There are a number of movies that have been made based on comics. In the last few years we’ve seen a handful a year hit the big screen. Occasionally, we get an indie darling or critical hit based on a lesser known comic. Then, an even rarer appearance, is the movie based on a horror comics, such as 30 Days of Night or Blade. Now, while both of these movies hold their own as entertaining movies in their own right, sometimes we get something like Bad Kids Go To Hell. 

Bad Kids Go To Hell is like watching a really terrible episode of Gossip Girl. Six prep school kids from Crestview Academy must attend a weekend detention in a supposedly haunted library under renovation. While we slowly uncover small back stories on every kid, the main “bad boy” is Matt, who has made his way to the punishment by breaking a number of school rules by tackling a handicapped student and throwing basketballs into other peoples faces. 

“Loosely based on real characters and events” is how the press notes describes the new 8-part series Ripper Street, debuting Saturday night on BBC America (home to other excellent shows including Luther and Whitechapel). Regardless of how accurately the show depicts real-life occurrences, London’s East End during the late 19th century was probably not a routine stop for tourists or sightseers. 

In 1889, the notorious Jack the Ripper remains at-large. For Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen), who in reality investigated the Ripper murders with Frederick Abberline (played by Johnny Depp in From Hell and a minor character here), that is merely one problem among many. Working in law enforcement in that place at that time must have been a thankless job. In the show’s first 2 episodes alone Reid deals with murderers, gangs, and a wide variety of criminals and malcontents. 

Is it a bad sign that the idea of a reality TV show about criminals racing to the death does not seem as outlandish as it once might have? It is not hard to believe that a significant number of people worldwide would pay to watch something like that on their computer in the privacy of their home. 

Because the concept isn’t completely unfathomable and because it’s a direct-to-DVD sequel, Death Race 3: Inferno really should be wilder than it is. Part 2 is solid B-movie fun and a big improvement over Paul W. S. Anderson’s remake. It is unfortunate then that part 3 feels like a step back. It wisely shifts the action outside of the maximum security prison but fails to adequately exploit the new location. 

Ah, The Asylum. The “mockbuster” experts have had some legal troubles recently. Back in the spring of 2012, after Universal filed suit over American Battleship, the company changed the name to American Warships. Last month, in response to legal pressure from Warner Bros., The Asylum changed the name of Age of the Hobbits to Clash of the Empires. 

No such worries with Hansel & Gretel, not to be confused with Paramount’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, hitting theaters nationwide on January 25th. The Asylum version goes light on the witch hunting though. 

Texas Chainsaw 3D is the most polished, expensive Texas Chainsaw Massacre fan film I've ever seen.  

That could be a good thing or that could be bad thing, depending on how you look at it.  Me?  I don't see that as, nor am I using it, as a compliment.

Like a fan film, Texas Chainsaw's heart is in the right place and it goes through some the motions of what we've seen before.  It painstakingly scrutinizes the minute details of its predecessor (this entry ignores everything after Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre) to be "familiar" and "true" to the series canon.  But it's a lunk-headed, often silly (like many fan films), effort that lacks logic and makes the crucial mistake of misfiring in its depiction of Leatherface.   It earns points for steering the series into new, potentially interesting territory, but boy, did they screw up in its execution.

Here’s a bit of advice fellas: if your girlfriend wants to go on vacation with you, don’t take her on a camping trip in the middle of nowhere during the winter. Not only will you not get laid, you may find yourself being stalked and taunted by a creepy stranger. In The Frozen, a couple soon realizes that their romantic getaway isn’t what they had planned when things start going awry. The result is a repetitive and predictable horror with a storyline that is all too familiar with horror audiences.

The film opens with Emma, played by Brit Morgan of True Blood, in the midst of taking a pregnancy test. When the test comes back positive, the distraught young woman decides to hide the news from her boyfriend as they embark on their camping trip together. It is apparent from the start that Emma is uncomfortable with the news, as well as the camping trip, as she remains cold and distant from her excited and optimistic boyfriend.