Badlands of Kain

Badlands of Kain (2016) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline for this picture focuses on two friends on a cross country road trip trying to rebuild their relationship after some recent hardships. Their car breaks down in Kaine, Arizona and they try to make the best of it as they wait for their car to get fixed. Several subtle and not so subtle hints from locals is that they may never be allowed to leave. Can the friends resolve their differences and escape Kaine or will they be stuck there forever?

This movie is directed by Andy Palmer (The Funhouse Massacre) and stars Rachelle Dimaria (Justice for Vincent), Katrina Norman (17 Again), Paul Soter (Super Troopers), Jordan Belfi (Entourage) and James Marshall (A Few Good Men).

This film had a lot of potential based on the settings, cast and very solid conclusion; but unfortunately, there aren't enough kill scenes, the ones that happen are lacking and there's no real gore. The movie is actually pretty boring until the end, and somehow, the ending is actually pretty clever and good.

Overall this is a movie that fails to live up to its potential. This film has some of the right ingredients to be a success but couldn't put it all together. I would score this a 3.5-4/10 and recommend skipping it.

As one reviewer noted, this is like a Twilight Zone episode stretched into a movie. However, it's actually a mystery/drama movie that could easily air on the Lifetime Channel. There is nothing scary in this movie. Not one thing that in this movie is scary that'll classify this as a horror movie. So if you're looking for a horror movie of any kind, gore or psychological, you won't find it here.

This mystery genre lacks suspense or thrills until the last 25 minutes. This movie was an hour and 50 minutes long. Up until the last 25 minutes, there was no tension, chills, thrills, moody atmosphere, or engaging situations. Nothing happened. The entire movie's story was revealed within the last 25 minutes. That kinda stuff simply does not work for an hour 50 minute movie. At first, I kept saying, "Any minute now something interesting is gonna happen." repeatedly until the 60 minute mark. Then after that, I said, "I don't care what happens. I just feel like finishing this flick because I have a vague desire to see what this is all about." All in all, a totally pointless movie. As another review noted, nothing happens. Not a thing. The characters weren't engaging for me to care about their fate. So what was the point of this flick? I'm not sure even the director knows the point of this movie.

Nothing happens. You as the audience will find yourself pointing at the television and asking the characters why they are so stupid. By the time something finally does happen, you've lost interest. You're probably checking your Facebook account to see if someone liked the picture of your dog that you took earlier that day or you are catching up on sports scores. The characters are uninteresting. The creepy guy isn't creepy, which I find odd because there are so many creepy people out there. They should have spit out their window on a Sunday and found someone better. The acting is bad. I'm not sure why anyone liked this movie. I think sometimes people are "supposed to" like boring movies to justify why they wasted their time watching it. My advice though is to skip it.

I just randomly watched this movie with no expectations. I didn't read any reviews or watch any previews. The best way to sum it up is it's an episode of the twilight zone made into a movie. It is quite good and will likely keep you guessing. If you have nothing to watch, I definitely recommend it.

This is a somewhat thought provoking movie. Not something that you will finish watching and instantly forget about. It has quite a bit to say about a variety of topics.

The only real negative is the annoying over the top acting of one of the girls; especially in the beginning.

RELEASED IN 2016 and directed by Andy Palmer, "Badlands of Kain" chronicles events when two young women (Rachelle Dimaria & Katrina Norman) embark on a road trip from Southern California to Flagstaff, but breakdown near Kain, Arizona, where the people are weird.

This is a low budget indie mystery/horror, but it's professionally made. The plot is a little reminiscent of "Messiah of Evil" (1973) with elements of "Psycho" (1960/1998). It plays like a movie-length Twilight Zone episode, albeit set in the modern day. The story needed tightened up, however; 20 minutes could've easily been shaved off the runtime. But I didn't really mind; the two females kept my attention, especially Katrina Norman. Speaking of which, the creators kept things tasteful with only one tame underwear sequence and no nudity.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 48 minutes and was shot in Lake Isabella, Kernville & Bakersfield, California. WRITER: Rachelle Dimaria, who plays the protagonist, Shannon.

GRADE: B-/C+