Dark Meridian (2017)

Dark Meridian: Directed by Rankin Hickman. With Billy Slaughter, Dave Davis, James Moses Black, Jody Mullins. A corrupt New Orleans detective gets caught up in a fight between two criminal gangs while on a stake out. To survive the night, he must find a killer on the run and take him out before the killer reaches his other targets.

“Known primarily (as per his IMDb resume) as u0026#39;Miscellaneous Crewu0026#39; in the film industry, his first time attempt as Writer and Director – Rankin Hickman produced a surprisingly fun and entertaining little gem of a film! I would have never guessed this was his first attempt as director, as he was on point with all the camera shots/angles and captured the scenes quite well and certainly directed his actors to portray their characters perfectly… better than some seasoned directors in recent films Iu0026#39;ve seen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSure, this type of story has been done many times before, but considering this was Hickmanu0026#39;s writing and directorial debut, this is one of the better ones, clearly produced on a budget with no huge Hollywood backing. It even has a nice unexpected twist.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll the actors gave very solid performances, especially James Moses Black, who was very convincing as Detective Spencer Soleno. Even novice film actor Dave Davis as the youngest Marek gave a solid performance. I donu0026#39;t think either of these actors were leads in any major film production before this film (mainly TV shows, extras and short films) and deserve the credit for their performances.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGranted, this is by no means some big budget Hollywood production with A-list actors, but I was still just as entertained. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI really donu0026#39;t have any negative critique for this film, maybe the pace a little slow at times, but the decent score made it vaguely noticeable. The plot had some small issues, but again, this was still very well done for a first-attempt writer.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s refreshing to see up-and-coming talent exploring in new areas of film outside their wheelhouses and succeeding. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWould I see this film again and/or recommend it? Most certainly.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA well deserved 8/10 from me.”