New on Home Video: “Weapons” on 4K Ultra HD + Digital

October 14, 2025 by Keith Garlington

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is bringing one of the best horror movies of 2025 to home video. “Weapons” is writer-director Zach Cregger’s follow-up to his 2022 film “Barbarian”. It’s a movie that earns its scares as a horror movie. But it also plays wonderfully as a suspenseful mystery thriller. The film was a box office success, earning nearly $240 million against its $38 million budget. Now this gripping and genuinely chilling feature is available to own. Read my full review of the film [HERE]

This terrific 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition of “Weapons” includes a digital copy and will be available to purchase on October 14th. See below for a full synopsis of the film as well as a list of special features.

About the Film:

Year: 2025

Runtime: 128 Minutes

Director: Zach Cregger

Screenwriter: Zach Cregger

Cast: Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich, Benedict Wong, Amy Madigan, Toby Huss, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Whitmer Thomas, Callie Schuttera, June Diane Raphael

Rating: R for strong bloody violence and grisly images, language throughout, some sexual content and drug use

When all but one child from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.

Special Features:

“Weapons” Digital, 4K UHD, and Blu-ray contain the following special features:

Director Zach Cregger: Making Horror Personal (featurette)
- Zach Cregger unravels the intricate origins of Weapons. In this insightful exclusive, he details the initial sparks of inspiration that ignited the project, revealing how elements of his own life experiences found their way into the film’s core.
Weaponized: The Cast of Weapons (featurette)
- An ensemble piece showcasing the stark personalities and combative dynamic between the different characters, as well as the motivations that lead them down the path of mystery, conflict, and death.
Weapons: Texture of Terror (featurette)
- Maybrook, a seemingly perfect town, harbors a darkness that runs deeper than its charming façade. Tom Hammock, along with key cast and crew, delves into the intricacies of designing the terror that grips this unsuspecting community.

REVIEW: “The Woman in Cabin 10” (2025)

October 13, 2025 by Keith Garlington

Part mystery, part suspense, part psychological thriller – “The Woman in Cabin 10” is a Netflix Original that wears several hats but doesn’t look completely comfortable in any of them. It’s a movie that starts off strong and sets itself up well. But it comes unglued in the second half, largely due to a ludicrous mid-movie twist which paves the way to an even crazier ending (and not the good kind of crazy).

“The Woman in Cabin 10” is based on a 2016 novel of the same name by Ruth Ware. It’s directed by Simon Stone whose previous film was 2021’s underrated “The Dig”. Working from a script he co-wrote with Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse, Stone begins with a fairly intriguing premise that has plenty of room for mystery. But what could have been a taut, unnerving thriller suddenly devolves into a hokey mess of recycled clichés, implausible twists, and endless gaslighting.

Keira Knightley plays Laura “Lo” Blacklock, an award-winning journalist working for the popular British daily newspaper The Guardian. Having recently endured a poorly explained and barely explored traumatic experience, Laura’s boss (an underused Gugu Mbatha-Raw) wants her to take some time off. Instead, Laura chooses a new assignment that seems like a good mix of work and relaxation.

A wealthy Norwegian shipping heiress, Anne Lyngstad Bullmer (Lisa Loven Kongsli) has stage 4 leukemia and her husband Richard (Guy Pearce) is setting up a foundation in her name. Richard is treating Anne and the new foundation’s board members to a three-day cruise aboard their swanky luxury yacht, finishing the trip at a fundraising gala in a remote part of Norway. Richard, an admirer of Laura’s work, invites her to come along and cover it all in order to “raise awareness”. She eagerly agrees.

Most of the movie takes place on the billionaire’s extravagant ship, the Aurora Borealis. There Laura is introduced to a variety of characters from guests to staff to crew members, many who are meant to be possible suspects until they aren’t. Most of her time is spent with the special guests – a small group of snooty one-percenters that includes an obnoxious socialite (Daniel Ings), an alcoholic gallery owner (Hannah Waddingham), Anne’s personal doctor (Art Malik), and so on.

Besides Laura, the only other out-of-place guest is her photographer ex-boyfriend Ben (David Ajala) who’s there to shoot the event. Despite their history, Ben is a welcomed reprieve from the pampered people of privilege. But even his actions turn weird and unexplainable, all in an effort to add him to the suspect pool. And why do we have a suspect pool? Late one night, Laura wakes to a scream, a splash, and what looks like a woman’s body in the dark waters. Laura is convinced she saw what she saw. But with everyone accounted for, no one believes her.

Laura becomes a pariah onboard as the movie teases us with what she may or may not have seen. But the story takes an ill-advised turn at around the halfway mark. It’s ignited by a preposterous reveal that sees this potentially sleek and savvy genre-bender turn into trite, impossible to buy silliness. It ends up fumbling a good concept which leads to everything completely falling apart. Its clumsy and absurd finish only makes things worse.

Having two overqualified Academy Award nominees certainly looks nice on the credits. But neither Knightley or Pearce can push their characters through the deflating second-half where logic evaporates and predictability sets in. Thematically, the film teases an ‘eat the rich’ examination, but it falls by the wayside like so much else. It’s one of several backend frustrations that makes “The Woman in Cabin 10” fall well short of its Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock inspirations. “The Woman in Cabin 10” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

REVIEW: “Tron: Ares” (2025)

October 10, 2025 by Keith Garlington

After 15 years the Tron series is back on the big screen with “Tron: Ares”. I have to admit, despite being a lover of both science fiction and action, I never fully latched onto the Tron movies. I’ve always admired their premise and strikingly unique visual style. But for whatever reason, neither the 1982 original “Tron” nor 2010’s “Tron: Legacy” pulled me in like other movies from a similar mold.

Next up is “Tron: Ares”, the third installment in this ambitious sci-fi action franchise and a standalone sequel to “Legacy”. It’s directed by Joachim Rønning (“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”) and written for the screen by Jesse Wigutow. Together they craft a visually bold and refreshing blockbuster that neither looks nor sounds like anything else on the big screen. Its only drawback is a surprisingly basic story that plays like a franchise’s attempt at reintroducing itself.

**Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios**

Since its beginning, the Tron franchise has transported audiences to a spectacular world called The Grid. It’s a visually stunning digital frontier populated by sentient programs who interact like their human counterparts. It was created by programmer and video game designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) who is digitized into The Grid during the first movie. In “Legacy”, Flynn’s son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) enters The Grid in search of his father.

That brings us to “Ares”, where The Grid has evolved and is now divided into sectors tied to major tech companies. As a result of the corporate rivalry between ENCOM and Dillinger Systems, the wall separating the digital and physical worlds has rapidly dissolved. Much of this due to Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), the CEO of Dillinger Systems and the grandson of Ed Dillinger (played by David Warner in the 1982 film). Julian is intent on restoring his grandfather’s legacy at any cost despite the warnings of his concerned mother Elisabeth (Gillian Anderson).

Julian’s latest breakthrough has him able to pull programs from his company’s sector of The Grid into real life (think 3D printing on steroids). State-of-the-art bikes, paragliders, armored vehicles, and his crown jewel, Ares (Jared Leto), a sophisticated and super-advanced AI soldier who is incredibly strong, highly intelligent, and utterly expendable. Julian is anxious to sell his tech to the highest bidder but he has one problem – he can’t keep his programs in the real world for more than 29 minutes.

Enter Eve Kim (Greta Lee), the current CEO of ENCOM who has taken the company’s reins following the death of her sister. Eve is determined to finish what her sister started which includes recovering the Permanence Code created and hidden by Kevin Flynn. The Permanence Code allows digital programs to exist in the real world indefinitely. And Eve knows bad things will happen if Dillinger Systems gets to it first. But Julian has a bigger problem once Ares begins questing his identity and purpose. His desire for independence sets in motion a much bigger conflict than spans both the digital and physical worlds.

Set to a pulse-pounding original soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails and jaw-dropping digital effects custom-made for the big screen, “Tron: Ares” is an exhilarating spectacle that dazzles both audibly and visually. It’s original premise and setting lends to a distinct style that energizes the action and well as the slick aesthetics. The performances also shine led by a spirited Greta Lee. A shrewdly reserved Leto makes Ares a fascinating mystery while Jodie Turner-Smith is fierce as his second in command. Jeff Bridges even returns in a small but welcomed spot.

Surprisingly though, the story is rather simple and underwhelming, with it playing out and finishing in a mostly conventional manner. There are very few highs or lows, and we get no real twists. That said, it does keep the audience constantly moving forward while nicely setting up the movie’s technical strengths – the stunning visuals, the cutting-edge action, and the sinister industrial grind of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score. A deeper narrative could have catapulted it higher. But even as it is, “Tron: Ares” is an electric experience that (as cliché as it may sound) demands to be seen on the big screen. “Tron: Ares” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Stella. A Life.” (2025)

October 10, 2025 by Keith Garlington

“Stella. A Life.” is a Holocaust drama that tells a true story unlike most others. It’s a fictional film that is based on historical facts that were researched from the 1946 trial records of the Soviet Military Court. At the center of the trial and this story is Stella Goldschlag, a young Jewish woman living in Berlin during the rise of Naziism. Like many Jews, Stella felt the devastating horror of Hitler’s unspeakable despotism. But unlike other Jews, the actions she took were every bit as unspeakable.

The film stars the captivating Paula Beer who was so good in her three collaborations with director Christian Petzold, “Transit”, “Undine”, and “Afire”. Here she takes on an especially challenging lead role that sees her character significantly and tragically transform over the film’s compelling two hours. To no surprise Beer is up to the task, keenly handling the emotionally heavy workload to such great effect that we find ourselves beguiled by Stella’s vivacity and charm. At least until the allure turns to repulsion.

The film opens in 1940 where we’re introduced to Stella Goldschlag (Beer), a spirited young woman living in Berlin with big dreams of becoming a jazz singer. Early on it seems as if she has everything going for her. Not only is she and her band getting gigs in fancy nightclubs, but they’ve even earned an invitation to one day travel to America and play on Broadway. But just as her dreams look to be within reach, Stella is faced with the crushing reality of being a Jew in Nazi Germany.

From there director Kilian Riedhof makes a sobering time jump to 1943 where we see Stella working in a factory making pistol clips for a German military. Gone are the elegant gowns, jazzy music, and spirited nights out with friends. And it only gets worse when Stella, her mother Toni (Katja Riemann), and her father Gerhard (Lukas Miko) are forced into hiding after the Nazi roundups begin.

Yet while everything is collapsing around her, Stella refuses to accept the reality of the world. She sneaks out at night, assimilating in with the non-Jewish crowds. “They don’t recognize me,” she naively tells her father, “I don’t look like a Jew.” And despite having married her longtime friend Fred (Damian Hardung), Stella spends many of those evenings cruelly cavorting with low-level German officers before eventually hooking up with an unruly forger named Rolf (Jannis Niewöhner).

Stella’s luck eventually runs out when she and her family are captured. Beaten and terrified of being sent to Auschwitz, Stella barters with the Gestapo and agrees to become a “catcher”, exposing the location of hidden Jews to the Nazis for modest wages and protection from deportation. She later recruits Rolf, and what begins as a desperate attempt to save her family turns into a shamefully willing betrayal marked by callousness and revelry.

Riedhof deftly handles Goldschlag’s complex story, showing both the root and consequences of her actions. He also superbly recreates the timeline through period-accurate costume and production design as well as performances that run the emotional gambit. And it all begins with Beer who takes on the challenge of finding humanity in a monster. True accounts state that hundreds to thousands of Jews were captured due to Stella Goldschlag’s betrayal. Yet Beer succeeds in gaining our empathy and turning our stomachs via a richly defined performance that’s not to be missed.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “Deathstalker” (2025)

October 9, 2025 by Keith Garlington

At the risk of once again dating myself, I miss the glory days of 1980s Sword and Sorcery movies. I grew up losing myself in the fantastical worlds created in movie like “Conan the Barbarian” (1982), “Clash of the Titans” (1981), “Beastmaster” (1982), “Krull” (1983), “Red Sonja” (1985), and “Dragonslayer” (1981). While fantasy adventures have continued in things like “The Lord of the Rings” and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”, the 80s Sword and Sorcery films had a spirit all their own.

Enter “Deathstalker”, a 2025 release that is an 80s styled Sword and Sorcery movie through and through. It’s passionately written and directed by Steven Kostanski, the man behind 2020’s genre explosion “PG: Psycho Goreman”. Now if you’re at all familiar with “PG” you’ll have a feel for the style of filmmaking you’ll see in “Deathstalker”. It’s almost playfully violent and unashamedly gory. But better than that, it’s a practical effects-driven feature that never lets its modest budget lessen its huge ambition.

“Deathstalker” is technically a remake of the 1983 Roger Corman produced movie of the same name. Kostanski is faithful to the original film in presentation, narrative style, and tone, but he tells a much different story. While scavenging a fresh, corpse-littered battlefield in the war-torn kingdom of Abraxion, a former soldier in the Queen’s army known as Deathstalker (actor, stuntman, and martial artist Daniel Bernhardt) recovers a gold amulet. His plans are to sell it for a tidy profit. But those plans quickly fall apart.

Deathstalker learns the amulet is cursed and magically bound to whoever possesses it. Unable to rid himself of the cursed relic, he sets out on a journey to find someone who can. Along the way he’s joined by a quirky sorcerer named Doodad (physically captured by Laurie Field and voiced by Patton Oswalt) and later an impulsive thief named Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo).

But there are others who want the amulet for their own nefarious purposes, namely a powerful necromancer named Nekromemnon (Nicholas Rice). He intends to unleash the amulet’s power to destroy the world and then rebuild it as he sees fit. So Nekromemnon sends out a host of assassins to kill Deathstalker and bring the amulet to him. And that sets up the bulk of the movie as Kostanski straightforwardly steers us from one action-packed and blood-drenched sequence to another.

Overall the story is fun, routinely silly, and proudly in-tune with the movies that inspired it. Admittedly the mythology is a little muddled and there is a tad too much exposition. But the cheeky sense of humor ensures it’s never taken too seriously. And the world-building is fittingly fantastical and full of imagination. It features many interesting locations that are populated by such creatures as two-headed trolls, witches, pig soldiers, swamp monsters, the reanimated dead, and so on.

But the most fun is found in the movie’s special effects. You could almost consider “Deathstalker” to be a celebration of the practical effects era. Kostanski and his team put aside the prominent digital approach of today. Instead they go a more handcrafted route, using an amazing combination of stop-motion animation, richly detailed makeup and costumes, latex masks, prosthetics, bodysuits, and an assortment of sets and props. As with the movies from the genre’s heyday, the effects are sometimes obvious. But artistry can shine brightest in the imperfections. And there’s something refreshing about seeing a creative vision without the slick polish of CGI.

“Deathstalker” turns back the clock to an era when bringing your imagination to life required more than computer programs and green screens. It takes us back to a bygone era of Sword and Sorcery adventures, telling a ridiculously entertaining story and creating an inspired world of wonder despite its budget limitations. It does it all with a sincere passion but also an ever-present sense of self-awareness. Those two ingredients are essential in making “Deathstalker” a glorious throwback experience.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

First Glance: “Train Dreams”

October 8, 2025 by Keith Garlington

This year Netflix has what may be their best Fall lineup of original movies since their beginning. Firmly planted among them is “Train Dreams”, the sophomore feature film from writer-director Clint Bentley. This American drama is an adaptation on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella of the same name. It premiered in January at Sundance and since has gained widespread praise. Even more, it has a sparkling cast highlighted by Joel Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon, William H. Macy, and Clifton Collins Jr.

“Train Dreams” is set in the rugged Pacific Northwest during the early 1900s. Edgerton plays Robert Grainier, a logger who goes to work building a railroad across the rapidly expanding United States. While his work keeps him in the outdoors he enjoys, it forces him to be away from his wife Gladys (Jones) and their young daughter. The movie follows this simple man’s life amid a world of unprecedented change. The first trailer reveals a near hypnotic beauty that manifests itself both visually and narratively. It looks to be exquisitely shot and the cast couldn’t be more perfect in this small but stunning slice.

“Train Dreams” releases in select theaters on November 7th and on Netflix November 21st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.