In a post-apocalyptic future, a virus has destroyed much of the population. In New Idaho, commander Baalca leads her group in kidnapping and collecting fertile young healthy women. The Shepherd leads the ruthless campaign to kill non-believers. Danielle convinces drifter Orion to help her rescue her younger sister from these marauders.This is low-budget amateurish effort. The acting is horrible. The lead actress' best move may be taking her top off. There are lots of fun badly-filmed stunts. The dialog is badly written when they actually have any. The editing and directions are probably the weakest part of the movie. There are some good campy aspects to this movie. They put in lots of guns, trucks, crashes and stunts. It's low grade Mad Max wannabe. The effort is there but it's a bit of a mess.

Empire of has a lot going for it at first glance. Plenty of action, lots of guns, lots of armour clad vehicles, topless girls, rock soundtrack and plenty of extras. The direction is decent for the most part too in a TV movie style.The main problem is that the story is disjointed at best, completely absent for the most part. It feels like at some parts, the film makers actually forgot what the plot was, so they through in a few minutes of topless girls to distract the viewer long enough to pick up wherever they liked. The acting is atrocious for the most part. It's unclear who the lead characters are and the dialogue makes no sense. None of these things would usually put me off, but this one is just too difficult to actually be convinced at any level.There are some excellent action scenes mixed in with some ridiculously poor action which is a real shame.There seems to be two lead female characters both of whom get their kit off which seems sensible. Then there are a number of other characters who's characters are not really developed enough to really get a grasp of. There is a religious element thrown in which really is very vague and half hearted.It has a similar vibe to Death Run which I reviewed a few months back for UKfilms net. But where Death Run succeeded on a pocket money budget, Empire of Ash fails. The production value of Empire of Ash is miles better than Death Run, the make-up is not dissimilar but its clear that there was a costume designer involved in this one.To sum it up I would have to say that it looks good, the sets, costumes and props are good. The leafy locations are not so great and the lack of any decent plot let it down massively.

In a post-apocalyptic future, cities have been destroyed so the survivors roam the remaining forests. An aggressive, traveling gang of "maniac warriors", named LARD, which stands for, what else, Leukocytes Acquisitors for Remission of Disease, go around terrorizing and killing people. Who they don't kill, they kidnap and steal their blood so they can continue to survive. Naturally they are led by an insane, shroud-wearing preacher, and when they kidnap the wrong girl, her sister and a defector from LARD who is now a good guy team up to try and rescue her. Who will prevail - the survivors pure of blood or the MANIAC WARRIORS? While this movie is set in the fictional town of New Idaho, it was in fact shot in Canada. It's your standard Road Warrior/Mad Max knockoff, but presumably they thought by shooting the film in the forest, viewers wouldn't make the connection. Naturally, AIP picked it up and released it in the U.S. Confusingly, this very film is also known as Empire of Ash 2 (the original title is Empire of Ash). This must mark the first time in movie history that a movie and its sequel are THE SAME MOVIE. Well that saves time. There is one sequel, titled Last of the Warriors (1990). (That movie is known as Empire of Ash 3, for those that are still keeping track).There is some interesting camera-work and notable stunts, especially considering its restrictive low-budget status, but the fact remains that this is a middle-of-the-road outing at best, and it doesn't even have the power of a Ron Marchini to keep it afloat. Just think about that. Try to imagine a Ron Marchini movie without Ron Marchini. What's left? But you have to love some of the outfits and vehicles - you know it's a post-nuclear future because the main villainess has crimped hair. And, sensing that there isn't enough plot to sustain 90 minutes, the film veers into the story of two survivalists (potentially named Cochran and McKenzie, but we're not sure). They play Gunsmoke and Ikari Warriors on a post-apocalyptic Nintendo so we guess you have to care about their plight. Additionally, there's some reasonably rockin' music, including a cover of "Born to be Wild", and an original tune by one John Wednesday entitled "Gonna Get Some", but let's face it, he's no Billy Butt.Last but not least, we would be remiss if we didn't mention that this movie has a rocket launcher hat. Apropos of absolutely nothing, a character comes on screen with this contraption on his head, blows up a barn with a projectile launched from his fisherman's hat, and walks away. Why it's easier, much less cooler, to shoot a missile from your headgear remains unexplained. Besides the obvious question of WHY??????, we commend the use of the rocket launcher hat. It was a welcome invention in this dire world. Sure, one year earlier Heather Thomas sported some wicked-awesome helmet lasers in Cyclone (1987), but this bit of utter wackiness remains a movie highlight here.For that rock-bottom budget, AIP style, this movie delivers it in spades. It features some other weird scenes (we won't spoil them) - but the movie as a whole isn't weird enough to quite warrant full cult status. If you find this style too much to take, stay away.For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Empire of Ash was released as Empire of Ash 2 a year later, i just bought the vid at a boot sale. Genius! think of the money they saved...Actually i think a good effort, looks like budget didn't stretch to employing any great actors, but the film focuses on action mainly anyhow so they may not have been given an opportunity to shine. The directing is probably not the best you're ever going to see but again budget may have influenced this and overall feels and looks like a student film. However some of the plot was very well thought out, the concepts behind the two rival groups brilliant, and the music (although some a bit derivative, think ZZ Top) and big hair superb!