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Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) is at it again with "Rogue", the Australian crocodile shocker that blows "Lake Placid", "Deep Blue Sea", the rather dismal "Primeval" and the seemingly endless spew of recent shock factor creature features right out of the water. In league with the other recent Australian "Black Water", although the two thrillers can't be compared based on quality, this is a white knuckle suspense ride that sinks its teeth in and doesn't let go.

Michael Vartan (Monster in Law) is a journalist from Chicago who takes a crocodile boating tour through an enormous and beautiful gorge in Northern Territory, Australia. Rhada Mitchell (Pitch Black, Silent Hill) is the native tour leader, and all is well with the group until they spot a distress flare miles up the river in an area that is generally not traveled. After taking a detour in response to the flare, the group finds themselves isolated on a tiny island in the middle of a swamp when a very territorial crocodile attacks the boat.

For one, the tension is nearly unbearable from this point on. Much in the vein of "The Descent", once the action sets in it's nonstop, but fortunately the movie doesn't resort to a run of the mill by the numbers formula, rather, it is unpredictable and realistic as the group ponders how they can get across the rising tidal river in time before they are completely submerged. Once the fact that the crocodile has "tagged" them is established, which is explained as them being his targeted food supply, the group becomes panicked and all hell breaks loose.

The crocodile is simply incredible. I'm pretty sure it is mostly CG but don't let that fool you, it looks and acts very natural, which adds to the realism and terror of the movie. The pacing is quick but our characters are fleshed out well enough that we genuinely care about them, and it's all the more horrifying during the croc attacks, which are for the most part unpredictable, save for the rather anti climactic but still satisfying finish. The movie doesn't transcend the genre but it's the best offering in the crocodile sub genre, and it definitely outranks "Wolf Creek" by a long shot. The cinematography is simply stunning and the atmosphere is quite eerie. I definitely recommend "Rogue" and I'll have to keep an eye out for McLean's next work.

You're certainly not supposed to feel happy or satisfied with this film, because of the disturbing subject material. But what exactly is the point? Character development, and it's strong here under Jamie Babbit's direction.

The seemingly simple execution of the film is interesting, because the story that unfolds is anything but simple. Sex, lies, murder, desperation and jealousy are abound in this drama.

Elisha Cuthbert is pitch perfect as Nina, a bitchy and spoiled girl in her senior year at high school. Nina's life is turned upside down when Dot arrives (Camilla Belle, who is always great) to stay with the family after her father dies in a freak accident. Dot is deaf and mute, so Nina looks toward her with disdain and treats her badly in front of her equally snobby friends.

Not only is Nina a bitch, but she has some nasty secrets that she begins to confide in Dot. In fact, everybody does, and it soon becomes clear that the picture perfect family Dot has moved into is anything but perfect, and Dot certainly has some secrets of her own. It's obvious from the beginning that Dot isn't really deaf, and Nina catches on pretty quickly. Soon after she reveals a major plot twist, Nina befriends Dot in a way and they develop a stranger relationship. There's so much more back story that I don't want to beat it into the ground, instead the viewer should enjoy the juicy material.

But be warned, this is not a movie for everybody. Much of the major storyline involves disturbing sexual content that definitely certain people can not find appropriate or watchable. And overall, the movie is quite dark; every character is really messed up and there isn't a trace of happiness or resolution, only a great buildup and a somewhat strange climax. The story certainly wraps itself up, and the cinematography and editing is beautiful, along with all of the performances involved, including Edie Falco as the pill popping mother and Martin Donovan as the seemingly sweet father. No character is without issues or an explosive outcome in this little surprise hit that kept me on the edge of my seat and thinking long afterward "Man, I'm glad I'm not that messed up."

Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) has been raised in Africa by her zoologist parents. But all of a sudden she is whisked away from Africa and ends up in a Northeastern high school in the US when her mother accepts a position at a university. As soon as our sweet and innocent heroine is thrown into the social mix, she crosses paths with Regina (Rachel McAdams) and soon after all hell breaks loose.

As Cady is quickly transformed into one of the "Plastics", a group of the most popular and prettiest (not to mention wealthiest) girls in school, she falls for Regina the queen bee's ex boyfriend, which turns out to be a major no-no and soon she is at war with Regina. Among the rest of the cast are several "Saturday Night Live" patrons including Amy Poehler in a sidesplitting and scene-stealing role as Regina's mom, plus Ana Gasteyer as Cady's paranoid mother and Tim Meadows as the principal obsessed with SNL's Tina Fey, who plays a teacher and also wrote the script.

Under the direction of Mark Waters ("Freaky Friday"), "Mean Girls" is sassy, smart and it keeps the jokes coming steadily. The movie never falters on the hilarity front and all of the performances, especially McAdams, are top notch. Lohan is a tiny bit dull but she doesn't waver and she carries the movie strongly on her shoulders. This is probably her signature performance to date. The movie is a long laugh and it pokes fun at all of the ridiculous teen movie clichés and stereotypes, and it manages to transcend them and come off as truly original, fresh and upbeat.

"Halloween 4" was a revolution for this extremely successful franchise about the masked madman Michael Myers who has a taste for his own family's blood.

Years after the first incident in the original movie, Michael Myers has escaped the clutches of Dr. Loomis again and is now on the move back to Haddonfield to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd (Laurie Strode's daughter). Jamie (Danielle Harris's debut role) is a shy little girl, adopted by the Caruthers, including Rachel, her new sister (Ellie Cornell).

When Michael shows up on Halloween a whole mess of blood soaked fun begins and Jamie and Rachel must try to stay alive until Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance just as good as ever) can come to the rescue.

Danielle Harris and Ellie Cornell have a great chemistry and the story, although unbelievable, works well with those two in the lead. You feel genuinely scared for poor little Jamie. Michael is as frightening as ever and this is one of the best in the "Halloween" series to reach the silver screen. It was followed by the not as successful "Halloween 5", but this stands as a landmark and a favorite for millions of fans in the franchise.

Jena Malone is perfect as Mary, the girl who attends American Eagle Christian School with the perfect posse and perfect boyfriend Dean. Except her whole life begins to unravel when Dean confesses that he's gay. After she has a vision of Jesus underwater (when she hits her head on the ladder in her pool), she believes that her mission is to save Dean and in doing so she loses her virginity to him. After Dean's parents discover he is gay, they send him to "Mercy House" and Mary is left alone.

When she thinks that her best friend Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore) and her clique of "Christian Jewels" will support her through this hard time, Hilary Faye begins to make insane accusations and turns the school against Mary. Hilary Faye is an extreme Christian who finds any reason to make herself and her values look better than those who don't follow God, or more outright, her. Mandy Moore is hysterical and she really personifies the character, once again proving that she's got more promise in the acting field than music. (Although she's pretty much set for both). She's got great range and when it's called for to be a bitch, she's got the sharpest claws you could hope for, and she can pull off her hypocritical character with a sense of false sugary sweetness at the same time.

I already knew that Jena Malone had skills and she's definitely proved here that she can take more serious roles. Not to mention her recent performance in "The Ruins", Jena is a great actor who plays well alongside the supporting actors including the weird Macaulay Culkin and the refreshing but over the top Eva Ammuri. They play the rejects, the outcasts who take Mary in when Hilary Faye begins her whole vendetta against her. As Mary's baby grows and the story progresses, no Christian stereotype or character can dodge the teeth of this sharp satire, and Saved! is dead on hilarious. Most kudos go to Mandy Moore for her hilarious turn as Hilary Faye, and may she find more serious roles in the film industry.

For some reason I can't see that people who have read the novel by Scott Smith will enjoy this adaptation as much as those who have not, but nonetheless all will find this horror thriller extremely satisfying, especially gore lovers.

Amy, Jeff, Stacy and Eric (Jena Malone, Jonathan Tucker, Laura Ramsey, and Shawn Ashmore) are on vacation in Mexico, relaxing and drinking by the beach and poolside before they all go their separate ways to college. When they meet a German named Mathias who needs to visit a site of ancient ruins in the jungle to find his missing brother, the vacationers, although reluctant, decide to tag along and have some fun on their last day. Boy did they have the wrong idea.

Soon after they find the foreboding hidden path deep in the jungle, they stumble upon an abandoned archaeological dig amidst an ancient pyramid covered in vegetation. The local Mayans show up and after they shoot one of the other tagalongs and force the group up the trail, keeping guard around the pyramid, it becomes clear that the vacationers are being held hostage. Fear, hunger, and insanity begin to set in as over a three day period the group's mentalities begin to diminish. One by one, they fall prey to the evil vines that reside on the ancient ruins and it slowly becomes clear that they're probably not going to make it out of Mexico alive. Does this sound stupid? Sure. Killer vines, that's laughable. But during their stay you slowly begin to realize this isn't funny at all. It's hardcore chilling, and the vines are nothing to laugh at. They're used to a terrifying effect, especially in a chilling scene when Amy and Stacey descend into the pyramid and the vines try to kill them.

As far as quality, the acting is top notch, especially from Jena Malone and Laura Ramsey. Ramsey's Stacy suffers the worst physical harm and her performance is the best as she clearly goes insane when some nasty vines nestle in under her skin. All of the actors are exceptional and the audience will feel very attached. It's especially hard to watch when they start dying. These are real people in a horrifying situation. This isn't a mild horror film, it pulls no punches. It's straightforward, and although it is about killer flowers, it's as good as a horror movie can get, and the tension that director Carter Smith builds through the great pacing is unbearable. Kudos also goes to Jena Malone, who has broken free of her childhood performances and is getting into much more mature work. She is promising here.

I won't spoil the outcome of the character's fates but I will say for fans of the novel that the story is twisted around somewhat. Scott Smith adapted this from his book. The same events basically happen, but he's switched up his characters and the end starts to stray further and further from his novel. That's not to say that it doesn't work, for I think that it makes the experience better, you can go in expecting some new scares even if you've read the harrowing novel. I was supremely pleased at this take on the horrifying story and I was surprised to find myself shaken when it was over, particularly during the grueling scene when Stacy cuts into herself repeatedly with a hunting knife to pull out vines. This is one of the most unsettling scenes depicted in a horror film recently. You won't forget "The Ruins" and it's one of the best horror movies in a long time.

I decided to watch this on FearNet on demand for free because I figured well, nothing else looks enjoyable. And it turned out to be quite a good little horror surprise! The film serves as an anthology of four urban legends told from the point of view of four teenagers whose car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. After they decide to build a campfire in the woods, they begin to tell their spooky stories and the movie transitions to the events in the stories.

The Honeymoon- a newlywed couple traveling cross country in an RV to Las Vegas is terrorized when they park in a wooded area by evil beings that hunt by the full moon. (I won't spoil that for you!) The Hook- Amy Smart and James Marsden, (probably the most famous people in the movie besides beautiful Christine Taylor) play the young couple who come face to face with the maniac that has a hook for a hand in this most recognizable short.

People can Lick Too- this is probably the scariest and most dark of the stories. A young girl chats with another girl on the internet, but it turns out that it's actually a man who is obsessed with her and he proceeds to break into the house when she's alone. This was really chilling.

The Locket- This is also a great story with Glen Quinn and Jacinda Barrett, who play a motorcyclist and a beautiful mute girl who are terrorized by ghosts from a previous century in a mysterious farm house. This was good but it was the weakest of the entries.

The group around the campfire slowly develop their own terrifying experience in their segments between stories, and the end of this movie is surprising and really awesome! Overall this is not bone-chillingly scary but it's certainly a great little guilty pleasure that horror fans alike would definitely find worthwhile!

The grade A production values can't save the miserable "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid" from being an ultimate failure. The unbelievable plot sends a crew of scientists out into the wild of Borneo to find a rare species of Orchid (can you guess what it's called?) that serves as a potential cure for a disease. (I don't remember what but it's irrelevant.) Anyway, soon after their boat crashes off of a waterfall the group finds themselves stranded in the jungle and being picked off by hundred foot long computer animated anacondas. To be fair the snakes look marginally real at first but it starts getting so corny and campy that the novelty is lost. Not to mention there's not a single drop of tension, just a stream of blood and not even some good deaths seeing as it's a PG-13 romp.

Watch "Anaconda" for a good guilty pleasure. Here they just have a girl that looks like J-Lo and there's no good back story, just endless poorly animated snake attacks in the deep jungle. It's really pointless and a waste of your money, there's nothing redeeming or remotely enjoyable about this mindless piece of %*#@ other than the beautiful cinematography and stunning scenery, but that does not make a good movie.

"Jeepers Creepers" found a pair of siblings on the run in the countryside from a cloaked figure that kept eating everybody in his path. Now, "The Creeper" is back and this time he's got his peepers set on a bus load of kids traveling home after a victorious basketball game. Soon after their tire is blown out by a mysterious sharp object, night falls and the Creeper begins to prey on the teenagers who are still trapped in the bus.

Victor Salva keeps the action and tension heavy but unfortunately some of the novelty of his monster creation is lost here. We see the Creeper way too much for our own good and towards the end of the movie it's not scary, simply just some shock value thrown in here and there. There are some good gory moments and the plot builds up nicely. It's just not as intense or scary as the first, now that the mystery of the Creeper is pretty much wholly revealed. He is a nasty being, though, and it will at least chill you for a moment. A very satisfactory and actioney follow up by Salva, who wrote and directed both of these original thrillers.

"Black Water" is one of the most tense films I have viewed in a long time. The story moves fast as it follows three tourists (all great actors) into a swamp on a tour with a butch tour guide on a small boat. Soon after dropping anchor in a remote area of the swamp, they are flipped over by something huge in the water.

Hastily, the three manage to make it into a tall tree nearby as they realize that a crocodile has attacked them. Throughout the next two days, they have to desperately try to escape from the crocodile's evil watchful eye, and he doesn't seem to want to go away. The movie drags just a tad bit, but what can you expect from the setting and the limited budget? It's so much better than "Primeval" and other recent crocodile/ underwater predator thrillers. The tension is heavy, and all three leads give terrific performances. Truly chilling, this movie struck a deep chord of claustrophobic fear in me. Apparently based on true events.

"Anaconda", the big hit from 1997 that launched Jennifer Lopez to fame, also set the standard for the rebirth of the bad "B" creature movies. Instantly after a spew of creature features including the popular "Lake Placid" and "Deep Blue Sea" followed. If you're going to endure Anaconda, you have to be in the right frame of mind. Giggly and stupid. Because "Anaconda" is in no way intelligent or remotely believable, but it sure is an entertaining and humorous monster romp in the swamp.

Jennifer Lopez is a sassy reporter who leads a film crew into an isolated river in the Amazon where they hope to capture footage of a mysterious Native American tribe. But things turn out to be a nightmare when they come across a stranger who's boat has crashed (John Voigt in a horrible character) and is in desperate need of help. They find out he's hunting the man eating, enormous snake: Anaconda. And they do cross paths with the killer snake, again and again.

It promptly proceeds to ravage their boat, terrorize them from the deep and pick them off one by one as meals for it's enormous belly. The snake effects aren't terribly bad but there are some painful up-close moments, and what's with the roaring? Do snakes roar? I can't be sure but I have to say it's highly unrealistic. The plot moves steady and you're mostly likely not going to get bored with the short story. It finishes off with a satisfying climax, but in the end it's really just a so-so movie. Some mildly decent effects and a hot Jennifer Lopez thrown in the mix. Definitely not nightmare-inducing, but it's not a total waste. For a real creature thriller turn to the later film "Lake Placid" or the recent nail biter "Black Water". If you're in for some mild tension and mindless fun, "Anaconda" is the monster run amok movie for you.

"Primeval" is in no way the best creature feature out there or even a truly decent horror film, but it's sure more tolerable than such unbearable excuses for films like "Crocodile" (what the hell, Tobe Hooper?) and "Lake Placid 2". This thriller based on the true story of Gustave, who does still kill people in Burundi to this day and is the largest crocodile ever seen (I believe he weighs a ton and is about twenty feet long).

Here, the CGI animated Gustave, who is truly scary when he isn't seen, is terrorizing the villagers in Burundi and an American film crew flies out in hopes of capturing him and excavating him from the area, all on film. But of course, things go horribly wrong and Gustave begins eating everybody in available biting reach. Among all the crocodile terror, the film crew finds themselves in the midst of the civil war taking place in Burundi.

In fact, there's more gunfire and soldier action sequences than there are crocodile moments it seems. So what is this? A story about the violence and conflict taking the country by storm or is it about a killer crocodile? In the end it's only a mildly effective combination of both but the filmmakers would have done best to just stick to the crocodile plot, which is what the audience wants more of and doesn't get enough. The final Gustave product is disappointing for the most part. He moves unbelievably fast, so fast, in fact, you can barely tell what's going on towards the steadily ludicrous climax. Overall, it's a more worthwhile effort at suspense than many of the recent crappy horror films such as the aforementioned direct to video thrillers, but it fails to truly capture the terror of Gustave and it loses itself in a whirlwind of slightly bad effects and corny war back stories.

From the harrowing opening scene when the young girl dives in the water and gets tugged under by an unseen monster, we know this is no light and fluffy ride. Stephen Spielberg films his opening nightmare sequence so effectively that you'll be shivering until the final credits. But don't let me get ahead of myself.

"Jaws" stands as one of the scariest movies ever made, even by today's standards. Okay, maybe it's a little outdated, but it still packs a wholloping bite and it still sends a shiver down my spine. The story, based on the intriguing novel of the same name by Peter Benchley, is simple, following a police chief named Martin Brody as he and the entire community of Amity Island is terrorized by a Great White shark who doesn't seem to want to leave. Spielberg keeps the story at a perfect pace and the plot stays tight and gripping, with some genuinely scary shark attacks and effects that still hold true today. Especially at the exciting climax where Brody, Matt Hooper the marine biologist and shark enthusiast, and a ragged old sailor named Quint go to tackle the beast in the blood soaked waters, Spielberg masterfully combines suspense and action and "Jaws" leaves you shocked and afraid of the ocean long after it's over.

"Jaws" is a thrilling experience in underwater terror that started the "summer blockbuster" and still remains one of the pinnacles of modern American horror. Fans should look into the new 30th Anniversary DVD which includes two hours worth of interviews with the cast and crew plus footage from the making of the film. "Jaws" still grabs a hold of the viewer today.

After the success of the superior werewolf thriller "Ginger Snaps", it seems Lions Gate rushed to churn out two sequels in the shortest amount of time possible, those being the frightening "Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed" and the disappointing "Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning". Where "Unleashed" was a bit of letdown compared to its predecessor, it made sense and it followed the storyline well and even managed to wrangle up a boatload of genuine scares. Then there's "Ginger Snaps Back", the weakest and wholly unnecessary entry into the series. It should have stopped with "Unleashed" but the writers have decided to give our doomed heroines Brigitte and Ginger one last go around.

This time Ginger and Brigitte (a major plus is that Katharine Isabelle reprises her role as Ginger whereas she was missing in the second film save for a few scenes) are wandering around in the Canadian wilderness after being stranded in the early 1800's. For some reason it's a prequel that has nothing to do with the story that was developed in the first two films, so what's the point besides some cheap werewolf scares? When they come across a wrecked Indian camp that depicts carnage and brutal murder, they hastily make way to find shelter. That's when they find a strange fort in the middle of nowhere that some soldiers reside in, and that's where the nightmare begins. At night, a pack of vicious werewolves continually attacks the fort outside the thick log walls, and by day things take a nasty turn for Ginger when she is bitten... again. It's all apparently a foreshadowing of the events in the first film but none of it is needed. There's no tension or intrigue where there was in the first and second, plus any trace of black humor that made the first film so ingenious is not apparent anywhere. The editing and cinematography seem rushed and at times I found the film almost incoherent. A huge disappointment that further ruins the integrity of the first. They should leave Ginger and Brigitte alone now.

If "I Know What You Did Last Summer", the shameless "Scream" ripoff, wasn't enough for you, then you'll probably enjoy "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer", the shameless "Scream" ripoff that rips off the plot of the first ripoff movie. Basically the plot is degraded a bit from the first... the killer who Jennifer Love Hewitt accidentally killed two years earlier comes back for more revenge. After her friends were murdered last year, Julie (Love Hewitt) is traumatized, so her annoying best friend Carla (the charming and beautiful Brandy, what the hell is she doing in this crap) convinces her to fly out to the Bahamas for a free weekend. Once there, Julie discovers (gasp!) that the free trip was a set up and that the killer Ben Willis is ready to slice up her friends again! It's so devastatingly clichéd and there isn't a drop of suspense where there might have been in the first. No, just double the body count and gallons of blood and you have this, the terrible sequel that isn't even so bad it's good. It's just plain bad. And the characters are so stupid you'll be slapping your head and screaming at the screen, that is if you haven't been insulted enough already by watching the beginning of the film.

Basically the only reason people saw this was to see Mandy Moore in her debut performance. The popular teen pop star was put to the test to provide a decent performance in a romance movie loosely based on the bestseller by Nicholas Sparks (it's a great book, highly recommended). And to everyone's surprise, she's actually quite good. A lot better than most modern teen actresses in fact. The movie is a bit overly saccharine with it's teeny bopper appeal, but the romance that blossoms between her character Jamie and the bad boy at school Landon (a touching performance by Shane West) is believable and heartbreaking. Of course there's a catch. Even though everything seems to be great because a barrier between popular and unpopular is broken with their love, it turns out that Jamie only has a short amount of time to live- she's dying of Leukemia. The movie becomes unbearably sad but Moore and West carry it perfectly, with heartfelt performances in a truly convincing manner. I guarantee you'll cry by the end of this, and if you don't you'll at least appreciate the sweetness and purpose of the film.

There's an undeniably strong style to this sleeper 90's slasher flick, but it fails miserably to truly scare the audience in the wake of Scream. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar were the temporary scream queens under the hand of Jim Gillespie and "Scream" writer Kevin Williamson. Despite his ingeniously dark, witty and scary script for Scream that launched him to horror movie fame, Williamson's script here is simple and clichéd, with predictable scares and dialogue that do nothing to honor Lois Duncan's tense teen fiction novel. Barely following the plot of the book save for the title, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" follows a group of teenagers who accidentally kill a man and try to cover up their secret... but of course, "Some Secrets Refuse to Stay Buried" and a year later a masked man in a fisherman's slicker and bearing a hook is terrorizing the teenagers in their "Dawson's Creek"-like Southern town during their summer break. Nothing is surprising, the sequence of deaths is fairly easy to predict, and there's barely any suspense besides a truly engaging chase scene between Sarah Michelle Gellar and the killer. Jennifer Love Hewitt and her glossed over costars are adequate as the victims in despair, but there is barely any depth or fear conveyed in the story. It's a shameless cash in on Scream that just fails to hit the mark, especially the corny and totally unbelievable ending. If you're into gore and mediocre teen slasher movies this film has your name all over it, but if you're looking for something intense you might as well read the book or watch Scream instead.

"Jurassic Park" was an original and scary thrill ride that introduced the stunning effects of Stan Winston; it was the debut of bloodthirsty cloned dinosaurs that managed to escape and prey on humans. Steven Spielberg kept the plot tight and the action spectacular, but the drama was sparse. Ah well, nobody went to see a tearjerker, they wanted to get that chill in their bones when the T-Rex was introduced and the raptors came out of the shadows.

Then came "The Lost World", where Spielberg lost himself in a long but successful combo of drama and more terrifying dinosaur effects. It was no "Jurassic Park" but it was still a cut above the rest, a great thrill ride that was entertaining and scary.

And now comes "Jurassic Park III", and it works so well because it's so damn shameless. This one finds a rich couple coaxing Alan Grant (Sam Neill reprising his role from the first film) into being their tour guide on a flight over Isla Sorna, "Site B" where there are still dinosaurs living naturally in their own habitat. The area is not only restricted but the couple (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) actually land on the island with intentions unknown to Grant- to find their missing son who disappeared when parasailing on the coast of the island.

About ten minutes into the film the plane has crashed and left the group, (which also includes a nerdy pilot and Grant's ambitious paleontologist protégé Billy), hopelessly stranded. Not to mention at the hands of a new, bigger and badder carnivorous monster, the Spinosaurus, who sports a gigantic sail and boasts a huge mouth full of razor sharp teeth. He puts the T-Rex to shame (but where the hell was he in "The Lost World", where another group of people was also on Isla Sorna?). As soon as the eccentric couple's intentions are clear to Grant, they have to stick together and survive the brutal, never-ending attacks from various dinosaurs while they search for their teenage son (Trevor Morgan.) The movie really is literally shameless, moving at a lighting fast pace and throwing in every action movie cliché into the mix possible, at the same time introducing tons of new species of dinosaurs into the story that weren't apparent before. There are plenty of satisfying chills and the movie keeps you entertained for its short running time of 90 minutes, but it lacks the Spielberg charm, style and brains that made the first two movies so much more original and fun.

"Jurassic Park" was a groundbreaking endeavor that featured cloned dinosaurs running amok on an island paradise, terrorizing a group of scientists. Steven Spielberg returns to his dinosaur horror with a new group of scientists including Ian Malcolm from "Jurassic Park" (Jeff Goldblum) and Julianne Moore as his quirky paleontologist girlfriend Sarah. They find themselves trapped on Isla Sorna, "Site B", where it turns out the dinosaurs were being cloned before being shipped off to the park on Isla Nublar.

In the few years since the disaster at Jurassic Park, the dinosaur wildlife on Isla Sorna has flourished and there is an abundance of the fascinating creatures everywhere. It's all good until the carnivores begin trying to eat the scientists, again. The movie is inappropriately long and it tends to drag save for the tense action sequences, but Steven Spielberg and the CGI wizards and magicians at Stan Winston studios have really upped the ante on the special effects. The dinosaurs are amazing and scarier than ever. Overall "The Lost World" doesn't live up to "Jurassic Park" simply because the novelty has been lost and Steven Spielberg really hams up the drama and keeps the movie running far past a point where our attention spans give up.

Although the impact is still truly exciting, "The Lost World" fails to capture the ingenuity of the first, resulting in a B movie with grade A production values, just barely passing for an edge of your seat Spielberg classic thriller that still manages to dish out the goods enough for a worthy DVD purchase.

"Deep Blue Sea" is entertaining for what it is, a tongue in cheek horror film. Although "Lake Placid",(the other big budgeted creature feature from the same time) had a hilarious black humor/satire feel to it, "Deep Blue Sea's" biggest fault is the amount of seriousness with which it takes itself. How can you truly believe that scientists have found the cure for Alzheimers stored in protein in shark's brains? Well that's what this movie tries to convince the audience.

Unbelievable and hokey plot aside, "Deep Blue Sea" knows that it's not THAT smart so it doesn't try to push that idea too much. Instead, after the sharks outsmart the scientists and begin to flood "Aquatica", the floating steel structure where the labs are in the middle of the ocean, we get about an hour and twenty minutes of brutal shark attacks and brain dead survivors trying to make it to the surface before the building sinks and the sharks eat everybody for dinner.

It's so preposterous that it's wholly enjoyable. The animatronic/CGI sharks look rather obviously and dramatically fake in some scenes but for the most part they're hidden under water and it works well. When they kill people it's truly surprising and scary, most notably the scene in the elevator shaft when... well I won't ruin it for you, but there's plenty of blood and scares to racket up the tension until the big finale at the surface, which is the best part of the film.

Renny Harlin has made a stupid but enjoyable underwater thriller that is miles above such crap like "Anaconda" and the countless direct to video (or Sci Fi channel) underwater predator thrillers. It's no "Jaws" but it's not half bad for killing an hour and a half.

Steven Spielberg crafts one hell of a thrilling adventure with "Jurassic Park", his revolutionary blockbuster which is one of his best known films.

When billionaire John Hammond is threatened to have his secret project shut down, he coaxes a group of scientists to experience the wonders of his them park "Jurassic Park". With a team of brilliant geneticists, Hammond has cloned ancient dinosaur DNA and created living, breathing spectacular animals that amaze his guests. Although, as one of them points out early in the film, the endeavor can't be successful. During a purposeful power-out, the monsters break loose and begin feeding on the humans.

Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum head a great cast in a nightmarish race against time to make it off the island without being devoured by the prehistoric beasts.

Spielberg keeps the plot tight and the action sequences are still incredible to this day. The first appearance of the T-Rex is still bone chilling and exciting. This is a master action thriller that shouldn't be missed.

"Hannibal" is an utter disappointment, full of boring scenes that are supposed to convey mounting tension and reeking of banality; it completely does nothing to honor "The Silence of the Lambs", its far superior predecessor. Instead, this story takes a turn for a crime drama/gory slasher that, although strong in style and with some decent performances, doesn't present nearly any of the intelligence or tension that "Silence" so effortlessly created.

"Hannibal" certainly has its jumps and shocking gore effects, but there's just something so disappointing and lacking in the story. Instead of being an engaging character study like the first film, "Hannibal" is an ill attempt at a clever cat and mouse game between Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, who is nothing like Jodie Foster. Why is she here? Where is Jodie???) and Hannibal Lecter. The result is somewhat of a mess, with only some mild scares. It tries to rely on shock value and it's sort of an insult compared to "Silence". Hopkins and Moore are strong but Moore can't do Clarice Starling justice and the story falls flat on its face.

Rachel McAdams is so damn likable (even as Regina the bitch in Mean Girls) you can't help but feel incredibly scared for her life when her character, the kind hearted Lisa Reisert, is terrorized on a plane by a hit-man.

The story unfolds so fast you barely have time to blink before the unnerving mind game begins between Lisa and Jackson Rippner, who is played perfectly by Cillian Murphy. He has such a charming persona at first that it seems as though it's going to be "The Notebook" all over again- until he reveals his true evil plans. After a chance meeting in the airport that is seemingly random to Lisa, he has her held captive when the plane takes off and she is caught in a terrifying game of survival.

Rippner isn't just a psychotic madman, he's doing his job. All of the horror he forces on Lisa is planned out and the plot is quite gripping. The only problem with the story is once the plane hits the ground, the climax hits too fast you barely have time to enjoy it before the whole ride is over. Rachel McAdams is strong as the heroine and Cillian Murphy is intriguing, definitely worth a look. It is sad to say though, that this isn't as intense or passionately crafted as Wes Craven's earlier works. A great director is losing his touch and "Red Eye" is just too obviously watered down for a PG-13 rating when he could have taken the horror a step further. Ah well, Craven is still graceful and builds a great story and "Red Eye" is a fun ride.

Beverly Donofrio's memoir of the same title inspired this fantastic drama about a girl who must face life's consequences in the worst way. Drew Barrymore is superb as Bev, who gets pregnant accidentally at age fifteen.

Her police Sargent father basically disowns her, and all of her dreams for a professional writing career are crushed as along comes baby and a drug addict husband. The movie is harrowing and completely sad, but director Penny Marshall handles it superbly and dark humor is laid on extremely thick.

The result is a cross between and comedy and a drama, equal parts side splitting and tear jerking. Brittany Murphy is fantastic as Bev's best friend and the whole movie was cast perfectly, especially Barrymore and Steve Zahn as Ray. His devastating performance really stands out and makes the movie.

28 Days Later... a man wakes up in an abandoned hospital to find London completely trashed and deserted without a person in sight. Well, at least not at first. A virus called "Rage" was released after a group of people set chimps in a lab free, unaware that the primates had a disease more fatal and horrifying than any other. After one bite, one scratch, one drop of blood, a person is infected and within seconds becomes a deranged, outraged monster that only knows one thing- to attack.

Danny Boyle keeps the action and the pacing frightening and totally believable in this British apocalyptic thriller. Cillian Murphy is intriguing as Jim, who befriends Selena, a woman who survived the initial outbreak. Together they find more survivors and must stay alive on their journey to a military base where they can only hope there is anybody alive- that is, without the infection.

The zombies are fast and truly scary, with some great gore effects and the movie ties together nicely for a really satisfying climax. One of the best apocalyptic horror films out there, probably THE best... much better than the similarly plotted "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" or the letdown "Dawn of the Dead". 28 Days Later is a feast to the eyes and provides some genuine, original scares.

*** out of ****