Irish Ashes

For fans of films such as Layer Cake and Snatch, Irish Ashes is for you. Chris Shane Sanders writes and stars in the film as Tristan. Tristan has returned to the seedy British underground to settle old scores while looking for his sister. Scott Alan Ward and Claire Jared lead the narrative with terrific performances while the rest of the cast puts in a great shift that keeps the viewer glued to a plot full of twist and turns. Director Satnam Purewal litters the screen with great set pieces and quick pace scenes that keep the film flowing. Irish Ashes is a gut punch film that keeps audiences inhaling for breath up to the exciting final scene.

I would love to watch more of Satnam Purewal's previous work or maybe even Chris Sanders' films to see where or how this was made. Irish Ashes is an action thriller like no other. Writer and producer Chris Shane Sanders stars as the ruthless Tristan who is on a deadly rampage across London (possibly) to track down those responsible for his sister's disappearance, with a cold Steven Segal face. The lighting and sound is good. Storytelling and camerawork is questionable at times and I really wanted to know where the crowdfunding money went. Just seems weird based on the quality of this work. It's a film like no other.

I went through other reviews before deciding whether to watch this, and THANK GOD I did!

I wisely watched the preview first, and let me tell You people: I wasn't even able to finish that!

Acting is really nonexistent... punch sounds, seem to have been added by a toddler banging mom's tupperware on something that shouldn't be hit with plastic kitchen storage utensils...

And I still need to type 200 characters more...

Typical questions:

• Who pays for this?

• Aren't there test screenings? I would understand if these had been done in ireland after a well spent afternoon in the pub, but still... pffff...

Minimum characters criteria met!

The acting is terrible but I figured I would give it a chance, it might get better.

For the life of me I couldn't figure out why they would of cast this guy to be the lead? And a mobster at that! Then I realized the writer cast himself lol.

Anyway I held in there for a bit however, the fight scenes are even worse. I think 3 stars is generous honestly.

I know there's only so much you can do with a small budget but it's important to get the basics right. A mobster movie, you'll be expecting an hard looking SOB and some intense fight scenes, instead we get a middle aged man who still lives at home with his mum fighting like Bruce willis without the special affects.

I've followed Chris Shane Sanders and his production company Black Coppice Films from the very beginning when he first started making short films.

Irish Ashes is his twelfth feature which is some achievement. I didn't like his first horror feature much Nest of Vampires but he seems to have come a long way since then.

I read somewhere Irish Ashes was dedicated to his mum too who passed away shortly before filming. There is a dedication in the credits.

It's a shame then some user reviewers resort to personal attacks. If you read the guy's bio Chris has lived and worked all over the world.

Was he right to cast himself in the lead role? Maybe, maybe not. Clearly he's no Arnie but I thought the character needed someone with depth and sensitivity which he pulled off.

I've watched far worse performances. The fight sequences were ok too. It's clear all the actors involved have done a bit of boxing in their time...

Overall, Irish Ashes is a decent indie flick shot on a modest budget. Some of the acting isn't great admittedly but the story, pacing, mood and ambition is there. Saying that, Claire Gerard's performance I thought was pretty good.

I take my hat off to anyone who can write, produce and take on the lead role in a feature. That is no easy task and Chris just about pulled it all off.

Irish Ashes is better than a lot of Brit indie gangster flicks. It's not perfect by any means but has enough going on to keep viewer's interested. The direction was good and the editing crisp. I enjoyed it. If you can look past the modest budget it's a fun watch.