Irish Ashes

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!

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.

This move had so much potential; the plot, the setting, the cinematography, unfortunately this was all it had to offer. The acting was horrible the editing was worse and the pregnant pauses between lines was almost unbearable. Yet the movie bones were so good that you couldn't look away. This type of movie always gets me thinking, how could a movie like this cost several million dollars when any talented producer could recreate this movie with his buddies and an iPhone. That been said I was able to watch this movie all the way through and actually was excited to see how off I was from the foreshadowing that was as obvious as a slap in the face from a sledgehammer.

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.

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.