This one of a series of reviews from this year’s Cinequest film festival in San Jose, California. Read more about the festival here, and buy tickets for showings of this and other films here.
Dive into the eccentric, chaotic world of B-movie film making, where ambition, compromise, and sheer determination collide in glorious, often ridiculous fashion. Behind the scenes of the notorious production house The Asylum, a struggling filmmaker faces the ultimate test of creativity, patience, and audacity.
If you love anything, you are always withholding judgment on some level. You don’t criticize a child’s first steps, oh so wobbly, a classic work of prose, I just don’t buy Scrooge’s transformation, or love at first sight, if only the tip of her nose wasn’t quite so sharp! Love is what it is, and it accepts.
Given that, I will confess that some of my all-time favorite films are confused, low-budget exercises in pretense. And I typically don’t consider them as competition for big budget Hollywood spotlight films. But I am quick to recommend them if there’s enough there to admire on some level, and when I’m recommending them to the right person.
This review is an exercise in that impulse. So stick with me.
Mockbuster is a documentary about a fledgling director, Anthony Frith. After many years working in industrial films, he yearns to make “a real movie.” At his ends, Frith makes a somewhat-less-than-Faustian deal with an admittedly notorious film company called The Asylum.
Show business is a business. Asylum is in the business of making movies that make more money than they cost to make. They do this by keeping costs painfully low, and production time insanely tight. They make schlock movies with no pretense. They choose fast and cheap in the “good, fast or cheap, pick two” equation. And because of this, they are prone to make money on their films.
And The Asylum is not bashful about their method. For example, the film Frith signed up for is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs (remember Tarzan?) The Land that Time Forgot. The Asylum chose it because the 1924 Burroughs work is in the public domain. While it was first filmed and released in 1974, they saw no reason not to do it again, now. As a matter of fact, The Asylum had already done a version in 2009! A new 2025 script, free name recognition, better cheap digital effects, so yeah, why not make it again?
Frith signs up for the grueling and intimidating job. But what is brilliant here is that he obviously had a second film in mind as well. A film about making a low budget genre film on a shoestring budget and crushing deadline. And that film is the documentary Mockbuster.
Cue the vaudeville comedians. “How do you make a 9 out of 10 star movie with no budget?” Mr Bones?” “Make a 2 star movie and simultaneously make an 9 star documentary about it.” Brilliant, and it’s a wonder it’s not been done more often.
The bulk of what we see disclosed here is amateurish. But don’t forget your Latin! Amateur comes from the verb amāre, meaning “to love.” Further, the French amateur means “one who loves.” Amid the sweat, stress, compromises, we see cast and crew who all, on some level, just love what they’re doing. And they are entertaining to watch.
Beyond fun, this is certainly an instructive experience for any creator. So many discover that it is terribly hard to finish. Unwilling to accept compromise. Their vision must be complete. And this dedication is the reason why so much work fails to actually come to completion. This film captures that struggle. We watch Frith and cast surrender to the madness of The Asylum.
More than most documentaries, Mockbuster has all the classic film beats. It’s complete with a dramatic tension, and genuinely human interactions. Bonus! There is no small amount of insight into how films actually get made. But does it have a “Hollywood ending?” Well, I suggest you watch it and see.
It should be obvious by now that I think this is a must-see for anyone who loves films. Great to have this year at Cinequest.
Director:
Anthony Frith
Screenwriters:
Anthony Frith
Sandy Cameron
Showings
Fri, Mar 13 12:30 PM at the Hammer Theatre Center, San Jose
Sun, Mar 22 12:00 PMAlamo Drafthouse Cinema Mtn View
For the Trailer and Ticket Information
Ric Bretschneider
March 1, 2026
San Jose CA
Post credits scene: If you’re curious after watching Mockbuster, you can find currently The Asylum’s 2026 version of The Land that Time Forgot on several streaming services. It’s not hard to find. Note however, I said “you can” and not “you should.” But then again…