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The cinematic landscape is littered with stories of lawmen returning to troubled hometowns, and Desert Dawn plants its flag firmly in this well-trodden territory. We meet Luke Easton (Kellan Lutz), the newly minted Sheriff of a sun-baked New Mexico town he fled years ago. His return is freighted with the usual baggage: a past stained by the death of his parents, the still-unsolved disappearance of his younger sister, and the specter of alcoholism from which he is recovering.

The narrative engine sputters to life on Luke’s very first day, when a man is discovered dead in his SUV, an apparent suicide that promises to be anything but simple. From these initial beats, the film signals its intent to weave a crime thriller with strands of deep personal drama, setting the stage for a confrontation with both external threats and internal demons.

Threads of a Tangled Case

The relative quiet...

A divisive action thriller is now climbing its way up the Prime Video charts three years after it was first released. Starring action movie icon Michael Jai White, best known for the likes of The Dark Knight and Spawn, As Good As Dead has now found its way at #6 in the top 10 movies on the Amazon streaming platform as audiences and action fans tune in to watch the action movie superstar once again demonstrate why he is one of the best martial arts actors in the business.

Directed by R. Ellis Frazier and written by Michael Jai White himself, As Good as Dead stars Inception and Sniper star Tom Berenger alongside White, with the rest of the cast comprised of Louis Mandylor, Gillian White, Michael Copon, Gabriela Quezada Bloomgarden, Luca Oriel, Roberto 'Sanz' Sanchez, Mauricio Mendoza, Guillermo Iván, S.E. Perry, Mario Zaragoza, Vincent Di Paolo, Andrew Dasz, and Dillon Wilson.

Stars: E.K. Spila, David Oz Maya, Kirk Griffith, Paul Kolker, Melissa Cordero, Mark David Anthony, Abigail Overbey, Scott Rosen, Guillermo Iván | Written by E.K. Spila, Amy Acosta | Directed by Samuel Haun

Wicked Season opens on a sombre note with a man we’ll come to learn is Sergeant Mike “Manhunter” Hughes, played by E.K. Spila dressed for a funeral and speaking to an unseen person, or perhaps their tombstone. A siren sounds in the distance, and he walks away as the film jumps back eighty-four hours

It’s October 30th, marking the tenth anniversary of Alton Crow’s horrific killing spree. Now, someone is recreating his gruesome crimes, leaving a path of crucified and disembowelled women in their wake. With no leads or suspects, Captain Turner assigns Detectives Miller and Vega to talk to Hughes, the man who captured Crow.

At first, Hughes is reluctant to revisit the...

Premiere Entertainment Group (Peg) has reported brisk sales at last week’s AFM on the crime thriller Desert Dawn starring Kellan Lutz and Cam Gigandet from Twilight.

Deals have closed in Australia & New Zealand (Rialto), Latin America (A2), Germany (Tiberius), Spain (Flins y Piniculas), France (Program Store), Benelux (Amazon), Eastern Europe (Daro), Russia/Cis (Filmster), Middle East (Eagle Films), Taiwan (Av Jet), and India and airlines (Pictureworks).

Desert Dawn centres on a new small-town sheriff (Lutz) and his resentful deputy (Gigandet) who get entangled in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and a cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.

The Lost Boys star Jason Patric teams up with Never Back Down star Cam Gigandet in the upcoming action outing, Shrapnel, and we’ve gotten our hands on an exclusive clip. Coming courtesy of Saban Films, Shrapnel promises the kind of no-nonsense action that can sometimes really hit the spot as Patric and Gigandet embark on an R-rated mission for revenge. Check out our exclusive clip from Shrapnel below.

“When Sean’s daughter goes missing on the Mexican border, he teams up with his former Marine partner (Cam Gigandet) to face off against the cartel who kidnapped her,” the official synopsis for Shrapnel reads. And it is certainly a synopsis that suggests Shrapnel will strip away the fat and serve up all manner of action movie delights.

The footage finds Patric’s character Sean Beckwith turning to his brother in arms, Cam Gigandet’s Max Vohden, for advice after his daughter is kidnapped.

"You promised to keep us safe. You didn't." Saban Films has launched an official trailer for another of these junk action thrillers called Shrapnel, on VOD to watch in late July. This is the third film out this year from a filmmaker you've never heard of named William Kaufman - his other two are The Channel and Warhorse One. None of these films do anything unique or different. In this one, when Sean's daughter goes missing on the Mexican border, he teams up with his former Marine partner to face off against the Mexican cartel that kidnapped her. Oh, how original. The film stars Jason Patric as Sean, with Cam Gigandet, Kesia Elwin, Mauricio Mendoza, and Guillermo Iván. This looks so boring and so dumb. "Whether she's alive or not, nobody's gettin' out of there." Does anyone even watch these movies? Please don't waste any time or money. // Continue Reading...

We are grateful to Mr. Michael Jai White for taking the time to sit down with us so that we may bring you this interview where we talk about his new film, As Good As Dead, his past projects (like Black Dynamite), and a couple of hints about what he’s been working on and what we can look forward to!

One of the most prolific names in action cinema is Michael Jai White. He made his incredible mark by taking on a complex role in his breakthrough performance as Mike Tyson in the HBO original film, Tyson, which can still be viewed on HBO Max. He was the first and only actor to date to bring the cult comic superhero Spawn to life on the big screen. And today, you can see him in his new action film, in which he stars and wrote, titled As Good As Dead.

Gravitas Ventures has obtained the rights to The Judge – Character. Cases. Courage., a documentary directed by Robert Griffith and narrated by Justin Theroux. The pic, which hails from the American Documentary Film Fund, will be released on Tvod/digital platforms on January 26. The doc follows Judge Robert R. Merhige, Jr. in his distinguished, momentous and tumultuous 31-year tenure on the Federal bench where he fought against the status quo to promote racial and gender equality, protect the environment, uphold the rule of law and the US Constitution. It features interviews from the likes of U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-va), U.S. Senator Mark Warner ((D-va), Anne Holton, Judge Merhige’s former law clerk, among many others.

Named by President Lyndon B. Johnson to Federal District Court in Richmond in 1967, Judge Merhige ordered the desegregation of dozens of Virginia school districts in 1972. In 1970, Judge Merhige ordered the University of Virginia...

Vision CEO Lise Romanoff says pandemic has created opportunities with distributors, TV channels.

Los Angeles-based Vision Films has closed a deal with Mexican exhibitor Cinemex to release faith-based feature Lady Of Guadalupe across the Spanish-speaking country next month.

The drama, purportedly based on a true story, will open on December 10 and screen in more than 200 cinemas throughout Mexico in Cinemex partner venues.

Guillermo Iván (Telemundo’s Al Otro Lado Del Muro) plays a skeptical reporter who becomes a believer after he studies the legend of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe for an article about faith.

Juan Diego was...

Vision CEO Lise Romanoff says pandemic has created opportunities with distributors, TV channels.

Los Angeles-based Vision Films has closed a deal with Mexican exhibitor Cinemax to release faith-based feature Lady Of Guadalupe across the Spanish-speaking country next month.

The drama, purportedly based on a true story, will open on December 10 and screen in more than 200 cinemas throughout Mexico in Cinemax partner venues.

Guillermo Iván (Telemundo’s Al Otro Lado Del Muro) plays a skeptical reporter who becomes a believer after he studies the legend of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe for an article about faith.

Juan Diego was...

Exclusive: UK sales firm The Mise En Scene Company launches this week ahead of the virtual AFM with a slate including thriller What Lies Ahead starring Rumer Willis, Emma Dumont, Kelly Blatz and Katie Keene.

Based in London, the company will represent between 5 – 20 new low to mid-budget ($3-10M) films per year and will look to work on highbrow and mass appeal projects from known filmmakers and fresh voices. Co-founders are Netto Fernandes and Paul S.L. Yates.

Yates was formerly a communications exec in Scotland, then moved on to acquisitions at genre sales firm DevilWorks. Fernandes has experience as a media director and theatre producer in his native Brazil.

Directed by Rob Gardner, What Lies Ahead was written by William J. Viglione and produced by Gardner, Viglione and Joe Michael Burke. The completed film follows the tensions between two young women who are...

How in the hell did American video game designer Matt Booth (Michael Kingsbaker) end up in Acapulco, Mexico, being chased by several extremely dangerous characters? That’s the big question Guillermo Iván's action comedy Welcome to Acapulco seeks to answer, going back to the day Booth got drunk at a New York airport and, instead of heading to New Mexico to introduce his latest video game, woke up when he was already on a plane flying to the famous beach and resort town of Acapulco. Once in Mexico, Booth learns that he has a mysterious “package” that is wanted by pretty much everybody, from the CIA to former agents to merciless bounty hunters to corrupt politicians. With the help of his eventual love interest Adriana (Ana...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

"Do as I say, or we're both dead." Momentum Pictures has debuted a trailer for a new action comedy titled Welcome to Acapulco, made by Cuban filmmaker Guillermo Iván. The tropical crime plot involves a kid who ends up in landing Acapulco, Mexico instead of New Mexico. As soon as he lands, he finds himself on the run from high-powered criminals, deadly hitmen and the Feds, all looking for a mysterious package that he has allegedly smuggled through customs yet knows nothing about. Mike Kingsbaker stars as Matt Booth, and the cast includes Michael Madsen, William Baldwin, Bradley Gregg, Ana Serradilla, Ana Layevska, Zach Rose, Guillermo Garcia, Maria Elena Heredia, and Loris Curci. This looks ridiculous (and we've seen before anyway) but entertaining. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Guillermo Iván's Welcome to Acapulco, from YouTube: Video game designer Matt Booth has one shot to save his career...

Whether you're in the mood for amazing late ’80s practical effects or modern holiday horror musical numbers, the hard-working team at Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Fort Lauderdale has you covered. Daily Dead is thrilled to be one of the media sponsors of this year's Popcorn Frights Film Festival, and we have a look at the entire first wave of programming that will take place this August.

Highlights for this year's Popcorn Frights Film Festival include special screenings of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and 1988's The Blob with director Chuck Russell in attendance, the world premiere of Havana Darkness, the East Coast premieres of Boogeyman Pop, The Monster Squad documentary Wolfman's Got Nards, and the holiday zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse, and much more!

Stay tuned to Daily Dead for details on the second wave of programming, visit Popcorn Frights Film Festival's website for more information,...

On Tuesday night, Telemundo viewers got a chance to watch an sneak peek of the upcoming drama series Al Otro Lado Del Muro (On the Other Side of the Wall) set to premiere on Wednesday, February 21 at 9 p.m. Et/Pt. Starring renowned actresses Litzy and Marjorie de Sousa, the story centers on the lives of two women that cross the U.S.-Mexico border, one following a dream, and the other fleeing a nightmare. Al Otro Lado Del Muro showcases the challenges and opportunities many immigrants experience as they risk everything in pursuit of a better life for themselves and their families. The series also stars Oscar-nominated Adriana Barraza, Gabriel Porras, Uriel del Toro and Guillermo Iván.

Litzy plays Eliza Romero, a mother of two who moves to the United States to reunite with her husband, not knowing that during the many years they have been apart, he started a new family.

Touting itself as the fist English language horror film to be shot in Cuba, Guillermo Iván's Havana Darkness is looking to make a big impression on buyers at Efm in Berlin in the new year. Iván directed, wrote and stars in his own film. Still in post production, we were sent a trailer from one of the production companies, Open Frames, for you viewing enjoyment. When historian Carlos Carrasco comes into possession of a manuscript that he believes to have been written by the late, great Ernest Hemmingway during his stay in Havana, Cuba, he embarks on a journey from New York City with his two close friends, John and Karen, to the bustling Caribbean island in an attempt to prove the manuscripts’ authenticity....

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Havana Darkness is the first English language horror film to be shot in Cuba. A Bulgarian-u.S. coproduction, the film sees Mexican film-maker Guillermo Ivan direct for production companies Open Frames and Golden Ceiba. Shot on location in New York and Havana, the film is loosely based on the contents of a legendary manuscript that is …

The post Havana Darkness – The first ever English language horror film to be shot in Cuba first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net - Official News Site...

Exclusive: Never one to rest on his laurels, the Chilean genre filmmaker has reunited with his Downhill co-writer Barry Keating and is moving ahead with the Turkey-set horror film.

Valladares expects to commence shooting in Istanbul at the end of the month on Garip, which until this week had been known as Foe.

The story follows a group of people who uncover a tomb at Tokat Castle that according to legend was the site of Count Dracula’s incarceration.

Gianni Capaldi, Natalie Burn of The Expendables 3, Guillermo Ivan, Katrin Assi and Larry Wade Carrell star.

Barry Keating based his screenplay on a story by Loris Curci, who produces alongside Baris Abacigil and Fikret Soğanci.

Istanbul-based production and services company Fbr Productions is an investor in Garip and produces.

Valladares wrapped production on Tuesday on the micro-budget survival thriller Downhill (pictured).

2010 - 90 mins. - Not Rated

D: Kevin O'Neill

C: Eric Balfour, Iva Hasperger, Aarón Díaz, Humberto Busto, Richard Miller, Guillermo Iván, Liv Boughn, Christina Nicole, Roger Corman

After being thawed out by the raising temperatures and the thinning of the ozone layer, a prehistoric dinoshark roams the ocean looking for its next meal after not having to eat anything for about 150 million years.

Another watchable, if disappointing, entry in producer Roger Corman's latest series of creature feature films following the success of Sharktopus. Dinoshark could have played up to the environmental angel of the film's story more strongly. There could have been more campy and outrageous situations for the characters to engage themselves in. The Dinoshark could have been engaged in more innovative action. The film could have played more strongly to the "don't go in the water" element of the material like Jaws and Piranha did. The inherent...