Take a look at the IMDb staff picks for the best movies and series coming to theaters and streaming.

Staff Picks: What to Watch in March

From popular franchises to brand new worlds of exploration, science fiction and fantasy stories are more popular than ever. Check out our list of the best and brightest new and upcoming movies and series.

New and Upcoming Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Riley Rey feeds her interest in cryptozoology with a steady stream of video uploads and the help of her older sister, Rebecca, who plans to be the next hit cinematographer. With a YouTube channel featuring the usual ghost hauntings and UFO videos, Riley decides it's time to up the ante. In an effort to increase viewership, the two sisters hire the help of Greg, a seasoned tracker with a murky past. He guides the girls on an adventure to investigate Chanoc, a small town legend. Through adversity and conflict, they discover the secrets of the Panteon Woods, but never return.

Not Really What I Was Expecting, But Not Too Bad

The premise sounds like something that comes a dime-a-dozen with found footage: Group of people head out for a weekend in the woods to try and find a local cryptid and end up not making it out of the forest. The camera work is about as shoddy as it gets with found-footage and the dialogue relies way too heavy on the 2 sisters engaging in dirty talk with the creepy old guy they paid to help orient them. The plot does include some red herrings such as there not being any actual werewolf taunting them and the old vet starting to lose his marbles towards the end, but there ends up being a rather unusual twist I personally didn&#39;t see coming although it should&#39;ve been a lot clearer considering how things were set up as they walked through the woods. Rebecca, the cinematographer sister, secretly dresses up in a gorilla suit as part of a backup if nothing was found. This ends up backfiring as Nam Vet Guide Greg gets spooked and shoots her dead. Down to just Riley and Greg, Rebecca&#39;s body is hidden behind a tree and the duo resolve to make their way back before sundown. Unfortunately for them, it turns out the legend of the werewolf was to keep people away from cartel operations occurring in the forest and the pair end up smack dab in the middle of it. Greg is shot and killed in a standoff while Riley manages to get out alive. That survival is short-lived as she remembers Greg telling her that piping they found on the second day would likely lead her to safety. This ends up not going as planned when she bunkers down in an outhouse at the end only for cartel members on patrol to ambush and kill her. There were some comedic moments to it such as having an interview with a woman talking about writing a book &quot;detailing her experiences&quot; with the werewolf which is revealed to just be a kinky self-insert fanfiction, but for the most part, it&#39;s just a standard home movie about a weekend in the woods only for things to go to hell and back on the way back. Not exactly a modern art masterpiece, but there&#39;s worse out there.

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Panteon Woods

Another day, another BLAIR WITCH copy, and PANTEON WOODS has absolutely nothing to distinguish it from a hundred other similarly-shot efforts. It&#39;s about a few characters with an interest in cryptozoology who decide to go into the woods to hunt for a werewolf, and the narrative is constructed of the usual wandering around in the woods interspersed with hanging around in tents scenes. It comes as no surprise for me to report that this isn&#39;t good at all, virtually unwatchable in fact. Whether it&#39;s the shrill overacting from the tattooed amateurs or the non-existent incident, this is laughably awful, a real bore in which you don&#39;t get to see anything. It&#39;s just another no-budget clichéd wannabe.

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The movie starts with sisters hiring a &#39;guide&#39; to help them find the elusive werewolf of Panteon forest but it morphs into a Mexican drug operation. It feels like they came to a dead end plot-wise so turned it into a crime/murder/mystery where all 3 main characters die at the end. Some decent one liners from all three characters although my favorite dies (gets shot) early on and its there that the main plot takes a nosedive and the Mexican cartel theme takes over...
Cinematography - not great, acting - meh, directing -: pretty good actually, There was no real character development, so in the end when the Mexicans shoot up the outhouse, I was kind of relieved it was all over. The concept of &#39;found footage&#39; was never explained and. In reality the &#39;bad guys&#39; who found the tape would have destroyed it for their faces were planted all over the last few scenes. Lastly, editing: Water running both ways out of a small &#39;tunnel&#39; (road overpass?). She goes in with the water flowing towards her and exits the other end with the water flowing away from her (think about the physics in that one).

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I really enjoyed the film. From beginning to end the dialog and the characters keep you hooked. The cast was fun to watch and the dialog was enjoyable. I really enjoyed the lead characters, specially the old man. It is a &quot;found footage&quot; film but I cannot see see this film or concept shot any other style. The camera is not shaky and it shot documentary style which make the whole experience much more enjoyable. There are some twists in the movie that are very unexpected and that have dire consequences. The ending is quite shocking and memorable, completely worth following the characters to very end.

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User reviews

Panteon Woods

Not Really What I Was Expecting, But Not Too Bad

Another day, another Blair Witch copy

Not your average werewolf movie

Incredible twists!

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