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The pistol-packin’ padre is not an unknown figure in Westerns — particularly 1960s European “spaghetti” Westerns — but you’d be hard-pressed to name movies which cast their rabbinical brethren in a similar action-figure mode. “Guns & Moses” exploits just that novelty as its primary hook, complete with an advertising image of the bearded, fedora-topped hero brandishing firepower over the slogan “May God and Your Glock Protect You.”

Punning title aside, Salvador Litvak’s film promises a serious look at antisemitic violence, inspired by the 2019 shooting (which killed one person and injured three more) at Chabad of Poway Synagogue in San Diego County. Alas, the convoluted screenplay written by the director and spouse Nina Litvak bears little resemblance to that real-world incident, locates the criminal motivation well outside the realm of antisemitism, and somewhat awkwardly attempts to balance straight suspense with a persistent comedic streak.

The enterprising indie production entertains even as...

Dread Center and yours truly caught up with filmmaker Greg Beville this week to get the lowdown on Blackstar Canyon, an indie horror feature currently in pre-production which he wrote and will direct. Read on for the first details.

“We plan on shooting mid-summer 2012 in Newhall, California, on the Red Epic,” said Beville of the status of Blackstar Canyon, which is set to star Halloween series vet Danielle Harris as well as actors Brian Krause, Tiny Lister, Tippi Hedren (The Birds) and Belinda Balaski (The Howling). “The cinematographer will be Ricardo Gale (Touching Home),” Beville continued, “and Ty Mitchell ("Andy" in John Carpenter’s The Fog) will serve as camera operator.”

Having previously scripted the upcoming feature The Night Watch for Electric Cobalt Entertainment - the production house behind Blackstar Canyon - Beville described the latter as “a cross between Darabont’s The Mist and Repo Man, where hillbilly werewolves meet Hindu mythology.