Danny Trejo

  • From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (1999)

    From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (1999)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) Filmed nearly concurrently with From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter takes an opposite route in going back in time to deliver a prequel. Far closer in structure to the first film than the second, this prequel goes back to the late 1800s to feature none other than writer Ambrose Bierce heading to meet Pancho Villa and encountering a few other characters along the way, converging over the familiar dive bar that forms the nexus of the series. It all culminates into a nicely historical version of that concluding shot, except that we’re expecting it this time around. The point of the film is the concluding half-hour’s worth of gore effects as the characters battle vampires in the Aztec ruins underneath the bar, but there’s some additional ambition in featuring a historical character like Bierce and adapting his cynicism to the setting of the story—Michael Parks nicely drawls though Bierce’s convoluted speech patterns and sardonic outlook, and The Hangman’s Daughter wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without him. (Robert Rodríguez contributed to the story.) The film does have a few other highlights: Danny Trejo makes his usual cameo, Temuera Morrison is reliably good in a small role as the Hangman, and Ara Celi does look nice as the titular daughter. The film is clearly aimed at audiences looking for more of that grindhouse exploitation feel. Others may criticize how the cinematography is yellow-tinged, the story meanders in its first hour, and some moments could have been streamlined. But if you’re looking for a slightly more ambitious take on the same find of western/vampire hybrid of the original, The Hangman’s Daughter isn’t too bad.

  • From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999)

    From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, October 2020) Considering that much of what was great about the first From Dusk Till Dawn was its out-of-nowhere genre twist midway through, it’s almost a given that any follow-up will not be able to get that impact, yet From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money does keep the pretence running a bit too long. After a meaningless prologue (featuring Bruce Campbell and Tiffani Thiessen), the film spends too much time assembling its band of criminals going after a bank heist before derailing the plan with the sudden intrusion of the good old vampire bar. Danny Trejo has a small role to keep up appearances, then we’re off to the bloody stuff. While the film’s level of interest fluctuates throughout, it does work itself to an interesting climax during the robbery itself, as our protagonist (a rather likable Robert Patrick) finds himself stuck between robbing vampires and opposing police forces in an isolated Mexican bank. The numerous vampire gore gags that follow are the reason why the film is worth a look for fans of the first instalment, and it’s where director Scott Spiegel seems to have the most fun as well. It doesn’t make Texas Blood Money a good movie (and I can think of many ways, most of them incompatible with the film’s low-budget, which would have made the result more interesting) but at best it’s an entertaining watch for those who want just a little bit more of the series’ modern western approach to the vampire myth.

  • Dead Again in Tombstone (2017)

    Dead Again in Tombstone (2017)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, July 2020) If you’ve seen Dead in Tombstone, you will be wholly unsurprised by Dead Again in Tombstone. Once again, Danny Trejo stars as a not-quite-dead outlaw asked to protect the earth from evil forces in a supernatural western. Another person back for a second ride is noted direct-to-video auteur Roel Reiné, who’s able to maximize the budget he’s given into something looking far better-looking than its class. Essentially, we have pretty much the first film — except without the effect of surprise. It’s still a weird western with supernatural elements and a slightly overstuffed plot. Trejo is still up to his usual good standards, even if he can’t handle the action chops required by the role. There are still some visual flourishes, as Reiné plays with the iconography of westerns. But in delivering more of the same, Dead Again in Tombstone can’t escape a growing dullness of effect.

  • Cross 3 aka Cross: Rise of the Villains (2019)

    Cross 3 aka Cross: Rise of the Villains (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, May 2020) It’s not the best frame of mind to approach a film thinking, “well, how bad can it be?” but it wasn’t without reason either: the original Cross was so terrible that the thought of it leading to a third film was enough to trigger a regrettable bout of curiosity. Well, the results are in and Rise of the Villains is even worse than expected. This is the kind of low-budget feature film that redefines the idea of a bad movie for those used to strictly theatrical-grade material. The plot is incomprehensible, the dialogue is bad enough to make us grind our teeth, the acting is uniformly terrible, the direction is incompetent and the production values scratch the bottom of the barrel. What makes it feel even worse is the smarmy attitude in which the film presents itself: a soup of comic-book clichés leading to fanservice that nobody asked for. The blend of semi-familiar names in the cast creates expectations that Cross 3 cannot fulfill—and the calibre of acting is so uniquely awful that you can’t blame all the actors as much as directors Patrick Durham and Paul G. Volk. As the actors struggle with their line delivery and pose in macho outfits, we’re not watching a film as much as filmed cosplay—like the worst direct-to-digital swill, it punches a hole through the suspension of disbelief required for film-watching and constantly reminds us of the mechanical elements that go into the production of a movie… because they’re almost all badly executed. There are a few less awful spots here and there—some well-used special effects, Danny Trejo, Paige Anette, etc. Otherwise, though, Cross 3 is more excruciating than entertaining—and worse yet, they just announced that there will be a fourth film in the series. You know what’s even worse, though? I will not be able to help myself from watching the second movie in the series, nor the fourth. Maybe not next week or next month or next year, but some day.

  • Bad Ass (2012)

    Bad Ass (2012)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, May 2020) After a few parody films, writer-director Craig Moss gets more ambitious and tries his hand at a low-budget action film starring Danny Trejo as an older man who beat up a few people and becomes a viral sensation. (It’s adapted from a then-viral video, now almost forgotten.) Then the less interesting part of the film begins as he tries to solve the murder of a dear friend. As a straight-to-video action thriller, Bad Ass just about delivers the goods: An interesting trio headlines the film (Trejo, Charles S. Dutton and—briefly—Ron Perlman) but there isn’t much in the script to give them anything interesting to do. It’s an exploitation film that plays it straight, with the only distinction being that it’s an elderly veteran going on a rampage of revenge than some other kind of action hero. Trejo isn’t bad in the lead performance, which is fortunate considering that the entire film depends on it. An expensive-looking bus chase audaciously reuses footage from the climax of Red Heat. That’s worth a few chuckles by itself, which is unfortunately just as much as the rest of the film combined. An unobjectionable but unremarkable evening-filler, Bad Ass is going to have the exact same lifespan of an Internet meme.

  • Dead in Tombstone (2013)

    Dead in Tombstone (2013)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In French, On TV, May 2020) No one will ever mistake Dead in Tombstone for what it’s not. After all, it’s a low-budget direct-to-Video supernatural western featuring Danny Trejo and directed by Roel Reiné—all hallmarks of cheap unambitious genre movies made for an evening’s entertainment more than lasting artistic statements. This being said, Dead in Tombstone is better than average within the confines of its chosen lane. Trejo doesn’t just do a fly-by cameo: he’s got the lead role, plenty of dialogue and some action scenes to anchor. Meanwhile, director Reiné is known for maximizing even low budgets, and so the film is packed with slick images and strong visuals. Unfortunately, the film’s choppy editing frequently undermines the visual aspect of the film—for shame. What’s also a shame: that the plotting doesn’t quite equal the strong premise of the protagonist being resurrected for the explicit purpose of taking revenge on those who killed him. I’m also not that fond of Mickey Rourke, even if he’s cast as Lucifer here. Those little slights do damage what the film had to play with. What remains in Dead in Tombstone is not a great movie, but it more than fulfills the modest conditions for its greenlight: it’s reasonably fun, better directed than usual in its class and is a great showcase for Trejo. There can be worse ways to spend an evening.

  • Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo (2019)

    Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, November 2019) Few people need convincing that Danny Trejo is quite a character, but Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo will do the job anyway. Trejo, a distinctive presence that has somehow amassed over three hundred acting credits, did not follow the traditional path to fame. Born in poor circumstances, he quickly became a drug addict and petty criminal, ending up incarcerated for much of the 1960s. By the time the decade ended, he found faith, got clean, renounced the criminal life and started working odd jobs. His first screen credit dates from 1985, but it took decades of inglorious third-string roles (as the titular “Inmate #1”) before getting more prestigious assignments, culminating in leading-man roles by 2000 and then, increasingly, prestige cameos to capitalize on his notoriety. Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo is a tour of this storied life, interspaced by a look at the intervention and motivating work he somehow manages to do in-between acting jobs, and a look at a man who’s far more approachable than most of his tough-guy roles. It’s an inspiring story, and one of the most unlikely road-to-fame narratives that Hollywood has ever produced. For Trejo fans, the film is confirmation—for everyone else, it will be a revelation.

  • Death Race: Beyond Anarchy (2018)

    Death Race: Beyond Anarchy (2018)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, September 2019) If you’re keeping score at home, Death Race: Beyond Anarchy is the sixth Death Race movie, and the fourth in the modern rebooted series. But even missing a few instalments isn’t that much of a problem in approaching Beyond Anarchy, so loosely does it not care about overall continuity. The rebooted series is only about one thing, after all: a series of movies in which cars race and do battle with one another. The convoluted nature of the rebooted series means that this is the first sequel to the 2008 reboot (the other ones were prequels), but this matters far less than you’d think—it’s still the same thing, except that this one cranks up the nudity. Although, comparing what I’ve seen to what’s being cited as evidence for the film’s rating, I’m sure that what I saw on TV was edited down to something between PG-13 and R. Even in its edited version, however, Beyond Anarchy is not uplifting cinema. Taking place deep in dystopia, it features excessive violence, swearing so pervasive that it attains meaninglessness, women treated as objects and an overall nihilism that nullifies the film’s stakes. If you’re looking for name actors, there’s Danny Trejo doing the strict minimum (which is still more enjoyable than the rest of the other actors combined), and Danny Glover slumming it up. But the film’s greatest sin is that even the action itself isn’t anything special—the ending sequence is a bit better than the rest, but that’s not a lot to save the film from pointlessness. At this stage, you know that they’re going to make more sequels until the premise has been wrung dry … but how will anyone tell?

  • Grand-Daddy Day Care (2019)

    Grand-Daddy Day Care (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2019) There is a specific cinematographic flatness to many low-budget movies that’s easy to identify, and it’s perhaps fortunate that Grand-Daddy Day Care shows it from its earliest moments—just so we know what we’re getting into. Much of the film is as bland as its presentation—with a blocked novelist turning to creating a daycare for seniors as a way to make money, you can predict that the film won’t be a fount of wit and it’s not. I only watched the film for Danny Trejo, and he does impress in a slightly more serious role than usual, even in keeping with his usual persona. Alas, he’s almost entirely the sole impressive spot—While it’s great to see Margaret Avery in another role, the other actors aren’t given much to do and Reno Wilson seems stuck doing a sedated Kevin Hart impression. It’s not much to go on, and the rest of the film moves from one familiar scenario to another, even as it’s trying to pretend that everything is funnier with seniors in the lead roles. By the time we’re breaking a friend out of a retirement home with the heroes dressed as clowns, we’re stuck with the film we’ve chosen to watch. Amazingly enough, this is explicitly spun off from the Eddie Murphy Daddy Day Care movies, something that only affects a small (but perhaps funniest) scene in the film. While not eye-screamingly awful, Grand-Daddy Day Care isn’t much to contemplate. I’d be surprised if it even becomes more than a very forgettable footnote in Trejo’s filmography.

  • Machete Kills (2013)

    Machete Kills (2013)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, August 2014) I’m a long-time fan of Robert Rodriguez’s films (all the way back to Desperado on VHS), but it sure looks as if he’s spent the last decade repeating himself with a long series of sequels and spin-offs.  Machete Kills is the third film to be spun off from 2007’s Grindhouse, and it suggests that the joke has been played out.  Not that the film itself is unpleasant to watch: As you may expect from its neo-grindhouse inspiration, it’s suitably over-the-top, allowing Rodriguez and his ensemble cast to have a lot of fun by sending up an assortment of action movie clichés.  Danny Trejo is compelling as usual as the titular Machete, but it’s a toss-up as to whether he’s having as much fun as Mel Gibson (as a Bond-grade villain), Charlie Sheen (as a lecherous President) or Sofia Vergara (using her shrill persona to good effect, for once).  Even Lady Gaga gets a role as a shape-shifting assassin.  The action gets silly quickly and never lets basic disbelief being an obstacle.  It’s all good fun, except that Rodriguez’s low-budget aesthetics (tight framing, cheap special effects, lazy blocking, editing that allows actors to share a scene without ever having been in the same room together) are less satisfying than one would expect… especially once they’re repeated too often.  Rodriguez can command bigger budgets than he used to at the beginning of his career –he should use that power for a few money shots.  Still, despite the over-the-top action, shameless exploitation (often going straight to comic parody) and self-aware ridiculousness, there’s a sense that Machete Kills is a bit too big for its aw-shucks attitude.  By focusing on the comedy, it even loses a bit of the edge that the first Machete had, and the focus on violence while downplaying the nudity is a step in the wrong direction.  It’s too long for its own good, and in stretching out some of its duller stretches, invites tiresomeness.  It probably doesn’t help that this is Rodriguez’s umpteenth return to the same source: For all of the chuckles and I-can’t-believe-I’m-seeing-this outrageousness, by the time the end credits roll, there’s no need for a third Machete outing.  Let’s leave well-enough alone and let’s hope that Rodriguez does something a bit fresher for his next effort.

  • Poolboy: Drowning out the Fury (2011)

    Poolboy: Drowning out the Fury (2011)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, January 2014) Low-budget comedies languishing in the back-catalogue of cable movie channels are a gamble: most of them aren’t very funny to begin with, and when the films themselves are hampered with the constraints of a low (often very low) budget, the best one can hope for is a little charm and a few chuckles. Given this, my expectations for Poolboy: Drowning out the Fury were modest… and they were pleasantly exceeded. There is little doubt that Poolboy labours under the constraints of an ultra-low budget. Unlike other films, though, Poolboy recognizes, embraces and celebrates its lack of resources: It brazenly uses badly-integrated stock footage, re-plays identical sequences, doesn’t care about overacting, badly fakes location shooting and messes with jaded audience expectations. The best thing about the film may be a moderately-witty script that builds an elaborate meta-fictional game of fourth-wall-breaking self-references, loosely structured around a “lost movie” conceit. Poolboy purports to present a 1990 film lost to studio meddling, in which a Vietnam veteran fights the Mexican cartels that have taken over the Los Angeles pool-cleaning industry. Insane levels of racism, sexism, gore, offensiveness and gratuitous nudity abound –although you have to be careful for what you wish for in “gratuitous nudity”. Surrounding the ultra-cheap action film footage are commentaries from the megalomaniacal director St. James St. James (played with panache by Ross Patterson, who also wrote the script), interviews with survivors of the shoot, newspaper clippings and other such elaborate nonsense. It’s silly and juvenile and moronic and surprisingly amusing. The dialogue has its moments, but Poolboy‘s deadpan refusal to slow down is what makes the film so surprisingly enjoyable: It piles up the jokes one atop the other, seldom pausing for laughs or milking its latest gag. As a result, Poolboy feels densely-paced and quite a bit more confident in its own silliness than other similar low-budget efforts. (It’s even… dare I say… clever.) Kevin Sorbo is a good sport as the Ramboesque protagonist, while Danny Trejo seems to have fun incarnating Mexican-criminal stereotypes. Humor is subjective, obviously, and I suspect that there’s something in Patterson’s absurdist script that’s suspiciously like my own kind of funny (He had my attention thirty seconds in the film, with “…and the last three are a lifestyle”), but that’s a reviewer’s prerogative: In the meantime, Poolboy gets my recommendation as a hidden gem, one that will appeal most fiercely to jaded viewers with a taste for self-referential satire and familiarity with low-budget movies. It’s my happy discovery of the month. It’s not just one of those “best worst movies”: à la Black Dynamite, Poolboy is definitely aiming to get its intended laughs. St. James St. James is my new favourite film auteur.

  • Death Race 2 (2010)

    Death Race 2 (2010)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, December 2011) I won’t try to hide my disdain for the 2008 film that led to this follow-up, especially given how it establishes my low standards for approaching this film.  Can you expect anything good from a Direct-to-Video prequel to a wholly useless remake/prequel?  No way.  And yet, especially by the rising standards of Direct-to-Video action movie, Death Race 2 actually isn’t too bad.  Director Roel Reiné knows how to work with a small $7-million budget, and the film feels just as big as the big-budget 2008 film.  Luke Goss makes for a fine stand-in to Jason Statham as an action hero, Lauren Cohan seems to be auditioning for a chunk of Milla Jovovich’s career (similitudes may not be accidental given Paul W.S. Anderson’s presence as a writer/producer), and there are surprisingly big and enjoyable roles for both Danny Trejo and Ving Rhames.  The concept of the film has been stolen from the 2008 Death Race, but the dialogue has occasional moments, the story leads straight into the 2008 film, and the direction is quite a bit better than what we could expect with moving cameras, ambitious pyrotechnic stunts and audacious shots –some of them in super-slow-motion.  The car chase following the bank robbery looks as if its cost quite a bit, and the film seems to have been able to re-use a bunch of material from the 2008 film.  It’s certainly more colourful than its predecessor, taking away one of the main criticism I had of the earlier film.  No, there certainly isn’t any more social consciousness here compared to the 1975 film.  But it is exactly what it claims to be: a competently-made action film released straight to video.  I even enjoyed chunks of it.  The DVD extras are far more successful in focusing on the making of the film than trying to glorify it as an entry in an ongoing “franchise”; director Reiné is more interesting in discussing aspects of his approach in low-budget film-making.

  • A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)

    A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theaters, December 2011) I’m not sure there’s a more conceptually offensive film out there in theaters at this end of 2011: Whether you’re talking about characters who enjoy the stoner lifestyle, a toddler doing cocaine, graphically-portrayed phalluses, Santa Claus getting shot in the face, nude nuns, angels performing sexual favours on a cracked version of Neil Patrick Harris or a murderous waffle-making robot, a straight-up description of the film’s content reads like a decadent horror show at the end of civilization.  And yet, the series’ considerable irreverent charm is intact, and a solid core of moral value underlies the entire film: the story daringly picks up six years later with a grown-up Harold and a arrested-development Kumar, then throws them together in order to come up with a relatively mainstream-friendly conclusion.  In-between, though, there’s plenty of refreshing hijinks, quasi-experimental segments (just wait for the Claymation stuff, or the 3D-tableau “plan”) and meta-fictional laughs about the actor’s other careers/roles, 3D gags (I almost regret not seeing this one in 3D) and more irreverence than you’d think possible.  It’s still a silly comedy for people who like silly comedies, but it’s hilarious, fast-paced, sweet without being cloying and a perfectly self-aware third installment in a series –for one thing, it doesn’t seem as if it’s simply coasting on recycling its previous gags.  Both Kal Penn and John Cho are great in the title role, with Neil Patrick Harris once again stealing the show and Danny Trejo joining the cast as a pitch-perfect father-in-law.  If you’re a fan of the series, don’t miss it.

  • Fanboys (2009)

    Fanboys (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, December 2010) I’ll be one of the first to bemoan the increasing cooptation of geeks from social outcasts to lucrative market segment, but even I have to admit that Fanboys is a fun comedy aimed squarely at that audience.  The story of four Star-Wars-loving friends racing to steal an early copy of The Phantom Meance from Skywalker ranch, Fanboys gleefully indulges in geek references, inside jokes and enough re-quoted dialogue to qualify as a derivative work.  I’m not sure why I was expecting something cheap, because the end result is polished B-movie, low-budget but not necessarily unpleasant to look at.  The actors do their best (Jay Baruchel shows up in a decent early role, even showing his maple leaf chest tattoo), but it’s really the geekery of the film that takes center-stage in reflecting in the state of fandom circa winter 1999, still hoping that George Lucas would pull off a new trilogy of classic Star Wars films.  (Part of the film’s humour is in the knowing references to the post-1999 reputation of The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar Binks or Harrison Ford)  The geek stereotypes are extreme, but good-natured and even endearing when it comes to the five heroes of the story.  If nothing else, fans should see Fanboys for the succession of cameos and bit parts for notables such as William Shatner, Danny Trejo, Seth Rogen (in three different roles), Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams and many more.  (Only Kevin Smith’s cameo feels rushed and incoherent.)  There’s also a snappy pop soundtrack.  Fanboys isn’t much of a comedy without the geek references (people without knowledge of the Star Wars universe, in particular, will miss out on much), but it’s good enough to exceed low expectations.  [Classification note for metadata nerds: The film was shot in 2007, pushed back numerous times during the film’s troubled production history and eventually released in theaters and DVD in 2009.  IMDB thinks it’s a 2008 film, but I’m listing it here as a 2009 release.]

  • Machete (2010)

    Machete (2010)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (In theaters, September 2010) When a trailer for then-fake film Machete appeared attached to Grindhouse three years ago, the joke worked pretty well.  But would it survive being turned into a feature-length film?  As it turns out, Machete the film is what Machete the fake-film trailer had promised: A fully entertaining mixture of exploitation filmmaking, populist indignation and self-aware cinematic winks.  Bolstered by one of the most amazing cast in recent memory, Machete finally gives a much-deserved featured role to the mesmerising Danny Trejo, with fun parts for such notables as Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Lindsey Lohan, Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez.  Everyone looks like they’re having fun, which is in keeping with the film’s mexploitation theme: if you’re going to make a movie that plays to the audience’s bases desires for nudity, action and revenge, why not do it well?  Writer/Director/Editor Robert Rodriguez certainly knows what he’s doing: the editing lingers on the nudity, stays long enough on the action and flashes past the goriest violence so that we can enjoy the film’s dark humour without being repulsed by its excesses.  (Rodriguez may not have been the film’s sole director, but it’s unmistakably his film.)  It’s a terrific piece of grindhouse cinema, but it comes with quite a bit of populist decency.  The Latino diaspora is colourfully represented by food, more food, Catholic symbolism and a distinctive aesthetics: Add to that a striking case for respecting immigrant rights, and Machete becomes a film that speaks loudly about basic human rights while still delivering a hefty dose of disreputable entertainment.  In short, it’s a film that works on a number of levels, not the least of which is a considerable amount of sheer movie-going pleasure.  Knowing Rodriguez’s considerable personal charm and fondness for explaining the movie-making process, I can’t wait until it comes out on video.