YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK'S NEW CINEMA RELEASES

Three new movies arrive in cinemas this week ...

TOP PICK TO SEE

I've just returned from a screening of ONE EYED GIRL. This is a South Australian movie which tells the story of Travis, ... a thirty-something psychiatrist haunted by the death of a former patient. On the brink of a nervous breakdown he stumbles across a group run by a charismatic leader, Father Jay. In search of answers, Travis is led deeper and deeper into the underworld of a Doom's Day cult where he meets Grace, a mysterious teenage girl. When the cult comes under attack from the outside world, Travis must risk his life to free a girl, and save his soul. (Written by BK) ONE EYED GIRL is an excellent, very intense psychological thriller. I'll post my review soon - but I'd give it ****1/2. Definitely my top pick to see this week.

OTHERS TO SEE

KUMIKO: THE TREASURE HUNTER is about A jaded Japanese woman WHO discovers a hidden copy of Fargo (1996) on VHS, believing it to be a treasure map indicating the location of a large case of money. This, apparently, is a beautiful and original drama. According to The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy, Kikuchi (the lead who plays Kumiko) manages to make Kumiko interesting company no matter how far the character recedes into herself, using subtly expressive body language that would have been at home in silent movies to create a very strange self-imposed social outcast.

MAYBE/MAYBE NOT

Finally, there is the supernatural horror UNFRIENDED (originally entitled CYBERNATURAL). A group of online chat room friends find themselves haunted by a mysterious, supernatural force using the account of their dead friend. Audiences are rating this as average with critics slightly below that. The Dissolve's Keith Phipps says, For everything here that's new and exciting, there's much that's way too familiar. The kids are so one-dimensional and unpleasant, it's hard to care once they start dying off.... Unfriended is often more innovative than scary, too, with some memorable but not particularly chilling and hilariously foreshadowed death scenes.

That's it for this week. See you at the movies!

*NOTE* Movie summaries are adaptations of movie summary on IMDB. Opinions are mine unless credited.