I have been following indie screenwriter, filmmaker and Montanick Pictures founder Jose Montesinos‘s career for a number of years now, ever since Deadly Finger 1 and 2, the four part action rom-com webseries, The Winds Of Time, and the exceptionally fantastic Grindhouse-inspired trailer-only project, Hell’s Kittens. In fact, Montesinos is part of my much larger discovery of independent online action cinema dating back almost a whole decade, and is part of the reason why I grew such an appreciation for independent action cinema in the first place.
That said, it’s a bit nostalgic to witness and observe after all these years of being a fan of internet-based Hong Kong-stylized action shorts, now that Montesinos is ready to take to the big screen for the upcoming limited theatrical run of his latest gritty urban martial arts pit tournament drama, Barrio Brawler. The film is an original production with lead actor Marco Antonio Alvarez playing a martial arts instructor faced with fighting in a criminally-sanctioned underground Barrio tournament to save his school, and ultimately, his family. The film also stars Montesinos’ longtime colleague, action director and member of The Stunt People, actor Dennis Ruel, best known for his role as the kickboxing villain in the Eric Jacobus-directed 2006 action comedy, Contour (a.k.a. The Agent).
In a year of firsts, Montesinos will also be appearing in Ruel’s own directorial debut of the martial arts action comedy, Unlucky Stars later this year, with illustrious fight choreography by Vlad Rimburg.
Barrio Brawler also stars Stacey Winterholler, E. Ambriz Decolosio and O.G. Dave Rivera, with amazing martial arts stunt action performances by Steven Yu, Alvin Hsing, Ray Carbonel, Bryan Cartago and Morgan Benoit to name a few. The film is slated for release on June 25, 2013, with a home release date set for August 27, 2013.
