Director(s) – Vinnie Vineyard (Wrestling with Ghosts, Camp Smokey) and Luke Walker (The Hike, Haunted Graves)
Starring – Travis Graves (Swipe Wrong, Logan’s Chapel), Kandi Thompson (WJHC AM, Tainy My Ride!), and Luke Walker
Release Date – 2026
Rating – 3/5
I love reviewing independent features. I don’t care if they are movies that I like or dislike. It doesn’t matter if it was made for a few dollars to just shy of a million. All that matters to me is that they are made by someone passionate about the project and not just someone wanting to cash in on whatever trend is sweeping through the horror community at the time. Watching an indie movie is an experience that I really enjoy even if the movie wasn’t that great to me.
Sometime ago indie filmmaker Vinnie Vineyard contacted me to review several of his films. The movies that I was lucky enough to review were hit or miss with me. For every movie that I liked, there was one that just wasn’t for me. A few weeks back he reached out to review his newest film which is a sci-fi comedy titled Showdown in Secret City. I wasn’t able to get to it right away and I would like to apologize to Vinnie for the delay on the review.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a small production company when they realize they signed over all their rights when they signed an agreement to have their films streaming in a different country. Now they are forced to film a movie written entirely by AI. They do as instructed for fear of losing their jobs and find themselves responsible for a box office hit. Instead of celebrating, they quickly realize that the company they started for fun is long gone and they are just a cog in an AI machine. **Spoiler Alert**
I knew absolutely nothing about this one prior to giving it a watch. The title didn’t really stir my imagination and the poster did absolutely nothing for me but the film’s tagline really peaked my interest. AI is a huge deal among the indie community and I was really curious to see what that had to do with the film.
The acting in this one is inconsistent but it’s not bad. Some of the scenes have some forced dialogue that is a bit awkward to sit through while other scenes feature a more relaxed cast that is able to deliver dialogue more naturally. The scenes later on in the film is much more genuine and the cast does a much better job interacting with one another.
The story for this one takes some time to get moving but once it does it is surprisingly fun. The beginning 20 or 30 minutes of the film made me think that I was about sit through another film like The Hike. However, I stuck with it and the film did pick up substantially. I loved the way AI was used in the story, the addition of the “porn and cats,” and how people absolutely loved the film made with AI. AI is controversial as hell but we all know how people, especially keyboard warriors, are hypocritical. With all that being said, a lot of the humor didn’t find it’s mark. I did chuckle at their AI representative going topless due to the amount of people that search for porn. It was about the only funny moment that I found in the film. Also, there is a documentary film crew “filming” the entire ordeal but they only appear randomly through the film and it doesn’t really feel like the mockumentary I was expecting early on.
Finally, don’t expect a film with memorable deaths or a lot of blood. Instead, this is a sci-fi comedy that is light on the comedy. It’s satirical in nature but not catered to those of us that have a taste for the red stuff. We don’t really have any practical or visual effects to enjoy. Overall, Showdown in Secret City is not what I was expecting at all. I could blame my age and cynicism because I didn’t find the movie funny but it was enjoyable for the most part. It has a clever story that was fun but is not without some holes in the plot. Check it out.
