October Positivity: Revelation Road 3: The Black Rider (dir by Gabriel Sabloff)

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Eric Roberts is not in Revelation Road 3.

I was hoping that he might be, even though his name didn’t appear in the credits. Quite a few cast members from the first two films return for the third film. David A.R. White is back as Josh McManus, the former super soldier who now drives his souped-car through the wastelands of America. Bruce Marchiano is back, credited as the Stranger though we all know he’s actually Jesus. (Since Marchiano appeared in all three films, I can only assume the Revelation Road films all take place in the same cinematic universe as The Encounter films and Sarah’s Choice.) Brian Bosworth shows up briefly.

But there is no Eric Roberts. Not even Eliza Roberts appears in this film! It’s a shame and they are both missed.

However, Kevin Sorbo does show up.

Kevin Sorbo plays Honcho, a bandit leader who lives in the wastelands and who is worshipped by those who follow him. Honcho occasionally speaks with an Australian accent. Occasionally, the accent slips or disappears all together. At first, I thought this was a case of bad editing, bad dubbing, or maybe Sorbo not really being that into the character. However, there’s actually a rather clever moment in which Honcho tells Josh that he’s not actually from Australia. He just speaks with the accent because it impresses his followers. Without the accent, he’s just some guy who used to work at a gas station. With the accent, he’s a warlord.

It’s a moment that made me laugh, largely because it’s true. People love and fear accents. If you’ve got a posh British accent, most Americans will assume that you’re planning a heist of some sort and that Sylvester Stallone or Harrison Ford is somewhere nearby, trying to stop you. If you’ve got an Australian accent, the assumption amongst Americans is that you can survive harsh conditions, handle your alcohol, and jump out of a plane without a second thought.

However, Sorbo’s fake Australian accent also pays a sort of homage to the Mad Max films. The Revelation Road trilogy was obviously envisioned as being a faith-based version of the Mad Max films, with David A.R. White cheerfully stepping into the somber shoes of Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy. Using Mad Max as a model for a faith-based apocalypse film actually isn’t that bad of an idea. Indeed, Gibson’s style of beatific madness opens up the original Mad Max trilogy to a similar interpretation. Unfortunately, Revelation Road 3 is at time a bit too faithful to the Mad Max films, to the extent that it struggles to establish an identity outside of the films that inspired it. That’s one reason why Kevin Sorbo’s character stands out. He’s a character who genuinely surprises us.

As for the plot of Revelation Road 3, it finds Josh being sent on a mission to find The Shepherd (Robert Gossett), a mysterious figure who is gathering together a religious flock in the desert despite the fact that the new world government has outlawed things like religion and individual freedom. While Josh’s wounded companion waits in a town ruled over by Mayor Drake (James Denton), Josh searches the desert and occasionally sees a mysterious rider on a horse. The film mixes action and theology and the results are definitely mixed, with a few well-done chase scenes mixed with a lot of scenes of people talking. That said, at its best, The Black Rider achieves a sort of desolate grandeur.

October Positivity: Redeemed (dir by David A.R. White)

Posted on October 19, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2014’s Redeemed, Ted McGinley plays Paul Tyson.

Paul is married to Beth (Teri Copley) and is a respected businessman who is in charge of a cybersecurity firm. His latest project is Jericho which, if successful, could revolutionize the way that information is protected online. A Brazilian firm is interested in buying Paul’s company, which could make Paul a very wealthy man.

However, Paul has some secrets. Work on Jericho has not gone as smoothly as one might hope and Paul suspects that it might be due to corporate espionage. Paul is several thousand dollars in debt and the bank has been sending him threatening letters. When Paul’s friend David (David A.R. White, who also directed) splits with his wife, Paul starts to wonder whether any marriage can survive the modern age. How do you keep a marriage strong in an increasingly complicated world? Paul and Beth are supposed to be renewing the vows in the near-future but Paul is preoccupied with both his job and what appears to be a massive mid-life crisis.

Temptation arrives in the form of Julia (Ana Ayora), a beautiful woman who has been sent from Brazil to check out the company. Paul finds himself attracted to Julia and they bond over many a night of corporate intrigue. Paul finds himself growing distant from Beth. Is Paul going to cheat and destroy his marriage?

(Actually, David explains that Paul is already cheating just by spending time with a woman other than this wife. David also explains that he’s not the one who cheated in his marriage. Instead, his wife met some guy in an Internet chatroom and she’s been talking to him nonstop. They haven’t even met but it’s enough for David to move out of his house and into a hotel. So, remember — if you’re married and you have any close friends of the opposite sex, you’re just a cheatin’ whore. Sorry, I didn’t make the rules.)

Will Paul remain faithful to Beth? And will he ever discover who is trying to sabotage Jericho?

On the positive side, Redeemed features Ted McGinley in a dramatic lead role and McGinley does a pretty good job with it. There are a few times when Paul is simply too naive to be believable but that’s due to the script and not due to McGinley’s performance. McGinley does the best he can with the material that he’s been given to work with. I will also point out that the stock footage of Brazil was lovely. Finally, David A.R. White is a pleasant-enough actor and his direction here gives the entire film a comfortable Lifetime sort of fell.

On the negative side …. ugh, that plot. The corporate espionage stuff was hokey and Paul’s indecision about whether or not to commit adultery made his character seem more than a little flakey. Paul’s married to a very tolerant and understanding woman and he has a beautiful family. The fact that Paul was so easily tempted to throw all that away makes it difficult to have much sympathy for his character and it also makes his eventual “redemption” a bit difficult to buy. I think most genuinely good husbands would be able to decide not to cheat on their wives without having to fly off to Brazil to think about it. In the end, the film is very forgiving of Paul but it doesn’t convince the audience to feel the same way.

Redeemed is a film that celebrates marriage and leaves one appreciating divorce.

October Positivity: The Moment After 2: The Awakening

Posted on October 16, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2006’s The Moment After 2 picks up where The Moment After ended.

In the days after the Rapture, the Global Alliance has taken over the world. The government seeks to control everything. Paper money is becoming a thing of the past and instead, everyone is expected to pay via a chip that’s been implanted in their hand. Not having a chip means going to prison and probably being executed for being a subversive. The Global forces, led by the sadistic Commander Fredericks (Monte Rex Perlin), are hunting down dissidents. People are being reeducated. It’s the type of world that, in reality, a lot of people want, even if they hide it behind a bunch of class struggle rhetoric.

Former FBI agent Adam Riley (David A.R. White) is on Death Row but he gets a chance for freedom when the prison transport is attacked by a rebel group. When the other prisoners ask Adam to come with them, Adam takes one look at all the bodies of the people killed during the attack and refuses. He’s not a follower of Global but he doesn’t want any part of the rebel militia’s demand of “an eye for an eye.” Instead, Adam wanders through the desert until he finds a community of Christians. He’s reunited with the Rev. Jacob Krause (Brad Heller), from the first film. He also meets Carissa (Andrea Logan White), a woman with whom he is in love. However, she’s married to Richard (Mark Atteberry) and we all know what the Bible says about adultery. Of course, the world is now a dangerous place and, with Fredericks executing every Christian he finds, maybe Adam will still get his chance. Adultery may be a sin but moving in on a new widow is not.

Meanwhile, Adam’s former partner and friend, Charles Baker (Kevin Downes), is recruited to track Adam down. If Charles captures Adam, maybe Charles’s wife Rebecca (Deanne Morre) will be releases from prison. Or maybe not. You really can’t trust the Global Alliance.

One thing that I appreciated about this film is that Adam, despite plenty of opportunities to give into temptation, stayed true to the commandment that “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” A lot of faith-based, apocalypse films tend to use the end times setting as an excuse to turn its characters into quip-ready action heroes, gunning down the forces of the world government and blowing up buildings without a second thought. This film, though, is smart enough to say, “Hold on, the whole anti-killing thing still applies, regardless of how bad things get.”

As for the rest of the film, it’s well-made and the cast is decent. That may sound like faint praise but, after you’ve watched enough low-budget faith-based productions, you come to appreciate the ones that at least feature a steady camera, a clean soundtrack, and actors who can at least show a modicum of emotion. As tempting as it may be to laugh at the heavy-handedness of the Global Alliance, those of us who remember the COVID lockdowns will never forget some of the suggestions that were made for dealing with people who were judged to be noncompliant because they didn’t want to observe curfew or close their businesses. Much like the first film, The Moment After 2 is a decent thriller, one that works nicely for our paranoid times.

October Positivity: The Moment After (dir by Wes Llewellyn)

Posted on October 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

1999’s The Moment After opens with the world in a panic. Millions of people have suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving only their clothes and their loved ones behind. On a news program, three expects are brought in to discuss what might have happened. A New Age-y woman argues that “Mother Earth” is eliminating overpopulation. A wild-eyed man argues that people have been abducted by UFOs. And finally, a man with a neatly trimmed beard argues that it’s the rapture. The bearded man is dismissed as being a crank.

Two FBI agents — Adam Riley (David A.R. White) and Charles Baker (Kevin Downes) — are assigned to investigate the disappearances. Charles is himself shaken because he knew a few people who disappeared. As they drive around the city and talk to people, they hear the same story. People who went to church regularly and were Christian vanished while their less faithful loved ones watched. Adam comes to suspect that there might be something to the Rapture Theory. Charles, bitter because his wife recently suffered a miscarriage, has no time for it.

As often happens in a crisis, the government grows heavy-handed and sinister. The President announced that he’s going to follow the lead of Europe and “suggest” that everyone get a chip implanted in their hand. Charles gets the chip without hesitation. Adam keeps finding excuses to put it off, even though he’s mandated to get one as a federal employee. With the country turning into an authoritarian dystopia, Charles and Adam are assigned to track down a renegade preacher (Brad Heller), who is telling his followers not to get chipped.

Stories about the end time have always been popular when it comes to faith-based films. A lot of that is because the Book of Revelations is written in such a way that there’s a lot of different ways that one can interpret it. As a result, it’s always interesting to see how “the mark of the Beast,” will be represented in these films. Sometimes, it’s a tattoo. Sometimes, it’s an invisible mark that only demons can see. In this one, it’s a chip that works as a credit card. And while it’s easy to scoff at this film’s conspiracy theories and the shots of people staring at their palms, some of us still remember how, during the COVID lockdowns, there were more than a few people in positions of influence who argued that the citizenry shouldn’t be allowed in stores or restaurants or anywhere else unless they could show proof they had gotten the vaccine and kept up with the boosters. There were even some who said that the National Guard should go door-to-door and force the shot on people. (For the record, I did get the vaccine but, when I started hearing about monthly boosters and all that other stuff, I decided that one shot was more than enough for me.) There is definitely an authoritarian impulse out there, one that comes out whenever there’s a crisis. One reason why films like this one continue to find an audience is because real-life governments often behave like the dictatorship portrayed in The Moment After. Of course, in the movie, everyone can at least say they were influenced by the Devil. In real life, it just comes down to pettiness and a need to tell other people what to do.

As for The Moment After, it’s a low-budget but fairly well-done thriller, one that keeps the preaching to a minimum and doesn’t feature a lot of the problematic elements that one tends to find in movies like this. White and Downes both give effective performances. It avoids the histrionics that tend to define a lot of other apocalyptic films. This is not a film that’s going to convert anyone but it does a good enough job creating an atmosphere of paranoia and growing dread that it works as a thriller.

October Positivity: Holyman Undercover (dir by David A.R. White)

Posted on October 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2010’s Holyman Undercover, David A.R. White plays Roy. Roy is an 18 year-old Amish dude from Kansas. It’s time for him to experience Rumspringa, a period in which he can live life amongst “the English” and decide whether or not he wants to commit to being Amish. Roy decides to go Los Angeles so he can track down his uncle and work with him as a missionary.

Roy struggles in Los Angeles. Giving money to one homeless man leads to him nearly getting mugged. When he meets his uncle, he discovers that Brian (also played by David A.R. White) is now a struggling actor who has a taste for cocaine. (Brian claims that he’s a holyman working undercover.) Accompanying Brian to an audition leads to Roy getting cast as Satan on a primetime soap opera. His wife is played by vapid supermodel Tiffany Towers (Jennifer Lyons). Meanwhile, the show’s producer is a former country girl named Annie (Andrea Logan White) and soon, Roy is having fantasies about Annie dressing up like an Amish woman and dancing in a field with him. However, the head of the network (Fred Willard) wants Roy to date Tiffany because it’ll be good publicity for the show.

Throughout it all, Roy remains innocent and confused about the modern world. He’s never watched television. He doesn’t know how to use a phone. He doesn’t understand what a credit card is. He’s earnest and honest to a fault and, even after Tiffany makes out with him, he continues to insist that he only has eyes for Annie.

Of course, in reality, I imagine that the typical Amish person knows how to use a phone. I imagine that they probably also know what a television is and they probably even understand that you’re expected to pay your credit card debt. The Amish may choose to reject a good deal of the modern world but that doesn’t mean that they don’t know what the modern world is. But this film isn’t meant to be a realistic portrayal of the Amish or of Hollywood or of really anything.

Indeed, I’m not really sure what to make of this film. It’s faith-based and it ends with Roy delivering a simple message about loving others but the film’s humor is often rather mean-spirited and there’s several jokes that are more than a little racist and homophobic. (Japanese tourists take pictures while shouting, “Godzilla!” When Brian ends up in jail, his cellmate is a hulking black man who says his name is Beef because “it’s what’s for dinner.”) David A.R. White is not bad as Roy but his performance as Brian is incredibly shrill and there’s really no reason, beyond ego, for director White to have cast himself in both roles.

Probably the best thing that one can say about the film is that the name actors — Fred Willard, Clint Howard, Edie McClurg, and Staci Keanan — all manage to survive with their dignity intact. Indeed, the highlight of the film is, believe it or not, John Schneider earnestly playing himself as the actor who replaces Roy as Satan and who then promptly launches a presidential campaign. “The country’s going to Hell anyway!” he says, with just the right amount of self-awareness.

Interestingly enough, the film does end with one particularly prophetic scene, as Roy and Annie leave Hollywood to produce an Amish dating show. Tiffany moves with them to the farm and a group of Amish men compete for her hand in marriage. Farmer Wants A Wife, anyone?

October Positivity: Hidden Secrets (by Carey Scott)

Posted on October 8, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2006’s Hidden Secrets takes place over the course of one very long weekend.

The death of their friend Chris has reunited a group of acquaintances, who gather for the funeral and then end up staying with Chris’s sister, Sherry (Tracy Melchior), for the weekend. The men gather on her roof and hammer tiles. The women …. well, for the most part, the women are just portrayed as being catty and judgmental.

For instance, Rhonda (Autumn Paul), who is married to Christian book author Harold (Gregg Brinkley), is offended that Gary (John Schneider) is doing stem cell research and is a Jewish agnostic who spends most of his time challenging Rhonda’s super-strict interpretation of the Bible. Interestingly enough, considering that this is a Pureflix film, Rhonda is not portrayed in a positive light and Gary usually gets the better of her in their arguments. Rhonda even apologizes at the end for being so judgmental. Of course, since this is a Pureflix film, Gary still ends up converting.

Pastor Jeremy (David A.R. White) is dating reporter Rachel (Staci Keanan). Rachel suspects that Jeremy is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, Sherry. Rachel is correct. You have to feel bad for Rachel, who certainly deserved better than she got in this movie. Jeremy and Rachel end up sharing a bed at Sherry’s house, which freaks Jeremy out because he’s all about abstinence.

Michael (Corin Nemec) is a gay Christian who practices celibacy and whose main function seems to be to offer people advice.

Anthony (Sean Sedgwick) is a rough and tumble guy who shows up with his latest girlfriend, Sally (Rachael Lampa), and who takes her out dancing for her birthday, even though Rhonda says that Christians shouldn’t dance.

The film follows these characters over the weekend, basically doing a Big Chill sort of thing. Rhonda judges everyone. Gary is sarcastic. Jeremy is torn between Sherry and Rachel. The night of dancing for Sally’s birthday turns into an extended scene where Anthony, Jeremy, and Harold take to the stage and perform a song. It all wraps up with everyone confessing their fears during a church service and I have to admit that I felt sorry for all the people at the church who probably didn’t have the slightest idea why one group of people suddenly hijacked the service to discuss their own problems.

As far as PureFlix films go, this one was well-made and it actually did have some potential. No one was completely right and no one was completely wrong. The main message seemed to be accept and love one another. That said, it also had some fairly serious flaws. John Schneider doesn’t give a bad performance but he was still miscast as a Jewish abortionist. I love Corin Nemec and he gave one of the better performances in Hidden Secrets but the film used his character to promote the destructive “ex-gay” movement and it’s difficult not to be bothered by that. And finally, the resolution of Sherry/Jeremy/Rachel love triangle left me feeling that Jeremy was essentially a terrible, self-absorbed person. I don’t think that was what the film was going for but, regardless….

Hidden Secrets is an uneven film, to say the least. At its best, it made me miss some of my old friends. It’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together. Hopefully, when we next see each other, it won’t be at another funeral.

October Positivity: The Wager (dir by Judson Pearce Morgan)

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2007’s The Wager, Randy Travis plays Michael Steele, an Oscar-nominated actor who….

Stop laughing, that’s not nice.

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that Randy Travis is not exactly the first person that I would cast as an Oscar-nominated actor. And, I’ll also be the first to admit that having Randy Travis act in this film makes it even harder to believe him as someone who could someday be nominated for an Oscar. A lot of country music stars have tried their hand at acting and most of them have been able to survive on the basis of their own authenticity. But there’s nothing authentic about Travis’s performance here. Even when he picks up a guitar and sings a song about the difficulties that he’s facing, he’s not convincing. In this, it’s not so much that Travis is a stiff actor as he just seems to evaporate whenever he’s on screen.

As for the film, Michael Steele is an actor who is known for his strong faith and his refusal to do sex scenes. When a director (Bronson Pinchot) throws a fit over Steele’s refusal to shoot once such scene, Steele says that he’ll do the scene but only if it’s followed by a scene in which his co-star has to deal with being a single mother. OUCH! Michael Steele seems like he’s fun at parties….

(Apparently, it doesn’t occur to Michael that his character could wear a condom.)

Wait a minute. This guy has the same name as that jackass who is always on the news talking about how he’s a Republican who thinks everyone should vote for the Democrats. I wonder if that’s intentional. Anyway….

Michael Steele’s career has had its up and downs. His recent divorce from Annie (Nancy Stafford) has damaged his family friendly image. But his Oscar nomination and the fact that he’s expected to win has once again made the world’s most popular star. But then — scandal! A tabloid photographer snaps a picture of Michael talking to a young actress at his house. In the background, a little kid watches. Now, the kid is a part of the Big Brother program and Michael was just trying to help the younger woman with her career but it doesn’t matter. Soon, Michael finds himself being portrayed as being some sort of pervert. When he punches a photographer, he finds himself getting arrested — RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS CHURCH!

Now, as you may have guessed, this is yet another retelling of the story of Job, with Michael having his faith tested by one disaster after another. He doesn’t lose his faith and, as a result, he wins both an Oscar and he also becomes a hero when he rescues the kid from the Big Brother program from his abusive stepfather. Anyone who thinks that God wouldn’t have a hand in who wins an Oscar obviously did not listen to Will Smith’s acceptance speech.

The Wager is a film that would probably not be made today. Today, you’re not likely to see a socially conservative, faith-based film where a successful actor is wrongly accused of being a pervert. Then again, you also probably wouldn’t see a politically liberal film in which a successful white male actor was wrong accused of being an abuser, not in today’s cultural climate. On both the Left and the Right, attitudes towards Hollywood have changed. Beyond the film’s political and cultural subtext, its portrait of the Oscars as being the most important event of the year also feels rather old-fashioned. I imagine it felt old-fashioned in 2007 as well….

Then again, this is a film in which Randy Travis plays the best actor of his generation so perhaps it’s best not to take any of it too seriously. The miscasting of Travis pretty much sabotages the movie from the start but, on the positive side, Bronon Pinchot is amusing as a bitchy director and Jude Ciccolella has a few good scenes as Michael’s supportive agent. Give those men an Oscar!

Insomnia File #38: Six: The Mark Unleashed (dir by Kevin Downes)

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

What’s an Insomnia File? You know how some times you just can’t get any sleep and, at about three in the morning, you’ll find yourself watching whatever you can find on cable? This feature is all about those insomnia-inspired discoveries!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1pd9Jr_bgA

If on Sunday night, if you were having trouble getting to sleep around midnight and if you lived in North Texas, you could have turned over to channel 58 and watched a 2004 film called Six: The Mark Unleashed.

Six: The Mark Unleashed is an evangelical film about the end of the world. By that, I mean there’s a lot of talk about tribulation, the mark of the Beast, and all the rest of that. The whole world is one big secular dystopia, in which people who refuse to accept the mark of the beast are sent to prison and given the choice of either getting the mark or getting their head chopped off.

I think one reason why so many faith-based films deal with the end of the world is because it allows characters to rebel, break the law, blow stuff up, and steal cars while still getting to remain a believer. I mean, usually, you run into the problems of turning the other cheek and giving unto Caesar what is Caesar’s but, once you’ve been left behind, you can pretty much do anything you want because you’re fighting against Satan.

Now, admittedly, the car thieves in Six aren’t into religion. They’re just rebels who didn’t want to get the mark and who are talked into stealing a car by Eric Roberts. (That’s right, Eric Roberts is in this movie. Eventually, Eric Roberts will be in every movie.) Anyway, the two thieves get caught in that stolen car and they get sent to prison.

Also getting sent to prison is Tow Newman, who is a smuggler who was arrested by his own ex-wife! Tom is given the option of either losing his head or infiltrating a group of Christians and killing their leader. What’s interesting about this is that Tom is played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan. That’s right. Negan is in this movie! Morgan goes all in and does a pretty good job as Tom. In fact, I’d say his performance here is more interesting than his work on The Walking Dead. It helps, of course, that Tom is the only person in the film who actually has a character arc.

Stephen Baldwin’s in the movie, too. That’s not really a shock because it’s a proven statistic that 9 out of 10 evangelical movies will feature Stephen Baldwin. Anyway, Baldwin plays Luke, who is a prison preacher and who teaches everyone about peace and forgiveness. He gets beat up for his troubles.

In the end, it all leads to three characters being tortured until they agree to accept the mark of the beast. Two of them refuse and lose their heads. One says yes and regrets it forever. Try to guess who does what! It’s fun.

Anyway, I have to admit that I always find these low-budget, independent films to be a little bit fascinating. It’s always interesting to me to see movies that were obviously made with one very specific audience in mind, whether that audiences is religious, political, or whatever. Six is the type of film that, quite literally, preaches to the choir. Those who share its vision of the end of the world will nod in agreement. Those who do not will roll their eyes. Both sides will probably end up getting too worked up, since that’s what people tend to do. Myself, I just find myself wondering if there’s any role that Eric Roberts would turn down.