jesse haaja

Rendel Lives! Catch The Offical Trailer For RENDEL: CYCLE OF REVENGE!

The official trailer has finally arrived for Rendel: Cycle Of Revenge. The gritty and dark superhero sequel’s production comes following the success of its first installment from director Jesse Haaja who returned to the helm for its 2018 launch. The movie shot for six weeks in several locations in native Finland, whilst marred by the Covid-19 pandemic. Other factors weighed in, and according to details laid out at World Film Geek, that all led to Haaja’s retirement from film direction at the time. Whatever the case was, or may be, it’s taken this long for fans of the original to finally see some new sequel footage and a possible release. Its addition to Raven Banner’s EFM slate earlier this year was a good sign, and with a trailer now in our midst, release dates will soon follow. After losing his family, the masked vigilante RENDEL is caught in a cycle […]

RENDEL 2 Moves Forward At Raven Banner

Lee B. Golden III

The last few years have seen the wheels turn quite a bit for director Jesse Haaja who made history in debuting Finland’s first comic book superhero movie, Rendel. Nowadays he’s developing other properties including Furrow, but that doesn’t necessarily count out prospects for a sequel while genre specialist Raven Banner has anything to say for it. Such is what includes Jeremy Kay’s Screen International report this weekend with word that sales on a sequel to the Finnish superhero hit film have launched at the Cannes market. Producers at Black Lion Pictures and Frozen Flame Pictures are planning an early 2019 shoot on Rendel 2 which has Haaja returning to the helm to follow up the story of a family man previously resurrected from near-death with a brutal, masked alterego to seek revenge in the name of a city crying out for justice against a criminal organization and their pharmaceutical cohorts. […]

FURROW Teaser: Jesse Haaja’s Action Horror Pitch Sounds The Drums Of One Woman’s War On The Undead

Lee B. Golden III

The wheels have officially begun turning for filmmaker Jesse Haaja with the new action horror, Furrow. It’s a thoroughly exciting endeavor for me, personally, having kept up with its star talent in actress Jessica Wolff in the last few years and now with Furrow next in line as something I hope sees her land a feature that will grant her the audience she so deserves. As such, Furrow was filmed a few days in early cold Spring as a proof of concept Haaja plans to pitch for significant backing following his breakout festival success with Finnish debut superhero thriller, Rendel. Haaja steers a new script rewrite now with screenwriter Petra Forsten that sees Wolff as Laura, a young farm girl forced to fend off hordes of Swombies (swamp zombies) after unleashing an unspeakable evil that ensues their arrival. Haaja is in good company with much the DNA in the Rendel […]

UNFINNISHED BUSINESS: Mikko Löppönen On Fighting For Film In Finland

Lee B. Golden III

Independent film has always been a sprawling and vast field to cover. It’s network is always in flux with various people connecting with others and collaborating; Following the work of Fernando Jay Huerto eventually brought me to the likes of actress, martial artist and musician, Jessica Wolff, who has shown immense screen caliber in numerous projects she’s worked on. Such include sci-fi actioner, Fray and bloody revenge thriller, Eliza, the latter which staunchly remains one of the biggest jewels I’ve ever helped promote despite its current myopia. Its helmer, fellow Asian cinephile, Mikko Löppönen stands significantly as one of the best examples of contemporary action cinema today even in his current form. He’s practical in his approach though, and quite modest despite having as much an interest as any passionate filmmaker. His vocation in action films came seldom with his own screentime than behind the lens, favorably. Primary visits to […]

FURROW: Female Bad-Ass Action Horror Proof-Of-Concept Sets Up ‘Rendel’ Director’s Next!

Lee B. Golden III

EXCLUSIVE: Having amply proven himself to the masses with his breakout Finnish superhero thriller, Rendel, director Jesse Haaja is now poised to move forward this Spring for ambitious action horror proof-of-concept Furrow. Haaja took to social media on Monday to break the news regarding the series/feature film hopeful, thus signaling the latest update since development began a year-and-a-half ago. Described as a cross between Ash Vs. Evil Dead and the sprawling Resident Evil film franchise of late, Furrow sees actress and musician Jessica Wolff in the role of Laura, a young farm girl who accidentally releases unspeakable evil lurking in the swamps and is forced to fend off an entire army of swamp-zombies (or Swombies). Several core members from Rendel are also joining the project, including actors Rami Rusinen and Renne Korppila, and director of photography Tero Saikkonen. The project has been on hold for a few months now but […]

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Justice Has A New Name In Jesse Haaja’s RENDEL. Watch The First Official Trailer!

Lee B. Golden III

Thanks to filmmaker Jesse Haaja’s own devotion and tenacity, the longstanding notion of non-existent comic book superhero properties within Finland’s own fandom is no more. His feature debut, Rendel, has a Finnish release on September 22 approaching following its acquisition by Raven Banner nearly a year ago and now we have our first official, and rather stunning new trailer with all the trimmings…and beatings! And four years in active development and construction as well with nods of inspiration from the likes of The Punisher and Spawn; Rendel takes place in fictitious Finnish city of Mikkeli, now ground zero for one man’s all-out war against a courrpt powerful drug company, VALA, in wake of newly launched, untested vaccine called Nh25. With VALA’s evil grip on the world industry and market looming, needless to say our hero springs into action with his own brand of justice triggering an all out war with […]

Raven Banner To Rep Finnish Superhero Thriller, RENDEL At Cannes

Lee B. Golden III

Finnish filmmaker Jesse Haaja’s efforts toward his own superhero property have been nothing short of enduring. Working hard at earning the endorsements of various directors and folls familiar with the festival circuit in the last few years, he’s helped build himself a much-needed support base and even as the project underwent crowdfunding last year. Alas, nearly two decades in the making and just a few months since the first teaser was unveiled pubicly online, the new movie, Rendel, is finally making the rounds at Cannes this week, and the word now is that Haaja’s film now has a home at Raven Banner Entertainment. Read on: Raven Banner, the genre specialist has landed worldwide sales rights (excluding Scandinavia) to Finland’s first superhero movie, RENDEL, directed by newcomer, Jesse Haaja. In the vein of ‘The Punisher’ and ‘Spawn’ RENDEL is a stylized gritty antihero story about a vigilante seeking revenge against the […]

Watch The Newest Teaser For Jesse Haaja's Finnish Superhero Debut, RENDEL

Lee B. Golden III

Finnish filmmaker Jesse Haaja is gearing up for the remaining portion of production for the new film, Rendel. Haaja’s trajectory has been long toward directing, and even moreso in the superhero genre as of about eighteen years ago, and with the last several years he’s spent on advancing his efforts from a shortfilm concept to a fully-fledged feature, Haaja has since managed to earn much needed support and backing from other directors and producers on the film festival scene with the help of crowdfunding to contribute to certain production costs. Alas, filming is expected to finish before or by May in time for this year’s installment of Cannes and the film is already ripe with ser photos and a few concept teasers that lend some insight as to what the film may look like in guaranteeing Finland its first superhero movie. As such, Haaja has unleashed a teaser that properly […]

Finnish Indie Superhero Flick, RENDEL, Needs Your Help!

Lee B. Golden III

The film industry in most places around the globe haven’t exactly been bustling with superhero movies of their own in the wake of all the Marvel and DC fandom at hand. There are some successes though and if you’re keen enough, you’ll notice them if not already, and it’s assuredly a continuing theme you will see from time to time. Bearing that in mind, enter Finland where roughly seventeen years after conceiving the concept on paper in math class, Finnish filmmaker Jesse Haaja is acting solidly on delivering Finland’s newest bilingual action-packed superhero movie, Rendel by next year. Active development and production on the film itself has been on-going for a few years now and it’s been largely worth it for Haaja whose support base has drawn many an approving nod from the cast and crew, as well as noted names within and around Cannes like Iron Sky helmer Timo […]