Stepfather 3 (1992)

A made-for-TV sequel that has no business being even half as fun as it is, "Stepfather 3" finds The Stepfather/Keith Grant (Robert Wightman, replacing Terry O'Quinn) escaping from custody, undergoing plastic surgery and heading to California, where he soon shacks up with single mother Christine (Priscilla Barnes) and her wheelchair-bound son Andy (David Tom), who we know will be another in his long line of failed attempts at familial bliss. In many ways this movie epitomizes a type of early to mid-90s cheesy TV horror movie, from its comedic kill scenes, to its bad acting, to its sweaty but boob-free sex scene, to it's grand (but not really) finale in which the plucky kid who was onto his new stepdad from the start gets to complete his hero arc in wonderfully unlikely fashion. Basically, it's a bad movie that ticks all the right boxes for anyone nostalgic for this era, which means me. At first I was disappointed that Terry O'Quinn didn't return but Robert Wightman, wooden though his acting is, actually fits perfectly into the role as written, blandly ingratiating himself with his new family -- as well other potential candidates when things start going south with his initial marks -- before hamming it up in scenes where he dispatches anyone getting in his way. I like what Priscilla Barnes and David Tom bring to the table, too, even when they're very unconvincing during the movie's more dramatic scenes. One for the "so bad it's good" canon, "Stepfather 3" surpasses low expectations.

Revealer (2022)

With the rapture apparently raining down on the outside, "Revealer" hones in on sassy stripper Angie (Caito Aase) and repressed religious fundie Sally (Shaina Schrooten) as they try to survive (or be saved) inside of the peep show booth where the former works. Here and there, snake-like creatures make their presence known to imperil the two feuding friends in the making, as well as a muffly-voiced monster that's meant to be Satan or something similar, but Luke Boyce's movie is more about the evolution of these characters' over the course of a too-long 86 minute runtime. Of course, said character development follows a drearily predictable path even as the co-leads do what they can to make it work. It would have helped to have a decent amount of sex and gore to spice things up (the movie is called "Revealer", after all) but no dice: limitations of the budget may have put paid to that possibility. What we get, then, is a sadly flat movie with fleeting moments of interest and a decent '80s soundtrack. It could have been worse but it could also have been a whole lot better.

Pet (2016)

After failing to nice guy his way into the life of pretty waitress Holly (Ksenia Solo), loser Seth (Dominic Monaghan) decides that maybe the correct approach would be to kidnap and keep her caged at the animal control center where he works. So he does that and what could very loosely be called a battle of wits between the two begins. A twist or two later and Carles Torrens's "Pet" has gone completely off the rails, becoming gradually sillier even as it manages to remain boring. Of course, the silliness doesn't stop the movie from playing it straight, nor does it take any big risks en route to a predictable ending, so if you get a few laughs out of it, they're likely to be ironic.

Dominic Monaghan is given pretty bad material to work with here, but does well enough. As his co-lead, Ksenia Solo does not. Da'Vone McDonald, meanwhile, provides welcome comic relief in the few scenes that are actually written to be funny. Then there's Jennette McCurdy as the captive Holly's friend Claire, whose involvement in Holly's current predicament is eventually revealed to be greater than initially thought. I usually like McCurdy's work (especially her excellent memoir "I'm Glad My Mom Died") but her contribution here is about as flat and lifeless as the movie deserves.

This isn't particularly inspirational material here (2007's "Captivity" gets a bad rap but does a better job with similar themes) and it's only entertaining in flashes. It had potential, for sure, but that died the moment the filmmakers decided to get clever with it by putting an unlikely spin on an otherwise basic story. Hard pass.

Sorry, Charlie (2023)

Isolated from the world and working as a helpline volunteer while the child of her rapist grows inside of her, Charlie (Kathleen Kenny) has never shaken the feeling of being watched and pursued by her attacker, even after a man is arrested and convicted of a string of attacks that include her own. Needless to say, she is correct, and so ensues a steady game of cat and mouse between Charlie and her masked assailant, who returns as promised for the event of his child's birth. Between all of this, Charlie mans the phones and counsels the needy, which gives "Sorry, Charlie" a kind of sedate pace that'll probably rub a lot of people the wrong way but worked pretty well for me. It helps that Kathleen Kenny gives a solid performance as Charlie, who is as mentally spry as she is physically vulnerable, ultimately becoming a worthy opponent for the antagonist of the picture. And while the movie never reaches the heights of, say, "The Strangers" (it's a Tubi Original, after all), it's not a bad way to kill 75 minutes -- and it offers up the kind of twists and turns modern audiences should like in their home invasion pictures. I kind of wish it had gone down a bit of a darker path toward the end, but I'm still happy enough with what I got.