American Mobster: Retribution, directed by Gregory Hatanaka, is a low-budget indie crime thriller that manages to be both captivating and so-bad-it’s-impossible-to-look-away entertaining. Picking up ten years after the first film, it follows Nick Romano as he fights to maintain his place at the top of Miami’s criminal underworld. Murder, betrayal, and violence abound, and the film leans into every exaggerated gangster stereotype imaginable—sometimes awkwardly, sometimes hilariously.
Read MoreSamurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance (2015)
Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance, directed by Gregory Hatanaka, attempts to recapture the unintentional charm of its cult predecessor. While it brings back familiar faces like Mathew Karedas as Joe Marshall and Mark Frazer as Frank Washington, the film struggles to match the original's unique appeal. The plot centers on Joe Marshall, now in self-imposed exile, who is drawn back into action when his former partner Frank Washington seeks his help to dismantle a powerful criminal syndicate.
Read MoreAmong Them (2018)
Kevin James Barry’s Among Them is one of those small, scrappy independent thrillers that manages to do a lot with very little. Reportedly based on a 90-page script written in just two days and filmed with minimal resources, it’s a testament to how far atmosphere, tension, and committed performances can take a film—even when the budget doesn’t stretch far. The setup is classic: after a robbery gone wrong, two criminals and their hostage hole up in a desolate seaside motel during the off-season.
Read MoreThe DeMarco Crew (2024)
Gregory Hatanaka’s The DeMarco Crew is another entry in his long-running line of low-budget, crime-fueled thrillers—this time diving headfirst into heist territory with a touch of personal drama. At just over an hour, it’s brisk, loud, and packed with the kind of scrappy energy that defines much of Hatanaka’s work. The film follows Dean DeMarco, a master thief with a crew that’s as loyal as they are reckless.
Read MoreDark Deeds (2022)
Gregory Hatanaka’s Dark Deeds is a sleek, intoxicating thriller that blends drama and mystery with his signature exploration of passion. The film follows a veteran detective, played with grounded gravitas by Nino Cimino, who finds himself drawn into a web of desire and intrigue when a woman—portrayed compellingly by Cassandra Schwiebert—becomes a suspect in a string of murders. Hatanaka’s strength has always been his ability to capture raw, human passion, and here it shines.
Read MoreQuarantine Girl (2022)
Quarantine Girl is a unique, if polarizing, indie horror-thriller that plunges viewers into the unnerving mental landscape of a young woman navigating self-isolation during a global health crisis. Clocking in at a brief 61 minutes, the film is a tight, character-focused study of isolation, anxiety, and human connection, led by Nicole D’Angelo, who also co-directed and co-wrote the piece. D’Angelo delivers an intense, unflinching performance as the titular character, giving the audience a front-row seat to her slow descent into frustration and despair during lockdown.
Read MoreBlood Rush (2025)
Jamie Grefe’s Blood Rush is a mesmerizing dive into the intersection of psychological horror and slasher suspense, offering a uniquely dreamlike experience that keeps audiences on edge from start to finish. The film centers on four sorority sisters—Tessa Raine, India Darling, Maggie Peril, and Annabel Storm—who are terrorized by recurring nightmares featuring a masked killer. These nightly horrors begin to seep into their waking lives, leaving them with physical pain, a sense of dread, and the terrifying realization that the killer may be more than just a figment of their imagination.
Read MoreLaserium (2025)
Jamie Grefe’s Laserium is a wild, futuristic thrill ride that blurs the line between reality and fantasy in ways both exhilarating and disorienting. The film follows two women, played by Emerald Flower and Sofia Papuashvili, trapped in a high-stakes, surreal game show controlled by a maniacal director whose whims dictate life or death. From start to finish, Laserium keeps audiences on edge with its inventive twists, chills, and unpredictable narrative turns.
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