This is the film that was infamously re-released a year later as its own sequel, therefore doubling the revenue. This trick doesn't surprise me, as EMPIRE OF ASH is one of the most wretched films I've seen in a while. I'm a big fan of post-apocalypse movies, but this incredibly awful movie is even worse than the schlocky Filipino 'epic', CLASH OF THE WARLORDS. One reason for this may be that EMPIRE OF ASH was filmed in Canada. Funny, you don't really think of Canada as a place to stage a post-apocalypse epic. America, yes; Great Britain, yes; Italy, of course; the Philippines, South Africa, both yes. Canada? As expected, this is a zero budget 'adventure' that takes place out in the woods somewhere, as a few good people fight against a few evil people in the most routine, predictable and unexciting ways imaginable.
This film ticks all the boxes: awful acting, awful directing, nothing in the way of special effects other than a couple of blood squibs; rubbish looking vehicles and costumes, terrible pacing, no discernible plot, unfunny comedy, and a boring climax. It looks incredibly cheap, but even a high quality version would have been abominable. Usually when I watch poor films I try to find things I like, but there was nothing here. Not even a cheesy shower scene helps. The cast are amateurish in the extreme and the fight scenes nonsensical. It's home movie night through and through and it's a film difficult not to fall asleep through. Amazingly, a proper sequel – EMPIRE OF ASH III – followed, so somebody somewhere must have liked it... but why?
