Action fans in Utah are just days away from kicking off another new venture in action cinema ceremony with the Haymaker Film Festival. The two-day event commences on October ten and will host a slew of at least fifteen incredible shortfilms, with three features headlining the festivities.
This article will go briefly into each shortfilm that will premiere for the Haymaker crowd this weekend. Just a few of these short films made their way online some months and some change back so I was able to get through this listicle pretty well, and I will be sharing at least two feature film reviews if I can help it.
Below is a listicle of the shorts along with my reactions to them. These were all incredible, some definitely way more than others, to be honest. Enjoy the read below and head over to the official festival website for more info.
4 GRAVES FOR XIMENA
While mourning at a grave, Ximena is confronted by uninvited guests with a chilling proposition: to reunite her with the one she’s lost—by any means necessary.
Jordan Sanatacana has been directing for well over a decade now and is proudly elevating things with his latest six minute thriller. With sequences coordinated by Aaron Vargas, Angela Elliston and the cast craft a moody, visually enticing short with action that delivers aptly to its desired audience.
ACE OF SPADES
After she is betrayed by her team, an assassin tracks them each down to get her revenge regardless of the cost.
At twenty one minutes, writer/director Spencer Schwendiman delivers a sizeable short thriller punctuated with little touches of wit and spunk, and feasible performances by leading ladies Tayler Nicholas and Monica Moore Smith. Hailing from Bad Still Films and with action and stunts by Brian Finn and Kent Lloyd, we get intricate set of action sequences crossing bullets and fisticuffs for a neat little indie story that can certainly hold its own.
BRAWLER
A focused fighter risks all in a high stakes brawl to save the one he loves.
Bulent Ozlarusso directs from a script by Luke Roberts, with action by Lukaz Leong. The result is a nible, hard-hitting five minute thriller with Olivia Moyles, and the lean-and-mean Isky Fay leading the charge as an action frontman provably worthy of greater prospects.
CONTIGO
CONTIGO follows a young woman (Jade) who returns to the site of a secret experiment in Venezuela to uncover the truth about what was done to her, only to face the man behind it all, who now stands in her way.
As a production partner affiliated with Nikolas Pelekai’s latest feature debut out of Fantastic Fest, I expected nothing short of a concept featuring Jewelianna Ramos-Ortiz that stood on the same business. Director Rodrigo Enrique Perez does not disappoint, with a script he wrote with Tan Kitapli and action and stunt scenes by co-star Justin Ortiz, and a story that seethes with a scope and vision that measures with as much substance as the action does, and Ramos-Ortiz is just incredible here.
DARLIN’
A woman rides alone across a vast desert, when a mysterious man and his group of riders appear, blocking her path with threatening intentions.
Writer/director Robert Gamperl directs alongside Travis Lee Eller who plays opposite Hannah Holman in a five-minute send off to fans of good-old Westerns. Fans get a lean, crackling one-woman army horseback pursuit thriller that aims to please.
FLORA
An artist hunts an industrialist serial killer to reap vengeance for the young women he’s killed in her small town.
Sylvie Yntema leads an abbrieviated mystery tale that soon pits her against action actor Dylan Hintz for an intriguing tale that almost feels vampiric in nature. I couldn’t find much in a cursory search about writer/director Zac Sultzer, but he definitely leaves a mark in this latest dark, moody eleven-minute thriller.
GUNSLINGER MARY
When duty and internal politics collide, a cop on the edge takes action into her own hands. A town plagued by scum of the underworld; an ugly, unsettling vengeance, through bullets and blood, aims to cleanse it all.
Just shy of the viral video fight challenge once trended by the legendary Aaron Toney, this latest vertical video effort by Joey Min and Art School Dropouts presents a fun little experiment in indie action. To add, Angela Jordan remains one of the strongest contenders in her craft as someone with tremendous screen caliber and acting chops to match.
JUST THE JANITOR
Harold Miller was once a henchman for some of the most dangerous criminals in the underworld. It wrecked his mind, his body, and his life. Now, Harold’s an elementary school janitor, doing his best to keep the floors clean and his sordid past behind him. But when Harold’s old hench buddies ask to use his school for a huge score, Harold has to decide what’s more important: money… or protecting children’s lives?
Leave it to writer/director Sterling Gates to make ample use of the momentum left by films like The Bricklayer and The Beekeeper to capitalize on the “dad action cinema” trend just a little more. The result is an interesting and watchable concept with the rare crackling crime thriller told from henchman’s perspective, sparking a tale of redemption that misses a few beats, but will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat.
NIGHT SHIFT
A scooter cab driver goes through a night of unexpected events that may cost him his life.
Lorenz Hideyoshi and Andy Long come from the same school of Hong Kong action hard knocks, and their latest shortfilm touch-up together is nothing short of remarkable. It’s a lean, wall-to-wall thriller that spirals into a tale of deceit and breakneck survival with the kind of on-brand choreography that will have you salivating.
NYX
An underworld sorcerer consumed by dark magic is confronted by NYX, a fierce warrior sworn to end his forbidden rituals.
That logline alone isn’t enough to fully allude to what writer/director Bulent Ozlarusso invites to share with action fans. Regardless, it’s a neat and fresh slice of action on film featuring Nilly Cetin who I’ve been following on socials for a really longtime. She’s a cool gal, and even cooler on screen in this little three-minute gem in which she shines as as prospective talent she’s become.
PREVAIL
A ruthless hitman questions his loyalty when he is ordered to kill his twin brother.
Ryan Dalan’s partially-crowdfunded 4:3 labor of indie action and drama features Derrick and Dennis Dalan, real-life twin brothers who both share martial arts accolades. Sibling writer/director/action director Ryan Dalan crafts a compelling eleven-minute action drama that explores a troubled family history leading to a climatic finish. The action performances look a little stilted than preferred, but the choreography alone definitely shows a presence of the building blocks needed to create the kind of Filipino martial arts film that, with enough gumption and polish, could one day pick up where Indonesia’s Merantau left off.
TEPACHE
Gael, a legendary medieval dinner theater knight, checks out from his shift and reality when he storms to a strip club and forces his way through a gaggle of goons in hopes to rescue and win back his true love in a battle for her heart.
At twelve minutes, Carlos Garcia, Jr. directs an offbeat action thriller with touches of comedy starring Alejandro Galindo and Stephanie Oustalet, that brings an otherwise insightful message for starry-eyed hopeless romantics everywhere.
THERMOPYLAE
An undercover cop fights his way out from being framed.
Bryan Sloyer’s presence online has increased fervently as one of the most substantive creatives fostered by the indie action and stunt community. Blistering action and gripping drama come well packaged in this latest bit featuring Charlie Thornton-White and Courtney Morrill, with fight action by the ever-cool Caitlin Hutson.
TIGER COP: PROJECT A
Tiger and Tang shut down a major arms deal called PROJECT A. Tracking down the infamous White Ghost, it’s a final showdown with her arch nemesis.
When Maria Tran isn’t giving seminars and chasing growth behind-the-scenes between her workspaces in the U.S. and Australia, she’s kicking equal amounts of ass on screen, most specifically here in Adrian Castro’s favorably Hong Kong-inspired action short which also presents the late and legendary Richard Norton in one of his final appearances.
WATERLOGGED
A cop gets under water with her CI’s and needs to find a way out.
Kent Lloyd takes the director’s chair in one of two action shorts for this year’s first Haymaker Film Festival, with a script by Archelaus Crisanto and Tennyson Moss, and by Monica Moore Smith and Rayla Jae who also headline this latest three-minute gem. At three minutes, there’s enough action and thrills to go around, and don’t worry about the audio issues midway into the presentation. The muffled sound is the point.