Film reviews: Lovely Molly | Joyful Noise | Your Sister’s Sister | Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

By Siobhan Synnot
Published on 24/06/2012 00:00

Siobhan Synnot on the rest of this week’s new cinema releases...

Lovely Molly (15) ***

Newlywed Molly (Gretchen Lodge) returns to her long-abandoned family home, and finds it troubled by unexplained bumps and scraping sounds. Really, do these people not watch horror films? Blair Witch Project co-writer and co-director Eduardo Sanchez conjures up a nicely unsettling atmosphere but the plotting is as creaky as the house.

On selected release from Friday

Joyful Noise (PG) ***

Catfighting choir leaders Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah must learn to work together in harmony in this corny pop-gospel fairy tale. The singing will suit those who love either gospel or Dolly, and although it includes an astonishing duet from beyond the grave, this hokey enterprise is not as exploitative as you, or God, might fear.

On general release from Friday

Your Sister’s Sister (15) **

Lynn Shelton’s disappointing follow-up to Humpday sets Mark Duplass on a cabin retreat with his best friend (Emily Blunt) and her gay half-sister (Rosemarie DeWitt). A bottle of tequila fuels a brief one-night stand which Duplass and DeWitt are keen to conceal from Blunt. Even at 90 minutes this saggy story feels talky, over–stretched and aimless. And really, the cliché police should give jail-time to any script that conjures up an artistic vegan lesbian in this day and age.

Glasgow Film Theatre from Friday; Dundee Contemporary Arts from 6 July

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (15) **

The title suggests goofy fun, with the 16th American president (Benjamin Walker) delivering the Gettysburg Address while vampires get staked. Unfortunately this soul-sucking movie wouldn’t recognise “playful” if it sat up and bit them on the neck. The effect is not deadpan, just (un)deadening. Also stars Rufus Sewell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Dominic Cooper. Earnestly overdirected by Timur Bekmambetov.

On general release