More On That STREETS OF FIRE Tribute Project, And THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER Pseudo-Sequel Too!!

Merrick here...
Earlier this week, Beaks posted a piece about an upcoming movie that recalled many elements of STREETS OF FIRE. You can find details about the project in Beaks' original article, HERE. As Beaks indicated, the film in question is from director Albert Pyun - perhaps best known for THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER back in 1982, and for his 1990 take on CAPTAIN AMERICA.
I got in touch with Albert & asked him what was up with this STREETS OF FIREish thing. He shed some more light on the project, which I thought I'd pass along to you. Our communication was not in the form of an "interview", so I'm paraphrasing here. ** The STREETS OF FIRE styled film is called THE ROAD TO HELL. ** As we've already conjectured, it is inspired by (and is a tribute to) Walter Hill's STREETS OF FIRE, a film Albert has loved for years. ** HELL is a project he's dreamt of realizing with STREETS star Michael Pare for a very long time. ** In approaching the tone of his new film, Pyun took STREETS' mood and energy, infusing 50s styled "hardboiled" dialogue and characters possessing "dark" shades of gray. ** The film brings Pare back to his roots & he "kicks ass"... ** Clare Kramer (Glory from BUFFY) and Courtney Peldon (BOSTON PUBLIC) are in it as well - with performances that'll "shock and delight" their fans. In a nutshell, Pyun characterizes ROAD thusly:

Where the innocence of youth has been replaced by world weary cynicism. Michael's character is desperate to find a road back to the past and the light. [edit} Consider it Moulin Rouge meets torture porn. A heavily torqued romantic fantasy where dreams still live but they carry very big knives.

Albert also mentioned that the previously announced shooting of TALES OF AN ANCIENT EMPIRE (details HERE and HERE)...which was gearing up to roll in early May...was rescheduled for political reasons, but looks to be set for a September start now. This delay enabled Pyun and Pare to mobilize ROAD TO HELL sooner rather than later. There may be some more TALES news in the very near future...we'll bring it to you when it comes around .