When danger is creeping up on you from behind, and you can’t get a hold of the accountant, the gardener, or the beekeeper, who can you turn to? Help is on the way with Alexander T. Hwang’s The Handyman.
Hud (Kevin Caliber) is a handyman and veteran who’s down on his luck. He’s turned to alcohol to drink away his problems, his girlfriend left him for being emotionally distant, and he needs money. As luck would have it, his best friend, Amberson (Mark Schaefer), needs him to housesit and fix a few things while he goes on vacation with his family.
Meanwhile, a hired thug, Karl (Erik Anthony Russo), plans to break into the house that night to find a secret package. But when his crew arrives, Hud stops them, as they thought the house was empty. When Karl fails to find the package, his boss tells him to go back and get it by any means necessary, including killing Hud.
The next morning, Amberson’s daughter, Molly (Veronica Tullo), shows up unexpectedly. She was supposed to stay with friends, but bailed on them. Hud could use the company, even if Molly is there to make him call his ex-girlfriend to apologize. Unbeknownst to the pair, Karl is fully loaded as he and his crew prepare for a surprise home invasion.
“Hud is there to stop them as they thought the house was empty.”
I have to say, I miss action movies like The Handyman. A straightforward, somewhat lighthearted action film that I loved in the ’80s and ’90s. Being a low-budget indie only makes it better. It has everything you need: a plot that is not overly complicated, lots of gunplay and hand-to-hand fighting, and a little bit of nudity. We’re not asking for much—perfect for a low-stakes movie night.
Kevin Caliber and Veronica Rullo make a great pair as Hud and Molly, and they take on the baddies against overwhelming odds. I also appreciate the moments of political incorrectness, including a damsel-in-distress, a shower scene that is vital to the plot (not really), and frustration over one of the thugs being a “they.” Of course, there’s the sexy badass female killer as one of the film’s minibosses.
Alexander T. Hwang delivers a solid low-budget thriller. After seeing way too many overblown, big-budget action movies starring actors who don’t look like they are action stars, it’s so refreshing just to sit back and watch a man protect his best friend’s home by killing a bunch of bad guys.
"…A shower scene that is vital to the plot (not really)."
