Good morning film fiends! Now that the Royal Wedding shenanigans are over and done with and we’re all recovering from the weekend barbecue hangovers, The Stricken Land’s weekly missive is here to cheer you all up on the morning commute with some upcoming celluloid goodness –

There’s nothing we love more than a bit of Euro-action, and the independent action thriller production THE HITMAN AGENCY, about competing hitmen in a web of conspiracies by writer/director Dominik Starck, just hit VOD with a release on Amazon Instant Video.

Shot with an international cast – including 11 time kickboxing champion Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson – and just a fistful of euros, this underdog-production with compelling storytelling also makes its film market debut in Cannes looking for further worldwide distribution. Starck, a writer and producer on the “Krautsploitation” action film ATOMIC EDEN, starring Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson and Lorenzo Lamas, delivers his action thriller for fans of martial arts, multi-layered stories, and self-financed independent genre films to audiences worldwide and even before the movie’s premier in his home country Germany.

“Making an indie film is close to being a hitman; choose your goal, aim and go after it no matter the obstacles. And like assassinations, it’s a hit and miss with movies. I consider our movie the latter but it’s up to the target audience to decide if that’s the truth or not,” says Starck, the writer/director. While the German independent production by Starck Entertainment and R.J. Nier Films is represented by distributor Generation X Group GmbH at the film market in Cannes (May 8th to 17th) for international sales, the US audience is the first to be able to watch THE HITMAN AGENCY on Amazon.com where it’s available for rent and buy.

The movie is the directorial debut of writer/producer Dominik Starck who previously worked on the award winning mercenary action film ATOMIC EDEN, starring Blaxploitation legend Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson and Lorenzo Lamas (RENEGADE). While being a deliberately different type of movie, THE HITMAN AGENCY features a special appearance by 11 time kickboxing champion Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson from BLOODFIST-fame. Starring American-born Erik Hansen (THE COUNTESS) and LA-based Everett Ray Aponte (ATOMIC EDEN) as competing hitmen from different ends of their assassin-careers, THE HITMAN AGENCY is a character-driven conspiracy-thriller with twists and turns, spiced with some martial arts outbreaks and assassinations. Shot on locations in Germany in English with more blood, sweat, and tears than a real budget, this underdog movie is proof to the phrase that nothing can stop you from making a movie when you really want it. Not even in Germany where there’s no platform for genre films at all.

THE HITMAN’S AGENCY is now available to rent and buy at Amazon.com.

 

The highly acclaimed sci-fi noir thriller 2047 : Virtual Revolution, starring sci-fi icon Jane Badler (“V”) and Mike Dupod (“Arrow”), premieres on VOD June 12 from Lidderdalei Productions.

The year is 2047. Most of the world’s population live inside corporate-controlled virtual worlds and drift further out of touch with reality. Nash, a private investigator/ mercenary is hired to track down a group of hackers who are disrupting and terrorizing the virtual space in a bid to free human beings from their online prisons.

Guy-Roger Duvert’s stunning sci-fi thriller, the recipient of over 40 awards, including Best Film at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards and Best Feature at Dragon Con, makes its long-awaited premiere on VOD June 12.

On a final note –  to any aspiring independent filmmakers, podcasters or film related writers out there out there reading this, let me know if you’d like me to publicize and/or review your projects, The Stricken Land is always happy to promote new talent and ideas! And as ever, please feel free to share this post and any others on here that you like, far and wide.

Spread the Word!
Ian