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In Seven Cemeteries, a recent parolee (Danny Trejo) gets a Mexican witch to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman's ranch from a ruthless drug lord.

The movie also stars Sal Lopez, Samantha Ashley, Efren Ramirez, Vincent M. Ward, Lew Temple, Richard Esteras, and Maria Canals-Barrera, and is every bit as delightfully bonkers as it sounds. 

You don't need us to tell you that Trejo is an icon and his many credits include the likes of Con Air, Machete, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Breaking Bad, and Dusk till Dawn. Earlier this week, we had the good fortune to sit down with Danny to discuss his role as Bravo in this action-packed supernatural romp from filmmaker John Gulager.

During our interview, Trejo reflects on his extraordinary career, revealing what brings him back to this genre again and again. And, for this project, he talks...

Almost twenty years ago, viewers of the Project Greenlight reality TV series got to watch as John Gulager was hired to direct the creature feature Feast for a producing team that included Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Wes Craven. Feast went over well enough that Gulager was brought back to helm back-to-back sequels, Feast II: Sloppy Seconds and Feast III: The Happy Finish. Since then, he has gone on to direct Piranha 3Dd, Zombie Night, and Children of the Corn: Runaway. His latest movie is the action thriller Seven Cemeteries, which was just given a theatrical and digital release today, October 11th, and on Amazon it’s available to rent for the price of $6.99 or purchase for $14.99. To help you decide whether or not Seven Cemeteries is a movie you’d like to check out, we have the trailer embedded above.

Directed by Gulager from a screenplay he crafted with Joel Soisson,...

The director of the Feast trilogy as well as Piranha 3Dd, John Gulager is back with Se7en Cemeteries, an upcoming horror movie from Quiver Distribution starring Danny Trejo.

Se7en Cemeteries will be available in select theaters and on VOD October 11, 2024.

Watch the official trailer below, which sees Danny Trejo raising an army of the dead.

In the upcoming horror movie, “A recent parolee (Danny Trejo) gets a Mexican witch to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman’s ranch from a ruthless drug lord.”

Danny Trejo stars alongside Sal Lopez, Samantha Ashley, Efren Ramirez, Vincent M. Ward, Lew Temple, Richard Esteras and Maria Canals-Barrera.

Joel Soisson and John Gulager wrote the screenplay.

The post ‘Se7en Cemeteries’ Trailer – Danny Trejo Raises the Dead in ‘Feast’ Director’s New Horror Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

"Save this lady's farm – job's done." Quiver Distr. has revealed an official trailer for an indie horror comedy called Seven Cemeteries, made by filmmaker John Gulager (a Project Greenlight winner who also made Feast and Piranha 3Dd previously). As with everything else horror, this is set for release in October in time for the horror season. A recent parolee named Bravo gets a Mexican witch to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman's ranch from a ruthless drug lord. The film is loosely inspired by The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, as he tries to round up his old gang to get revenge... But of course it's hard to wrangle the (un)dead. Danny Trejo stars as Bravo, with Sal Lopez, Samantha Ashley, Efren Ramirez, Vincent M. Ward, Lew Temple, and Richard Esteras. Not much to see here. Even though they tried to make this all big & crazy,...

Quiver Distribution is releasing John Gulager's action, and I guess horror, Seven Cemetaries in theaters, on Digital and On Demand on October 11th, 2024. It stars everyone's favorite Mexican resteraunteur, Danny Trejo, along with Sal Lopez, Samantha Ashley, Efren Ramirez, Vincent M. Ward, Lew Temple, Richard Esteras and Maria Canals-Barrera. A recent parolee gets a Mexican witch to resurrect his old posse so that they can help him save a woman's ranch from a ruthless drug lord. Ah, we see what they've done here, they're making Seven Samurai, but with zombies. And guns. Should be good for a laugh. The official trailer came out this week. Take a look below. ...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Update: The Popcorn Frights festival in Florida has revealed that there will be a special presentation of the “lost cut” of Return of the Living Dead III at 10pm on August 10th at the Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale, with director Brian Yuzna in attendance!

The original article follows:

Several years ago, director Brian Yuzna’s Return of the Living Dead III (watch it Here) got a great special edition Blu-ray release as part of the Vestron Video Collector’s Series… but now a discovery has been made that has fans of the film hoping for a new release as soon as possible: a VHS tape of the “first cut” of Return of the Living Dead III, featuring almost 8 minutes of additional, never before seen footage, has been unearthed! That tape is now in the hands of filmmaker Dustin Ferguson, who took to social media to share a picture of the tape,...

Quentin Tarantino‘s 1994 sophomore feature Pulp Fiction wasn’t just a major break out hit. It changed the face of cinema in the 1990s, both by helping bring attention to indie and foreign films, and by inspiring a host imitators. When audiences lined up to watch Tarantino’s bloody, whip-smart movie, studios rushed to fill theaters and video stores with more stories about loquacious hitmen, monologuing bank robbers, and foul-mouthed gun molls.

In most cases, these knockoffs provided cheap thrills, heavy on the violence and pop-cultural references but low on Tarantino’s sense of composition and ear for unique dialogue. In the best cases, Pulp Fiction‘s success made way for other great movies to get made, oddball films ignored by the studios until Tarantino convinced them that they could make money.

Here are the fifteen best Pulp Fiction influenced movies of the 1990s, those that stand on their own...

Exclusive: Cameron Cowperthwaite and newcomer Madeline Sinclair star as the co-leads in Jon Shaivitz’s feature directorial debut Roses on the Vine. Shaivitz also penned the screenplay and is producing. The film was recently selected as one of the first forty films to successfully acquire SAG-AFTRA’s Interim Agreement this year during the SAG-AFTRA strike. Production recently wrapped in Los Angeles, CA. The film is currently in the process of finding distribution.

Roses on the Vine follows the story of a single dad food delivery gig worker with a checkered past and his mischievous 7-year-old daughter as they crisscross Los Angeles on his scooter each day to do whatever it takes to scrape by. Cowperthwaite will play the role of Billy, the single dad, and Sinclair will play Hazel, his mischievous daughter. Also, starring in the film is Tonatiuh (Promised Land/Carry On), who will play Cosmo, Billy’s ambitious best friend and neighbor,...

Jackrabbit Media is presenting the supernatural horror film Baby Blue to potential international distributors at the European Film Market. Directed by Adam Mason, the movie is already set to receive a North American release from XYZ Film sometime this spring.

Mason wrote the screenplay with Simon Boyes, crafting the story of a group of teens who stumble across the story of the dead serial killer Baby Blue. When they turn him into the subject of a podcast they soon learn that his murder spree never ended and they are being targeted from beyond the grave.

Filmed in Los Angeles and produced by Microdose Entertainment, Baby Blue stars Dylan Sprayberry (Sick), Lia McHugh (Eternals), Michole Briana White (Malignant), Ally Ioannides (Synchronic), Cyrus Arnold (Mr. Harrigan’s Phone), Aramis Knight (Ms. Marvel), Oliver Cooper (Project X), Khylin Rhambo (47 Meters Down: Uncaged), Anthony Turpel (Play Dead), Sal Lopez (Return of the Living Dead III...

Gravitas Juan Martinez Vera made feature directing debut on migrant worker drama.

Italy-based IuviT Media Sales has picked up international sales rights at EFM for Aidan Quinn drama Spiked about the injustices that immigrant workers experience along the US-Mexico border

Screen has obtained an exclusive first-look from the film about a newspaper publisher fighting for justice for the family of a worker killed in a border town. Facing obstacles at every turn including unhelpful law enforcement, the publisher is beset by a sudden illness as issues with his wife bubble up at home.

Deirdre Lovejoy plays the local head of...

Here's a film that will soon be streaming and belongs on your radar, especially if you relish independent horror movies: The Old Ways, from the people who made The Mortuary Collection. Heading to Netflix on August 25, The Old Ways debuted at the Sitges Film Festival last year, which seems like an eternity ago. Directed by Christopher Alender and written by Marcos Gabriel, the film stars Brigitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortés, Julia Vera, Sal Lopez, and Aj Bowen. What's it about, you ask, because you are a fan of independent horror movies and/or Aj Bowen? According to the official synopsis: "When Cristina Lopez -- a Mexican American reporter -- returns to her ancestral homeland of Veracruz chasing a story on witchcraft and faith healers, she...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

"We want to sue the police... but we need witnesses." Gravitas Ventures has released an official trailer for an indie film titled Spiked, from filmmaker Juan Vera Martinez. He was inspired to make the film after hearing real-life stories of immigrants suffering abuse of power from law enforcement agencies some 20-years ago and incredibly moved by how relevant these stories are today as immigrant families continue to grapple with inhumane and unjust treatment over and over. When the murder of a migrant worker shakes a southwest border town to its core, the feud between a newspaper owner and the chief of police leads to the blurring of the truth and a dirty fight for justice. The film stars Aidan Quinn, Deirdre Lovejoy, Carlos Gomez, Danay Garcia, Wendy Makkena, Lovensky Jean-Baptiste, Walter Belenky, Sal Lopez, and Christopher Rich. It looks like a powerful drama about the struggles of many immigrants these days.

Stars: Brigitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortés, Julia Vera, Sal Lopez, Aj Bowen, Weston Meredith | Written by Marcos Gabriel | Directed by Christopher Alender

Directed by Christopher Alender, this US-produced horror offers a Latin American twist on the standard possession story. The result is an engaging and unsettling horror that successfully gets under your skin and throws in some strong allegorical resonance for good measure.

After a short prologue, The Old Ways opens with a bold move, whereby the story ditches the usual character introduction and set-up in favour of jumping straight into the action. American – but Mexico-born – journalist Cristina (Brigitte Kali Canales) awakens to find herself tied up and held against her will in a small room. It quickly transpires that she’s been kidnapped by a group of mysterious locals – including Luz (Julia Vera) and her adult son Javi (Sal Lopez) – who believe that she’s possessed by a demon...

At some point over the last ten or fifteen years there was a huge commercial boom in possession movies. It felt like suddenly every horror with even the tiniest whiff of supernatural about it was trying to be the new Exorcist, squashing watered-down religious chicanery into everything from cheap found-footage moulds to studio level haunted house movies. For the most part, they were white and western as ever, and very few came even close to scratching the surface of what Williams Friedkin and Blatty managed several decades earlier with their seminal Best Picture nominee.

The Old Ways is ironically, a new breed, however. A very different type of possession movie that comes a helluva lot closer to what The Exorcist got so fundamentally right all those years ago. It is, of course, a horror movie through-and-through, with nasty jumps and plenty of gnarly, go-for-broke bumps to boot. But Christopher Alender...

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, has acquired North American rights to distribute writer/director Juan Martinez Vera’s Spiked. The pic will be produced by Per Melita. Aidan Quinn, Deirdre Lovejoy, Carlos Gomez, Danay Garcia, Wendy Makkena, Lovensky Jean-Baptiste, Walter Belenky. Sal Lopez, and Christopher Rich star in this indie feature drama. Joe Soldwedel and Brett Soldwedel serve as executive producers.

On March 26th, Gravitas will launch the film across multiple VOD platforms, including Amazon Prime, Apple iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, Vimeo, Gravitas Movies, and release on SVOD platforms to follow later this year.

Spiked is a dramatic story rooted in the injustices that immigrant workers experience along the U.S./Mexico border. Principal photography on the indie feature was completed in 2019 on location in and around southern Arizona.

“Anchored by an outstanding performance by Aidan Quinn, Juan’s film integrates issues around immigration, law enforcement, and...

"They have seen something inside you." An early festival teaser trailer has unveiled for an indie horror film titled The Old Ways, from filmmaker Christopher Alender. This is premiering at the Sitges Film Festival this month, which is why this trailer is being released to build more buzz after its debut. The film follows Cristina Lopez, as played by Brigitte Kali Canales, a Mexican American reporter who goes back to her homeland of Veracruz in Mexico chasing a story on witchcraft and faith healers. But then she becomes the subject of her own story, kidnapped by a local "bruja" and her son. The indie cast includes Andrea Cortés, Julia Vera, Sal Lopez, Aj Bowen, Weston Meredith, & Julian Lerma. This is just a first look teaser, but there's enough creepy footage to give me a jolt. Snakes...! Why'd it have to be snakes?! Tread carefully. Here's the first teaser trailer (+ festival...

A cop thriller promoted as the first Latino superhero movie, “El Chicano” would seem to be arriving at the right time, with “Avengers: Endgame” having made the genre appear fail-proof and “Black Panther” recently proving that an ethnocentric tilt is among the paths to success. But Ben Hernandez Bray’s long-aborning debut feature, co-written with producer Joe Carnahan, turns out to be a pretty weak kickoff to a would-be franchise. It’s hardly fair to expect the production values of those top-shelf major studio efforts, but the problem here isn’t the fairly apparent budgetary limits — it’s the limitations of style and imagination.

Launching on 600 screens nationwide, “El Chicano” isn’t much distinguished by the fact that our less-than-super police hero sometimes wears an identity-hiding mask. Nevertheless, if the box office cooperates, the boilerplate origin story could at least lead to sequels that hopefully take greater risks and demonstrate more personality.

"I tried doing what's good... Now, I have to do what's right. I have to become this." Briarcliff Ent. has debuted an official trailer for a crime drama titled El Chicano, from stuntman / filmmaker Ben Hernandez Bray. This premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year, and also played at the Austin Film Festival. El Chicano is about twin brothers Diego and Pedro from East L.A., who go their separate ways. Diego becomes a cop, and Pedro a criminal. However, when clues connected to Pedro's death connect to a case of Diego's, a mysterious masked vigilante from their youth, "El Chicano", resurfaces. Starring Raúl Castillo (from We the Animals) as both Diego and Pedro, along with Aimee Garcia, Jose Pablo Cantillo, David Castañeda, Marco Rodríguez, Sal Lopez, Kate del Castillo, and George Lopez. Looks pretty good. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Ben Hernandez Bray's El Chicano,...

Joe Carnahan, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Frank Grillo producing.

The Exchange has come on board to handle international sales at the Afm on Latino superhero film El Chicano featuring a powerhouse Latino cast led by Raúl Castillo and Kate del Castillo and based on a screenplay co-written by The A-Team director Joe Carnahan.

Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment will handle Us distribution on the feature, which also stars George Lopez, Aimee Garcia (Dexter), and Emilio Rivera.

Ben Hernandez Bray will direct El Chicano, about a police officer (Castillo) in East Los Angeles drawn into events surrounding the death of his ex-con...

Exclusive: Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to El Chicano, a Latino superhero film with an all-Hispanic cast that just had its premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. It’s the second film for Briarcliff, the upstart distribution venture launched by Open Road founder Tom Ortenberg, after just opening Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9. El Chicano will be released theatrically on March 22, 2019, and sources said the target is 600-800 screens.

El Chicano marks the feature film directorial debut of 25-year veteran stuntman Ben Hernandez Bray, who co-wrote the script with Joe Carnahan. Carnahan produced with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Carnahan’s WarParty partner Frank Grillo. It’s the first wide release for WarParty and its Calgary-based equity partner WarChest.

The action film tells the story of twin brothers Diego and Pedro (both played by Raúl Castillo), who grew up together on the streets of East Los Angeles. As adults,...

All are first features by wildly original voices who are remixing potent multi-cultural heritage and inventing their own unique brand of genre. So much talent! Makes this Chicanita so proud!

Let’s start with numero uno:

1. Water & Power – from Chicano wordsmith warrior and Culture Clash iconoclast, Richard J. Montoya and produced by Mark Roberts. This is the screen adaptation of Montoya's 2006 play originally performed at the Mark Taper Forum in La. Rife with The City of Angels' legends, haunts and lore, the Chicano noir tale (how cool is that?) takes place over the course of one fateful night. An intense story centered on twin brothers nicknamed “Water” played by Enrique Murciano and “Power” played by Nicolas Gonzalez who were born and raised on the East Side streets playground - one grows up to be a senator and the other a high ranking cop. The young gifted musical artist and composer Gingger Shankar (Circumstance, Charlie Wilson's War) has contributed music to the film. The project participated in the 2007 Sundance Institute screenwriters & directors lab. A madly prolific playwright (a regular Berkeley and Yale Repertory Theatre collaborator), I got a chance to see Montoya's uproarious American history redux play, American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose last fall (read the La Weekly feature review here). An uncompromising artist with a thundering voice all over the culture pop pulse, Montoya's first feature film tops my list of films to watch out for in 2013. Can. Not. Wait.

Like the Facebook page to stay on top of future premiere announcements and here's a pic on Mark Roberts website

Film contact: <mark@robertsdavid.com>

2. Pardon – written and directed by R.F. Rodriguez and produced by his production company BadMansSon. A story that deals with a cholo ex-con who returns to his barrio in Highland Park and sets to go on the straight and narrow but soon finds himself pulled by his old gang familia may sound familiar, but never has it been as emotionally excavated and depicted with such sensitivity and complexity. Hector Atreyu Ruizis Saul Sanchez whose driving motivation is the chance to reunite with his estranged daughter. Guided by a sympathetic parole officer, played by Tracey Heggins (from the 2008 indie African-American gem (Medicine for Melancholy), Saul tackles catch-22 circumstances towards his mission and confronts growing uneasiness from his vatos who continue to test if he's still down. At its core the film is an exploration about fatherhood and home, in particular highlighting the social phenomenon of absentee fathers because they are behind bars, an issue predominantly afflicting Latino families and communities.

Rodriguez, a USC film school grad, made the feature before graduating, having fleshed the story further out of the short film he made of the same name. His project mentor, Patricia Cardoso (Real Women Have Curves) encouraged him to do more with it and this is the amazing result. With earnest and raw performances, the moving and powerfully directed film marks this a sign of a true filmmaker talent discovery.

Website, Twitter

Film contact <contact@badmansson.com>

3. Recommended By Enrique written and directed by Daniel Garcia and Rania Attieh and produced by their NY based company En Passant Films. Shot in border town Del Rio, Texas (the U.S. side of the Rio Grande) with an offbeat hipster cast of young non-professionals plucked locally, the quirky, mystical tale is about an aspiring actress and an old cowboy who each arrive into town with respective plans and expectations, only to end up waiting for something to happen. Forced to wait out their time, they've nothing to do but explore the bewitching town and its people. Lino Varela plays the Cowboy and Sarah Swinwood, a Canadian newcomer actress nails the airhead wannabe star.

This is the second feature film from Texas native Daniel Garcia and Lebanese born Rania. Their first film, Ok, Enough, Goodbye screened at San Francisco International Film Festival among other world wide festivals, and the duo were included in 2011's Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Undertones of a Twilight Zone type of dimension and the spellbinding pull of the dusty town are perfect captured - as anyone who's been in these strange little Texas towns can attest. An unexpected, unpredictable and ultimately lyrical film, this definitely gets my recommendation.

Website, Facebook

Film contact < info@recommendedbyenrique.com>

4. Vincent & Luzy (Fka On the Run) written and directed by Alberto Barboza and produced by Cinético Productions. A charming, hip and modern fairy tale love story between a soulful graffiti artist,Vincent, played by Miguel Angel Caballero, and sexy tattoo artist, Luz, or Luzy played by Iliana Carter Ramirez. The film captures and romanticizes the happening, multi-culti rockabilly/emo scene and counter culture of Boyle Heights and Echo Parque, and features lots of home grown talent and spots like Self Help Graphics, the community visual arts mission center. The posters created by Vincent in the film are designed by La native, rising street artist, El Mac (Miles MacGregor). You'll recognize some of his murals around La like this one on Hollywood and Wilton, one of my favorites. He just did the album cover for No Doubt.

An eclectic soundtrack featuring local Vallenato band, Very Be Careful, Hermanos Herrera, Irene Diaz, Doghouse Lords and more. The cast also includes ol' G', Sal Lopez (American Me) and Lupe Ontiveros in what may be her last film role before she passed away last year (she also has a small role in Water & Power).

Fresh, exuberant and inhabiting a distinct, heightened magical street reality, Vincent & Luzy might be the first film to truly reflect this young, vibrant artist subculture, making this one a hot to track.

Film contact: info@CineticoProductions.com

Website

5. Blaze You Out – written and directed by Mateo Frazier and Diego Joaquin Lopez and produced by Alicia J. Keyes. Set in the rarely seen mystic world of New Mexico, this young female driven thriller is uniquely atmospheric. Starring the rising young talent, Veronica Diaz Carranza (Mamitas) along with Elizabeth Pena, Q'orianka Kilcher and Raoul Trujillo, all who ignite the screen. Diaz stars as Lupe, a DJ who is forced to venture into her town's heroin trade underworld in order to save her younger sister Alicia's life. To do so she must confront mysterious occult figures and harness the power within her to connect with the divine that surrounds her.

I was thrilled to hear that Lionsgate picked up the film at Afm a couple months ago. Lionsgate/Grindstone will release the film July 2013. 6 Sales is handling rights to rest of world. Intense and wicked and unlike anything else this is a film to look forward to. In the meantime, check out the press kit, pics and more on their site.

Website, Facebook

Must Mention

Chavez – written and directed by Diego Luna and produced by Canana Films, Mr. Mudd and backed by Participant Media. The biography of an iconic Chicano figure, labor rights activist Cesar Chavez, and Luna, who is an international name talent, has obviously been given major press coverage ever since it was first announced so it doesn't really fit my 'Discovery' profile. That said, it is a highly anticipated and eagerly awaited film. I truly hope the film opens wide and mainstream - although Participant will likely need a partner to make this happen in the U.S. Michael Peña, the Puerto Rican actor catapulting towards leading man roles and more regularly Hollywood roles (he's also in Gangster Squad opening this weekend), embodies a young Chavez. It wasn’t quite ready for Sundance so it’s possible the film will bow at a high profile festival like Cannes or Toronto. Although I'm hoping Stephanie Allain, director of Film Independent's La Film Festival will go hard after the film to wrangle what would be a fitting La gala premiere. Diego Luna proved his salt as the filmmaker of Abel, an eloquent and heart-stirring portrait of a little delusional boy who pretends to be the man of the house since his father left. Peña recently shared his approach was to be truthful to Cesar the Man not necessarily the legend or myth generated by his colossal perseverance and labor rights feats. All eyes will be on the representation of such a querido and influential figure. My bet? All in. I trust the filmmakers and cast will deliver a resonant and accomplished cinematic film worthy of the inspiring civil rights story, and more importantly re-introduce Chavez to mobilize our millennial generation.

Do you have a hot independent American Latino film recommendation I should track? Holler at your girl. Email me at chicanafromchicago@gmail.com

Next up, Non-Fiction American Latino films to track in 2013...

Groom, Charlie (Charlie Koznick) doesn't turn up to his wedding and his groomsmen are missing too. The bride-to-be, Kim (Alexa Havins) says if he doesn't show he'd "better be dead or dying." Naturally she'd have to make that comment and then take it back. A call is made where it appears there are two DBs in a bloodied fountain. They're not dead, but the missing groomsmen; Jack (Tug Coker) and Sean (Greg Winter). Tripp (Rex Linn) says the blood in the fountain is human, from their clothes, but it's not theirs. Horatio (David Caruso) says "someone's dead." Calleigh (Emily Procter) asks for Charlie's brush and a photo so they can check the blood for his DNA. Calleigh gets the last line before the opening credits now, which was always left to Horatio in the past. Natalia (Eva Larue) takes a sample from the fountain for analysis and to check the DNA.

"Luminarias" zeros in on one of the most invisible groups in America -- the professional Latina. This romantic comedy focuses on four such women, upwardly mobile in their careers but in a perpetual nose dive in their love lives. And while the film is based on a play, it seldom betrays its theatrical origins. The film has an easy flow that lets director Jose Luis Valenzuela gracefully move from subplot to subplot, dropping in on these women at crucial junctures in their messy, soap opera-like lives.

But the real question is, will one of the most invisible groups in America show up to support such a film? One recent male-oriented Latin-themed film, "Price of Glory", proved resistible to Latinos in general, while another, "The Other Conquest", has performed well at the boxoffice. But no movie has really targeted Latinas in any big way.

New Latin Pictures, a distribution company that releases

English-language pictures primarily to Hispanics -- their first release was "Nueba Yol" in 1996 -- insists that such an audience does exist. If so, the Cinco de Mayo release of "Luminarias" will need the support of considerable media buys to make Latinos aware of this low-profile picture. Chances for crossover appear unlikely, but the film may do well in some overseas markets.

The film's star, Evelina Fernandez, who is married to helmer Valenzuela, developed the script first as a play for the Latino Theater Company at the Los Angeles Theater Center and then as this independently produced film.

"Luminarias" is the name of an East Los Angeles restaurant where these women gather to quaff tequila and dish. Fernandez plays Andrea, an attorney going through a divorce from a philandering husband (Robert Beltran). When she finds herself falling for a fellow attorney who's Jewish (Scott Bakula), she must confront her own intolerance of gringos.

Conversely, Sofia (Marta Du Bois), a shrink who lives on the Westside, puts all her energy into fitting into Anglo society. That is, until a waiter from the restaurant, Pablo (Sal Lopez), who can barely speak English, gently woos her.

Irene (Dyana Ortelli), a clothing designer who has given up sex for Lent, equally distrusts Anglos even as she insists that her drag queen brother (Geoff Rivas) isn't gay, just "confused."

Visual artist Lilly (Angela Moya) tries to overcome her penchant for undocumented workers "who don't work" -- as her girlfriends put it -- by taking up with a lonely Korean-American businessman (Andrew C. Lim).

The film mainly concentrates on Andrea. This includes her relationship with her future ex, her new lover and a client (Seidy Lopez), who becomes more embroiled in her life than she should.

The three other roles are more sketchily portrayed, so don't look for much insight into their troubled psyches. The film hugs the surface, relying on schematic comedy and bumper-sticker catch phrases for its social commentary. Despite its centrality to the story, Fernandez doesn't really explore the mistrust between Latinos and Anglos beyond using this as a source of conflict between her characters.

The writer and Valenzuela, who are partnered with Sal Lopez in Sleeping Giant Prods., clearly intend to keep things light. This means bypassing an opportunity to explore such intriguing issues as the role of professional women in a culture often ruled by machismo and people's reactions to interracial dating beyond "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" gasps.

Mostly, Valenzuela maintains a party atmosphere with lot of margaritas (boy, can these girls drink), upbeat music and repeated visits to Luminarias.

And other than a show-off four-minute tracking shot that opens the film, Valenzuela is content to let his wife be the star, both as an actress and writer. Technical credits sometimes reflect the low budget -- the film reportedly cost less than $1 million -- but are always professional.

LUMINARIAS

New Latin Pictures

Sleeping Giant Prods. in association

with July Street Entertainment

Producer: Sal Lopez

Director: Jose Luis Valenzuela

Screenwriter: Evelina Fernandez

Based on a play by: Evelina Fernandez

Director of photography: Alex Phillips

Production designer: Patssi Valdez

Music: Eric Allaman

Co-producer: Mina Vasquez

Costume designer: Bernie White

Editors: Terilyn Shropshire, Jeff Koontz

Color/stereo

Cast:

Andrea: Evelina Fernandez

Joseph: Scott Bakula

Sofia: Marta Du Bois

Lilly: Angela Moya

Irene: Dyana Ortelli

Cindy: Seidy Lopez

Joe: Robert Beltran

Pablo: Sal Lopez

Running time -- 98 minutes

MPAA rating: R...