Malignant (2021):

Writer/producer/director James Wan is a triple threat in this outstanding slice of horror that is far, far more than your usual slasher flick. Known for such exceptional thrillers of the genre that include the "Saw" series of movies, the "Insidious" series, the "Annabelle" movies, and the three iterations of "The Conjuring," as well as having directed "Aquaman," and "Fast & Furious 7," he returns to a smaller scale film here, but that doesn't mean it won't frighten and amaze you like a movie with ten times the budget. There are several threads to the story that at first appear to be unrelated, beginning with older footage of a doctor named Florence Weaver (Australian actress Jacqueline McKenzie) reporting on findings on a patient in what appears to be a mental hospital in 1992. We cut to the present day where a pregnant mother-to-be, Maddie Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis) comes home from work exhausted, gets into a fight with her abusive husband, and has him smash her head against the bedroom wall, leaving her unconscious. Like so many men of this sort, he apologizes, says he'll change, and intimates that she "made him do it," so it's her fault. Watching the brutal scene makes us, as viewers, wish the worst for this guy ... and it only takes minutes for him to become an eviscerated mass of blood and tissue, murdered by someone, or something, only vaguely seen. Another vignette introduces us to a tour guide in Seattle's underground city, the home of the action here. Her name is Jeanne (Susanna Thompson of "Arrow") and she is locking up after her tour is done, alone in the dark, when she hears something. That's the last she will know until she comes to, bound and gagged, in some kind of attic or industrial place. Murders of sequential individuals start to show a pattern, and soon we learn more about Maddie, as she finds herself in a hallucinatory trance that allow her to "see" each hideous murder. The craftsmanship that director Wan demonstrates is superb, peeling back layer upon layer of his story, having it morph before our eyes into something unknowable and horrible beyond belief. It's a murder mystery within a horror story withing something even bigger. Outstanding film. Rated 14A.

Saint Maude (2020):

Available earlier this year on demand, Amazon now offers this horror-drama for now additional charge. The central character is Maude (Moffydd Clark) who is a nurse with hospice skills, caring for Amanda Kohl, a retired dancer (Jennifer Ehle) whose body has been ravaged by cancer. Maude has a fervent Christian belief that grows exponentially as she cares for her patient - the belief that Maude, and only Maude, can save the soul of her dancer from eternal damnation, as well as the belief that malevolent powers of darkness are closing in on both of them. There are elements here of "The Exorcist," and similar films in which satanic threats to our immortal souls rear up and create chaos. The horror builds here frame-by-frame as Maude becomes more and more fervent in her belief that only she can save her patient, but her own dark past is also revealed leading us to wonder just what the real threat might be. Rated 14A.

The Eight Hundred (2020):

Based on actual events, this Chinese military drama was the top-grossing movie at the worldwide box office in 2020, making it the first non-American, non-English language film to acquire that distinction. Set in 1937 during the Chinese war with Japan, it’s the story of the 800 Chinese troops tasked with defending a key warehouse during the Battle of Shanghai. Referred to by some as “The Chinese Alamo,” this is the commemoration of the battle that is technically an overlooked part of WWII. The movie’s $461 million gross has been attributed, by some, to the holding off of big Hollywood titles last year because of Covid, but regardless, this is an epic story. Rated 14A.

Tick, Tick ... Boom (2021):

This Netflix original marks the debut of Lin-Manuel MIranda as a director, spelling out the answer to the question, "what do we do with the time we have?" The story follows Jon (Andrew Garfield) who is a promising young theatre producer on the cusp of his 30th birthday. He waits on tables in New York City while waiting for what he hopes with be his big break, but pressure is everywhere in his life - pressure from his girlfriend who wants to leave New York and the arts community behind, pressure from his best friend who has just left the arts community for the financial security of a real job, and the pressure of an artistic community being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. What does he do? Where does he turn? Stars include Vanessa Hudgens, Joel Grey and Judith Light based on the story by the late Jonathan Larson ("Rent"). Rated 14A.

Robin Robin (2021):

This stop-motion animated film from the UK tells the story of a little baby robin who rolls out of her nest onto the ground, and who is saved, and then raised by a family of mice. As Robin gets older, she begins to realize that she is not a mouse, and that maybe she doesn't really belong with this family. A heart-warming story with an excellent message that both children and parents will enjoy. Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files") provides one of the major voices in this British made film. Rated G.