Archie Adamos Movies
An orphaned boy is thrown head-first into a new and different life in this drama. Twelve-year-old Hector (Jacob Kiron Shalov), who has lived all his life in New Jersey, is riding in the car with his mother when they're struck by another driver; Hector receives only minor injuries, but his mother is killed. With nowhere else to go, Hector is forced to take up an offer to stay with his grandmother, who lives in the Philippines and has never met him. Hector can't speak Tagalog and his grandmother Lita (Angie Ferro) knows no English; not only can't they communicate, but Hector and Lita soon discover they don't much like one another. The teeming slums of Manila are like no place Hector has ever seen, and with few other options he falls in with a gang of teenage thugs led by Miguel (Pierro Rodriguez), who goads him into breaking into a house in a well-to-do neighborhood. Hector is caught red-handed by the owner of the house, Jose (Jaime Tirelli), a photographer who speaks fluent English. Jose insists that Hector work off the damage he's done, but he soon takes the boy under his wing, teaching him a bit about photography and giving him chores to keep him out of trouble. Hector also attracts the attention of a pretty girl, Sel (Maria Lopez), but while they're clearly fond of one another, Hector soon discovers Sel already has a boyfriend -- Miguel. Santa Mesa was the first feature film from writer and director Ron Morales. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jacob Kiron Shalov, Angie Ferro, (more)
- 2001
Veteran filmmaker Joel Lamangan directs this harrowing journey of one young lad negotiating through the jungles a maximum-security prison in the Philippines. An orphan raised among distant relatives in the slums of Manila, Sonny Corpus (Cogie Domingo) likes little more than hanging out with his buddies Celso, Jimmy, and Rodel. When Celso cons Sonny into participating in a robbery along with his friends, Jimmy and Rodel end up dead along with an old lady. Unable to prove his innocence of the crime (Celso pulled the trigger) and unable to prove his minor status, Sonny gets pinned with the crime and sentenced to death. Sonny quickly learns the rules and hierarchies of the prison -- Mio is the boss who recruits Sonny as a pusher for his illicit smuggling business. His trusted henchman Gabino (Pen Medina) is quietly plotting a palace coup and tries to win Sonny over with gifts and favors. Yet when Sonny makes it clear that he's loyal to Mio, Gabino exacts an awful revenge. Later, Sonny is taken in by Lolo Sinat (Eddie Garcia), an aging gangster whom everyone in prison respects. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eddie Garcia, Cogie Domingo, (more)
This Australian giant-crocodile film from director James D.R. Hickox borrows shamelessly from Jaws, Jurassic Park, and even the American Godzilla. Two surfers (Dax Miller, Matt Borlenghi), a female videographer (Katie Fischer), and a smarmy promoter (Joel West) come to the South Seas (gorgeously photographed by cinematographer Christopher C. Pearson) in order to shoot a video of "blood surfing," which basically means surfing with a great number of hungry sharks in the water. They survive the sharks, but when one of the toothy fish literally explodes in a geyser of gore, it becomes apparent that there is something far more dangerous lurking beneath the beautiful blue waves. The characters are chased through the water and the jungle and abducted by crazed locals with machine guns before finally coming face to face with the monstrous giant crocodile intent on making meals of them. There's also the requisite subplot involving a crusty former sea captain (Duncan Regehr) with a vendetta against the beast (which he doesn't live to settle), as well as vine-swinging, plenty of sex and gore, and one of the absolute worst puns of all time. Taryn Reif, Chris Vertido, and Susan Africa co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Archie Adamos, Duncan Regehr, (more)
- 1994
- R
Inside a top-secret chemical weapons base, a master criminal takes a Congresswoman hostage. Only one man can stop the lunatic from unleashing the forces of evil against an unsuspecting American population. That man is Ryan Cooper, government special agent and one-man killing machine. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- 1993
- R
With the Philippines again standing in for Vietnam, this low-budget actioner stars David Carradine as a ruthless, renegade American army colonel who disobeys orders to sneak his crack team into Cambodia to destroy a Viet Cong supply train. But when he steps over the line and after much convoluted mayhem orders the slaughter of innocent Cambodian villagers, his right hand man turns upon him and a deadly conflict ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
A Navy SEAL gets himself tossed into a seething Filipino prison after his attempts to stop a gang rape fail and he is accused of killing the girl. This low-budget martial arts actioner chronicles his struggle to survive and escape the hellish jail. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1992
- R
Cat Sassoon fronts this Roger Corman produced martial arts adventure that tells the tale of a tough LA cop who heads to Manila to investigate the murder of her sister. She was working there as a kickboxing FBI agent who photographed the execution of a US military man. Before she is killed, she hands the potentially damning film to a stripper so she can keep it from the perpetrators, the notorious freedom fighters of the Black Brigade. Once officer Katara arrives she is immediately warned by the government to stay out of the situation, but she disobeys and creates all sorts of problems for everyone involved. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1992
- R
An army commander on a dangerous mission with a special forces naval unit in the Mekong River Delta is sidetracked when he risks his life to save a beautiful American reporter. ~ Rovi
- 1990
- R
A young couple go to a picturesque island for a romantic holiday, but when they witness the activities of a terrorist group, they become the next targets. ~ Rovi
- 1988
- R
In this low-budget actioner, a brutal biker gang heads for the Vietnam jungle to save American POWS. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brad Johnson, Vernon Wells, (more)
- 1988
- R
In this sequel, a trusting private serving with U.S. forces in Vietnam becomes friends with a Vietnamese girl. When he discovers that she is being used by someone in the military in a prostitution ring and has become addicted to drugs, he tries to find out how he can blow the whistle on this abuse of power. He doesn't know that the person he has come to for help is himself the chief culprit. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ken Jacobson, Ronald William Lawrence, (more)
