MOCKBUSTER

(director/writer: Anthony Frith; screenwriter: Sandy Cameron; cinematographer: Maxx Corkindale; editor: David Scarborough; music: Bryony Marks; cast: Eric Roberts; Runtime: 90; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Naomi Ball, Dave Elliott-Jones, Sandy Cameron; Walking Fish Productions; 2025-Australia/USA)

“It’s oddly entertaining.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
Aussie filmmaker Anthony Frith, a former video director, directs his first full-length feature film, which is a crappy and cheaply made knock-off B-movie that he co-writes with Sandy Cameron. It’s a product of Hollywood’s Asylum Pictures (they were behind the Sharknado franchise) that purposely makes bad films for those with bad taste. This documentary is an example of how this shameless exploitative studio always turns a profit by making films so cheaply they can’t lose money.

When Frith e-mails Asylum about a directing gig, he gets an invite to their studio in Burbank. Once there, they allow him to cheaply film the Mockbuster (which in this case is a knock-off blockbuster film of “The Land That Time Forgot.” Frith makes this film with unknown actors, no script, and shoots it in six days.

Frith tells us why he made this film and the studio heads talk about how they want to make profitable films, like their knock-off for The Transformers which they called “The Transmorphers.” Frith just seems to be glad to be working at a craft he loves and hopes one day to find success in, while the bosses only care about making money.

Though the film doesn’t deserve a release, it’s oddly entertaining.

REVIEWED ON 7/22/2026  GRADE: C-
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