"Director: Jonty Acton"

• The 13th Sign | DVD | (27/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The 13th Sign is a no-budget horror-action flick in which a solar-eclipse provides the backdrop for all manner of cultish goings-on in rural England. Obvious fans of The Wicker Man, directors Adam Mason and Jonty Acton gamely try to imbue the action with that film's sinister tones, most notably through the creepy rural setting and the appearance of a suave, philosophy-spouting country lord. Sadly they don't stop there, also throwing in (among a plethora of other jarring and disparate elements) a copious dose of supernatural mumbo-jumbo and a trio of cyberpunk hitmen. The film's miniscule budget is an Achilles' heel that cannot be disguised by enthusiasm alone. It is all very well staging a Desperado-style face-off to wow your audience, but its impact will inevitably be dampened somewhat if it has to take place outside the village Co-op. What we are left with then is a buxom, blood-drenched heroine gamely fighting a losing battle against bizarre bounty-hunters, lazily possessed rednecks, unconvincingly fiery-eyed demons and production values that make The 13th Sign look like the goriest and most convoluted You've Been Framed clip of all time. --Paul Philpott