HELLFIRE
(director/writer: Isaac Florentine; screenwriter: Richard Lowry; cinematographer: Ross W. Clarkson; editors: Paul Harb, Kurt Nishimura; music: Stephen Edwards; cast: Stephen Lang (Nomada, the man without a name), Harvey Keitel (Jeremiah), Dolph Lundgren (Sheriff Wiley), Johnny Yong Bosch (Zeke), Scottie Thompson (Lena Hayes), Chris Mullinax (Owen Hayes), Maurice Compte (Salvadore), Michael Sirow (Clyde), Natalie Canerday (Vivian), Hector Melgoza (Titus), Jason Scott Morgan (Remy), Levon Panek (Cletus); Runtime: 95; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Daniel Lief, Henry Penzi, Johnny Remo, Sasha Laleun, Robert Paschall Jr.; Saban Films; 2026)
“Whose story is over drugs and not cattle like it was back in its pioneering days.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Noted action helmer Isaac Florentine (“Bridge of Dragons”/”Assassin’s Bullet”) directs and co-writes with Richard Lowry this low-budget, derivative, throwback revenge Western about the adventures of a former special forces soldier from the Vietnam War who refuses to reveal his name (Stephen Lang) for some unknown reason, who will be tasked with being the lone voice of righteousness to clean up a dirty town that has a cocaine trafficking problem.
While drifting into the fictional town of Rondo, Texas, in 1988, the grizzled stranger is told to move on by Sheriff Wiley (Dolph Lundgren), but instead stays and is given work by the hard-pressed wheelchair-bound saloon owner Owen Hayes (Chris Mullinax) who lives with his daughter Lena (Scottie Thompson). They decide to call him Nomada, rather than Clint or Sergio or Uncle Morris, and believe he might be the town’s savior from a drug lord.
The small town is ruled by the evil piano playing drug lord Jeremiah (Harvey Keitel), who traffics cocaine out of the brewery. Jeremiah has hooked up with the Mexican cartels, has bought off the sheriff to control the locals, has hired armed goons who are martial arts fighters like Zeke (Johnny Yong Bosch) for protection, and has his own scummy son Clyde (Michael Sirow) to handle any rough stuff.
Action fans get to see the bad-ass stoical drifter smack around the bad guys, and if that’s all you wanted from this B-film and are not expecting to see a quality Western like “Pale Rider,” then you got all it’s capable of delivering. I love the genre, even if it’s currently out of fashion with Gen Z and a large part of the public, and I accept this well-made oater as passable entertainment whose story is over drugs and not cattle like it was back in its pioneering days.
REVIEWED ON 3/15/2026 GRADE: B
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