ALPHA RIFT

(director/writer :Dan Lantz; cinematographers: Tom MaCoy/Mike Hennelly; editors: Guzmán Caballero/Chetan Kumar/Dan Lantz/ Alejandro Macías/ Natasa Vranjes; music:; cast: Lance Henriksen(Corbin), Chris James Boylan (Pavlov), Aaron Dalla Villa (Nolan Parthmore), Rachel Nielsen (Gabby), Christopher Ullrich (Lewis),  Philip N. Williams (Blades), Peter Patrikios (Rilek),  Allyson Malandra (Kate),  Graham Wolfe (Vicars), John Groody (Russell); Runtime: 94; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers; Dan Lantz, Jodie Shultz: Vertical Entertainment; 2021)

“Modestly entertaining though cheaply made as a superhero time-travel fantasy adventure film.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A modestly budgeted and modestly imaginative B-film targeted to the younger indie crowd of gamers, that’s set in an unnamed city. It’s modestly entertaining though cheaply made as a superhero time-travel fantasy adventure film, that’s written and directed with energy by Dan Lantz (“Bloodrunners”). It’s a pleasant reminder for some of those once popular comic book stores in the 1980s that were frequented mostly by gamers, baseball card collectors and comic book readers.

The young man Nolan Parthmore (Aaron Dalla Villa) is the manager of a board game shop, that caters to fantasy gamers. He operates it with the help of the wise-ass Gabby (Rachel Nielsen) and the petty Lewis (Christopher Ullrich). When thieves break into the store one night, they knock over a glass bowl in the vault that breaks and releases an evil green fog that covers one of the thieves, the bloodthirsty thief Blades (Philip N. Williams), with the aura of a demon.

Meanwhile Nolan’s landlady mom, Kate (Allyson Malandra), presents her son with the game Noblemen, which revolves around the ancient order of knights that once protected the world against demons. Nolan soon receives a delivery package containing a gleaming knight’s helmet. When wearing the helmet, Nolan transforms into a modern-day knight who must return the supernatural spirit back into the Alpha Rift.

As the fairy tale goes, Kate reveals herself as a member of a secret group lead by Corbin (Lance Henriksen). He informs Nolan that he is a member of the bloodline of demon hunting Noblemen (like his dad) and now is his time to shine by replacing his dad as the superhero. With that in mind, a battle for survival of the most invested in such hokum begins.

It’s kid stuff, armed for the young gamer crowd and adults who never stopped being kids. It might even appeal to some adults that are adults.

REVIEWED ON 12/16/2021  GRADE: B-