Charlie Bailey (Eric Tabach) hosts the Paranormalcy podcast, and he’s struggling to get noticed as a crowded white guy with a podcast space. I can relate. Then, he meets Duncan Slayback (Gabriel Rush), who tells him he can prove that ghosts don’t exist. After all, his fiancee died and has never come back to him. To further prove his point while Charlie is recording him, he shoots himself in the head before claiming that he won’t haunt our protagonist.

Except that Duncan does come back from the dead.

He becomes the show’s co-host, using his ghostly powers to find missing things and get into peoples’ heads. Soon, Charlie succeeds and has the money to support himself and his pregnant girlfriend, Brie (Kaikane). Yet when Duncan starts to ask too much, including getting revenge on the man who he claimed killed his fiancee, all as a rival podcast, Jasper (Charlie Saxton, tries to reveal how Charlie can do so many ghostly things.

Maybe Charlie shouldn’t have trusted Duncan. Yet once he’s too deep, well, he’s stuck. He can’t escape the call of doing his show, the rush of getting followers, the need to be part of something. Again, I understand. This hit very close to me. And it’s a really intriguing film in which its lead is unlikeable, yet you want him to grow and get past it until, yet again, it’s too late.

Dean Alioto directed and wrote this film, marking his return to genre films after a long hiatus since creating The McPherson Tape. Featuring cameos from Dave Foley and “Master of Horror” Mick Garris, this movie exceeded my expectations. It has surprising twists and turns that I never saw coming. If you have the chance to watch it, I highly recommend you do!

It blows me away that John Sayles wrote this. Yes, a Dolph Lundgren movie. It has him as Nick Gunar, a merc who assembles a team of mercenaries to take an island. When they get there, he learns that they’ll be working for his old nemesis Keefer (Trevor Goddard, who has been showing up in so many movies I watch) and The Colonel (Kevin Tighe).

The mercs include Jamaal (Tom Wright), Jimmy G (Tony Denison), Blades (Tiny Lister), Ocker (Tim Guinee), Nolan (Don Harvey) and Grace Lashield (Catherine Bell), who get away from a trumped up murder charge when Nick allows Keefer to kick his ass, then go upriver where they meet the natives, starting with Po (B.D. Wong), who is pissing in the river. My military friends, this is the man who has screwed up every single one of Dr. John Hammond’s theme parks. Watch him closely.

Nick’s men Nolan and Jimmy want to wipe out the natives and take their treasure, but he stops them and kicks out anyone who isn’t on his side. This is what happens when you work for the man — businessmen Warren (Thomas Gibson) and Lyle (Perry King, who directed) — instead of following your heart, which is what he wants to do from here on out. I mean, you’d probably feel the same way if you hooked up with Loki (Charlotte Lewis from the beloved Dial: Help).

Eventually, everyone has to battle and of course Nick gets his revenge when he fights Keefer to the death. All of this over bat guano, which can create treasure. I can now say I watched a movie where Dolph fights Kano over poop. Also: Tiny Lister just launches some children as if he has no care for their lives and I love him for that.

This was rewritten by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight). Viola explained how that happened to The Cincinati Enquirer: “It was actually an old Sayles script that some producers bought and wanted to make for action star Dolph Lundgren! The Sayles script needed to be brought up to date a little, more action scenes added and, most importantly, had to be made into an ensemble movie because the producers were worried that Dolph just couldn’t carry the movie that John Sayles originally wrote. And that an audience wouldn’t sit still to watch Lundgren tackle all those great John Sayles monologues. We were actually pretty deferential to Sayles’ original script and the finished movie is actually quite a good little action flick. Probably the only time we’ll ever get a chance to rewrite John Sayles.”

I’m a big fan of movies where killing machines end up meeting native children — who call them G.I. Joe — and end up saving their villages. Or, if you watch Strike Commando, getting them killed and having a long monologue about Disneyland, magic genies and climbing trees to get popcorn.

The MVD Rewind Collection release of Men of War has extras such as an introduction by director Perry Lang, a making-of feature, dailies and raw footage, a photo gallery, a trailer, a collectible mini-poster and a limited edition slipcover. You can get this release from MVD.

Dean Baker (William Berger) is a depressed American writer whose wife Shirley (Muriel Montossé) has just left him and who has been considering suicide. Then he falls for the much younger Jill (Analia Ivars) at a dance club, which leads to five criminals (Ricardo Palacios, Antonio Mayans, Luis Barboo, Juan Soler and Alfredo Kier) chasing him through Casablanca — he was drunk during a poker game and told one of the card players that they could kill him and take all of his money he just won — just when he’s found a reason to live again.

One of ten movies Jess Franco directed in 1985, this was written by Santiago Moncada (Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Swamp of the Ravens, Voodoo Black Exorcist, A Bell from Hell, All the Colors of the Dark) and made once before as Ace of Hearts (Juego sucio en Panamá) by director Tulio Demicheli (thanks Kino Detour).

This feels personal for Franco, telling the story of an artist on the wrong side of life when most of it is over instead of begun, drinking himself into oblivion as love fails him and lust leads him into dangerous places. I’m on the downside of that hill and drinking on a work night, writing what I’ve wanted to write all day instead of what I had to write all day. These are the things I think of as I watch a Jess Franco movie, but luckily, Lina Romay showed up looking for an autograph in this and just seeing her eyes and smile makes me forget that life is often about just trying to make it through.

Wedding planner Vanessa (Virginia Ma) and her assistant Anthony (Luke Nieves) come to the island of a groom only to discover that they must follow the whims of super-rich Terrance Bruckner (Maxwell Almono) or he will kill every guest at the destination nuptials of Vanessa’s best friend Rachel (Meghan Carrasquillo) — the ex-girlfriend of this movie’s final boss. Now, Vanessa has an earpiece and must follow the tech billionaire’s instructions, or her friend will die.

Directed by Nick Lyon (Titanic 666) and written by Chris Watts, this reminds me of how stressful my first wedding was, what with the cops getting called, the property damage and the delayed honeymoon. I still don’t feel like telling that whole story, but I’m not sure I can legally. What I can say is that my wedding planner didn’t have to bury the bodies that a past lover was killing. Why is Vanessa doing that for a guy whom she hates? What went on between her, Terrance and Rachel in college?

This has taught me never to have a wedding on an island that no one can get to, never to date members of the oligarchy, never to hire a wedding planner, and just to stay home and watch Tubi.

You can watch this on Tubi.

The Parrot Head is a monster that seeks to kill and can pass on its curse through the bite of its beak, transforming its victims when they’re sober. That means this movie lives up to the lyrics of its inspiration: “It was too much tequila, or not quite enough.”

I watched this because I thought it was Stage Fright, but instead of an owl, it was a Buffet-obsessed killer and not a parrot.

Paul Dale, who wrote this with Dylan McGovern, also directed Killer Kites and Sewer Gators. I wonder if he feels like I do about Buffet — I don’t want to disparage the dead, RIP — but I fucking hate the man’s music. This is 50 minutes long and 10 minutes of joke-laden credits if that’s what you’re wondering. You can’t fill two hours of a movie with a captain’s hat-wearing parrot-murdering machine. But damn, Paul Dale, I want to see you try.

That said, this is about as good as you think it’s going to be, and if you’re watching it just based on the name — and not the pessimistic assumption that you’re watching a Giallo about the son of the son of a sailor — it’s done its job. As the director says on Letterboxd, “If you go into this expecting something other than pure silliness, you’re going to have a bad time.”

This movie also has an opera-singing shark. How about that? Just the title alone is an accomplishment, then you throw in a wereparrot and a shark who can sing Pagliacci.

You can watch this on Tubi or buy it from the BY THE HORNS site.

Oliver (José Llamas) and Mary (Karin Dior) just wanted to go on a honeymoon. Still, their guides, Mark (José Miguel García) and Marco (Diego Porta) lead them to the lizard god-worshipping Tobonga tribe, who also eat people. Conchita gets lashed to a sacrificial altar just in time for this story to end, and we find a trio of martial arts students led by Lina Romay. I never knew how badly I needed to see Candy Coster in a karate gi. They decide to visit the Tobongas and steal their diamonds, in case you were wondering whether or not this was a Jess Franco movie. Finally, the karate instructors kill Sylvia, the wife of the jungle guide (Mabel Escaño); Lina Romay joins forces with Oliver to rescue his wife.

That parrot that talks? That’s Jess Franco.

This movie makes no logical sense, despite what I tried to figure out above. Why is Lina with the evil drug pusher karate instructors? Is she an undercover cop? Why does she decide to help Oliver? How did Jess Franco make a movie with nearly no sex? Was he trying to make an Indiana Jones movie infused with this love of pulp? Santiago Moncada wrote this ten years before, and one day, did Jess just think, “Sure, I can make that.”

Look, I know this objectively isn’t good, but I feel better watching these movies. They make me happy, something that’s in short supply in this world. Yes, what makes me feel good is ultra-low-budget movies that make no sense, but just look at Lina dressed for karate action and tell me if you’re not moved.

Directed by Justin Wu and written by Crystal Ferreiro, Mary Gulino and Tay Marley, this story comes from Wattpad, where amateur writers share their stories and potentially sell them as books and movies. That story? The QB Bad Boy and Me by Tay Marley.

Dallas (Siena Agudong) is a dancer who just moved to town. Drayton (Noah Beck) is a star football player with surprising depth. Dallas’ dad, Nathan (Drew Ray Tanner), is the new coach. Texas is the place where they meet, a place where football is the most essential thing every Friday night.

I enjoyed the fact that James Van Der Beek plays Drayton’s father, 25 years after Varsity Blues. The same problems of people wondering if they want a life in football are coming up in movies. At least this feels a bit more authentic than most teen romance movies. Sure, it still has the same issues as most teen movies — the guy is a ladies’ man, will he or won’t he change while the girl is always good — and the main reason they fall for each other is looks rather than character, but maybe I’m looking too deeply into this movie because I’m AARP age.

Everyone has secret grief, and once they share it, their relationship starts to mean more. What do I know? I got all my life lessons in romance from movies that led to most guys my age being incels and having strange notions of what courtship is.

You can watch this on Tubi.

When Skye (Dominique Madison) finally has enough of getting knocked around, she wants to finally get out from under the shadow of her abusive pro-athlete husband, Sandino Washington (Emanuel Alexander), while protecting her sons, Justice (Darian J. Barnes), Kareem (Alonte Williams) and Jordan (Mario Golden). That’s easier said than done.

Despite the beautiful home, expensive cars and unlimited bank account, Skye can’t be a punching bag anymore. But running away from the marriage and everything that comes with it, much less setting up new identities for her and her sons—who don’t all agree with leaving Sandino—is difficult. And he’s always out there, looking for her.

Directed by Emily Skye and written by Jamal Hill and Tressa Azarel Smallwood, this makes me wonder if ESPN even looks at athletes in this universe. Supposedly, Sandino is the most prominent athlete there, yet no one knows that his wife and kids are gone. Wouldn’t that be a bigger story? The ending is also pretty wild, as — spoiler warning — the protagonist shoots her husband and we cut to her playing football with the kids. The last thing these survivors of abuse and a dead football-playing dad would want seems to be more football. Is that why it’s America’s game?

There are better Tubi Originals. Trust me.

You can watch this on Tubi.

La chica de las bragas transparentes (The Girl In the Transparent Panties) is also known as Pick-Up Girls. It’s yet another detective tale for director and writer Jess Franco as private eye Al Crosby (Antonio Mayans) has been hired by a wealthy man named Harry Feldman to take his place at a meeting with a crime figure named Emilio (Miguel Ángel Aristu).

Nothing goes right. He’s drugged and photographed with two sex workers, Suzy (Lina Romay) and Bijou (Doris Regina), then nearly murdered by his client’s wife, all before he’s beaten up by even more women and ends up getting his rich patron killed. Maybe Mrs. Carla Feldman (Rosa Valenty) isn’t all that innocent. That means that Al will team up with the dead man’s mistress, Coco (Mari Carmen Segura), and Suzy and Bijou, who have been sent to prison, to get them out of the way to learn the truth.

So many questions. Is Al Crosby another name for Al Pereira? Why are there no diamonds being taken in this, like in every other Jess Franco plot? With their spy experience, are Suzy and Bijuo related to the Red Lips? And how many detectives find out that they’re looking for the missing penis of their actual client?

As always, I feel the urge to look deeper into a Jess Franco movie than anything else. Why does he do that to us? Was it intended? Or are we compelled to find something where there may be nothing?

Elliot Lester directed the Arnold movie Aftermath, which was good, and now he’s adapting this Joe R.  Lansdale Western horror story with writer Chris Kelley. It’s been a passion project of Peter Dinklage, who has been trying to make it for ten years. He plays bounty hunter Reginald Jones, a bounty hunter who hunts criminals with his partner Eustace (Gbenga Akinnagbe). They’re hired by Jack (Levon Hawke) to save the missing sister, Lula (Esme Creed-Miles), who has been kidnapped by Cut Throat Bill (Juliette Lewis) and her gang.

This has some interesting casting, with Metallica’s James Hetfield playing Simon Deasley, the partner of brother Malachi (Macon Blair), two criminals hired by Bill to take out the bounty hunters. Plus, Jack also saves an imprisoned saloon girl, Jimmie Sue (Leslie Grace). And it all feels very The Great Silence and I mean that as a compliment. I really loved Lewis in this, as her character is covered in scars and has assumed a masculine role to fight back against the men who did her wrong, which has made her the villain.

I also loved how this is at the end of the West, as characters ride motorcycles and you get the idea that the modern world is just about to change everything for everybody. What makes me happy is that Tubi has picked this up and is giving people a chance to see it, as new Westerns — much less good ones — are in short supply these days. It looks gorgeous — cinematographer Guillermo Garza is incredible — and it’s great to see a Lansdale story become a movie. His story “Incident On and Off a Mountain Road” was used as an episode of Masters of Horror, directed by Don Coscarelli, who also made another Lansdale adaption, Bubba Ho-Tep. Other Lansdale films include Christmas With the Death, Cold In July and the Hap and Leonard TV show.

You can watch this on Tubi.