Dinner to Die For (2025) | Shamilla Miller holds it together with a memorable ending, even if the road getting there was undercooked. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.5/10. I had no idea what I was getting with Dinner to Die For, but it serves up a fun premise with a sharp knife. Then spends most of its runtime trying to figure out which course it actually wants to be.

The film follows Hannah, played by Shamilla Miller, a culinary photographer with a taste for true crime, and her equally obsessed friend Evan, portrayed by Steven John Ward (serial killer-sounding name). The two decide to spice up their hobby by role-playing their own true crime scenario, complete with a killer meal and the “girl next door” trope. Naturally, because this is a thriller and not a Food Network special, fantasy and reality collide, and one deadly mistake ensures that no one at the table leaves with clean hands.

Here’s the main issue. This story definitely did not have to be 75 minutes long. It is either a tight and vicious 25-minute short film or a fully fleshed-out mini-series with time to breathe. Instead, it awkwardly falls right in the middle, like an uncooked entrée. The film completely skimps on the development of the recipe book angle, which could have easily been its own compelling thread. Then it rushes into a flashback structure that feels crammed. Each character’s psychological descent could’ve used a solid 30–40 minutes of dedicated focus. As it stands, the material just doesn’t fit the feature-length format.

That mismatch is the movie’s biggest drawback. The bones of a good story are here, but the pacing is all over the place. It skates around its concept without ever fully embracing it until the finale. And while memorable, it isn’t quite as explosive as it needs to be. The suspense never fully simmers. It kinda stays at a light boil (I will run out of cooking references LOL).

Performance-wise, though, the film is held together by Miller. She carries the emotional weight and makes Hannah feel grounded even when the story isn’t. Steven John Ward plays Evan as a complete doormat, which he absolutely has to be for the story mechanics to function, and he commits to it. You may find yourself wanting to shake him through the screen, but that’s part of the design.

The effects, when they show up, are decent enough. They don’t dominate the film, but they do their job without pulling you out of the experience.

For a first-time feature-length effort, director Diana Mills Smith shows promise. There is a good understanding of tone and character relationships, even if the execution isn’t quite there. With a different pacing or format that is more suited to the story, this could have been something unique.

As it stands, Dinner to Die For is an interesting concept, plated nicely, acted well, but served in the wrong portion size. Some of you may get more out of its psychological angle, but for me, the suspense just didn’t quite satisfy. Sometimes the recipe is good, but it just needs the right cooking time.

Dinner to Die For (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/dinner-to-die-for-2025/

Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019) | Pressed play expecting a concert, got a stabbing spree and Danny Trejo first. Honestly, still counts as a warm-up act. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 7.5/10. I popped on Slayer: The Repentless Killogy, thinking I had just queued up some nice, gentle background music for chores. You know - fold some laundry, maybe wash dishes, casually melt my ears with metal. Instead, I accidentally pressed play on a revenge-soaked, blood-spraying short film that looks like it was made by someone who asked, “How about a music video…but way more stabbing?”

Turns out this isn’t just a concert video, it’s a full-on violent mini-movie stitched together with Slayer’s music and the three brutal videos from Repentless: “You Against You,” “Repentless,” and “Pride in Prejudice.” Writer/director B.J. McDonnell builds an exploitation-style revenge tale packed with prison brawls, gang retaliation, and enough arterial spray to make a horror effects crew blush. There’s a mix of CGI and practical gore, and thankfully, a lot of the practical stuff looks satisfyingly nasty. If you’re squeamish, this is not your pre-laundry warmup. If you’re not, welcome home.

Jason Trost plays the reformed skinhead on a vengeance tour, and he sells it with cold, determined intensity. No wasted motion, no overacting. Just pure “you picked the wrong guy to mess with” energy. And when Danny Trejo shows up, it’s like the film unlocks a bonus level of credibility. Trejo fits into violent revenge stories the way blast beats fit into Slayer songs - naturally and aggressively.

What surprised me most was how well the music-video segments and narrative scenes blend together. It doesn’t feel like random cutting between story and songs. It actually flows. The tracks become part of the storytelling rhythm rather than just background noise. That first half hour grabbed my attention way more than expected. My laundry sat there, abandoned, judging me.

Around the 38-minute mark, the story portion wraps up, and the film transforms into what I originally thought I was starting in the first place - a full Slayer live performance from the Forum in Inglewood, CA. And it’s a beast of a concert recording, tight, loud, and shot with real polish. The crowd looks like they’re experiencing a shared spiritual event, if that spiritual event involves headbanging and possible neck injuries.

I was lucky enough to see Slayer live once, and this brought that memory roaring back. The sheer volume, the wall of sound, the feeling that your internal organs are being rearranged by guitar riffs. My current ears probably wouldn’t survive round two…but let’s be honest, I’d still go again. With earplugs. And maybe a will prepared.

This is absolutely built for Slayer fans first. If you’re not into their music, the concert half won’t convert you, and the film half will probably just concern you. But if you are a fan, it’s a bloody, thunderous farewell package that delivers exactly what it promises: revenge, murder, bloodshed, retribution. And one heck of a show. I came for background noise. I stayed for the carnage.

Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019)

Concert tracklisting:

1. Delusions Of Savior 2. Repentless 3. The Antichrist 4. Disciple 5. Postmortem 6. Hate Worldwide 7. War Ensemble 8. When The Stillness Comes 9. You Against You 10. Mandatory Suicide 11. Hallowed Point 12. Dead Skin Mask 13. Born Of Fire 14. Cast The First Stone 15. Bloodline 16. Seasons In The Abyss 17. Hell Awaits 18. South Of Heaven 19. Raining Blood 20. Chemical Warfare 21. Angel Of Death

https://jackmeat.com/slayer-the-repentless-killogy-2019/

Primate (2026) | Turns out “family pet chimp” plus “unsupervised teen party” equals total chaos, gore, and way more fun than expected. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.3/10. Primate wastes absolutely no time reminding us of one important life lesson. If it has teeth, strength, and the emotional range of a toddler with a chainsaw, maybe don’t treat it like a fuzzy roommate. The film opens with a gruesome scene that basically slaps you and says, “Wild animals are still wild, you absolute morons.” Message received.

We then shift to sunny Hawaii, where Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) returns home for summer break and reunites with her father, Adam (Troy Kotsur), her sister Erin (Gia Hunter), and their pet chimp Ben, who is introduced as gentle, sweet, and absolutely not going to stay that way for long. Lucy and her friends decide that the best use of an empty luxury house is, of course, a pool party. Because nothing bad ever happens in horror movies when teens throw unsupervised parties. History confirms this. Repeatedly. With blood.

Once Ben gets bitten by a rabid animal, things escalate from “quirky family chimp” to “primal nightmare rage.” About 25 minutes in, the story loops back to the opening brutality, and director Johannes Roberts makes it very clear he did not come here to be polite. He came here to weaponize your childhood zoo memories.

The tension setup works surprisingly well. The pool becomes a barricaded island, phones are out of reach, help isn’t coming, and the group has to outthink an angry, infected chimpanzee who did not skip upper body day. The camera work deserves credit with several shots that make Ben look genuinely creepy, and stalking like a furry slasher villain. The hunting sequences are the clear highlights. Tense, mean-spirited, and just a little bit gloriously over the top.

There are also some classic “don’t do that” horror decisions sprinkled throughout. My favorite being if your girlfriend pukes and passes out, maybe - just maybe - don’t lay her flat on her back like you’re tucking her in for a Victorian ghost portrait. And at one key moment, you’ll absolutely catch yourself yelling, “Why not splash him?” at the screen. Audience participation wass alive and well the other night.

The film smartly introduces additional victims in a way that feels scripted but satisfying. Fresh targets delivered right to the danger zone, like horror-themed food delivery. Practical gore effects are used well, messy and effective, without feeling cartoonish.

Ben himself is oddly impressive. His look shifts from innocent, almost cuddly chimp to nightmare ape depending on the lighting and angle, which makes him even more unsettling. It’s a simple plot executed with sharp teeth and a nasty streak.

I expected something mediocre at best, but ended up quite enjoying Primate. Don’t overthink it. Lock the doors, stay out of arm’s reach, and enjoy the monkeying around.

Primate (2026)

https://jackmeat.com/primate-2026/

Haunters of the Silence (2025) | A grief-soaked experimental nightmare that’s visually creative and sincere, but sometimes wanders so far it forgets why it left. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 5.3/10. I recently received an email invitation to check out Haunters of the Silence, which is one of those films that doesn’t just invite you into its story. It quietly locks the door behind you, turns off the lights, and whispers, “Good luck figuring this out.” That score comes with both respect and a slightly confused head tilt.

This is a deeply experimental, grief-soaked, dream-logic experience about a man mourning his wife and slipping into a cycle of nightmares he can’t wake from. If you’ve ever had one of those dreams where you keep “waking up” only to discover you’re still dreaming, yeah, that’s the neighborhood this movie lives in. Property values are low, reality is negotiable, and the HOA is run by existential dread.

The soundtrack does a lot of the heavy lifting here, setting the mood and signaling when something important is happening, or at least when something would like you to think it’s important. It’s like an emotional GPS recalculating every five minutes. The film mixes styles freely. Live action, abstract imagery, animated comic-strip panels, and even some stop motion touches. I genuinely liked the comic-strip inserts. They help frame the narrative and give your brain a small handle to grab onto before the movie gently pries your fingers loose again.

Performance-wise, Tatu Heikkinen (as K) is restrained yet effective, which works well against the surreal presentation. Veleda’s appearances as the wife feel intentionally distant and dreamlike - more passionate echo than physical presence. The repetition of images and sequences mirrors how real nightmares recycle elements, which is thematically strong, though it does test your attention span. I checked the runtime twice, 73 minutes, because it feels longer in that art-installation way where time becomes soup.

The film uses on-screen quotes and title cards drawn from Madison Julius Cawein’s poetry, among other sources, to build atmosphere and thematic structure. Sometimes they help. Sometimes they feel like philosophical pop-up ads interrupting your dread.

Now, I need to address the arthouse elephant in the room. For a few moments, I feared this was heading into Skinamarink territory, which for me is cinematic broccoli without seasoning. Thankfully, Haunters of the Silence actually has intention, structure, and emotional purpose. It’s not just vibes and darkness stretched to feature length. It knows what it wants to say, even if the path there is foggy and occasionally wanders off the trail to look at a symbolic tree.

Knowing this was made for around $2,000 by a married couple who co-wrote and co-directed it, with Tatu handling cinematography and Veleda the editing and sound, makes it feel like a very personal, handmade expression of grief. It plays less like a conventional film and more like stepping into someone else’s processing of loss. Thank you, Tatu Heikkinen and Veleda Thorsson-Heikkinen, for sharing your movie with me.

Not a hand-holding journey. More like a hand-releasing one. Watch it for the experience, not the roadmap. (More streaming options will be added as they become available.)

Haunters of the Silence (2025)

https://jackmeat.com/haunters-of-the-silence-2025/

Redux Redux (2026) | A low-budget multiverse thriller that jumps straight into chaos, keeps things tight, and makes revenge feel dangerously addictive and fun. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 6.6/10. Some movies ease you in with a slow burn. Others kick down the door, set the couch on fire, and yell, “Figure it out later.” I would have to say Redux Redux proudly chooses option two. We open on a woman standing over someone tied to a chair, engulfed in flames - which is certainly one way to warm up the audience (are you counting the heat puns? I regret nothing). The film then smash-cuts to the same woman being choked out by a guy she promptly escapes and shoots, making it very clear that this is not going to be a quiet, tea-and-biscuits multiverse drama.

The story follows Irene Kelly, played with serious conviction by Michaela McManus, a mother who discovers a way to travel across parallel universes to repeatedly hunt down her daughter’s killer. Not just once. Not just twice. But enough times that revenge starts to look less like justice and more like a hobby she should probably discuss with a therapist. The film wastes absolutely no time getting her into the universe-hopping groove, and her jump chamber has a delightfully retro, garage-built sci-fi look that feels nostalgic without screaming “we blew the entire budget on one glowing prop.” Still not sure how it makes its way into vehicles, but ditch that logic thing.

One of Irene’s jumps leads her to Mia, played by Stella Marcus, a kidnapping victim she manages to save from Neville, portrayed by Jeremy Holm. Neville is intentionally underexplained, more force-of-evil than fully fleshed-out villain, which works thematically, even if I wouldn’t have minded a little more meat on those villain bones. Mia becomes a larger focus for a stretch, and while she’s likable overall, her attitude occasionally cranks past “understandably upset” into “okay, dial it back two notches.” Mileage will vary there.

The action and fight scenes are consistently solid and well-choreographed. Nothing too flashy, but always clear and engaging. When the characters go part-hunting for the machine, they encounter Billie, played by Taylor Misiak, who I instantly recognized from my guilty-pleasure sitcom rotation, Going Dutch. Always fun when two totally different genre worlds collide in your brain for a moment.

Redux Redux is low-budget indie sci-fi in a good way. Concept-first, character-driven, and not drowning in CGI soup. Impressively, it avoids getting tangled in the narrative pretzels that usually strangle time-travel and multiverse plots. It actually plays things surprisingly safe with the alternate worlds - most are only slightly different - and while that feels like a missed opportunity to go truly dark and weird, it also keeps the story clean and focused. Credit to directors Kevin McManus and Matthew McManus for resisting the urge to overcomplicate things just because they can.

The takeaway seems to be - if you find a version of reality that works for you, maybe stop poking the cosmic machinery with a wrench. A pleasant surprise that could’ve been great, but still lands comfortably in the quite good multiverse lane, and without melting your brain in the process. Which, these days, is a win.

Redux Redux (2026)

I'll be back with streaming links when they are available. As of now, it hits theaters on Feb. 20th, 20026.

https://jackmeat.com/redux-redux-2026/

Twisted (2026) | Two scammy apartment flippers meet DIY surgery nightmare. Great cast trapped inside a script that clearly skipped its final inspection. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.8/10. There are movies about real estate scams, movies about mad doctors, and movies about terrible people making worse decisions. I watched Twisted, which tries to flip all three at once like a dodgy Brooklyn condo listing with “great bones” and a raccoon in the kitchen.

The setup is stable enough. Two millennials run a slick apartment-flipping con in New York, selling properties they don’t actually own to buyers who don’t realize they’re being scammed. It’s a fun, modern premise that feels like it was ripped straight from a late-night true crime binge and a housing crisis support group. Our con artists are played by Lauren LaVera (Paloma) and Mia Healey (Smith), and let’s just say the casting department did not accidentally pick two extremely photogenic scammers. Subtlety was not invited to this open house.

The slow-burn approach might have completely collapsed under its own artsy seriousness if not for Djimon Hounsou as Dr. Kezian. The one target they absolutely should have skipped. He brings instant gravity and menace to the screen, like he wandered in from a much better, more expensive movie and decided to stay. Once he takes center stage, Twisted at least has a pulse, even if the script’s brain activity is questionable.

If you recognize LaVera, it’s probably from the blood-soaked chaos of the Terrifier films, and fans expecting that deep a stab may feel slighted. The dialogue frequently sounds like it was workshopped by aliens who learned human speech from property scam emails. Conversations don’t flow so much as stumble down the stairs.

There’s a brutal assault-and-fight sequence that’s effective, but it exists mostly to steer the characters into Dr. Kezian’s DIY nightmare clinic, where the movie leans hard into bargain-bin medical horror. The procedures are so wildly implausible that they feel less like science and more like someone angrily assembling IKEA surgery. The central experiment, involving his wife (played by Alicia Witt) and her very unclear brain situation, is murky enough that you stop trying to understand and just nod politely.

A big structural problem. Everyone is awful. The scammers are terrible people. The doctor is a terrible person. The police are…present, technically. Their investigation subplot has all the impact of a muted notification and is basically swept under the rug until the end. No brains, no urgency, no payoff.

Twisted (2026)

Director Darren Lynn Bousman has done sharper work. Horror fans of his entries in the Saw II era will spot a very familiar surgical vibe, and even the messy but interesting Abattoir aimed higher. This one isn’t terrible, but it feels like a rough draft that accidentally got listed as a final pitch. Watchable, flawed, occasionally effective - but definitely not luxury horror. More like “as-is, no inspection.”

https://jackmeat.com/twisted-2026/

Night Patrol (2026) | Justin Long chews scenery as a shady cop in a brutal, weird genre mashup that almost sticks the landing. Almost. #jackmeatsflix

My quick rating - 4.9/10. If the Shudder logo pops up before a movie, you can usually expect one of two things. A hidden gem or a cinematic science experiment. Night Patrol kinda slides itself into both categories.

The movie opens with a bleeding teenager in an interrogation room, begging for help while a cop basically says, “Sure, but first, paperwork.” There’s something sticking out of the kid’s side, but bureaucracy is the real final boss. It’s a darkly funny, grim little opener that promises payoff later, and yes, the film does eventually loop back around to it.

We then shift into a routine bust of a make-out session with Officers Marcus (CM Punk) and Hayworth (Justin Long), and things escalate from “routine bust” to “that escalated extremely quickly” when an initiation goes very, very wrong. Long plays the role with a smug, controlled edge that makes you instantly suspicious, like a motivational speaker who owns too many knives. Able to escape the scene is Wazi, played by RJ Cyler, who some folks will recognize from The 'Burbs, and you should recognize from the interrogation room. And that gets us to the opening credits.

Chapter 1 is entitled LAPD, and Hayworth introduces himself to school kids by staging what is essentially a live-action trauma drill. Officer Xavier (Jermaine Fowler) submerges himself entirely too much into the role of the stereotypical gunman. Nothing says “don’t steal” like simulated mortal terror before homeroom.

The structure is split into chapters, which gives the film a graphic-novel rhythm. There’s a conspiracy brewing inside a special police task force, a manufactured gang war setup, and a colonial-court battleground sequence with heavy smoke and heavier firepower that genuinely looks great. When the Night Patrol rolls in through the haze and starts wiping people out, it’s stylish and brutally disturbing.

Dermot Mulroney shows up as Sarge, adding some veteran presence, while director Ryan Prows and company put a new-ish twist on vampire lore. Not a better twist, not a worse twist, just one that made me tilt my head like a confused dog.

There’s some legitimately strong stuff here. The early kills are sudden and nasty, the moral lines are clearly drawn, and the setup is loaded with potential. There’s even a goofy planning scene with a puff-puff-pass strategy session that almost tricks you into thinking the third act will hold together.

Unfortunately, once the story hits its mystical-power phase - complete with an energy effect that looks suspiciously like it borrowed a prop from Green Lantern - the movie drives straight off the beaten track. What starts tense and entertaining turns chaotic and quite stupid.

Night Patrol (2026)

It’s frustrating, because most of Night Patrol works…right up until it really, really doesn’t. Still worth a watch for the concept, the gore, and Long having a blast, but this patrol needed one more rewrite before clocking in. And don't expect another Sinners.

https://jackmeat.com/night-patrol-2026/