Cinema Yūgen

Bazookas, Betrayal and Badassery: Neva & Nevsky on Prey of Wrath

Having known Alexander Nevsky now for nearly a decade, I know him to be a perfectionist for quality indie action cinema. But though he may not appear in Prey of Wrath, his professional fingerprints are all over it as he now lets his lady love and leading lady, Tatiana Neva (who co-writes, produces and edits) take center stage in an explosive tale of revenge and redemption that refuses to let budgetary limitations restrain either its ambition or body count.
Directed by Benny Tjandra and Doug Tochioka, Prey of Wrath plays like a delirious collision between late-era James Bond excess, Cannon Films chaos and the sort of gloriously unhinged 90s action flicks once discovered hidden on dusty VHS shelves promising nuclear annihilation, mercenaries and enough explosions to register on nearby seismographs. From its opening moments, the film attacks the screen with near exhausting intensity as rogue mercenaries led by former Russian operative Viktor Reznikov (Gray Michael Sallies) steal nuclear warheads capable of triggering global catastrophe.Enter Lyudmilla Alekseyenko.Played with blistering physicality by Neva, they dispatched Lyudmilla to America to stop Reznikov before the world disappears beneath mushroom clouds and collapsing alliances. Forced into an uneasy partnership with uncompromising FBI Director Brenda Sands, played by martial arts cinema legend Cynthia Rothrock, the pair carve their way through escalating betrayals, gunfire and increasingly operatic destruction.Prey of Wrath doesn’t merely embrace its B-movie DNA, it weaponized it. Tjandra and Tochioka direct with the sort of manic, pedal-to-the-floor energy once found in the glory days of PM Entertainment, where subtlety went to die beneath fireballs, shattered glass and automatic weapon fire. Helicopters erupt into flames. Bullets tear through rooms with reckless abandon. Entire sequences feel held together by adrenaline, fury and the absolute refusal to slow down long enough for audiences to breathe.
Yes, the extensive green-screen work occasionally wobbles beneath the scale of the filmmakers’ ambition, but strangely, it almost adds to the film’s battered midnight-movie charm. This is not polished corporate action cinema assembled by committee. This is the film fuelled by sweat, obsession and an undying love for old-school action excess. Explosions tear through frame after frame with near apocalyptic enthusiasm, the filmmakers refusing to let either budgetary limitations or good taste restrain the escalating madness.
Tatiana Neva, whom this reviewer has loved since her appearance in Nevsky and Joe Cornet’s Taken from Rio Bravo, is a veritable powerhouse, bringing intensity, danger and genuine emotional weight to what could easily have been a one-dimensional killing machine. Neva moves through the film like a guided missile searching for human collateral, commanding the screen with the sort of magnetic physical presence action cinema desperately needs more of. Kudos to Tatiana for what may well be the single greatest rocket launcher moment in recent indie action history, while simultaneously proving herself not merely a compelling leading lady, but a genuine creative force behind the camera as well.
Rothrock, meanwhile, brings veteran gravitas and bone-crunching credibility to the chaos, reminding audiences exactly why she remains one of martial arts cinema’s most enduring icons. Watching her alongside Neva creates the sense of one generation of action royalty handing ammunition to the next.
In a cinematic landscape drowning beneath gray digital sludge and interchangeable streaming content, Prey of Wrath arrives like a discarded VHS tape discovered inside a bloodstained duffel bag, loud, excessive, unapologetically pulpy and powered by filmmakers who still believe action movies should leave scorch marks on their audience.
WATCH IT ON XUMO PLAY NOW:
https://play.xumo.com/free.../prey-of-wrath/XM0O3DBA74F505

Trauma, Obsession & Indie Grit — Patrick D. Green on Beau Ideal

Step into a tense, shadowed Oregon town where a man named Jake tries to outrun his past—only to be pulled into a private investigation that unravels his grip on reality. In this episode, filmmaker and actor Patrick D. Green guides listeners through the making of Beau Ideal, revealing how childhood trauma, real-life CPS experience, and a haunting location near Mount Hood shaped a film that creeps up like a warning siren.
Through intimate conversation and vivid detail, the interview becomes its own slow-burn: why men want to be heroes, how guilt metastasizes, and what it takes to push a micro-budget picture into the world. With gripping anecdotes about casting, cinematography, and the film’s final hammer-blow climax, this episode promises a behind-the-scenes ride into a daring indie that refuses to whisper.
My review and the film's official website:
https://filmthreat.com/.../beau-ideal-thriller-2026-review/
https://www.beauidealmovie.com/
 

Oubliette of Sand and Fire

Smoke and sun paint the town into legend as a lone dark man follows a trail of footsteps across broken boards and barren streets. In a half-ruined room of maps and dried blood he finds the echoes of a last hope, then watches the place burn—waiting for one last prey to flee into the desert.
A tense, relentless chase unfolds across days and dunes: a cat-and-mouse of cunning and will, where tracks run hot and the hunter tests his patience against a stubborn survivor. Each scuffed board and scuttling sound tightens the hunt until the pursuit itself becomes a mirror of the hunter's own fate.
At last the trail vanishes beneath the merciless sun. The dark man kneels over the final prints and realizes he has been beaten—an unexpected, haunting end to a pursuit that becomes a revelation. This is a slow-burning, atmospheric tale of survival, pride, and the moment a hunter meets his match.
FOR MORE:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00MB32Z84
 

The Mule, the Sandals, and the Shadow of Doom

Kent Hill might have been a poet in another life, but here he crafts the whispered reason a man finally broke. Burt Benton narrates the landscape, a world stripped bare by violence, one cold-eyed killer rides a volcanic mule across an endless, dusty road — until he meets Chet the Firewalker, whose last breath and stolen sandals mark a grim turning.
As night falls, the killer feasts, sleeps, and is haunted by small, hurried footprints by his fire. A rustle in the dark wakes him; dawn will bring pursuit. This episode follows that silent, tense waiting—the hush before a hunt—and leaves you leaning forward, listening for the next set of footsteps that might change everything.
 
FOR MORE:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00MB32Z84
 
 

Cradle of Flame: Australia’s First Volcano Spectacle

In a sleepy North Queensland town, a young geology enthusiast sees a dormant mountain stir while everyone else looks the other way. When the volcano finally blows, lava, collapse and sentimental chaos sweep through an unlikely ensemble of townspeople — men’s shed legends, feuding twins, a retired science teacher and a stubborn nursing‑home resident — in a relentless old‑school disaster story with heart and humour.
Filmmaker Travis Bain invites you behind the scenes of Cradle of Flame: practical effects, legendary Aussie actors and the lush, dangerous character of Far North Queensland. The Kickstarter is live — back the film, join the journey and help unleash this eruption on screen.
CHECK IT OUT:
https://youtu.be/S_2lQ3BkQpo
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sapphirepictures/cradle-of-flame-the-fourth-feature-film-by-travis-bain
 

From Grit to Lava: Roger Ward’s Wild Stories and a New Australian Disaster Epic

Board Cinema Yugen for a crackling time with Ozploitation icon Roger Ward, who spills dirty, funny and unforgettable stories from Mad Max, Man From Hong Kong and the riotous sets of 1970s–80s Australian cinema. He remembers the rough camaraderie, on-set chaos and the fierce pride of actors who built an industry with grit, petrol and sheer nerve.
Then feel the heat as Travis Bain’s Cradle of Flame erupts: a small North Queensland town, ignored warnings, molten fury and a ragged cast of locals fighting for survival. Ward teases a flamboyant role, pledges his support, and invites listeners to back the Kickstarter—promising a movie that’s equal parts spectacle, heart and old-school practical danger.
CHECK IT OUT:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sapphirepictures/cradle-of-flame-the-fourth-feature-film-by-travis-bain
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0GZ745LWN?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_fm_mwn_dp_T3K46Y2W4ZPJWVTRCDY4&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_fm_mwn_dp_T3K46Y2W4ZPJWVTRCDY4&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_fm_mwn_dp_T3K46Y2W4ZPJWVTRCDY4&bestFormat=true
 

The Volatile Heart of Wait list: A Love-ish Story

A glance turns into an unfixable collision: Carter and Lisa’s illicit spark blooms into a dangerous, irresistible entanglement that forces everyone around them to choose sides. In this episode Kent Hill sits down with writer/director Deborah Markowitz to unpack Wait list: A Love-ish Story — a daring indie that balances razor-sharp dialogue, slow-burning longing, and the messy cost of wanting what the world insists you shouldn’t.
Through candid conversation and behind-the-scenes revelations, Markowitz traces the film’s leap from a one-day shoot to a full feature, the creative choices that made the characters breathe, and the wrenching moments that make this story linger. Tune in for a provocative, emotional ride that asks: what do we sacrifice for love — and how do we live with what remains?
CHECK IT OUT:
https://filmthreat.com/reviews/wait-list-a-love-ish-story-review/
https://youtu.be/rAeeVKjKK_s
https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0ITK26Y7HLQ97YWUMHBMEKPU7W
 

Kamikaze Cinema: Making a Mockbuster in Six Days

When Anthony Frith signs on to make Mockbuster, he doesn’t just accept a job—he volunteers for a war. Six days, no safety net, a tiny budget and an impossible studio clock: this episode follows a filmmaker who bets everything on one chaotic, brilliant shot.
Through blown costumes, last-minute rewrites and actors pushed to the edge, the documentary becomes a survival story. From Herzog-taught confidence to the salvation of veteran hands and a editor’s magical cuts, the team fights to turn mayhem into movie magic.
Tense, funny and full of heart, this episode pulls you into the frantic rhythm of low-budget film-making and the stubborn dreamers who refuse to quit—because sometimes finishing a film is the greatest thing anyone can do.
CHECK IT OUT:
https://filmthreat.com/reviews/mockbusterthe-asylum-documentary-2026-review/
https://youtu.be/ppLs-qRgqdY