Out on video - Tues Dec 14

Out on release this week:   A teenager takes on the neighborhood vampire, a genetic experiment is scrapped and one ape must find his place in the world or give in to his animal impulses, some men discover they will do anything for money competing in a game of Russian Roulette and a chubby panda rises again to karate chop his way through evil!

Photo: Contributed - Dreamworks

Colin Farrell plays a vamp preying on his neighbors in the redo of ‘Fright Night’

FRIGHT NIGHT

This remake of the 1985 cult classic has a similar premise to the original: Charley (Anton Yelchin) and his mom (Toni Collette) live in a small suburban community just off the Las Vegas strip, the type of community where most sleep their day away and work throughout the evening, so when homes seem to start turning up vacant and children begin to miss school, no one really notices.

Charley’s former bestie, ‘Evil Ed’ (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), sees something more sinister going on.  One of Ed’s many speculations begins to reign true for Charley: that Charley’s new neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) may actually be a blood sucking vampire, and not the glow-in-the-sunlight-like-diamonds type!

Jerry starts to suspect that his cover has been blown and begins to torment the boys; that is until they hire a very unlikely vampire hunter – Illusionist Peter Vincent (David Tennant).

Rating: 3 out of 5  - Not thick on story line but Colin Farrell does a great job pulling off sexy evil, David Tennant is an awesome far cry from his ‘Dr Who’ character (however I feel Russell Brand could have also pulled off the role), and there’s a hilarious cameo by the original vamp himself, Chris Sarandon!

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) is working on a new gene therapy designed to possibly end Alzheimer’s disease, which his father (John Lithgow) happens to be succumbing to. 

The new drug, which is given to 13 chimpanzees in a test study, has given them a sort of hyper-intelligence and when one of the female chimps ends up going on a rampage suspecting that her child is in danger, the entire project is scrapped and the chimps are put down, except for the newborn.

Will decides to take ‘Caesar’ (played by Andy Serkis) home with him and over the next three years, the chimp begins to notice that his intelligence, which he inherited from his mother, is far beyond that of a normal pet and he begins to struggle with his place among his human family. 

When an incident with Will’s father forces Caesar into San Bruno Primate Sanctuary, Caesar realizes the treatment of his fellow primates and begins to hatch a plan…

13

An organized secret underground Russian Roulette tournament attracts corrupt gamblers and desperate men alike for a payout that one can’t seem to resist, however the downside seems to be deadly! 

Starring Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Ray Winston and Michael Shannon

 

KUNG FU PANDA 2

As an evil razor-feathered peacock decides to become a super-villain and take over China, Po (Jack Black) is dividing his time between the Furious Five and his father’s noodle shop.

While Po begins to discover that his goose father is not his biological one (ya think?), he must now mobilize his troops against the peacock to save his beloved country, and only through inner peace will he find victory!

Also Out:  Daylight Robbery, Moonlight & Mistletoe, Freight, Circumstance

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.