Rogelio is a powerful fascist soldier in the Spanish Civil War who has no issue killing anyone who doesn’t agree with the new regime. One night, as he kills a man and his sixteen-year-old son, that man’s ten-year-old son locks eyes with him, giving our antagonist feelings of extreme guilt and something much worse — terror. He’s certain that by the time the boy reaches sixteen, he will kill him. Now, this formerly trigger happy soldier has become a hermit who only cares about his fig tree.

Ana Murugarren has directed this film, which looks gorgeous. Unlike so many of the films in this country that are released straight to on demand, this looks better than most theatrical films that I’ve seen this year.

Rogello decides that he must perform acts of contrition for his crimes, so he moves to a small shack near the grave of the boy’s father brother. Now, he has become a Soldier of God, tending to the fig tree that the angry boy has planted over the burial site. He defends it with his gun, but in truth, he is losing himself to the tree with each new pang of guilt that he feels.

Years later, Rogello’s vigil makes him a tourist attraction, much to the embarrassment of his former friends. After all, seeing that tree reminds them of the murders that they themselves were part of.

Adapted from a novel by Ramiro Pinilla, this movie veers from fairy tale parable to a rough look at Spain’s recent history seemingly at will. It’s PR materials claimed that it was whimsical, but that probably wouldn’t be the word I’d use.

That said — it is interesting. I haven’t seen a film like this in some time and if you’re willing to read subtitles and have an open mind, you’ll find something to enjoy here.

The Bastards’ Fig Tree is now available on demand.

DISCLAIMER: We were sent this film by its PR team but that has no impact on our review.

When the money Kevin brings home as a fisherman in the Bahamas isn’t enough to pay for his son to go to school — and his gambling addiction — he turns to smuggling people to Florida to raise the funds. He just has to do it before his son gets kicked out and his wife learns the truth. Complicating matters is another secret — a girlfriend who he is going to help get to the United States as he gets braver and better at his new vocation.

Everything ends up in one brutal moment, which is hinted at the beginning of the film. Kevin must abandon those refugees at sea, stranding them in the water far from the beaches of Miami.

Cargo is the largest Bahamian film project to date and is directed by Kareem J. Mortimer. It looks visually stunning and really hits you hard with the increasingly desperate choices that Kevin goes through. The scene with the housekeeper in his car — I don’t want to spoil things — is incredibly harsh.

You can learn more about Cargo at the incredibly well-made official site. The movie is now on demand.

I’m excited to welcome JC Greening to the site. This is his first article here, but he’s also part of Drive-In Asylum. If you’d like to learn more about him and his many projects, here’s how to look him up on the web.

• Email: president.vestige@yahoo.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jcgreening.artist/
• Twitter: @JC_Greening
• Instagram: jc_greening
• Website: http://www.jcgreening.com
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/greeninggalaxy

The Ending Might Not be Hollywood…But the Rest of the Film Sure Is! by JC Greening

Anyone can write about films these days. Pick up your smartphone, type in a brief tweet about how disappointed you were concerning the newest blockbuster, click “Send”, and BAM! … you are the newest cadet in a trove of a million film critics. So, if expressing your opinion about a movie is this easy in today’s media world, why take the time to write reviews at all?  Two reasons: 1) Film reviews are much more than opinions; they are historical records of the art we call “Film-making”, examining the art’s ancestry and comparing it to the overall philosophy of the “silver screen”, and 2) Just like anyone can write about films in modern times, anyone can also make films nowadays, so it is up to film reviewers to decipher the great from the mediocre.  And sadly, Anna and the Apocalypse falls smack dab in the mediocre pile, though this might not be as bad as you think.

Billed as a “Zombie Christmas Musical”, Anna and the Apocalypse opens on a normal school day in small town Scotland where we find a typical teenage daughter, Anna (played by Ella Hunt … A Katie Holmes for the Millennial generation), fighting with her father and her male childhood friend, John (Malcolm Cunning). During this opening scene, we learn that Anna’s mother has passed away, she hates her father, and she is leaving on a “go find myself” journey before university begins. Along the way in this opening day, we are introduced to all of the characters, such as a nerdy couple, the estranged lesbian fighting for free speech and the “Truth” (Sarah Swine, who also choreographed the film), the previous idiot boyfriend of Anna’s (Nick, played by Ben Wiggins), and the super mean principle/headmaster, Arthur Savage (Paul Kage, known for his role as Thoros of Myr in Game of Thrones, where oddly he battles zombies there too).  Throw in some show tunes like “Breakaway” and “No Such Thing as a Hollywood Ending”, and you have the perfect beginning to a high school musical.  

Now it is time to throw in some classic Millennial humor, as the next day has Anna and John singing and dancing about how it is a “Great Time to be Alive”, completely oblivious to the zombie apocalypse occurring around them, thanks to their headphones and their “it’s all about me” lifestyles.  Even once they realize that zombies are attacking and they retreat to their crappy workplace, “Thunder Balls” Bowling Alley, the supposed laughs continue with lines like, “Justin Bieber is a zombie” and “Hashtag #EvacSelfie”, which the film shows tons of funny selfies of humans with zombies, including a sneak peek of Ash Campbell with a zombie.

The intensity of the zombie attacks continue to rise; bad boy Nick comes to the rescue in a classic montage killing scene while he bravely sings, “Soldier at War”; and the now greater villain of Headmaster Savage allows everyone in the “safe” school to become flesh-eating monsters as he belts out “Nothing’s Going to Stop Me Now!”  Include a few heart-warming character death scenes, a classic showdown between final girl and villain, and a last-minute escape plan that “just might work”, and you can call it a wrap on this self-proclaimed “genre-bending” film, Anna and the Apocalypse.

First of all, there is nothing “genre-bending” about this film.  It might be the first Horror Musical to come out of Scotland, but Horror Musicals have been around since the Golden Age of Cinema. Furthermore, if we excluded the word “zombie apocalypse” from the film’s plot, it sounds like any Disney film or Classic Musical released in Hollywood for the past one hundred years.  he Millennial jokes are stale and overused by this point, and even if it taps into the Christmas holiday in a unique way (which it doesn’t), the title of the film sure won’t let you know that it is Christmas-related. So, Anna and the Apocalypse fails on numerous fronts.

Yet, all this being said, I like the film. What appears at first to be an amateur filmmaker trying to be unique but failing completely, after numerous views I firmly believe the director, John McPhail, understands the richness of Musical film history and is adding his entry into the movie genealogical record book. It is this generation’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show, if you will, and it keeps the Horror Musical genre alive and moving through time by capturing what is popular at this moment in movie culture: zombies and Millennials. There are parts where I genuinely cared for the characters and laughed at the punchlines. There are some amazing choreographed scenes and lyrics, with the music numbers combed perfectly into the storyline. The film is well-made with wonderful lighting techniques throughout the film. And there is never that second act lull that so many musicals are guilty of (think The Ghastly Love of Johnny X).

But, I will let you be the judge as to whether I am guilty of seeing the film in a deeper sense than it was intended. I have definitely been guilty of that before! Though in my defense, if the film makes me think in a more meaningful way concerning movie-making in general and musicals specifically, than does it matter if that was the film’s original intention?  

Something truly to ponder … and this is the exact reason why we should continue writing about and making films of all kinds and in all times. Thank you, Anna and the Apocalypse, for being a mediocre entry into the small, but deeply appreciated, Horror Musical genre. It is exactly what we needed … a reminder of where the genre has been and where it needs to go.

You can rent Anna and the Apocalypse on Amazon or On-Demand.

On her 60th birthday, the owner of a Los Angeles strip club finally has her twenty-five-year-old debt to the mob called in, leading to a horrific spree of violence and revenge throughout the seedy underworld of Los Angeles.

Rosemary Hochschild’s performance as Mary is the real reason to watch this film. The mother of director Orson Oblowitz, she owns the screen every single time she stalks the screen.

The film starts with Mary’s 60^th birthday. All she wants is a simple celebration, but fate has different plans as the mob soon kidnaps her son as part of the debt that she must pay. Soon, she has issues with the club and Grace, a girl sold to her as a dancer. She sees something of herself in the girl and wonders how she can help her become free.

While awash in neon, this is a dark film that grows darker with each moment. It telegraphs the grim fate of its protagonist right in the beginning and rams that fact back in your face at the close, still surprising you even though you know what’s coming.

If you’re the kind of person that enjoys adult films, keep your eyes open for appearances by Charlotte Stokely, Asphyxia Noir and Holly Hart.

This is the last movie of Michael Parks and features the music that Bobby Beausoleil — yes, the Manson family member — intended for Kenneth Anger’s Lucifer Rising.

You can watch this on Shudder and for free on Amazon Prime and Tubi.

Paul Andolina is back to share another foreign superhero movie. If you like his stuff, check out his site Wrestling with Film. 

What if the Punisher wasn’t a veteran and instead was a financial advisor who happened to get on the wrong side of a corporation with nefarious motives? That’s what I feel Rendel: Dark Vengeance, a 2017 Finnish superhero film answers. It’s the first Finnish superhero film but it’s far from the colorful SFX laden movies that most of us are used to.

Based on a character that director Jesse Haaja created as a teenager, Rendel is a movie about a vigilante who longs for revenge more than justice. Rämö is a financial advisor, who has a wife and a daughter. Unfortunately for him, VALA an organization that has created a vaccine is looking for a loan to push their vaccine throughout the European Union. When he denies the corporation the loan, Pekka Erkola, one of the higher-ups of VALA makes sure he will never get another job in his field again.

Spending his days in bars after an unfruitful job search, a man name Kurrika offers him a job for VALA. Rämö is tasked with filing and destroying certain paperwork regarding VALA’s work on the vaccine but is warned to stay away from a strange chemical that is used in the drug’s manufacturing as it will harden and become impossible to remove from your ski. Kurrika tells him it bonds on a cellular level and is dangerous. 

Rämö takes his job home and keeps some of the files as he becomes obsessed with VALA’s operations. 

However, this gets the attention of Erkola’s son as he is told not to tell anyone about his job.

Erkola’s son, Rotikka is tasked with doing his father’s dirty work, performing most of the criminal activity necessary to move the vaccine and money throughout Finland. He has a wild temper and his father and he do not always see eye to eye. He takes matters into his own hands breaking into Rämö’s home, executing his wife, daughter, and has his henchman bash Rämö’s head in with a nail-studded bat.

Rämö survives the attack and becomes Rendel by using the chemical Kurikka warned him about to cover his face, giving himself a seemingly permanent mask. He dons a bike jacket and sets out to get revenge on Rotikka and VALA who have taken everything from him.

This movie is dark and I don’t just mean in tone. Almost the entirety of the film is in dark and dingy locations; abandoned factories, warehouses, and desolate parking lots. It really helps set the mood for the movie. This is a desperate time for the town of Mikelli. They are being pressured by VALA into accepting the vaccine’s distribution in their town and crime seems to be running rampant, and the settings show the ugly reality that is becoming the new norm.

Rendel is an excellent watch but may be too slow moving for some folks. This movie isn’t full of the quick cut, high octane action that some audiences are used to. If you are a fan of more mature superhero films I think you are the perfect audience for this film. I’d like to see more than just the underworld that VALA seems to have its hands so deep in. I’d like to see the things that happen in the daylight as well. A sequel has been announced due to Rendel‘s success and I am eager to see it. 

I hope a lot of folks seek out this film as I’m always eager to see foreign films get distribution here in the United States. With our market over saturated with blockbusters and films with huge Hollywood casts it’s always nice to see films with not super huge budgets from other countries do well. Rendel  had a budget of about 1,650,000 USD which pales in comparison to a lot of the movies Marvel and D.C. have been putting out on our domestic streams but I feel like it holds its own among independently made superhero films that we see here in the states.

The Guardians are a team of Soviet superheroes created during the Cold War but hidden until they’re needed in our time. Each member of the team represents a different nationality of the USSR and each of their powers reflect either a tradition of the people of Russia and its associated countries. It’s really simple why I watched this: a bear uses a machine gun.

The Guardians of the Patriot Program are Ursus the bear-man, the super fast blade master Khan, the man who can control the earth named Ler and Xenia, a woman who turns invisible and can become water. They come back to battle their creator, Professor August Kuratov, who has become power mad and is taking over Russian.

This is the kind of movie a twelve-year-old boy would make, but then his parents would then make him include long talky parts that he’d advise you fast-forward so that you can watch a bear fight tanks.

There was originally a plan to make a sequel to this film, but it bombed badly and has been selected as one of Russia’s worst movies ever. I don’t have much experience with Russian films, but this didn’t seem that bad.

You can watch this on Tubi and Amazon Prime.

My friend used to have an apartment that had a swimming pool. It was great when she’d sneak us in, but never once did I worry if there was going to be some tentacled monster inside it ready to murder me. Which is a relief after seeing this, because according to Drowing Echo, that can and does happen.

Originally titled Nereus and The Complex, this movie is all about Sara, who starts the movie by having visions and is soon attacked by a creature beyond time and space in her friend’s swimming pool. I guess they weren’t checking the pH levels properly!

Even when Sara comes back to her room and has a drink, she wakes up back in the deep end. This is why I am concerned about staying at air BNBs.

You may enjoy it more than me. I struggled through the last hour of the film, to be honest. There’s a lot of discussion via Facetime, cameos by Mexican wrestling masks, trips to Greece, psychic sessions, hard to decipher accents, monks turned into slaves, a Blair Witch ripoff scene and some The Abyss-style CGI and one of those “it isn’t over” endings.

This is available on demand now.

NOTE: This was sent to us by the movie’s PR team but that has no impact on our review.

Flay was originally due for release in 2017. However, Sony claimed Phame Factory’s film was too close to the Slender Man legend, which the studio believed they had exclusive rights to. Writer and producer Eric Pham opted not to release the film until he met the studio in court.

As part of the settlement agreement, Phame Factory has to include a disclaimer on advertising material, trailers, and the movie itself, but they were finally allowed to release it.

So how’s the movie?

Eric Pham cut his teeth working on VFX for Grindhouse and Sin City. That means that several of the effects sequences here, such as paint bleeding upward into the air, look great.

After the death of her mother, Moon (Elle LaMont who was Screwhead in Alita: Battle Angel and Dollface in Machete Kills) struggles to save her brother and those around her from a malevolent faceless spirit that is related to how Native Americans were treated and the chains left behind.

This movie also features Violett Beane, Jesse Quick on TV’s The Flash) and A. Michael Baldwin (from Phantasm!).

That said, the movie never really explains what’s happening, continuity is screwy between day and night in some sequences and you never really grow to care for any of the characters. That said, there is a scene where a demon rises out of a glass of spilled milk, which I’d never seen before.

Flay is available digitally on April 2.

Disclaimer: We were sent this movie by its PR company and that doesn’t impact our review.

Formerly known as Canaries, this movie by Welsh writer/director Peter Stray tells the tale of a New Year’s Eve bash in the Welsh Valley that suddenly finds itself battling an invasion force made up of time-traveling aliens. It’s the first movie to ever be filmed in the Welsh valley of Lower Cwmtwrch, although a few scenes are shot in the same shooting locations of Jaws in Martha’s Vineyard.

DJ Steve Dennis has returned home to Cwmtwrch, Wales to get some new investors and host a New Year’s Eve Party. Coincidentally, that’s the very night that aliens bring together decades of abductions to begin their invasion.

Steve’s not a hero by his own admission and this gets shown numerous times in the film, including a scene where he tries to escape a one night stand by quoting The Terminator before getting called out on it (that said, your author once successfully did so with a line from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure).

The alien/human hybrids are effective when left to the shadows and stalking their prey. Once they’re in the light, these yellow jacketed zombies aren’t as imposing. They do, however, cut the New Year’s party to shreds with their talons. And soon, they start revealing themselves to the people that they intend to replace.

That said, this is an attempt to make a movie with plenty of backstory and show how an alien invasion would impact normal people. It’s the debut feature from writer and director Peter Stray, who shows promise well beyond the budget of this effort.

The closing scenes — which set up a sequel — are harrowing, with the UFOs rising in the sky as the yellow-jacketed aliens stand in watch. I’m interested in seeing what happens next.

Alien Party Crashers is available on VOD and DVD this month.

Disclaimer: I was sent this movie by its PR team but that doesn’t impact our review.