas when it comes to Quinn’s tense relationship with her father and how they’re navigating grief over the loss of Quinn’s mother. Cole seems to be confident on the surface, but he’s also dealing with some insecurity issues having to do with his family and his identity. “Clown in a Cornfield” has an ending that raises some questions that aren’t adequately answered. But considering that the “Clown in the Cornfield” book has sequels, it seems inevitable that “Clown in the Cornfield” will also continue with movie sequels in franchise.

RLJE Films and Shudder released “Clown in a Cornfield” in U.S. cinemas on May 9, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on June 10, 2025.

Review: ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,’ starring Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon and William H. Macy

May 8, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”

Directed by Wes Ball

Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth, 300 years after the events of the movie “War for the Planet of the Apes,” the sci-fi/action film “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” features a cast of characters who are apes and humans.

Culture Clash: A group of apes team up with a human to try to defeat an evil dictatorial ape that wants to take over the world.

Culture Audience: “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Planet of the Apes” franchise and sci-fi action films where most of the characters are not human.

Travis Jeffery, Owen Teague and Lydia Peckham in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios)

After a slow start, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” turns into a familiar “good versus evil” sci-fi adventure story with the expected battles. It’s not the best “Planet of the Apes” movie, but it’s not the worst either. The action sequences and how the apes are portrayed should please fans of this franchise. The movie’s biggest flaw is how underdeveloped the human characters are.

Directed by Wes Ball and written by Josh Friedman, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is a spinoff/continuation of the trilogy that began with 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” (directed by Rupert Wyatt), and continued with 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (directed by Matt Reeves) and 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” (directed by Reeves). The hero ape at the center of this trilogy was Caesar (played by Andy Serkis), who became a legendary leader. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” takes place on Earth, 300 years after the event of “War for the Planet of the Apes.”

Do viewers need to see this trilogy before seeing “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”? Probably. That’s because Caesar is mentioned so many times in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” he’s an unseen character in the movie. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” has a captioned introduction explaining that a virus has caused apes to be superior to humans. Caesar was a brave leader of apes who “stood up for his kind,” but he also believed in a world where it’s possible for apes and humans to peacefully co-exist, even if many humans try to dominate or destroy apes.

In “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (which was filmed in New South Wales, Australia), humans are almost extinct from Earth. The “good apes” at the center of the story are from the Eagle Clan. These apes believe that they can communicate to eagles through a special ape-singing skills. The apes in the Eagle Clan look for eagle eggs to take and possible bond with when the eagles hatch from the eggs. The Eagle Clan has a rule that if eagle eggs are found in a nest, at least one egg has to be left behind in the nest.

The movie opens during one of these egg-hunting trips to show three young adult ape friends who are hunting together: earnest and intelligent Noa (played by Owen Teague); Noa’s strong-willed love interest Soona (played by Lydia Peckham); and Noa’s daredevil best friend Anaya (played by Travis Jeffery). The Eagle Clan lives in peaceful harmony with each other.

In the beginning of the story, Noa is hesitant and insecure about some things in his life. Noa doesn’t think his eagle-singing skills are up to the level of many other apes in the Eagle Clan. Noa’s parents are supportive, but his father thinks Noa should be more confident.

One day, the Eagle Clan is brutally invaded by an army of apes led by an evil dictator named Proximus Caesar (played by Kevin Durand), who orders that the Clan’s village be burned, and the surviving Eagle Clan members are forced into enslavement. In the chaos and mayhem, Caesar escapes. When he returns to the devastated and burned-out village, his family and friends are missing.

Naturally, Caesar goes on a mission to find his loved ones. Along the way, he meets a wise warrior orangutan named Raka (played by Peter Macon) and a mysterious woman, whom Caesar and Raka name Nova (played by Freya Allan), but she later reveals that her name is Mae. Nova/Mae pretends to be mute for much of the story until (to no one’s surprise), she admits she can talk. Nova/Mae says her deceased mother taught her to pretend to be mute for her own protection because intelligent humans are seen as a threat to apes.

Another human in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is Trevathan (played by William H. Macy), who is being held as a prisoner by Proximus Caesar, so that Proximus Caesar can learn all he can about human inventions and knowledge. Trevathan doesn’t have “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” get a meaningful sense of who he really is.

Noa is a little suspicious of Nova/Mae at first, but Raka believes in Caesar’s philosophies and urges Noa to give Nova/Mae a chance to prove her trustworthiness. Nova/Mae is supposed to be enigmatic, but perhaps she’s a little too mysterious because her personality is somewhat dull, even if her action sequences are among the best in the movie. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” never explains why Nova/Mae runs around in a tank top and jeans, while other humans in the story wear loin cloth outfits.

As for the ape characters, Teague and Macon stand out for their respective performances of Noa and Raka, who develop a protégé/mentor type of relationship. However, all the other ape characters with significant speaking roles, including villain Proximus Caesar, are a little too generic and predictable. The love story between Noa and Soona is a quite tepid. Most of the dialogue in the film is simplistic. These highly intelligent apes should have more interesting conversations.

The action sequences and visual effects in the movie are hit-and-miss but certainly aren’t terrible. Most of all, the story is formulaic but not necessarily in a bad way. The movie has no mid-credits scene or end-credits scene but has the expected ending that guarantees a sequel, since “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is conceived as the first movie in a trilogy. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” doesn’t offer any real surprises, but it’s the cinematic equivalent of comfort food for people who are fans of the franchise.

20th Century Studios will release “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” in U.S. cinemas on May 10, 2024, with a sneak preview in U.S. cinemas on May 8, 2024.

Review: ‘Abigail’ (2024), starring Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Alisha Weir and Giancarlo Esposito

April 18, 2024

by Carla Hay

Alisha Weir and Kathryn Newton in “Abigail” (Photo by Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures)

“Abigail” (2024)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Culture Representation: Taking place in an unnamed U.S. state, the horror film “Abigail” (a reboot of the 1936 film “Dracula’s Daughter”) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and one Latina) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Six kidnappers take a 13-year-old rich girl for ransom, only to find out that she is a vampire, and they are trapped in the mansion where they are holding her captive.

Culture Audience: “Abigail” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and gory horror movies that skillfully blend scares with comedy.

Angus Cloud, Kathryn Newton, Alisha Weir (back to camera), Kevin Durand, Dan Stevens (background), Melissa Barrera and Will Catlett in “Abigail” (Photo by Bernard Walsh/Universal Pictures)

The vampire kidnapping flick “Abigail” is a wickedly funny horror romp that is best enjoyed by people who have a high tolerance for bloody gore on screen. The movie builds suspense on which alliances will survive and which will fall apart. It’s a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but there are some poignant moments that bring a certain level of gravitas to a movie that delivers laughs along with the scares.

Written and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, “Abigail” is a reboot of sorts of the 1936 horror movie “Dracula’s Daughter.” Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett (who are members of the filmmaking collective nicknamed Radio Silence) continue their pattern of making horror films that are filled with sarcastic jokes and have some characters who aren’t what they initially appear to be. Bettinelli-Olpin’s and Gillett’s previous films include 2022’s “Scream” and 2023’s “Scream VI.”

In “Abigail,” the title character is a girl who appears to be 12 years old, but she’s really a vampire who is hundreds of years old. This isn’t spoiler information because Abigail being a vampire was already revealed in the movie’s trailers. Abigail (played by Alisha Weir) is a master manipulator who puts her wits and superhuman powers to use when she is kidnapped by a motley crew of criminals who demand a ransom of $50 million.

In the beginning of “Abigail,” she is shown dancing on stage in a ballerina costume to “Swan Lake” in an empty auditorium. (“Abilgail” takes place in an unnamed U.S. state but was actually filmed in Ireland.) After this rehearsal is over, Abigail goes into a chauffeur-driven car. Unbeknownst to the driver, the car has a tracking device placed on it by six criminals, who have been lying in wait to kidnap Abigail in a van that is labeled as a Flush Force plumbing company van.

The abductors follow the car to Abigail’s mansion, where she is home alone. Abigail is quickly abducted: She’s drugged using a hypodermic needle, blindfolded, and put in a body bag. The kidnappers make their getaway within a minute after some people arrive at the home and see that there’s been a break-in and Abigail is missing. The kidnappers then drive to another mansion in a remote area, where they meet with their no-nonsense supervisor named Lambert (played by Giancarlo Esposito), who praises them for completing their mission. Lambert then says he’s leaving them to look after Abigail until they get the ransom money.

Conversations in the movie reveal that Lambert assembled this kidnapping crew and deliberately selected people who are strangers to each other. They are under strict orders to not tell each other their real names or any personal information about themselves. Lambert assigns aliases to all of the kidnappers and takes their cell phones before he leaves. The kidnappers are also under orders to wear masks at all times when they are around Abigail, who is not always blindfolded. Lambert tells the kidnappers that they are better off not knowing who Abigail’s family is.

The six kidnappers who are in the mansion with Abigail are:

Frank (played by Dan Stevens), a bossy and arrogant know-it-all, who appoints himself the leader of the six kidnappers who are left behind in the mansion.
Joey (played by Melissa Barrera), a street-smart go-getter, who has been tasked with being the one to interact with Abigail in the room where Abigail is handcuffed. It’s later revealed that Joey has a young son, which is why she was assigned caregiver duties for Abigail. (Joey having a son is information that is also in the movie’s trailers.)
Rickles (played by Will Catlett), an expert sniper who has a mutual attraction to Joey.
Sammy (played by Kathryn Newton), a skilled computer hacker who looks like a party girl but who can strongly defend herself when necessary.
Dean (played by Angus Cloud), a stoner who tries and fails to get Sammy to be romantically interested in him.
Peter (played by Kevin Durand), a dimwitted muscle man who has the most physical strength in the group.

Joey is very good at reading people and quickly tells the other members of the group that she has figured out certain things about them, which they do not deny. Joey deduces that Frank used to be a police detective. Rickles was in the U.S. military, most likely the U.S. Marines. Sammy is a spoiled rich kid who commits crimes for the thrills.

Dean is a “sociopath,” according to Joey. Peter used to be bullied as a kid and built his muscular physique as a way to intimidate people and to defend himself from being physically bullied. As for Joey, Frank quickly figures out that she is a needle-using drug addict who appears to be in recovery.

The six kidnappers have been promised $7 million each as their cut of the ransom. They assume that Lambert will get the remaining $8 million, since he’s the supervisor who brought them together and told them what to do. Despite being told that they aren’t supposed to know who Abigail’s family is, the kidnappers get curious.

The only thing that Lambert has told the kidnappers about Abgail’s family is that Abigail has a very wealthy father who is expected to pay the ransom. There is no mention of Abigail’s mother. Eventually, the kidnappers find out that Abigail’s father is Kristof Lazar (played by Matthew Goode, in a very small role), who has a certain sinister reputation that is detailed in the movie.

A series of events reveal Abigail to be a vampire, and the kidnappers are locked and trapped inside the mansion. That’s when the movie kicks into high-gear horror, as it turns into an all-out war between Abigail and the kidnappers. However, this war is not as simple as it seems, because Joey made a promise to never hurt Abigail before Joey knew that Abigail was a vampire. Will Joey keep this promise? Who will die and who will survive?

As the wily vampire Abigail, Weir gives a very talented performance as a child who shows vulnerability and viciousness. There’s more than a ring of truth when Abigail confides in Joey that Abigail feels lonely and neglected because her father thought he wanted a child but has apparently changed his mind. This backstory for Abigail makes her a little more complex than the typical horror movie villain.

Even though egotistical Frank would like to think he’s the leader of this doomed group, Joey is really the one who comes up with the best ideas. Barrera (who previously worked with Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett in “Scream” and “Scream VI”) does a capably effective performance as Joey, who has plenty of secrets. It’s eventually revealed that these kidnappers have more in common that just abducting Abigail.

All of the other cast members play their roles well with the right touches of comedy. (The movie’s closing credits have a tribute to Cloud, who died of a drug overdose in 2023. He was 25.) Cloud’s befuddled Dean character is intentionally the movie’s biggest comic relief.

There are a few twists and turns in the movie’s plot. Just when it looks like “Abigail” is going to end, something happens that continues the story. Some viewers might not like how the movie prolongs the story with this twist, while others will enjoy this unexpected turn of events. A horror movie about a killer kid could have turned out wrong in so many ways, but “Abigail” is like a bloodier, longer and more gruesome version of an entertaining horror ride at an amusement park.

Universal Pictures will release “Abigail” in U.S. cinemas on April 19, 2024.