News

Stars: Tony Todd, Billy Zane, Bruce Dern, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Morrone, Crash Buist, Danielle Gross, Meg Foster, Courtney Gains, John Kassir, Mike Ferguson | Written and Directed by Justin Lee

Set in the 1980s, somewhere around Christmas, Hellblazers is yet another original offering from Tubi, at least in some territories. Writer/director Justin Lee isn’t exactly somebody I expect a good film from, but even he can’t go wrong with a cast that includes Tony Todd, Billy Zane, Bruce Dern, Adrienne Barbeau and a few other genre vets, can he?

Wheelchair-bound Nam vet Bill Unger (Dern) is out visiting his wife’s grave when he hears something in the woods. He rolls over to the edge of the trees just in time to see Joshua (Zane) and his followers toss someone in a flaming pit, and a demon climbs out. As he aptly puts it, “We’ve got a big problem”.

Of course,...

During the early weeks of the pandemic lockdown last year, Western fans were surprised to see a relatively little-known indie-produced entry to the genre, writer-director Justin Lee’s “Badland,” trending in the Netflix Top 10 list, where it eventually peaked at No. 3 on the streaming service’s most-viewed lineup. Maybe it was the allure of a strong supporting cast that included Mira Sorvino, Bruce Dern, Trace Adkins and Wes Studi, or maybe lots of underserved stuck-at-home viewers were even hungrier than usual for some old-fashioned Western action. Whatever the reason, there’s a good chance Lee — whose previous credits include the direct-to-video sagebrush sagas “The Reckoning” and “Any Bullet Will Do” — may be starting to establish himself as a brand name. And the chances are even better that his latest offering, “Apache Junction,” will appeal to the same group of oater enthusiasts who embraced “Badland.”

Once again, Lee prefers to canter...