written by: Richard Lowry
produced by: Sasha Yelaun, Robert Paschall Jr., Daniel Lief, Johnny Remo & Christian Filippella
directed by: Isaac Florentine
rated: R (for strong violence, some language, and drug material)
runtime: 95 min.
U.S. release date: February 13, 2026
Sometimes watching a bad movie reminds you how easy it is to take a good movie for granted. I’m not even talking about a great movie. Those at least stand out. But, just a solid good movie, worthy of your time and entertaining or informative in some way. You can expect the opposite viewing experience with “Hellfire”, the latest effort from Israeli director Isaac Florentine, a neo-western that tries to be a thriller, but plays like a B-movie shot with zero flair or discernible style. Nothing new or different is done with the familiar “one-man-army arriving in a small town desperate to get out from under a criminal’s grasp”, and the inert dialogue from screenwriter Richard Lowry and predominantly wooden acting from the cast doesn’t help the endeavor whatsoever.
Florentine is no amateur, though, having spent much of his career wearing a variety of hats: stunts, second unit directing, and feature directing, primarily VOD shlock (“Assassin’s Bullet”, “Close Range”, and “Hounds of War”) and repetitive television (many episodes of “Power Rangers”) work. Here, he attempts to transfer his affinity for Sergio Leone and Bruce Lee movies, but there’s nothing new or different in this regurgitated story.
For reasons unknown, the story is set in 1988, and we’re introduced to the small rural town of Rondo, Texas, which seems both trapped in time and long forgotten. One afternoon, a lone stranger (Stephen Lang), a nameless man and Vietnam veteran who seems to be “walking the earth” like Caine in “Kung-Fu”. It’s unclear what his story is or why he’s arrived in this town, but he offers to work as a handyman for food and shelter to whoever will take him. He’s quiet, polite, and keeps to himself, but he’s about to find out that he’s not wanted in Rondo.
Owen (Chris Mullinax), the wheelchair-bound owner of a dilapidated saloon, accepts his offer, despite the misgivings of his daughter Lena (Scottie Thompson), finding repair jobs to keep the loner busy. Owen winds up giving him the lame name Nomada (because he’s a nomad, get it?), and the townspeople welcome him with trepidation, because they live in fear of the guy who runs the town, Jeremiah (Harvey Keitel). Sheriff Wiley (Dolph Lundgren) is under Jeremiah’s thumb, making sure the townfolk stay in line and anyone visitors keep their stay short. We first learn of Jeremiah when he sends his son and top enforcer, Clyde (Michael Sirow), to visit the saloon with two armed and muscled goons. Clyde’s all threats, pushing around Owen, and lusting after Lena in a pathetic manner. Nomada observes it all and recognizes the type, seeing the need to stay in town and use more extreme measures to help out.
Eventually and inevitably, Nomada puts his ex-military skills and combat PTSD to good use, waging a war against Jeremiah, who disguises the town’s brewery for his drug trafficking dealings with the Mexican cartel. Jeremiah has somehow forced all the locals into indentured servants, preventing them from uprooting for fear of being tracked down and killed. After a saloon massacre, Nomada wages a one-man war that pits him against Jeremiah’s henchman Zeke (Johnny Yong Bosch), who is eager to put his martial arts moves to use.
“Hellfire” starts with a good thirty minutes of setup before any action occurs. It feels longer because it’s painfully plodding, leaving viewers hoping to speed through the introductory cliches as soon as possible. Lowery’s hints of religion are somewhat subtle, with Lena basically praying for an angel to come, or at least hoping her late war veteran husband sends one. Of course, Florentine cuts to Lang’s lone figure arriving in town with a cap, trenchcoat, a ragged military shirt, and all that he owns in a backpack. Composer Stephen Edwards includes variations of “Poor Wayfaring Stranger” as the theme for Lang’s protagonist (a role that thankfully didn’t go to Nicolas Cage) throughout the movie. Some versions are banjo-centric instrumentals, while others are vocal humming, and end credits include an iteration sung by someone named Mean Mary. Apart from the use of the plaintive American folk gospel song, much of Edward’s score is obnoxiously projecting the story in heavy-handed ways. When Clyde enters the saloon with his goons, there’s a blaring ominous crescendo, because we clearly can’t determine on our own by the bad acting that these are the bad guys.
It doesn’t help that none of the characters inhabiting “Hellfire” feel like real people, nor does the setting of Rondo feel like an actual place, despite being filmed in Little Rock, Arkansas. However, this is a low-budget endeavor, staging car chases on rural roads and shootouts in large, empty areas, such as an abandoned factory, keeping the characters on the move as they run around trying to kill one another. One glaring omission is the strange decision to have Lundgren’s Sheriff be the only law enforcement in town. Sure, it’s a small town, but all we see is the Sheriff, that’s it. Considering his limited range, Lundgren is an odd choice, appearing uncomfortable in the role with a strange, unconvincing mustache. Then again, it’s not like Lowery gives him anything other than a one-dimensional characterization to work with.
As for Keitel, he spends most of the movie reading on his couch or plinking out Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” at the piano of Jeremiah’s estate. That’s about it. Both Lundgren and Keitel have spent a good amount of time languishing in VOD slop over the years, which is too bad, considering they’re both still capable of doing more than just phoning it in, see “Creed 2” and “The Irishman”, respectively.
I get that some viewers may come to “Hellfire” solely for the Lang action. The septuagenarian actor has stayed in amazing physical shape over the years, and has the potential to be more than just the bad guy from James Cameron’s “Avatar” movies, as proven in both “Don’t Breathe” movies, and last fall’s brutal post-WWII action flick “Sizu: Road to Revenge”. His role here doesn’t show his acting potential, and his action scenes aren’t compelling at all, which is primarily due to the made-for-cable manner in which cinematographer Ross W. Clarkson shoots the action sequences. This is particularly notable during the smackdown between Lang and Bosch (the latter has played the second Black Power Ranger and later, the Green Zeo Ranger and first Green Turbo Ranger) that takes place in the brewery. It’s an underwhelming fight that winds up ridiculous.
Maybe if we’d spent more time with Lang’s character, and possibly understood who he is and how he’s been able to maintain his physical prowess, then it’d be easier to get on board with what Lowery and Florentine are offering here. Also, a veteran in 1988 wouldn’t be in his seventies unless he was in his sixties in Nam, and that’s never established. Essentially, “Hellfire” plays like a Temu version of Clint Eastwood’s “Pale Rider”, a superior film in every possible way.
RATING: *1/2
