Bodies Bodies Bodies slays, vampire movie Day Shift doesn't and Fall is a lot of fun

Imagine the teens from Euphoria hacking each other to bits. That’s what Bodies Bodies Bodies goes for but in a way that’s somehow less gross and traumatic, and more fun. The Gen Z slasher comedy, which ditches the “elevated horror” pretensions of its contemporaries without sacrificing smarts, stars Borat 2’s Maria Bakalova, Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson as young people partying into the night during a hurricane. The lights go out and, one by one, they turn up dead, leaving the surviovrs pointing the finger at each other. The actual genre mechanics are deflating. The movie, directed by Reijn and written by Cat Person author Kristen Roupenian, is at its best when observing how these young, performative-woke-but-actually-toxic types constantly feel like they’re under attack, which turns out to be a big reason why they’re at each other’s throats. 95 minutes. Now playing in theatres. NNN

Two young daredevil women defy logic and gravity by climbing a rusty 2,000-foot tower to find some phony emotional resolution in their lives. Never mind the unconvincing motives. Fall is so entertaining that the predictably dumb elements become tiny specks seen from way up in the sky. Mann, directing with verve, crafts this ride like a horror movie, with enough jump scares, gory sights and twists that make you howl while hanging on to its every vertigo-inducing frame. 107 minutes. Now playing in theatres. NNNN

Jamie Foxx stars as a bounty hunter who doesn’t play by the rules in this vampire slayer/buddy cop movie. He’s saddled with Dave Franco’s mousy union rep, who is tasked with making sure vampire hunters don’t colour outside the lines when decapitating their bounty. There’s a lot that’s wrong with this movie – between its chaotic plot and hoary clichés. But that would have gone down easier had there been some chemistry between the two leads. Foxx is charming all on his own. But the dynamic between him and Franco is grating. The only thing Day Shift has going for it is the fight choreography where foldable vampires throw down in brief bursts of amusing and gross-out action.  114 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix. N

Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Bernardo Badillo; directed by John Patton Ford. 

Linnea Leino, Aamu Milonoff, Eleonoora Kauhanen; directed by Alli Haapasalo. 

Radheyan's first assignment for NOW was reviewing the Ice Cube heist comedy First Sunday. That was back in January 2008. He’s been covering Cube and much more ever since. Rad is also the film critic for CTV’s national breakfast show Your Morning and the pop culture columnist for CBC Syndicated Radio.

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